Are you trying to clean yourself up for God?

Editor’s note: This is a reprinted column from Jack Purcell’s “On the Journey” archives. It originally appeared in The Star in 2013.

Cleaning yourself up for God is a completely unnecessary and futile act on the part of the believer and the unbeliever alike.

Years ago, I was talking to a man about the condition of his soul. He insisted he had to change his behavior before he could commit himself to Christ. I assured him that not only was it unnecessary, but it was also impossible.

If you could cleanse yourself enough to be acceptable to God you wouldn’t need him. Jesus died for the sins of mankind, but not to start a religious club of scrubbed up people trying to act like “Christians.”

Unfortunately, I have heard this reasoning many times over the years from people who resisted or rejected Christ. It would be convenient to think that it comes from ignorance of the Scripture, but more than likely it comes from a desire to stay in control of one’s own life. Most people want to be Lord of their manor.

When it comes to Christians, however, the issue becomes a little more complex. There is no way to delve into the issue deeply in the space of this column so let’s take just a brief look into it.

If you were raised by a mother who was a travel agent for guilt trips you may spend time trying to avoid God if you know you have sinned. An extension of the idea that if mother was good with a switch, God will be good with a rod. Guilt is a strong motivator, but for the followers of Jesus it is misguided at best.

If Jesus died for our sins and has forgiven our sins then it does not set well with God for us to go around beating ourselves up for literally no reason. It’s an insult to the Savior to intimate that his work on Calvary was not quite adequate and complete.

The Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Grace puts an end to all cleanup projects. There is nothing we can do to make ourselves more acceptable to God. He is the one who cleans us up and he does it in his own way and in his own time.

Any effort to make ourselves more acceptable to God cannot work because in the flesh we just love ourselves too much to make the necessary changes. Cleaned up flesh is no more acceptable to God than the stinky variety.

Ultimately, we are to rest in what God is doing in us, cleaning us up to his specifications. He is committed to the task.

The Message Bible says it like this from Philippians 1:6 “There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.”

So put away all your spiritual cleaning apparatus and leave it to God. He is quite capable of cleaning you up.