“And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by the Spirit of our God.” Amen! What powerful words these are, what holy truths to live by! Let’s take a closer look at what this means:
We were wrongdoers, we were sexually immoral, we were idolaters, we were adulterers, we were men who had sex with men, we were thieves, we were greedy, we were drunkards, we were slanderers, we were swindlers. BUT...
We are now washed- “to be cleansed spiritually.”
We are now sanctified- “to cleanse or set apart for sacred use; to declare or make holy.”
We are now justified- “the state of being declared right with God.”
We were sinners, we are now saints! We were dead men, we are now fully alive! The bond of sin can no longer hold us down because we have been washed clean. This means God has washed away all our sin and no longer sees evil when He looks at us but good. Isaiah 1:18 puts it this way:
“’Come now, let us settle the matter,’ says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.’”
The bond of sin can no longer hold us down because we have been sanctified. This means God has set us apart to be holy (holy- worthy of worship or veneration; sacred; divine; consecrated or set apart for sacred use; living according to a highly moral spiritual system). The bond of sin can no longer hold us down because we have been justified through Christ. This means we have been declared us right with God. What fabulous truths. To think that God would do all this for me, a sinner, is simply unimaginable! What a gift.
The great truth found I these verses that I struggle to live by is the fact that when God looks at me He sees perfection. When God looks at me He sees His son. He doesn’t see my sin and filthiness because He washed them away, He sanctified me and made me holy, he justified me and set me right with Him. I think often times believers have a hard time living in this truth because we feel are unworthy of it (which is true); but what does that say about our view of Christ? It says that what He offered us cannot be real. It says that His sacrifice wasn’t enough. When we do not live in the truth of scripture regarding our state with God, we slap Christ Jesus in the face. When we refuse to view ourselves as holy we take advantage of the free gift of Christ. If we don’t accept this truth for ourselves, how can we share it with others? If we don’t allow God’s blessing to dwell in us, how can we bless others in return?
Believers will always wrestle with sin. But there is a difference between a sinner condemned to Hell and a Heaven bound saint wrestling with sin. The difference is Christ Jesus, and He must never be overlooked. There is no sin in a believer’s life that Christ Jesus has not already paid for. There is no sin in a believer’s life that is worth letting get in the way of God’s plan for them. To Christ we are seen as righteous, and if He sees us as righteous then it must be true. Who are we to argue with God? Who are we to say that what He has made clean is actually dirty? We are saints! We are forgiven! We are God’s treasured possession! We are free from the bondage of sin! No matter what our past looks like, or what our tomorrow holds, we are prefect in Christ Jesus our Lord. And nothing can change that fact.
Thank You Lord for giving us a new identity in You. Thank You for allowing us to live free from sin. Thank You for giving us power over evil and hope in darkness. Help us to live in the truth of Your word. Help us to believe the truths of who we are in You. Teach us to embrace the hope You have made accessible to us. Lord, may we live in You so that others may see the hope we have and pursue the truth they see in our lives. Lord, as we wrestle with sin bring us closer to You as we realize how much You have done for us and all it cost to save us. Your love for us is clearly seen in the truth of these verses. Thank You so so much. Teach me to use the gift for Your glory, teach me to share the gift with Your creation, teach me to see myself as You see me.
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