Clean in Christ

Check out the laws concerning leprosy in Leviticus 13. The one having as much as a spot on his body infected with the disease was to be pronounced UNCLEAN by the priest. But the one whose body was covered ENTIRELY from head to foot by the disease with no area untouched was to be pronounced CLEAN! See Leviticus 13:

“And if leprosy breaks out all over the skin, and the leprosy covers all the skin of the one who has the sore, from his head to his foot, wherever the priest looks, 13 then the priest shall consider; and indeed if the leprosy has covered all his body, he shall pronounce him clean who has the sore. It has all turned white. He is clean."

This is a picture of how our High Priest, Jesus Christ pronounces righteousness on all who come to Him seeing themselves as sinners through and through. When you say "Lord Jesus, I am a sinner through and through. There is no good in me. Help me Lord," you are confessing your sins. You are saying what Paul said of himself in Romans 7:18- "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh;" When you come to Him in this manner, Christ forgives you and cleanses you of all of your unrighteousness as it is written in 1 John 1:8-9:

"If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

The word "confess" here is the Greek word "omologōmen" which means "to speak the same, to agree." Please check it out on your own because many are using this verse to, intentionally or otherwise, keep people under condemnation. When you "confess" your sins, it means you are in agreement with God that you are a sinner and believe His word: "There is none righteous, no not one."

Many people misninterpret this "confess" to mean "catch every sin that you commit and confess it, or else God will not forgive you." Hebrews 10:12 says the payment for our sins was a one time affair, "good for all time." In Christ, you are not righteous only until your next sin. His gift of righteousness is everlasting and apart from works. Were it not for the gift of righteousness that we have in Christ, we would be no less unclean than the vilest offender, no matter how "good" we try to be.

Before our High Priest, the status of the one who feels that he is still 99% good and just 1% not-okay because he is doing his best to keep the law and not committing particular sins is no different from that of the leper with just a spot of leprosy on his skin: UNCLEAN, "For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands..." Romans 3:20. Also see v.27-28:

"Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law."

Believers, believe right. This is how we are made righteous in the sight of God: "For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous." Romans 5:19. Nothing to do with our good works and law-keeping prowess. All to do with our Abba Father who "made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21.

With the abundance of God's grace and His gift of righteousness in Christ, you cannot but live in triumph over sin and death (all the stages of death that we were condemned to die as a result of Adam's sin: condemnation-fear-stress- ageing-sickness-physical death and finally the second death.) See how we have this victory in Romans 5:17-

"For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."