Mark preached last night from Psalm 51 about the cleansing God provides. It was a vivid reminder of all that God has done for us in washing us from our sins. Not only does Jesus remove sin, He also removes the stain sin leaves behind and cleanses us from the guilt and hurt of sin.
“Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin” (Ps 51:2) and “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” (Ps 51:7)
We looked at different stains that are difficult to remove from clothing and how our sins, though red like scarlet, can be washed white as snow by the blood of Jesus. Related scriptures were Isaiah 1:18, Titus 3:4-5 and 1 John 1:8-9
Unconfessed sin can be a great barrier between us and God (Ps 66:18), but God is faithful and just and when we confess our sins, He is able to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness. Mark talked about the secret sins we often hide from other people but cannot hide from God and how Jesus is able to forgive us and cleanse us.
Usually, getting washed is something we do to ourselves: the linguist in me teaches about this in the lessons on ‘reflexive verbs’, verbs where the subject and the object of the sentence are the same. ‘I wash myself’, literally. But we cannot wash ourselves from sin. We need to have God wash us. We need to be washed. We need help from outside!
Psalm 24 says, “Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.” God is the only one who can give us clean hands.