Focus: You're Spotless

Text: S. of Sol.4:7

"Thou art all fair, my love; there is NO SPOT in thee."

That's the way God sees you. Song of Solomon is a book about passionate love between a lover and his beloved. True lovers see and build on their strengths and beauty while frankly dealing with their weaknesses. What is interesting is that Christ, our lover, has no iota of imperfection in Him. No spot or blemish is traceable to Him. He is immaculately pure and perfectly sinless. He is "a lamb without blemish and WITHOUT SPOT" (1Pet.1:19). The writer of Hebrews tells that Christ "through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God…" (Heb.9:14). Christ is truly spotless.

Now the spotless one says that we too are fair and spotless. Paul says that He "loved…the church, and gave himself for it," and the reason He did that was so He "might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word." And the reason behind the sanctifying, cleansing, and washing, is so that "he might present it to himself a glorious church, NOT HAVING SPOT, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph.5:25-27). He is doing everything in time to ensure that we have the last laugh and stand before Him spotless in eternity - holy on the inside and unblemished on the outside.

Our Lord and Lover, Jesus Christ, looks to our future, not to our past or present, and speaks to it. He sees us as we should be and as we are going to be. Holiness is our destiny. He destines us to be holy and spotless, and we can't afford to disappoint Him from our own end.

We should work out our salvation with fear and trembling, even as He is working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure (read Phil.2:12-13). John says, "And every man that hath this hope in him PURIFIETH himself, even as he is pure" (1Jh.3:3). We keep purifying ourselves in order to look like what He has in mind concerning our moral status. Paul says to Timothy, and to us too, "That thou keep this commandment WITHOUT SPOT, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1Tim.6:14). Peter lends his voice too: "Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, WITHOUT SPOT, and blameless" (2Pet.3:14).

Listen to me, the moral spots and flaws you see now will eventually clear. The word of God sanctifies us. It's a cleansing agent. Prayer is a means by which we are drawn closer to our divine cleanser and beautician. The Spirit of God in us is doing a transforming work in us. Daily devotion and spiritual consecration to God is a must for a Christian who desires to lead a holy life.

Christ our lover sees us as fair and spotless; as we cooperate with and yield to Him, He will make sure that we do not appear any less.

On that day as we stand before our lover, the testimony will be: "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Rev.7:14). Hallelujah! Glory! You might not look like it now, but it is only a matter of time, and your spots will completely disappear. You will become what God says you are - fair and without spot. He sees us as beautiful and spotless, perfect in character and spotless in morality. Yes, our lover inspires hope in us! He declares what should and must be. Our identity and destiny are rooted in and marked by Christ's holiness.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter