God's Glory Church

“Even if you wash yourself… your guilt will be a stain before My face, says the Lord God.” — Jeremiah 2:22

“Oh, no!” – I exclaimed sadly, opening the dryer to get the laundry. My white shirt was covered in ink stains, like a leopard’s skin. I forgot to take the fountain pen out of my pocket, and now all the linen was hopelessly ruined.

In the Holy Scriptures, the word “stain” is often used to describe sin. It penetrates into the cloth and spoils it. This is how God, through the prophet Jeremiah, described sin, reminding His people that its stain cannot be cleansed: “Though you wash yourself with lye, and you heal yourself with soap, your guilt will be a stain before My face” (Jer. 2:22).

Fortunately, sin does not have the final say. In the Book of the prophet Isaiah, it is said about God’s promise that He can cleanse us from the stains of sin: “When your sins are like crimson, they will become white as snow; if they are red like crimson, they will become like wool!” (Is. 1:18).

Unfortunately, I was unable to remove the ink stains from my shirt. Likewise, I cannot remove the stains of my sin. Fortunately, God cleanses us in Christ, as we are promised in the text of the 1st Epistle of John 1:9: “When we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

What has been the experience of forgiveness and cleansing from sin in your life? What “stain” do you perhaps need to bring to God?

Heavenly Father, please help me to keep the promise that in Christ there is forgiveness and purity, that I am washed and white as snow in Your eyes.

Author: Adam Holtz