What does it mean when God cleanses us of our sin?

Question 

What does it mean when God cleanses us of our sin?

Answer 

Here’s what the Bible says in the Old Testament:

Leviticus 16:30 (NKJV) ³⁰  …the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the LORD. 

For God’s chosen people of Israel, a blood sacrifice had to be offered to “cleanse” them from their sins.

Psalm 51:2 (NKJV) ²  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. 

King David had sinned against God; he confessed his sin, praying that God would “cleanse” him from it.

Jeremiah 33:8 (NKJV) ⁸  I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me. 

The LORD spoke through the prophet Jeremiah to and about His people of Israel, promising that one day He would “cleanse” them from their sins.

In the Old Testament days, the people of Israel were “made clean” through the blood sacrifices that looked forward to the ultimate Sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 9:22; 10:1-18).

Here’s what the Bible says in the New Testament:

John 15:3 (NKJV) ³  You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 

The Lord Jesus told His disciples (part of His New Testament people) that they were considered “clean” in His eyes, because He had “cleansed” them through His Word.

Ephesians 5:25-27 (NKJV) ²⁵  …Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, ²⁶  that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷  that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 

Here again, we see a “cleansing” of God’s New Testament people (His Church) because of the Word of God, with a view to holiness.

James 4:8 (NKJV) ⁸  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  

Through the pen of James, the Holy Spirit commands His New Testament people (the Church) to “cleanse” their “hands” (which is then described as their “hearts” – i.e. their souls) from sin.

2 Peter 1:9 (NKJV) ⁹  For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 

Through the pen of Peter, the Holy Spirit reminds the Church that being “cleansed” from sin has long-term characteristics.

1 John 1:7 (NKJV) ⁷  But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 

Here, through the pen of John, the Holy Spirit tells the Church that our “cleansing” from sin is directly due to the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son (referring to His death on a cross).

In summary

The basic point in Scripture of being “cleansed from sin” is that we are made holy (“clean”) and, thus, permitted to be in His holy presence.  Man, in and of ourselves, is incapable of accomplishing this (Romans 3:10-23; Isaiah 64:6) – a “filthy rag” cannot clean itself to be worthy of use or welcome in the presence of the holy God.  Only the ultimately “clean” (holy) One (God) can do this, and He has chosen to do it through faith in the atonement work of His Son, Jesus Christ.  It is only through believing the Gospel (1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Romans 5:1-11; 1 John 4:10; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23-25), God’s Word, that we are “cleansed” by God.  As a Christian, it is only through the continual intake of His Word that He keeps us “clean” before Himself (Ephesians 5:25-28).