- 34. Sin Purged
Isaiah 22:14 And it was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord God of hosts.
Why does sin remain with us and continue in us until we die? We don’t really know a satisfactory answer to this question, but we do know that when we die sin will be finally purged. It takes death to fully and finally purge sin from our presence, and then we will live without the presence of sin as we live in God’s glorious presence forever. If we live without sin then we will also live without the consequences of sin; and the consequences of sin are many. We live with the suffering, pain, trouble, anxiety, etc., etc., as long as we are alive on earth. We long for that day when the Lord God Himself wipes all tears away personally.
The promise of living free from the presence and power of sin is held before us all through our lives. We have already received the promise of forgiveness of sin, and the penalty of sin has been forever removed (death is no more); in place of the penalty of sin comes the righteousness of God and life eternal. We are already in possession of forgiveness and life even before we die. And in addition, we have the sure promise of complete freedom from the presence and power of sin ever again; but we have to wait until we die to receive that. This is the “purging.” Inherent in this promise is that there will be no purgatory to endure before entering heaven. The cleansing has already taken place by death, the death of the Son of God. The purging by the Blood will take final effect by death, our own death. It is when we die that “we will be changed.” The resurrection of the body changes us into a new body that is absolutely without sin forever.
We are still left with the question: Why doesn’t the Lord just take us to heaven as soon as we are saved? God has his reasons, but He has left us with this promise: Your sin will be purged from you when you die.