Red Like Crimson

Have you ever attempted to take a piece of crimson or scarlet colored material and try to dye it white? It is impossible! You can never get out all that dark red color. It is a permanent stain. We sing a song: "Jesus Paid It All". The words of the chorus say this: "Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow." Isaiah spoke the words, "'Come now, and let us reason together,' says the Lord, 'Though your sins are scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool."' (Isa. 1:18)

When we we sing such songs or read such Scriptures, it should remind us that we cannot get rid of the stain of sin on our own efforts. Not matter how good one tries to be, how many 'good deeds' you try to do in the name of the Lord, you cannot remove the crimson stain of our ungodliness! People believe if they follow correct rituals in worship, live good lives for the Lord and just be a good person, they will be right with God! That is a self-deceived person.

Only in Christ Jesus can ones sinful stains be washed white as snow! It takes the blood, the blood of Jesus to make us completely clean and white in His sight. The blood of Jesus can take a scarlet stain, sin filled person that is defiled and make the white and pure in the presence of a pure and holy God. In Christ Jesus, the horrible, worst kind of filth we can think of is cleansed. The defiling stain is removed.

That leads me to one question: Do you ever wonder why some can never forgive another? Why do people carry disdain for others who have hurt or offended them? Because they think they believe they are justified and pure in their own eyes and look at the defilement and filth in the life of the one they hold contempt for. In other words, they do not see the cross, the death of Jesus on their behalf, they only see the stain of the other while ignoring their own sinful, unforgiving attitude. What is worse, the one refusing to forgive is stained!

It was so fitting that Jesus had a scarlet robe placed on Him during His sufferings (Matt. 27:28). "Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow."