Unclean (Romans 4-7)

There are some incredible parts to Romans, but one of the most incredible parts to me is when Paul reminds us that Christ died for us while we were still sinners.  Though seemingly unimportant, that simple truth reveals the extent of Christ's love as well as His attitude towards us.  Working in the church, I hear a lot of comments about God from people, and one that always gets me is the need to get "cleaned up" spiritually before coming to church.  Here's the thing: if we could get cleaned up on our own then we wouldn't need Christ!  That's why He died!  It's okay to start off as unclean because He changes all of that for us; it's not something we can do on our own.  Jesus died for us knowing that we were sinners, not with the false belief that we were all perfect – that's what's so amazing about the Gospel!  He accepts us for who we are, but He loves us so much that He enables us to change.  But the change can't happen on our own; it has to happen with His help.  We can't make ourselves clean… we have to rely on His death to do that job.