Salvation and the Cleansing of Sin

Man does not inherit the guilt of sin as he does the color in his eyes. Man was not born a sinner as many teach. Yet man does sin. The Bible affirms this truth, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). If there were no remedy for this awful sin then all would be doomed to eternal damnation, for “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

While there is no escape from physical death, there is an escape from the final separation from God and the Bible alone supplies that information. The Bible is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the apostle Paul wrote: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek” (Romans 1:16). If we would ever hope to have eternal salvation in Jesus, then we better open up the Gospel of Christ and read what we must do in order to be saved. So many say they believe in God, Jesus, Death, Heaven, and even Hell. Yet these same individuals do not open up the Word of God to find out what God has directed for them to do in this life, in order to be saved! The Bible tells us to “lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21).

The Bible is available, and it is the complete and perfect guide which supplies our needs for salvation. Creeds, manuals, prayer-books, catechism, disciplines and the like are completely unnecessary and are in fact additions to God’s Word. The Bible is God’s book, and every other book is man’s book. We must make the right decision in this life in order to gain eternal salvation. Will it be God’s book, the Bible, or the creeds of man? 

"Cleanliness is next to Godliness" it is said. This has been said with reference to the cleanliness of the body or physical surrounding. But we might say in matters that are spiritual, "Cleanliness IS Godliness". For when one is cleansed from sin, he is godly. Just as water is a cleansing agent for the filth of the flesh, just so there is a cleansing agent for the sins of man. That agent is the blood of Christ. Listen to the Bible as it says: “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:12-14).

But how is it that we gain such spiritual cleansing? The Bible says: “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you” (John 15:3). In order for us to become clean spiritually, we must then obey the words of Christ. It is the Words of Christ that tell us of his saving blood and when we are baptized into the death of Christ, we have our sins washed in the blood of the lamb. The Bible says: “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection” (Romans 6:3-5).

We cannot be saved without the blood of Christ, and we cannot be saved without His Word. It is through the Bible, the complete and perfect guide, that we learn that it is through the blood of Christ that we are cleansed from sin. All that will truly matter when we die is that we have been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins and have lived a life pleasing to God so that we can gain eternal life. Please let the Bible guide your steps (Jeremiah 10:23).