Whether "purify us from all unrighteousness" means totally forgive our sinful behavior or whether it suggests the further step of cleansing our personality of the presence of sin is not clear. Experience tells us that a forthright confession of a particular sinful behavior brings a forgiveness and a cleansing of conscience that sometimes we can even feel. Also, we seem to gain the upper hand over the sin and with some determination we can overcome it from that point forward.

It is not always true however that the presence of the tendency toward that sinful behavior is removed totally. We have to be on our guard that we do not fall into it again.

Speaking from some fifty years of experience with moral deliverance we can testify that some moral bondages, upon being confessed, seem to leave with such clarity and force that even the urge is almost totally banished. Certainly the fiery strength of the sin has been quenched. In other instances a guard has to be posted continually to make certain this particular snake does not rear its head again. Perhaps the difference in the degree of deliverance depends on the individual personality, or on other frailties that have not surfaced as yet.

As we said before, we must keep a clear distinction in our mind between forgiving the guilt of our sin and removing the compulsion to sin. Otherwise we cannot possibly think clearly about what takes place under the new covenant.

It seems to me that at the present time, in Christian teaching in America, the teaching that Jesus takes away our sin almost always refers to the forgiving of our sin. The removal of the urge to sin or the presence of sin seems to be relegated to another age. Someone said, "After we are raptured God will remove our sin." I would like to know the Bible basis for this statement!

A Move Forward in the Kingdom of God

"See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, (Malachi 3:1-3—NIV)

I think the passage above has to do with the day in which we are living. It is an example of some of the statements found in the Scriptures that are hard to understand or place until they happen. It is difficult to know in advance what is being referred to. But I believe the event set forth in Malachi is occurring today and we actually are in a specific move forward in the Kingdom of God.

To be continued.