PURIFIED / SPOTLESS / REFINED

 

Write From My Heart

September 9, 2021

PURIFIED freed from guilt, sin, etc.

SPOTLESS without flaw

REFINED made free from impurities

Daniel 12:8-10 (NIV) I heard, but I did not understand. So I asked, “My lord, what will the outcome of all this be?” He replied, “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand.”

            Reading and studying books of prophecy have always intrigued me but at that same time are always challenging to grasp. I am confident there are multitudes of Bible scholars who have far greater knowledge than anything I could write. However I do know one thing as I look over the book of Daniel—even he (some 2,500+ years ago) had questions and sought answers to what the end times would be. Ask the risk of oversimplification, God’s answer was quite simply that Daniel should go about his business and leave the timing up to the Almighty as in, “Don’t worry about it, I’ve got everything under control.” However, God did give Daniel a snippet of understanding what would take place in the end times. Many will be saved. Many will remain in their wickedness.

            Today, my focus is what it means to be saved—truly saved. Too many of us focus on our flaws and harbor guilt over past mistakes. All the I-should’ve and I-could’ve thoughts keep our minds restless. If you truly believe…

Romans 3:23 …all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 10:9-10 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified (just-as-if-I’d-never-sinned), and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

Romans 10:13 Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

…then you also believe…

Isaiah 1:18-19 Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient…

Isaiah 44:22 I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.

Psalm 103:10-12 …he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

…and if you believe all of this, then you have understanding. You understand that you are freed from your guilt over past sins. You understand that your heart and mind no longer carry the scars of old flaws. You understand that you are free from all the old impurities that try to haunt you each day. Today is a new day. You can make of it what you will. Serve God each new day with the understanding that you are forgiven and you no longer need to revisit the past. You only need to follow the advice given to Daniel:

Daniel 12:13 (NLT) “As for you, go your way until the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days, you will rise again to receive the inheritance set aside for you.”