[1 John Series 3] CleansedSample

Cleansed and made clean

The Bible says that when we confess our sin, God forgives us and washes us clean. Do you know of King David? He said this while expressing anguish in prayer: “Wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin.” John the Baptist in the Jordan River, while the people confessed their sins, said, “I baptize you with water for repentance.” With a towel draped around his waist, Jesus said to Peter, “If I don’t wash you, you have no part with Me.”

When we confess our sins to God who is holy and blameless, we agree with Him, we admit we are wrong, and He washes us clean. Even our consciences are washed clean. We are forgiven, made spotless and beyond reproach. We are holy in His sight. We are His children and Jesus cleanses us of all unrighteousness.

So when you come to confess, you come to a safe place. When you come to confess, you’re trying to restore relationships with other folks. But when you keep it in, it just burns you up inside. Secrets make you sick. Instead, if you get it out, you can say, “Lord, take care of all my filthiness and sin. Cleanse me of all unrighteousness.”

One of the big things to do nowadays is juicing. You take all these fruits and vegetables and put them in to juice them—in one cup of juice you can drink a huge amount of produce you wouldn’t be able to eat otherwise. But there are these things called “juice cleanses,” which claim to clean your whole system.

Which do you think is harder to clean? Your insides, your stomach, your intestines, or your soul? Jesus is faithful to cleanse you of all unrighteousness; He will cleanse the soul. Does it mean we will be perfect? By no means. But He cleanses our soul in such a way that now when we say, “Lord, I’m just grumpy (or angry, jealous, lustful, greedy, selfish, anxious, nervous) today, and I want to get this right with You. I just want to confess it to You. I want to keep a short list, God, between me and you and me and other folks. I don’t want just to be stuffing it.” He cleanses us completely.

When you and I confess what we already know is wrong, He’s faithful and righteous to cleanse our soul. Can you think of a better deal?