When I was young I had very few white shirts, and the reason why is because I just could not keep them clean. No matter how hard I tried I would eventually end up with some kind of food stain on my shirt. I would go outside and I would get my shirt dirty as I played in the yard. I might make it halfway through the day with my shirt completely clean, but it always got some kind of stain on it by the end of the day. And what do we do with dirty clothes? We wash them, so they can be clean once again.
Those stains are like sin, because just as someone might have tried to keep themselves from sinning, eventually they will fail to “keep themselves clean.” Everyone has sinned, but if we sin we must get those sins washed away so that we can become clean and holy in the sight of God.
2 Corinthians 7:1 “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
Sin is greatly displeasing to God as it is not obedience to His commands. He desires us to live in love and kindness, but sin is neither of those. Lying, evil speaking, covetousness, adultery, murder–these things are all sin, and are like spots of mud on a white shirt that need to be washed away.
We’re all sinners, as we all should realize by reading the scriptures, and it is our sins that keep us out of heaven. The only way for us to reach that eternal paradise is if we become washed, washed in the blood of Christ.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”
Through Holy Communion, we have the opportunity to be freed from the filth of our sins, as the body and blood of the Lord washes them away.
Matthew 26:26-28 “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
So you see that the cleansing and remission of our sins is something that we cannot do ourselves. We cannot earn remission, or buy it. We cannot perform a certain amount of tasks to rid ourselves of the mud of sin. It can only be washed away through the partaking of the body and blood of Christ.
Have you been washed? Are your garments white? Have those stains been washed away?
In Christ,
Andrew
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 