What does 'such were some of you' mean in 1 Corinthians 6:11?

Paul lists ten categories of people who will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor 6:9–10), and then he stops and says something astonishing to the congregation he's addressing:

"And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ." — 1 Corinthians 6:11

The pivot is one verb: ete — "were." Past tense. Paul doesn't say "such are some of you." He says "such were." The list described who they used to be. Whatever was true of them before their conversion, it is no longer definitionally true of them now. That single past-tense verb is the hinge of the whole passage.

Then Paul hammers it home with three "buts" in a row — alla, alla, alla — each one introducing a completed action that reversed their former status. But you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified.

The three verbs tell a story about what happened, and they tell it through their grammar. "You were washed" — the voice suggests participation, you came to the washing, you submitted to it. "You were sanctified" — pure passive, God acted on you, you didn't set yourself apart. "You were justified" — pure passive again, God declared you righteous. Human response, then divine act, then divine declaration. All three completed, unrepeatable, done.

There's one more detail that makes verse 11 land with full force. The word Paul used in verse 9 for the umbrella category of people who won't inherit the kingdom was adikoi — "the unrighteous," from the Greek a- (without) + dike (justice/right). The word that closes verse 11 is edikaiothete — "you were justified," the root dike restored, the a- prefix gone. The unrighteous declared righteous by God. Paul designed the passage to end exactly there.

For the full analysis of the exclusion list and its canonical parallels, see Who Will Not Inherit the Kingdom.