Sermon for Saturday
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. John 15:3
A hymn writer called James Martin Grey wrote a lovely hymn called ‘Only a Sinner, Saved by Grace’. When we consider what we once were, and where we were once bound, and how much we deserved condemnation, we are amazed at the grace of God. That so much was spent by our Saviour to rescue so little is beyond our understanding. With a clear title to a mansion in Glory, we rejoice every day at our salvation, and pause frequently to thank our Lord for ever loving us and giving Himself for us. We know our faults and shortcomings, as well as the deep need for our Lord’s loving care and the support of fellow believers. Our awareness of the sinfulness of our flesh causes us to acknowledge as we look in the mirror that we are looking at a sinner saved by grace. But let us also never forget that God does not view us that way!
Where in your Bible do you find a mention of a saved person being referred to as a sinner? We are referred to as saved, as believers, as Christians, as saints, but never as sinners. Yes, we too often sin, but God calls us saints. Yes, we encounter temptations and backslidings, but God calls us His children. Yes, we often fail to grasp the truths of Scripture that we should be dwelling on, but God calls us believers. Yes, we neglect to thank our Saviour as we should for all that He has done for us, but God calls us Christians. Our text reminds us of the reason that God does not view us as sinners; the Lord Jesus has cleansed us.
Many of us know Christians who live in fear of losing their salvation. They have been taught that they must somehow endure or hold onto what God has given them. They fail to grasp the significance of Jesus’ words: Ye are clean. When we trusted Him, He did not remove some, or even most, of our sins. He took them all away, praise His Holy Name! Another hymn writer – Napoleon B. Vandall – tells us: ‘My sins are gone. They’re underneath the blood at the cross of Calvary, as far removed as darkness is from dawn. In the sea of God’s forgetfulness, that’s good enough for me. Praise God, my sins are gone.’ The words to that lovely hymn should remind us that our standing before God is as cleaned saints, no longer sinners.
The God who knows our shortcomings better than we do ourselves is willing to declare us clean. This should thrill our souls, and cause us to live according to our standing as His saints. – Jim MacIntosh