It’s not enough to start out clean, we must arrive clean. When we place our faith in Jesus Christ our sins are forgiven, but on a day-to-day basis sins keep happening, and those sins, if left unattended, have the power to erode the very faith that saved us. That’s why our life with Jesus must be a daily walk, not a transaction that took place because of a prayer we once prayed or a doctrine we affirmed. Jesus is inviting us into a relationship with Him in which He will teach us how to avoid sin and draw us close to Himself and wash us when we do sin. If we refuse to walk in that relationship and allow our sins to accumulate, unconfessed, we expose ourselves to forces which harden our hearts and quench our faith. Which is why, Jesus, during that final evening with His disciples taught them a lesson they would never forget. He took a long, linen cloth, wrapped it around His waist so that He looked like a household servant, picked up the foot-washing basin found in every home, filled it with water, knelt down at the feet of each disciple, washed the dust off his feet, and dried them on the cloth He was wearing.

That moment was filled with meaning. Jesus was certainly modeling the attitude of humble service. He told His disciples that He was giving them an example. He wanted them to serve each other that same way. But there was a deeper meaning than that. He was teaching them the importance of regularly confessing their sins and coming to Him for cleansing. He was explaining that becoming a disciple isn’t the end of a person’s struggle with sin. Walking through life as a disciple is like walking the dusty roads of Israel. Just as a person’s sandaled feet naturally become covered with dirt and sweat, so a believer’s heart becomes affected by the sins we commit. It’s impossible to walk through this world and not be soiled by it. There are temptations of the flesh, spiritual assaults and constant pressure from the culture around us. So sins occur, mistakes happen and bad choices are made, and those sins need to be dealt with, not ignored. All sin has a spiritual power attached to it. It’s not a neutral force. It always produces “death,” which means it always brings some measure of separation from God. Just because a person believes in Jesus Christ does not mean that person is automatically protected from that damage. It wounds believers and unbelievers alike. When a believer sins it affects our relationship with God; it affects our relationship with others; it sours our mood and strips away our confidence before God just as it would an unbeliever, which is why a believer must not allow sins to accumulate. We must bring them to Jesus and let Him wash them away, and we must do that as often as the Word shows us our sin or the Holy Spirit convicts our heart, for as long as we live. Conviction, confession, repentance and freshly laying hold of the cross and resurrection is meant to be a normal part of a believer’s life. We become righteous the moment we place our faith in Jesus Christ and surrender to His lordship, but that doesn’t mean unattended sin won’t damage us. It will, and if left unattended long enough it can erode the faith that saved us. That’s why Jesus “…rose up from the meal and put His outer cloak [aside]; and taking a linen cloth He wrapped it tightly around Himself… and began to wash the disciples’ feet” (literal) (Jn 13:4-5).