Zechariah 3:4 (CSB)
“So the angel of the Lord spoke to those standing before him, ‘Take off his filthy clothes!’ Then he said to him, ‘See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with festive robes.'”
We settle for a small grace. It looks at our sin, shrugs, and says it was not that bad. That is not the grace of God. In the vision of Joshua, God does not hand the filthy priest a nicer robe to pull over the old one. He takes the filthy clothes off, and He says, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with festive robes.
The sin was not hidden. It was carried away. Sometimes we say God treats us as though we never sinned, and I understand the intent. But the truth is better than a pretense. We have sinned, God sees it, and grace does more than look the other way. Grace removes the stain and dresses us in a righteousness that was never ours.
Notice what happens to the accuser once God has done that. The accuser looks for the filth, and it is gone. All he can find now is the righteousness of God on a forgiven man. As Matthew Henry put it, Christ parts between His people and their sins, so their sins can no longer part between them and their God.
Here is how it reached you. Jesus stepped into the gap. He bore the filth on the cross and hands you the clean robe in exchange, His righteousness for your rags. In yourself, your best work is polluted. In Christ, God receives you.
So you do not wait until you feel clean enough to come. That day never arrives on its own. Today you call on the name of the Lord and discover He has already done what you could never do (Romans 10:13). Come as you are, and let Him clothe you.
Will you stop cleaning yourself up and simply come to Christ?
Reflect
Find the sin you have been managing instead of surrendering, the stain you keep trying to cover on your own. Grace does not paint over it. Grace takes it off. Bring it to Christ today, and let Him remove what you were never able to wash out.