The Vanishing Stain

I had a wonderful Bible College Professor, John Stephenson who greeted every class with a cheery, "Good morning, Saints!". This served to remind us that we are no longer sinners lost in this world, rather - we are the redeemed, bought with a price and are seen by God as Justified by Christ.

what does it take to wash the stain?

There are times though when we feel more like sinners than the saints we are supposed to be. Why is it that, though sanctified by the Holy Spirit we still sin? Though set free, we go back to jail - even if we are "just visiting"? Though justified, at times we think "Just-if-I'd" do this / not do that - no one will notice, it's really no big deal. We already have been made right in God's eyes, but not yet do we always do right.

This past week I had the opportunity to lead our church's mid-week children's program. I love doing this; I enjoy the interaction with the kids, my heart melts as they worship Him, and my heart is ignited while teaching them the truths in God's Word. This week, one of the teaching tools was an object lesson intended to show the power of forgiveness. I practiced this small "experiment" prior to the lesson, but was largely unsuccessful. It involved a glass of water, red food colouring, and bleach. As I spoke about our lives (the glass of water), I mentioned the decisions we make, the things we do that are sins that change our lives, staining us and making us dirty. I let a drop of red food colouring splash into glass and it slowly distorted and stained the water. Then came the moment of truth - I poured in the bleach as I talked about Christ's work on the cross. His shed blood that takes away our sin, his forgiveness washing out our stain. Problem was, the food colouring was still there. A little muted perhaps, diminished by degrees, but definitely there. I quickly transitioned focus from the experiment to the truth of God's word and moved on to the next activity in another room. 15 minutes later, we came back to the main area where the object lesson was and one of the kids ran up and held up the glass and said, "look, it's clear!". I was reminded of the truth of what we already are, but have not yet realized. The bleach was already poured in, but it's effects were not fully realized until later.

Yes, there are times when we fail, fall, and come short of the mark. There are times when what God sees because of Jesus' work on the cross is a gross misrepresentation of what we really are. This whole "Already/Not yet" tension can be frustrating in many ways, but I am thankful. We are already justified, but not yet glorified - already purified, but not yet perfect - already sanctified, but not yet impeccable. I cannot wait for that day when the corruptible is made incorruptible, mortality will be clothed with immortality on that glorious day of His appearing! Grace is truly amazing, totally undeserved, and abundantly poured out on whosoever will believe. Thank you Lord for the vanishing stain.