The Cleansing Process
Ezekiel 36:33
"Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded."
Sin has a way of putting a grip on someone's life. When a person sins, they soon find out that sin has a firm grip that is hard to break. In fact, it is humanly impossible to completely free yourself from sin. It takes divine intervention for a person to be freed from sin's grip.
God shows us in this chapter the process a person must go through to be freed from sin's grip. You just don't get rid of sin overnight. You may immediately stop your sin, but being cleansed from your sin takes time. You must understand that the desire of sin is still there; therefore, you must be cleansed from sin if you want to be completely free from it. Let me show you the process it takes to be cleansed from sin.
First, you must realize that you cannot do the cleansing process yourself. Verse 29 says, "I will also save you from all your uncleannesses:..." Notice, God says He does the cleansing. God reinforces this claim in 1 John 1:9 when He says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Too many people have faith in an organization to cleanse them, when God is the only One Who can truly cleanse anyone from sin. Though I am not against addiction programs, an addiction program of itself cannot cleanse you from sin. It can certainly show you that God is the One Who can cleanse you, but without pointing you to God the program will fail. The greatest reason you must trust in God is because He can cleanse you from any sin.
Second, your heart must be changed. Verse 26 shows us that God must give you a new heart. In other words, your sentiments towards your sin must be changed to be cleansed from sin. If you stop your sin, but don't change your sentiment towards your sin, then you will eventually go back to it. You will notice in the same verse God talks about giving you a new spirit. God was simply saying that nobody can be completely cleansed from sin when the sin itself doesn't bother them. If you stop sin simply because you were told not to do it, then you will eventually go back to it. To be cleansed from sin, your attitude towards sin must change. You must realize that it is wrong. You must admit that it is more than a disease, but it is a sin.
Third, God must change your perception about what you have done. Verse 31 says, "Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations." Until you get to the point where what you have done is disgusting to you, then you have not been cleansed from sin. Many people don't look at what they've done as disgusting. When God cleanses you, you will find that you will hate the whole sin from the first participation in it to the time you gave it up.
Christian, everyone must fight sin because everyone is a sinner. Your only hope to be freed from your sin is to allow God to send you through the cleansing process. Let me encourage you to daily ask God to not only forgive you of your sin, but to cleanse you from it. God is more interested in your cleansing than He is in anything else. Once you are cleansed from your sin, you will find the desire for it will not longer be there.