Those are the famous words of Shakespeare’s leading character from “Macbeth,” quoting Lady Macbeth dealing with the damning guilt she suffered after she and her husband conspired to brutally stab and kill their regal friend, Duncan. The play is a commentary on mankind’s dilemma, brought on by our plunge into sin in the Garden, when Adam and Eve believed Satan’s lie and disobeyed God’s command, all the while thinking that to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would make them like God. The opposite occurred, and they immediately knew that their souls were stained with a guilt that no amount of human effort could solve. The shedding of the blood of an innocent lamb was God’s answer to the guilty pair, and to mankind, foreshadowing the coming of “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)
Jesus, in His lengthy Sermon on the Mount, said plainly that those who are of a pure heart would see God. (Matt. 5:8) Centuries earlier, the Psalmist had declared (by the Spirit) that those who hoped to stand in the presence of God were those with “clean hands and a pure heart.” (Ps. 24:4) Purity of heart and hands can only come through the cleansing power of the blood of Christ. As the hymn says: “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” It is the blood of Jesus, shed on Calvary, that “keeps on cleansing us from all sin and all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:7-9) This supernatural, grace-provided cleansing is a necessity for enjoying God’s presence.
It is also a must for enjoying the peace of God, peace that provides believers with full assurance as we approach Him in humility by grace, and peace that gives us a clean and clear conscience before a God who is “Holy, Holy, Holy.” “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:22) Lady Macbeth tried in vain to cleanse her hands, bloodied by the murder of a friend. But only the pure water of God’s washing Word could have brought true cleansing to her heart.
And, too, a pure heart—through the cleansing of the Spirit—is necessary for the enjoyment of God’s people, in love that is true in motive, message, manners, and methods. Peter calls it an “unfeigned love of the brethren.” (I Pet.1:22) Not a shallow relationship disguised as love, changing with circumstances or conditions, but a love that has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. (Romans 5:5)
A heart made pure from the soul’s stain of sin enables us now—in Christ, as new creations—to enjoy His presence, His peace which passeth all understanding (Phil.4:7), and His people in a communion of unfeigned love. All of which money cannot buy, and none of which can be achieved by the interminable “washing of one’s hands with soap” to wipe out the damnable spots of sin.
To God be the glory for the pure hearts that the cleansing of the blood of His Lamb provides!
“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Thy Word.” (Ps.119:9)
YOU and GOD 