There have been many times in my life when I couldn’t wait to take a shower and clean off. Sometimes it is because I had completed some messy job and before I could relax on the sofa I needed to clean up. Other times it has been because I worked hard and was sweaty. I can’t stand the smell of my own sweat.
Most of us have access to water and the facilities to clean the outside of our bodies. We do not, however, have the physical means to clean the inside. Furthermore, we are incapable in ourselves to purify our thoughts and motives or cleanse ourselves from the sins that we have committed.
I Corinthians 1:2 says, “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.” In this simple greeting, Paul gives us at least two encouragements. First, if we call upon the name of Jesus we are part of a huge body of believers called saints. Secondly, Jesus sanctifies us through faith by His sacrifice on the cross, making us holy and blameless before the Father. What we could not do in and of ourselves, that is make ourselves pure and holy, God did by giving His Son on the cross and accounting all our sins onto Jesus Christ. When we trust Him for this salvation and sanctification, He purifies our hearts and cleanses us from our sins.
Reluctant Retiree 