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Explore the Bible Lesson for Aug. 13: The Cleansing
Emily Carter, member, University Hills Baptist Church, Charlotte
July 25, 2017
2 MIN READ TIME

Explore the Bible Lesson for Aug. 13: The Cleansing

Explore the Bible Lesson for Aug. 13: The Cleansing
Emily Carter, member, University Hills Baptist Church, Charlotte
July 25, 2017

Focal Passage: Psalm 32:1-11

There is great contrast between righteousness and sinfulness. Last spring I asked a group of middle schoolers to make a list of sins and ungodly traits from Romans 1:29-31 and write down the opposite characteristics. For instance, in the left column they wrote the words evil, greed and envy. Correspondingly on the right side they wrote the words good, generous and delight. They then threw away the list of sinful behaviors and posted the godly ones on the wall because we wanted to confess our sins to God and remember that He removes them as far as the east is from the west.

Psalm 32:1-4 shows the contrast between the one who has brought his sin before the Lord and the one who is still holding on to it. There are few things worse than knowing you have sin in your life and continuing to hold on to it. Living with sin will drain a person’s energy, keep one from experiencing peace, reaching his or her full potential and will cause a stunt in spiritual growth. Freedom comes the moment the sin cycle is broken and confession is made to the Lord. One can almost hear the excitement in David’s voice in Psalm 32:5 “Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’ – and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”

We do not need to run from God when our sin is made known to us, instead we need to run to God, for His word promises protection, deliverance and wise counsel. Imagine if we took our temptations to Jesus and sought out His help before we sinned.
If we confess our sins He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9).

Because of Jesus we are made righteous and may rejoice in the LORD and be glad.