“Come now, and let us reason together,’ says the LORD, ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” — Isaiah 1:18 NKJV
Have you ever wondered if God can truly forgive everything you’ve done—your past mistakes, hidden struggles, or the things no one else knows about? Sometimes, guilt feels like a permanent stain—too deep, too dark. However, the good news is this: God doesn’t avoid sin-stained stories. He steps right into them.
In Isaiah’s time, God’s people were living in rebellion—idolatry, injustice, and disobedience. Isaiah’s imagery is striking: scarlet, crimson, snow, wool. These weren’t random words. In ancient times, scarlet and crimson dyes were made from a specific worm—the “tola”. When the female worm was ready to give birth, she’d cling to a tree, lay her eggs, and, in the process, release a deep crimson fluid that stained both the wood and her body. The stain left behind was rich and permanent. That’s the picture Isaiah paints of our sin—deep, red, and irreversible by human effort. God says He can make even that white as snow. In other words, He can make what seems impossible to clean completely new.
This promise points us to Jesus. In Psalm 22, a messianic passage, Jesus is prophetically described as a worm—the same word, “tola”. Just like that worm, Jesus was nailed to a tree and poured out His blood—not for His sins, but for ours . He gave His life so that others could live. His blood didn’t just cover sin—it cleansed it (John 1:29). No stain is too stubborn. No past is too far gone (2 Corinthians 5:17).
1 John 1:9 assures us that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us. So, this isn’t about pretending sin isn’t real. It’s about knowing there’s a real Savior with the power to forgive and restore.
We see this truth in the lives of people like Apostle Paul, who once persecuted Christians but became a bold voice for the Gospel (1 Timothy 1:15). Similarly, Peter, who denied Jesus repeatedly, became a pillar of the early Church (Luke 22:61, 1 Peter 5:1). Their stories didn’t end in guilt—they were rewritten by grace.
Sin may leave a mark, but the blood of Jesus leaves a greater one. He doesn’t just forgive—He forgets (Isaiah 43:25). If God no longer holds your past against you, why should you?
Dear believer, let this be your confidence: You are not your past. You are a new creation. The old has passed away; the stain is gone. What remains is a life redeemed—a love story written in scarlet and sealed in snow.
Bible Reading Plan: Ruth 1-4; Mark 6:21-44