Big Idea - Often in Scripture, the idea of forgiveness of sins and cleansing from sin are put together. At first glance, it may seem that it is just two ways of talking about the same thing. In fact, most commentators make very little distinction between them. But, they do, in fact, describe two very different aspects of what the blood of Jesus has accomplished for us. Does it really matter? Isn't it enough to know that God has dealt with our sin and it's all good? The truth is, many Christians struggle with feelings of guilt and have a hard time grasping ad believing that they are really forgiven and that God has indeed dealt fully and completely with all our sins. I think one cause of this is that we do not fully understand all that Jesus has done in dealing with sin, and therefore we are not applying the full blessing of His grace to our lives. We battle with feelings of guilt and shame over our failures and mistakes because we do not understand what Jesus has done cast these away and set us free from self-condemnation and feelings of guilt. So, what is the difference between forgiveness and cleansing? How does Jesus' blood make us clean, and what does that mean for us in everyday life?

The main difference between forgiveness and cleansing is that forgiveness deals with our guilt before God, that is how our sin has affected God and His relationship with us. Cleansing, on the other hand, has to do with the effects sin has had on us and the stain it has left on us, body and soul. Being guilty and being dirty are very different things. The remedy for guilt is forgiveness, the remedy for dirt is a bath!

It is also important to understand that there is a difference between guilt and feeling guilty. Because we think these are the same thing, we misunderstand the important work of being washed in the blood. Guilt is a legal term that describes our position before God as lawbreakers deserving of punishment. Jesus' blood atones for sin, that is, it removes our guilt and puts us in right standing before God legally. But feeling guilty has nothing to do with our legal standing before God. It is how we think about ourselves. Our conscience is like a judge that tells us how we are doing. But not in a legal sense as much as in our relationships. Conscience has to do with how we feel we are doing in relation to ourselves - are we measuring up to our own expectations, and in relation to others - are we pleasing to them or disappointing to them? Jesus has dealt with our actual guilt, but we can still feel disappointed with ourselves and feel even worse that we have disappointed God and those we love. Hebrews 9:14 tells us that the blood of Jesus has purified or washed our conscience from dead works. Our conscience is the place where sin has left a deep and ugly stain. The Bible uses an image of a wedding robe that needs to be washed and bleached white. If you were invited to the wedding of a king or a prince, it would be insulting to the king to show up in a filthy garb. It likely also caused you to feel shame. Jesus has removed this stain from our conscience so that our conscience no longer condemns us. We know we are right in ourselves by the blood of Jesus, and we know we are not disappointing to God but well-pleasing to Him. David is a great example of one who knew the stain of sin and wanted it to be washed away from his heart and soul.

Jesus' blood has made this cleansing possible in ways the blood of an animal could never accomplish. That is because His blood is presented in the true Temple, it is the blood of a spotless life and of an eternal spirit. His blood is applied before the judge to remove guilt, but it must be applied to our own soul or heart to remove the stain upon our conscience. If we still feel the pain of guilt and self-condemnation, it is a sign that we have not applied the blood to our own hearts. We must 1) understand the problem and Jesus' remedy, 2) desire a clean heart, 3) acknowledge the voice of conscience and confess our sin, 4) trust in the effectiveness of Jesus' blood, 4) separate ourselves from sin. The result will be a life of joy, knowing that we are good and our life is well-pleasing to God through Christ. We then know we have full access to the very presence of God without shame or disgrace!