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We Are Clean!


On this Easter weekend I am reminded of many things. The sacrifice my Savior made so that I may be wiped clean from all my guilt and shame. The excruciating pain that my Creator placed upon His Son that was mine to endure. The fact that I may now freely approach the throne of an Almighty God and be embraced by Him and to be called His daughter.

A lot of things have been going through my mind this Easter Weekend.

It might seem odd, but I get it now. I get Easter. It took me almost 22 years of being in the church to actually understand it. Easter is not an excuse for me to eat those delicious peanut butter and chocolate Reese eggs or Cadbury Mini Eggs. Easter is about something much, much bigger.

A few days ago I was looking through an old journal from my time in the Middle East three years ago and found the words of 1 Corinthians 5:54-55 messily written across the page

"Death is swallowed up in victory.
Oh Death where is your victory?
Oh Death, where is your sting?"
(I've written an entire blog post on the song inspired by those verses last year which you can read here if you're so inclined)

Those verses have always been quite powerful to me. Christ's work on the cross has removed all the power that death had over us. Because of His death we no longer die. Yes we die to sin, and yes are to die to our old habits and sinful ways but we no longer have to fear death. Because of His death and because of His resurrection three days later and because He is alive and sitting at the right hand of the Father we are no longer dead but alive and we can face tomorrow with that assurance.

Because of Christ's work on the cross our sins are no longer remembered by the Father. They are blotted out from God's mind. Our slate is wiped clean. We are no longer seen as worthless, filthy rags but as beautiful garments worthy of the King.

We are clean!

Take a minute and rest on that truth. We are clean.

Think of all the horrible things you've done in your life. I know for myself I don't have to think that hard. We all have those horrible things that we regret. Those things that if we had the power we would not hesitate to undo. But we no longer need to be ashamed of what we've done and how we've failed. The Father no longer sees us like that. We are as clean as Christ when He walked this earth two thousand years ago.

We know how the story ends. Christ has won! We know that He is not in the tomb as the angel told the women who went there, "He is not here, for he has risen!"

He has risen indeed!
He is alive!
Death has no sting. Death has no victory.
We are no longer bound our sin. We are clean.
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Rise Up From The Grave


One of my favourite worship songs to sing is to myself is "Christ is Risen" by Matt Maher. I don't know if it is the simple chord progressions or the way it builds at the end of the song but one thing that I do know is the first line always gets me.

 Let no one caught in sin remain, inside the lie of inward shame...

It doesn't matter when I hear it. Whether when it comes up on my iPod while walking through an airport or at Liberty convocation with Justin Kintzel leading 12,000 students on a gloomy Monday morning. Almost without fail I cry, and lately I've been thinking about why I cry when I hear that line.

Short back story: I was first introduced to "Christ is Risen" in 2012 while preparing to go to Turkey on a mission trip with a few friends from my young adult group. I instantly fell in love with the song when I heard it. It's rare that I love a new worship song as much as I enjoyed this one. It was simple yet profound and full of Spiritual truth, just what a worship song should be. Not fluff but rooted in the gospel.

That one line is so powerful and has impacted me so much. So lately I've been thinking about why that line has impacted me as much as it has.

I'm a very quiet person. I don't like letting people in. It makes me feel vulnerable and I don't like that feeling. I have my box and my box is safe. I don't want to have to open up and let people in my box because it's my box. If someone I know if having a problem I am hear to listen but as soon as I'm having a problem I go into my box and try to deal with it by myself, in my box.

That being said when I mess up, and I believe me I do mess up, I don't share my problems and sins with others. I keep them to myself and dwell on them, becoming consumed with shame and self-loathing. I question Every. Single. Action. And Every. Single. Thought. that led up to me messing up and what I should have been my response. I over analyze everything that happened and everything that was said or down. And then I apologize and pray repeatedly that God would forgive me for my past failures. (I don't do this just with God, I apologize to my friends all the time. They can attest that I'm constantly apologizing. Rarely does a conversation go by without me repeatedly apologizing for the same thing.)

The thing is, I know Christ was put on the cross for my sins. For every impure thought I've ever had, for every rude sarcastic comment I've ever said (and will ever say), for every time I've blatantly ignored someone who has asked for my help. God has forgotten it all. He will not remember my sins. His Word tells me this in Isaiah 43:35.

"I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins."

I think that's why that line has always hit me. Every time I hear that line I am reminded that I don't need to be living in the shame of my sins. They are forgiven. I have been forgiven for them. Now that doesn't mean I need to forget them and keep sinning. In Acts 3:19 we are called to:

 "Repent and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out."

 Our sins are not remembered. They are blotted out from God's mind. All we are asked to do is repent and turn from them.

As Christians, we no longer need to be living in the shame of our sin. Yes, we may have to deal with the worldly shame that comes with our sins. And yes, the world will condemn us for our mistakes. They will always look down on us for messing up. But the thing is, we are loved by an Eternal, Sovereign, Gracious, Loving, Forgiving God who will not shame us. He is not surprised that we've failed. He sent His Son because He knew we were going to mess up.

This is why I'm thankful the song doesn't end after the first line. It continues:

But fix your eyes upon the cross
And run to Him who showed great love
And bled for us
Freely you bled, for us

Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
.....
Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
Come awake, come awake!
Come and rise up from the grave!

We no longer need to live in the shame of our sins. He has forgiven us and we are His.

Don't remain in the shame of your sins. They have been forgiven. They've been covered by Christ's blood on the cross. Rise up from the grave.

"As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us." ~ Psalm 103:12
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