Topic(s):  Bible Study, Forgiveness, God's Mercy

Bob Prichard

We know that Christ gave himself for the church, which is His body. Paul wrote that the Father “hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23). He advised husbands, “love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-27). In 1 Corinthians 12:12, Paul says that Christians are members of the body of Christ, “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.”

Christians become members of that one body by being baptized into Christ, “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27). It is in baptism that the penitent believer makes contact with the cleansing blood of Christ, which was shed in His death on the cross. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection” (Romans 6:3-5). Because of His sacrifice, and our obedience to Him, “being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (Romans 5:9). Having obeyed the gospel of Christ, our sins are forgiven.

Since even the best of us are sinful, and continue to sin, how could Christians be the sinless body of Christ? We know that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), and “the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). How can we then be the desired “glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle” spoken of in Ephesians 5:27?

The key is in what He has done for us, and how we respond. In our initial obedience to the gospel of Christ, we make contact with that cleansing blood of Christ, and our sins are washed away. Then we choose the relationship we will have with Him. “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:6-9). As we continue to walk in the light, the cleansing power of the blood of Christ makes us pure, without spot or wrinkle. Because of the grace of God shown through Christ, we stand justified before the Father as the sinless body of Christ.