“Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.” – John 15:3
Do you believe this? Deep within your heart and soul, do you truly believe this about yourself? Do you believe that you are clean? If you’ve embraced Jesus as your Lord then this is true and you need to let this truth soak into your soul.
Though we can readily agree that we’re saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ and admit that we contribute nothing to our salvation, we can still struggle to fully embrace this truth. Many Christians do. Though we can intellectually agree that we’re new creations in Christ when we believe in Him, we can struggle to really understand and accept how God sees us. We can waste our lives beating ourselves up about our past, held back by our self-image as filthy, ashamed, and unworthy. Though we can say and sing of how the blood of Jesus washes us clean of sin, we often still think of ourselves as dirty because we vividly remember our past mistakes, sins, guilt, and shame.
If you’ve embraced Christ, then your past is truly washed clean. You really are a new creation in Him. You really are clean in God’s eyes. You won’t make yourself more clean or more worthy by continuing to think or speak badly of yourself because of that past that Jesus died to wipe clean. Embrace this truth. Speak this truth to yourself every time you start to think harshly about yourself. Meditate on all that Jesus did for you on the cross to make you fully, completely, absolutely clean.
As you come to more fully believe and understand that you really are clean, this truth will fill your soul with joy and delight in God’s amazing grace that makes you clean. Accepting the cleanness you already have in Christ will set you free from the self-administered prison of the past that you may have locked yourself in. Accepting the cleanness you already have in Christ empowers you to live a life of extraordinary fruitfulness in Christ Who made you clean. So, honestly, do you KNOW that you’re clean because of Christ?