Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins (Hebrews 9:14 NLT).

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Have you ever tried to get a stain out of something, but no matter how hard you tried it just wouldn’t come out? What about a hole you tried to sew up that just kept ripping? My mom sometimes rescued those outfits by using some sort of fabric or patch to cover the problem. It worked well enough. The stain was covered, the outfit was wearable, and all was well – on the outside anyway. But in reality, the issue was still there, and it was only a matter of time before the cover wore off and exposed the spot.  

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This is a lot like our lives. We try so hard to “cover up” the spots of sin guilting us or weighing us down. We strive to fix the problem with a temporary solution, believing it will somehow atone for whatever we’re trying to erase. It’s like in Macbeth, where despite their best efforts, the characters couldn’t remove the imaginary blood stains from their hands. They tried in vain to remove the “spots” of guilt consuming them until they went crazy with the inability to clear their conscience. Shakespeare used the perceived blood stains to symbolize guilt that couldn’t be erased just by trying harder to rub out the stains. Some things require restitution and a more permanent solution.  

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Hebrews 9 speaks to this reality by contrasting the old sacrificial system of repetitive atonement for sins with the permanent solution found in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When Jesus became our perfect lamb, the price of sin was delivered in full. He became our complete and final restitution. He accomplished what no ritual, religious practice, sacrifice, or mere human effort ever could – a once and for all atonement for our sins. This means Jesus did the cleansing. All of our efforts to clean ourselves up before coming to God “good enough” are fruitless because the work of restoration has already been done. Hebrews 9:14 says, “the blood of Christ will purify our consciences” (NLT). This means we don’t have to continue living in shame. We don’t have to replay our failures, or question our worth, or try to prove ourselves worthy of God’s love. The Bible says that God first loved us (1 John 4:19), and because He loved us, He came to us and became the atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10). You are not defined by past sins because you have been made new by the blood of Christ.  

Do you live as someone washed clean by the blood of Christ, or are you still striving to “earn” what He’s already offering you? What things are you still trying to cover up or patch over when the price has already been paid to release you from that shame? You will make yourself crazy trying in vain to scrub away guilt from past choices. Jesus gave His life to break the cycles of guilt and shame – to offer you forgiveness and freedom. This morning, I encourage you to stop trusting in your own efforts and start trusting in God. What is one thing you can confess or lay to rest today, believing God has already done the work and sees you as forgiven? If that thing tries to pop back into your mind today, remind yourself you’re a new creation whose sins have been washed away once and for all. The cycle of guilt and shame ended with the cross.