Did you ever see the movie the Scarlet Letter? It was first a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne and then two movies were made from it. It is about the scandalous activity of an adulteress in puritanical New England. The woman was made to wear a letter A on her dress designating that she was an adulterer.
Game of Thrones fans will recognize this from an episode in Season 5 where Cersei Lannister's Walk of Shame played out and she walked naked through the streets to fulfill her sentence due to adultery.
Both characters were publicly ridiculed and shamed for acts that occur all the time here in the 21st century. Adultery is only one of the Ten Commandments and the puritanical people of New England probably had a different scarlet letter for the other nine. The Whole Truth is that we all wear a Scarlet Letter and it is the same letter for all of us.
Sin has separated us from the Creator who is Holy and without sin. Moses was told to remove his sandals as the ground he walked on was Holy. Exodus 3:5 "Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." No uncleanness must come in contact with the Host of Heaven. It was for this reason Lucifer was purged from Heaven as no sin can be in the presence of God. Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden for the same reason.
Until we overcome sin, we cannot approach the throne of God and heal the divide between us. The Old Testament provided rituals of cleansing for the priest so they could come in contact with God in the Holy of Holies in the temple. One of those rituals was the sacrificing of animals at the temple and the blood sprinkled on the altar. Only then could the priest come forth and ask for forgiveness of the people's sin.
We do not have those rituals today although many in Israel are trying to reestablish them. Without those, how are we to reconnect with the Creator and be able to stand in His presence free of sin? Thanks to His love for us and our inability to overcome the sins of this world, He provided the ultimate sacrifice. He personally would come down to this violent, adulteress world and give His perfect life so that we may be cleansed.
No amount of water is going to cleanse us from our sin or remove our scarlet letter. Only the blood of Jesus has the power to remove our "S" scarlet letter we wear and replace it with a crown of Glory! The scriptures central message is contained in this one story. We rebel against God and receive the mark or scarlet letter of sin but God comes and removes it from us so we can stand in His presence once more forevermore.
But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7
Give thanks today to Him who wants you back. The One who wants to remove your Scarlet Letter and replace it with a crown. The One who created you for MUCH more than we are here on Earth.
And that is the Whole Truth!
May God truly bless you in your walk with Him.
And remember, God always answers His kneemail.
