Cleansed From All

Scripture is filled with promises of God's forgiveness of sin. My favorite is 1 John 1:9--if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness (emphasis added). Five other places in the Bible there is mention that when God cleanses us, his cleansing is for all sins. Every one. Past, present and future. No conditions, no restrictions, no expiration date.

We forfeit a great amount of joy and peace in our lives when we fail to realize or remember that God's forgiveness from sin covers all unrighteousness. We buy in to the enemy's lie that our sins are beyond God's grace or that He won't forgive repeat offenses. We wallow in self-imposed guilt over sins that have already been dealt with at Calvary. Think about it, why would our Heavenly Father allow his only begotten son to suffer and die on the cross as the perfect sacrifice if it wasn't an all-encompassing payment for the sin of the world? His blood is the only thing that frees us from sin (Revelation 1:5). God promises that our sins will be washed as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18). God promises that forgiveness means he will remember our sin no more (Hebrews 8:12, 10:17) and they are removed as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).

Make no mistake, God hates sin. It is an offense to his holiness. Sin broke the perfect relationship He had with man in the Garden--a relationship that He couldn't bear to remain broken. And He dealt with sin in the most loving, most sacrificial way possible through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Nothing but the blood. Cleansed from all.