WHITER
THAN SNOW
Redemption is a “once for all” transaction where a sinner is
washed in the blood of the Lamb of God who was slain for our sins. But in this
world, we will do things and go places that will stain our hands and feet, so
we need regular and frequent cleansing to keep us in fellowship with the Lord.
He is holy and He commands us to be holy.
If you were a child in the mid-1900s, you probably remember
Fizzies. They were little, colored seltzer tablets that we would drop into a
glass of water and then watch them fizz up. When the tablets were completely
dissolved, they turned plain tap water into tasty, carbonated soft drinks. They
came in seven flavors: grape, orange, cherry, lemon-lime, strawberry, cola, and my favorite, root beer. By the early 1960s, Fizzies were more popular than
Kool-Aid®.
One day, when I was about eight years old, my Mom left me at
home with my grandfather. It was a summer day, and I wanted a Fizzie soft drink
so I asked him if I could go to the market and get some. He said no!
Well, I pouted about that for a while until I found some
coins on my mom’s nightstand. So, I took a quarter (that was equivalent to
about $2.50 today). I sneaked off down the street to the market and I bought
some root beer Fizzies. They sure tasted good.
When my mother got home from work, she found the Fizzies
wrappers in the trash can and asked me how I got them. I told her Grandpa gave
me the money. She didn’t question me anymore and I thought I got away with
that, but I really didn’t. She knew that I lied to her. Even though she never
said anything else about it, I knew she was disappointed with me (I could tell
by the silent treatment) and I carried the guilt of that sin for a long time.
Finally, after several days, I confessed; I lied to her, I
took her money, and I disobeyed my Grandfather. That’s when she forgave me, she
smiled and hugged me, she told me she loved me, and our relationship was
restored.
That heavy, guilty feeling I had, is called conviction.
That’s the way the Spirit of God works in our lives. He is like a mother with
eyes in the back of her head; she sees everything, and she knows what you did,
and she will make your life miserable until you are sorry and corrected.
When we sin, the Holy Spirit relentlessly chases and
chastens us until we are grieved so much that we are brought to a place of
confession and repentance.
And that work of the Spirit, in us, is evidence of true
salvation. It is one way a believer can know that he is saved. If you are not
miserable about your sin; if you can ignore the pleas from other Christians, to
stop, and if you can quench or silence the Spirit and continue to sin, it is
possible that you may not have the Spirit of God in you and there is good
reason to question the reality of your salvation.
When David sinned, he felt that same guilty feeling of
conviction and he recorded his confession and repentance for us in Psalm 51
which was the inspiration for James Nicholson’s hymn, WHITER THAN SNOW.
In the Psalm, we see that David is deeply troubled by his
sin. He knew that there would be no forgiveness from God without his confession
and so, he is pleading with the Lord, “Have mercy upon me, O God, Blot out my
transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my
sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
Against You, and You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight.”
Then, after admitting his sin, David asked God for His
forgiveness and a restoration of their fellowship; Wash me, and I shall be WHITER
THAN SNOW.
