Removing Stains
In a sermon delivered by the late, great Haddon Robinson, he spoke about the stain of sin and its remedy. While the exact text is not currently available, the following is inspired by various accounts of Robinson’s sermon entitled The Stain of Sin::
Consumer Reports magazine once published a booklet with an intriguing title: How to Clean Practically Anything. The book offered advice on which solvents work best for removing all kinds of stains. Since my clothes often get stained, I really appreciated that book.
Did you know that glycerin can remove ballpoint ink stains? Boiling water can take out berry stains. Parents with young children should keep a gallon of vinegar handy for crayon marks. Bleach works well on mildew. Lemon juice is effective for rust.
I haven’t tried all of these remedies myself, but I figure the experts tested them first.
What you won’t find in that book, however, is how to deal with the worst stains of all—the stains in your life caused by sin. These are the deep, ugly marks left by hostile words and shameful actions. Tears cannot wash them away. Determination cannot erase them. Sometimes we convince ourselves that as life goes on, our sins will simply fade away. Yet unexpectedly, those stains seep back into our lives.
Robinson concludes,
The Bible tells us what we truly need: 'And the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin' (1 John 1:7). That is the only powerful remedy.
Just as every stain requires the right solvent, every sin requires the only effective remedy—Jesus’ blood. We may try to “scrub” our lives with good works, willpower, or time, but none of those can remove the guilt and shame that sin leaves behind. Only Christ can wash us clean.
So when we feel weighed down by past mistakes or ongoing struggles, the application is simple but powerful: bring your stains to Him. Confess honestly, receive His forgiveness, and walk in the freedom of a cleansed heart.
Every day is an opportunity to live in that freedom—no longer defined by old stains, but by the purity and grace that Christ gives.
"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin" (Psalm 51:1-2, NIV).
Brush Your Teeth and Cleanse Your Sin
Imagine, you've just awakened and you feel that yucky, pasty film in your mouth. Morning breath! Everybody gets it. Everybody hates it. You can't even think of kissing your spouse good morning until you make a beeline for the bathrrom to brush your teeth.
Why? Because brushing your teeth will clean your mouth and freshen your breath. Right? Well, your breath might smell fresher, and your teeth might appear cleaner, but are they really?
Take a look at the image below. It is a single "used" bristle from a toothbrush. THIS is what you are using to "clean" your teeth.
Yuck! Turns out we are using dirty, germy utensils to clean our dirty, germy teeth.
Well, it might not be a perfect method, but when it comes to teeth, it's the best system we have to work with.
Ok, so our teeth won't be perfectly clean. They'll at least appear to be clean.
But when it comes to our sin, the appearance of clean just won't cut it.
Our sin needs an utter scrubbing, a complete bleaching, a total cleansing. This can't be accomplished by our own efforts! We, ourselves, are soiled and unclean. You can't scrub filth with filth. You can't cleanse away sin with a dirty rag. Oh, we might do a good job of appearing to be clean (holy). But it's just a facade.
Nothing short of the perfect cleansing of sin by the blood of our Perfect Savior can genuinely wash away our sin and shame. In the words of the old, classic hymn:
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Stop trying to whitewash your sin with your own good efforts. That sparkling white smile won't fool the Savior.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9, ESV).
"He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5, ESV).
"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10, ESV).
World's Dirtiest Man Dies at Age 94
Amou Haji, dubbed “The World’s Dirtiest Man” died at the age of 94 in his native town of Dejgah, Iran, on October 23, 2022. Haji’s claim to fame? Not bathing for over 60 yrs!
He was a hermit, living alone in an ash covered, cinder block shack. It is reported by locals that he survived by eating roadkill and smoking animal feces in a pipe, all the while believing that bathing would make him ill.
Amazingly, Haji lived a long and mostly healthy life. Until, that is, locals finally convinced him to bathe and seek medical examination. A few short months later, Haji grew ill and died.
No, bathing did not kill Haji, as some have speculated, but neither did it save him. He was an old man. Death comes to us all, regardless of our personal hygiene habits.
There is a sense in which we all have much more in common with Haji than just our inevitable mortality. The truth is, spiritually speaking, that we are all filthy. No amount of soap and water can wash away the sin that soils, defiles, and darkens our souls.
Yet unlike the ineffectual soap and water the locals used to try to cleanse Haji from his filthy past, there is a washing and renewing which can not only cleanse us from our past, but also grant us ultimate spiritual health and eternal life.
As the beloved hymn so accurately proclaims, “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!”
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5, NKJV).
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7, ESV).
“How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:14, NIV).