What Has To Happen When Jesus Cleanses Us From Our Sins?
Introduction
What does it mean to be unclean or clean? Where does your uncleanness go if you are cleansed by Christ? How does this cleansing reveal to us the very nature and heart of our Lord?
Generally, to be clean means to be free from contamination. To be clean means something is ready to be enjoyed or used. If something is unclean it is not to be used or else it will make you unclean. When this is applied to Scripture, cleanliness takes on a deeper meaning. To be clean in Scripture means that one is fit to approach God and dwell in His holy presence (see the entire book of Leviticus and how it solves the problem of Exodus 40:34-35). If one was unclean, they were disqualified from being in the presence of God and even at times were put out of the covenant community for a time.
The Biblical Theme of Cleanliness
This theme in the Old Testament was applied broadly to the Jewish-Gentile distinction. The Jewish people had the Yahweh-ordained atonement system which meant they (and not the Gentiles) had the only way to approach Yahweh. If a Gentile was to experience true cleansing then they must come to the Tabernacle/Temple and observe the cleansing rituals. Yet, in their pride, Israel neglected their own atonement system and communion with Yahweh all the while viewing themselves as qualitatively better than the Gentiles. In reality, the Jews were just as unclean as the Gentiles. Yet, they heeded not the only way to be cleansed and renewed (Rom. 2:1-3:9).
All the cleansing laws and rituals in the Old Testament were merely billboards pointing to the reality of what Christ—the true Passover Lamb—would do for sinners. Christ is who all the Old Testament cleansing laws, rituals, and sacrifices were pointing to (Heb. 9-10). He is the true fulfillment and substance. But, have you ever thought about what happens in the basic elements of cleansing?
What Are The Basic Elements Of Cleaning?
Think about cleaning the dishes by hand. You wet the dirty dish with water, put some soap on it, and scrub it with the brush or sponge. After doing that for a couple of seconds (or minutes if it’s a particularly hard-to-clean pot) then you have something with no contamination and ready to use for another meal. But, think about this for a moment: You used the brush to clean your dishes but would you now use that same brush as a utensil for your next meal? No! Why not? Because now the brush is dirty. The devil’s advocate question comes: “But what about if the water and soap washes off all the contaminants from the brush?” Regardless, now that water is unclean.
The point is that something becomes dirty for something else to become clean. This is crucial to understand. Whenever you see Jesus cleanse someone in the Bible then you must ask the necessary question: Where does that uncleanness go? It all goes upon Him! He is contaminated so we can be clean. He is the object of God’s wrath so we can be objects of His grace. He is cut off from the Father on the Cross so that we might be made holy.
Witness The Heart of the Tender, Gracious, and Loving Savior for Heinous Sinners
The willingness, the pulsing desire, the craving of His heart is to have our uncleanness transferred to Him and His cleanness transferred to us (2 Cor. 5:21). It is the very reason why He took on flesh. If this is His heart and His work upon the Cross then would it be appropriate for us to continually try to cleanse ourselves? Would it be glorifying Him if we pursued rituals that supposedly “improve” upon His work? Would it be loving Him if we regularly doubt the sufficiency of His atonement?
At the same time, is it honoring Him if we willingly plunge back into our same filth? Is it living like we’re cleansed if we keep playing with sin? The gospel of grace so transforms us that we progressively reflect the character of Christ more and more (2 Cor. 3:18). But, that is not by looking at Law-only or Law-mainly. The Law is meant to reveal our sins and lead us to Christ (who is the only Law Fulfiller and Law Atonement). It is only when we delight and revel in the grace of Christ that we then grow in obeying the Law as an expression of our love for God and neighbor. The order to all this is key. Yes, we must obey the Lord (and work hard to do so) but this is all empowered and motivated by the grace of God that is in Jesus Christ.
Did He not come for the very purpose of cleansing us in totality? Will He not always, unchangeably, be cleansing toward us His covenant people? Even when we do backslide, relapse, or indulge in sin again, is He not still our Savior? Is He not still sufficient? Yes, He is!