How clean are you? This question is often posed to congregations of believers in an attempt to motivate them to good works. However I am posing this question to you today for an entirely different reason… Not to expose your perceived failings or shortcomings, but instead to show you how completely clean you are in Christ Jesus today. You see, many believers are living life with the belief that they are clean one-moment (when they think they are behaving well) and then dirty the next moment (when they fail), so they are on some sort of spiritual teeter-totter – up one moment and down the next moment.
This however is not how God wants us to live. This shifting-sand, roller-coaster mentality is not the abundant life which Christ died to give us. So today we will be examining the truth of how completely clean you are in Christ (in every way) and how by seeing this truth, you will be on the unshakable foundation of Jesus Christ, instead of the shifting sand of emotions, feelings and your own performance.
Let’s begin today by first laying the foundation of your cleanliness in Christ Jesus, by reading 1st Corinthians 1:27-31:
“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
And base things of the world, and things which are despised, has God chosen, yes, and things which are not, to bring to nothing things that are:
That no flesh should glory in his presence.
But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made to us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
That, according as it is written, He that glories, let him glory in the Lord.”
These verses here, if they were to be summed-up in one single sentence would be telling us that “whatever the world thinks, is backwards to God’s reality.” The things that the world considers foolish, are actually wise in God’s view. The things that the world considers weak, are actually mighty to God. Things that the world sees as base and despised, are the chosen things of God. And nothing is more foolish, is more weak, base and despised in the eyes of the world, than Jesus and His Grace. Grace is foolishness to many people who are trusting in their flesh to sanctify them. People say that there’s absolutely no way that they can be made holy and righteous before God apart from their own effort, works and flesh. This is precisely why verses 29 through 31 exist:
That no flesh should glory in His presence. Today a lot of people try to have their flesh glory in His presence. Look at me, look at what I am doing, or what a good job I have done. See, Lord, I have kept your commands. It’s really no different than all throughout Bible history. Whoever came to God boasting in their own works, those people were always rejected. Whoever came to God trusting in His mercy and His grace were always accepted. This idea is carried to its fullness in verse 30 where it is stated unequivocally that of Him (that’s God the Father) you are in Christ Jesus. So this idea that you are in Christ, that you are safely in Him and that you exist in Him is not an idea of man but it is of God. It’s important that we see this and make this clear because there are some who believe that to see yourself as in Christ is a man-made heresy. However we can see plainly from this verse that it is not man-made, it is of Him. And this verse then continues to show us some very amazing benefits of being in Christ.. who of God (again so we know where it’s from) is made to us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.
It’s very interesting that these four particular things are mentioned, because these are the four things that most people try to get on their own through their own fleshly efforts. Specifically believers try to attain more wisdom so that they can try to perform more righteously, live a more holy life and redeem themselves through their self-effort; and most of the people that I talk to are still running on that treadmill, not realizing that it is getting them nowhere. They are oblivious to what these verses are saying. Remember that no flesh may glory in His presence… and that’s why this verse points out that you are not of the flesh anymore dear child of God. You are born again, born of the Spirit of God – and we see here that Christ is your wisdom, your righteousness, your sanctification (holiness) and your redemption. The four things that people try so hard to attain by their own performance and effort, can only truly be received through Christ Jesus, and Him alone – so that no flesh may glory in the presence of God. This fact is then reiterated again in verse 31: That, according as it is written, He that glories, let him glory in the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:24) It is only in the Lord Jesus Christ that you can truly glory. Not in yourself or your own obedience.
I’ve had discussions with a number of people who believe that they are righteous one moment, and unrighteous the next moment. That they are holy one moment and unholy the next moment, based on their performance, yet the Bible teaches no such thing. Turn to Hebrews 10:6-10:
“In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have had no pleasure.
Then said I, See, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do your will, O God.
Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin you would not, neither had pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
Then said he, See, I come to do your will, O God. He takes away the first, that he may establish the second.
By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
The burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin that were offered under the Law gave God no pleasure… the only reason He accepted them at all for a time was because He knew that His Son Jesus would come. And as proclaimed in verse 7 by Jesus, He came to do the will of God (so that we know this is not the will or word of man here) Jesus came to offer Himself, as the true sacrifice and burnt offering for sin.. Furthermore He also mentions that in the volume of the book it is written of Him. Even the Old Covenant prophets were proclaiming the coming of the Messiah Jesus. They were looking forward to an event in the future when He would come; while today we are looking back, at the fact that He indeed has come, and that today we exist in Him and are made completely clean and holy and righteous in Him and through Him.
This simple fact is where so many Christians today are stumbling, because they do not recognize this truth for themselves. They behave as though Jesus has not come yet. They behave as though they are still under the Law of Moses and the Old Covenant. They think that they are still clean one moment and unclean the next. However look at what Jesus says in verse 9: See, I have come to do your will, O God. It is so very important that we recognize that what He has done is the very will of God the Father. Because so many Christians today think that the marvelous finished work and the very Grace which Christ brought is a false doctrine of men. Look at what Christ has done, and what the will of the Father was: He takes away the first, that he may establish the second. Jesus put an end to the Old Covenant of the Law, to establish the New Covenant of Grace. And He did so by the will of God the Father. And as we continue to verse 10, it is by this New Covenant of Grace (not by the Law) that we are sanctified (made holy) through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once. This is a one-time offering with a sanctification that lasts for all eternity. You are not sometimes holy and sometimes not. You have the very Spirit of God, His Spirit of Holiness on the inside of you. And that Spirit makes you Holy completely, as verse 14 of this same chapter also says, by one offering He has perfected forever them that are sanctified. So you see, this is not a “sometimes sanctification”, this is not an “occasional holiness” based on your current performance-level, feelings or emotions… this is a “forever holiness” based on the eternal Christ, and our Lord and Savior Jesus by the power of His Holy Spirit and the will of the Father.
Once you see this, you will not be one of those people who are constantly confessing and re-confessing your sins, or constantly repenting over-and-over for fear that you have somehow become unclean in God’s sight. Let me show you some truth from one of the most misunderstood chapters in all of the Bible: 1st John 1. Now the most important thing to remember about 1st John chapter 1 is that it was not written to believers. It was actually written to unbelieving Gnostic Jews, and to denounce Docetism (a belief that Jesus never came in the flesh). This is why the chapter begins the way that it does, with John mentioning that the disciples walked with Jesus, heard Him and handled Him with their very hands. Many Christians today use (and mis-use) this chapter to promote “walking in the light”as behaving and performing rightly, and we have previously studied that true walking in the light is belief on Christ. However the biggest point of contention in 1st John chapter 1 is undoubtedly verse 9, which states:
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Which again, is often used and abused to bring believers into a bondage, thinking that unless they continually confess their sins, they again become unrighteous and lose fellowship with God. However in the light of what we studied today already, about how Christ alone is our eternal righteousness and holiness, this common belief about continual confession of sins must be dealt with.
You see, the Gnostic Jews believed that they were already “in the light” and righteous apart from Christ. They did not believe that they needed a Savior. And so what John is writing to them here is that if they claim to have no sin (which is what they were claiming) then they lie and the truth is not in them – but if on the other hand, they confess their sin (which the noun form of the word here: hamartia) if they confess that they are in the place of sin, and in-need of a Savior, then the blood of Jesus cleanses them from all unrighteousness.
Look at verse 7 of this same chapter:
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleans us from all sin.”
See that word “cleans”? It is in the Greek present-active-indicative. It is a continual cleansing. I assume you have taken a shower at some point, and you get all clean and freshened, and then afterward you spend some time in dirty areas on your job, or get sweaty and dirty and then you need another shower. And the cycle repeats day after day.
Well, many believers think that their spiritual life is the same way. They get washed in the fountain of Jesus’ blood, and then through daily living they get spiritually “dirty” (or sin) and need to be washed again. But let me ask you a question: What would happen if you were continually and eternally under the shower? If the water was perpetually washing over you, then you would be perpetually clean, correct?
Now what would happen if you were perpetually washed in the fountain of Jesus’ blood? Because that’s exactly what the Greek word for “cleans” states here. My friend, you are not ever dirty in the sight of God anymore. You are perpetually washed in the fountain of the blood of Jesus Christ (Zechariah 13:1). You are safe and secure in the light of Christ, never to be in darkness ever again!
In 1st John chapter 2, when he begins actually addressing believers, he says this absolutely clearly in verse 12:
“I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.”
That is is Name of Jesus Christ. For His sake your sins are forgiven and forgotten according (Hebrews 8:12). This is the gift of no condemnation that Jesus has paid for you to have! Embrace it, rejoice in it, and let it empower you. You do not have to worry about your status anymore. You are safe and secure forever in Christ. And as this truth is received, it will set you free from fear, and it will give rise to genuine praise for what Jesus has done for you.
You are completely clean in Christ!