「這是怎麼一回事？」我大喊。我在乾衣機裡翻找我寶貝的白襯衫，終於找到了，但也發現了一件糟糕的事。

白襯衫上有一個墨水污漬。實際上，每一件衣服都沾染了墨水污漬，就像美洲豹的皮毛一樣，斑斑點點。我顯然忘了檢查衣服的口袋，以致一支漏墨的筆沾污了所有的衣物。

聖經常用污漬這個詞來形容罪。正如墨水污漬會滲透到衣物的纖維，進而造成損毀。這正是上帝透過先知耶利米所描述的罪，為要提醒祂的子民，他們無法潔淨自身的罪污：「你雖然用鹼洗滌，多加肥皂，你罪孽的污漬仍留在我面前。」（耶利米書2章22節，新譯本）

感恩的是，這並非最終的結果。以賽亞書1章記載，上帝應許必洗淨你我的罪污：「你們的罪雖像硃紅，必變成雪白；雖紅如丹顏，必白如羊毛。」（18節）

我無法除去襯衫上的墨水污漬，也無法消除自身的罪污。唯有上帝能藉著基督洗淨你我的罪污，約翰一書1章9節說：「我們若認自己的罪，上帝是信實的，是公義的，必要赦免我們的罪，洗淨我們一切的不義。」

“Are. You. Kidding?!” I yelled, digging through our dryer looking for my shirt. I found it. And . . . something else.

My white shirt had an ink spot on it. In fact, it looked like a jaguar pelt: ink splotches coated everything. I clearly hadn’t checked my pockets, and a leaky pen had stained the entire load.

Scripture often uses the word stain to describe sin. A stain permeates the fabric of something, ruining it. And that’s how God, speaking through the prophet Jeremiah, described sin, reminding His people that its stain was beyond their ability to cleanse: “Although you wash yourself with soap and use an abundance of cleansing powder, the stain of your guilt is still before me” (Jeremiah 2:22).

Thankfully, sin doesn’t get the last word. In Isaiah 1:18, we hear God’s promise that He can cleanse us from sin’s stain: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”

I couldn’t get the ink stain out of my shirt. Neither can I undo the stain of my sin. Thankfully, God cleanses us in Christ, just as 1 John 1:9 promises: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”