Cleansed and Renewed

May 5, 2017 (Friday)
Ben Loring, Sr. and Ben Loring, Jr. are preachers of the gospel, and I am happy to be known as their friend. Ben Sr. served in World War II, and sometimes related war experiences in his sermons. He is now at home with the Lord. One memory of his was very descriptive and helpful. Without going into details of the horrors of war, he related that in Italy he and his fellow soldiers went for six weeks without a bath. Then one day, as they advanced and the enemy retreated, they found themselves in a quiet place where there was a pond of water. He and his buddies dived into the water and he got his much desired bath. He wrote to his wife, Gertrude, “Gertie, I got clean again!” He said it was a marvelous feeling that he will never forget.
Then, of course, Ben the preacher told the congregation about cleansing from sin.
I don’t remember everything he then said, but no doubt he quoted from 1 John 1:9, ” If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
One of the great invitations in the Bible can be found in Isaiah 1:18, “”Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.” So the Lord not only promises cleansing, He also promises to restore us to a “like-new” condition. That promise is amplified in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
God promises cleansing and renewal. A second chance. A new start. It’s such a drastic action of God in our hearts that it is described as being “born again” (John 3:7).