THE GUILTY STAINS

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Long ago you broke off your yoke and tore off your bonds; you said, ‘I will not serve you!’”

“Indeed, on every high hill and under every spreading tree, you lay down as a prostitute. I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock. How then did you turn against Me into a corrupt, wild vine? Although you wash yourself with soap and use an abundance of cleansing powder, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,” declares the Sovereign Lord.

“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? See how you behaved in the valley; consider what you have done. You are a swift she-camel running here and there, a wild donkey accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind in her craving—in her heat who can restrain her? Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves; at mating time they will find her.”

“Do not run until your feet are bare and your throat is dry. But you said, ‘It’s no use! I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’”

Jeremiah 2:20-25

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It’s hard to find absolutes in life until we look to the word of God where they are plentiful. Here’s one our scripture passage calls us to focus on today:

We are all guilty of committing sin.

There is no arguing this fact. You may want to try and deny it away but the truth is that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). There is no one righteous, not one (Romans 3:10), and thus there is no one that is in good standing with God. Their guilty stains of sin set them aside for God’s judgment and wrath and with this, no one has a chance to live beyond the worldly existence they enjoy.

As we look at the Israelite people in Jeremiah 2, we find them facing the same harsh reality. As they broke the yoke and bonds to God, they blatantly chose to chase after their own desires and directly disobey God by worshiping false gods. Look at our scripture again here:

“Long ago you broke off your yoke and tore off your bonds; you said, ‘I will not serve you!’”

“Indeed, on every high hill and under every spreading tree, you lay down as a prostitute. I had planted you like a choice vine of sound and reliable stock. How then did you turn against Me into a corrupt, wild vine? Although you wash yourself with soap and use an abundance of cleansing powder, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,” declares the Sovereign Lord.

“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not run after the Baals’? See how you behaved in the valley; consider what you have done. You are a swift she-camel running here and there, a wild donkey accustomed to the desert, sniffing the wind in her craving—in her heat who can restrain her? Any males that pursue her need not tire themselves; at mating time they will find her.”

“Do not run until your feet are bare and your throat is dry. But you said, ‘It’s no use! I love foreign gods, and I must go after them.’”  Jeremiah 2:20-25

God had given His people all they could ever ask for, providing for their needs and protecting them from their enemies. All He asked in return was that they remain as faithful to Him as He was to them. Unfortunately, they didn’t hold their side of the bargain. Instead, they decided to turn away from God to worship and love false gods like Baal, defiling themselves to a point where they could not remove the guilty stains of their transgressions when before their Lord. No amount of labor from bathing and washing could make the people clean again and free from God’s consequences.

Going back to our present condition, we are just like the people of Israel were before God, stained by our sins so badly that we cannot possibly wash them away. We, like them, stand before God condemned to receive His penalties if it weren’t for one major advantage we have that the Israelites did not.

For we have Jesus.

You see Jesus is the difference maker, the only One who can wash away our guilty sin stains and make us white as snow when we appear before God to be held accountable for our iniquities. The blood Jesus shed on Calvary’s cross isn’t a blood that stains but rather a blood that cleanses, a blood that helps us to where we are justified before God (made as if we had never sinned).

This is because Jesus already bore the penalty for our sins. He received the punishment we deserved and in doing so, purchased our pardon. All we need to do is place our belief, faith, and trust in Him as Savior.

Friend, have you accepted Jesus as Savior in your life? Have you gladly received His salvation offer?

If so, then your guilty stains are gone and you are set free to serve Him and others, ever seeking His will and way until that day when He calls you home to live with Him forever.

If you have yet to accept Jesus, please do so today. For you are not pardoned from your transgressions and are marked for God’s wrath and eternal damnation when Jesus returns to claim those who are His. Change the ending of your life story today and be cleansed by the blood of Jesus as He washes away all your guilty stains forever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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