There’s a big A-word behind this question and all questions like it.  Do you know what that A-word is?  ASSUMPTION!  It’s an outstanding question; we all are searching for forgiveness, especially when we blatantly blow it.  However, the big assumption behind this question is this: I was once pure, but now I’m not, so how can I get pure again?  Did you catch the assumption?  The person assumed that he/she was once pure.  This just isn’t an assumption, it’s a false assumption, which we will need to clear up first in order to answer the question.

Here, let me clear up the false assumption: you were never once pure.  Scripture teaches us that we were all born impure.  From the moment you were conceived in your mamma’s belly, you were tainted.  You were born a cute, cuddly sinner—a rebel against God.  Here’s how King David, the “man after God’s heart,” clears up our assumption, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.” (Psalm 51:5).  Or let’s let Jeremiah take a crack at it, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).  Or, let’s hear from Saint Paul, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).  Or, again, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12).  I remember taking a private, Greek reading course with Dr. Don Carson in his office.  The first passage he had me learn was Romans 3.  Not only did I better understand my moral depravity after this, but also my intellectual depravity!

After reading all of these Scriptures, I hope you begin to realize that you never started off pure.  Your soul was sinful, deceitful, sick, fallen, unrighteous, and worthless, to name a few.  I know what you’re thinking, I should write Hallmark cards.  Nevertheless, I’d bet you a six-pack (of Cream Soda) and a pizza that the way these verses describe humanity is exactly how you feel.

Worthless, fallen, deceitful, sick, sinful, etc.  Is this how you feel?  Welcome to earth, for that’s how it feels to be a sinner.  Sinners, because of their sin, feel worthless.  Sinners, because of their sin, feel sick.  You get the idea?

Why do I belabor this point?  Unless we clear up this false assumption, then you’ll be under the delusion that there’s something that you can do to cleanse your own conscience.  But there’s not anything that you can do to cleanse your own conscience and make the guilt go away.  If you try, you’ll wind up being like Lady MacBeth, constantly scrubbing your hands to get rid of all the guilty spots, but never being able to do so.  “Out damn spot!”  The book of Hebrews makes it clear that human acts, even if they are religious ones, like offering a bull or goat on the altar, can never cleanse the conscience (see Hebrews 9:13-14 and 10:1-22).

With the assumption cleared up, we’re able to see that there’s nothing that you can do to make the guilt and shame go away.

Your help must come from outside of yourself.  The church Reformer, Martin Luther, called this “alien righteousness.”  We need a righteousness that comes from outside of us, that is alien to us.  We are totally depraved, as discussed above, and unless we have someone else’s righteousness land on our lives, then we’ll forever remain how we are.  You’ll never get rid of your faults, sin, shame, sickness, and wickedness, on your own.

Before I move on, I also have to say that just because we’re totally sinful, does not mean that we’re as bad as we possibly could be.  To say so, would be untrue.  I am not as bad as I could be.  I could be a lot worse, and so could you.  Though we are born into sin, we do not do every sin possible.  We all eat from the sin-buffet, but we do not eat all of the food at the sin-buffet, all at once.

So how do I become pure again?  There are two steps.  First, repent and turn to Jesus.  And second, repent and turn to Jesus.

I’ll take the first one first.  The first step in becoming pure is to turn to an irrevocable source of purity.  God gave his Son Jesus Christ to us in order to forgive us our sins and make us pure.  “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” (Romans 3:21-22).  God gives the most precious gift to those who trust in Jesus: righteousness.  Think of righteousness as “right-ness with a smile.”  Along with righteousness come a clear conscience and purity.  When God looks at those who are hiding beneath the blood of Jesus, he sees nothing but pure souls.  Jesus is our source of alien righteousness.

Jesus justifies us, in other words.  Justify basically means to “righteousify” or “purify.”  We are instantaneously cleansed and called “not guilty.”  Jesus absorbed all of your sin on the cross.  Your notice of charges, which Roman soldiers nailed above the heads of all crucified criminals, was placed above Jesus’ head.  Jesus died beneath your notice of charges.  Every sexual sin you’ve ever committed was charged to Jesus.  He died for them all, absorbing all the punishment that they deserved.

Jesus was punished for all of your sins and there remains no punishment for your sins.  Want to know how I know?  The resurrection is the proof!  After Jesus got done absorbing all of the punishment for your sins and bearing the complete wrath of God toward unrighteousness, he was free to go.  Jesus only remained in death so long as there were sins to keep him there.  But after he consumed all of the sins that the world had to offer, he didn’t need to remain in death anymore; he was free to rise.  Thus, the resurrection is standing proof that there’s nothing more to pay for the sins of the world.  They are “paid in full.”  As Paul says in Romans 4:25, Jesus “was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”

If he were not raised, then we would have no proof that all the penalties had been paid; since he has been raised, we have confidence that there is nothing more to pay for our sins, either by Jesus or by us.  Do you comprehend the sweetness of that?  Jesus has been fully punished for your sins and there is nothing left for you to pay.  The wrath of God struck down and landed on Jesus, not you.  You are free to go.  You, who were once dead, have been made alive.

“And you, who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt [notice of charges] that stood against us with its legal demands.  This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13-14).

The second step is like the first, repent and turn to Jesus.  You need to repent every day of your life.  Every day of your life, you need to turn from self and turn to Savior.  You need to turn away from sin and turn toward God.  You must live beneath the banner of the blood, trusting in Jesus for your joy.

Just like God will justify you through Jesus, so will he sanctify you through Jesus.  To sanctify means to “make holy.”  While justification is instantaneous, sanctification is a lifelong process.  God continues to work on us for the rest of our lives, making us holier and holier.  Here’s God’s wish for us, as we struggle with sin: “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).

Did you notice who will sanctify us and make us blameless?  That’s right, God will!  God will continue to make you pure in spirit, in soul, and in body, as the verse says.  God will keep you blameless, in other words.  When you are face to face with God after you die, you will still be blameless.  God will look at you, despite all of your sins, and he will say, “You are blameless!”  Why?  Because God first looked at his Son and said, “I blame you, Jesus, for all of their sin!”

Keep turning to God, relying on the gift of Jesus.  When you sin, turn to God.  He will keep you blameless, trust him.  Remember, you have no righteousness of your own to enter into the equation.  It all comes from Jesus.

Don’t sit and sulk, but stand and seek.  “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9).  Confess your sins to God, and he WILL forgive you.  There is no forgiveness outside of his.  Keep turning to God.  The measure of your righteousness is not determined by the good works you are able to do, but the bad works you are able to repent of.

Don’t forget about verse ten, “If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:10).  Don’t assume you once were pure, you were not.  Instead, turn to God through Jesus Christ and he will make you pure.

© Samuel Kee, 2012