Ken Yates, Bill Fiess, and I have been kicking around the meaning of the three verbs in 1 Cor 6:11. In the NKJV and many translations, all three are given a passive translation. However, the first verb is in the middle voice and the other two are in the passive voice.

Ken wonders how we should translate apelousasthe, an aorist in middle voice of the verb for washing. I do, too. Hence, I decided to write this blog.

If it has a middle sense, that could mean “You washed yourselves.” Was Paul saying that the believers in Corinth washed themselves?

Here is a discussion I found online:

 This doesn’t mean they cleansed themselves in a physical sense, but rather that their washing was a result of their willing response to the Gospel and subsequent baptism. 

While God ultimately washes and cleanses from sin, the middle voice suggests the Corinthians’ willing acceptance of the message of salvation and submission to the process of purification according to StudyLight.org. 

In contrast, the verbs for “sanctified” and “justified” in the same verse are in the passive voice, indicating that these actions were accomplished by God alone. This highlights the distinct roles of God and the believer in the salvation process. 

In summary, the middle voice of “washed” in 1 Corinthians 6:11 emphasizes the Corinthians’ willing engagement in their cleansing and salvation, signifying a personal and active response to God’s grace (see here). 

​Fee writes:

Finally, since the three verbs refer to the same reality, and since each of them has “God” as the implied subject, the two prepositional phrases are to be understood as modifying all three verbs. The latent Trinitarianism of the sentence, therefore, is difficult to escape. God has effected salvation “in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit…The three metaphors emphasize the aspects of Christian conversion found in the theological terms “regeneration, sanctification, and justification”; and for Paul these are the work of the Spirit in the believer’s life, not the result of baptism” (1 Corinthians, pp. 246-47, emphasis added).

​ In their handbook, Ellingworth and Hatton write: “You were washed is grammatically ‘you washed (yourself)’ (similarly Moffatt), but the most likely meaning in this context is ‘you were washed’ or ‘you have been washed’ (Paul Ellingworth and Howard Hatton, 1 Corinthians, p. 131, emphasis theirs).

Some commentators note that Paul is probably referring to “the washing of regeneration” found in Titus 3:5 (e.g., Lange, Schaff, Kling, and Poor, “1 Corinthians” in A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, p. 126).ⁱ I believe that Titus 3:5 is surely a cross reference. In 1 Cor 6:11, Paul was speaking of the washing that occurs when we are born again.

When someone believes in Christ, he is washed clean. See John 13:10 and 15:3. Of course, cleansed people need ongoing cleansing (1 John 1:7, 9). When He washed the disciples’ feet, the Lord Jesus said, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you”(John 13:10). The words but not all of you refer both to Judas, who was not clean (John 13:11) and to the Eleven, who needed ongoing fellowship cleansing.

All three verbs in 1 Cor 6:11 refer to the position of the believers in Corinth, not their experience. They were not exemplary believers in their experience. Paul goes on in 1 Corinthians 6 to indicate that many of them were having sexual relations with temple prostitutes. He started the chapter by chastising them for taking one another to secular courts. Yet in their position, they were washed (cleansed), sanctified (set apart into God’s family), and justified (declared righteous by God the Father). Their standing was excellent. Paul wanted them to live in light of their glorious position.

The washing of 1 Cor 6:11 does not refer to baptism. Believers are cleansed, sanctified, and justified at the moment they believe in Christ for everlasting life. Baptism is a time for believers to publicly testify to the fact that they have believed in Christ (and hence have already been washed, sanctified, and justified).

For more discussion of baptism and salvation see this article on Acts 2:38, this article on Acts 22:16, and this article on Mark 16:16.

Keep grace in focus.

ⁱ Though they, like many commentators, think that you were washed “refers to their joining the Church in baptism.”