In the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 11, the criticism of the circumcision party against St. Peter is recorded. St. Peter responded to the accusation, "You went to the uncircumcised men and ate with them," by recalling the account of His vision and his meeting with Cornelius. Peter then replied saying, "What God has made clean, do not call common."  St. Peter was spoke that the food that he said was unclean, God had cleaned, and this related to the Gentile people. God makes sinners clean by means of the forgiveness of sins, by the means of grace that are received by faith. As Peter concluded saying, "If then God have the same gift to them as He gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way? If God declares a sinner forgiven, then no one can stand in the way of their absolution, no one can stand in the way of their salvation and clean slate before the Father.

What does this mean that what God has made clean, we mustn't call common. It means that when a sinner is forgiven, we are not given to rub that sin in their face ever again. As the Formula of Concord asserts, "Accordingly the word 'justify' here means to declare righteous and free from sins and from the eternal punishment of these sins on account of the righteousness of Christ which God reckons to faith (Phil 3:9).....'Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies (Romans 8:33),' that is, absolves and acquits from sins" (Formula Of Concord Solid Declaration III.17).  When God forgives a sinner, as He does through the mouth of the Pastor in the declaration of absolution, He acquits the sinners, clears him or her of all charges of transgression. It's like a trial, maybe a high profile murder trial, you may think the defendant is guilty, but if he is acquitted then he is cleared of the charges and found not guilty. You can talk all day about the evidence of his guilt, and he probably did do it, but the court declared him acquitted and cleared of the charges.  Are sinners guilty of committing sins, and of being sinful? Yes. Is there a mountain of evidence of not only our neighbor's transgressions, but also our sins and failures? Yes. And here's the kicker. Before our Father in heaven, we stand guilty of transgressing the entire law, of breaking every commandment, of doubting, revolting, and despising God and hating our neighbor. The evidence is overwhelming and the guilty sentence should be expected. However, Jesus enters I'm, but He doesn't say, "No, Father, take it easy on them, give them a light sentence, like time served or community service." No. No. No. Jesus doesn't let us take the fall for our sins. Rather, Jesus says, "Yes, Father, you see the evidence and this one deserves nothing but death and hell. But Father, I take responsibility for their thoughts, words, deeds, and very nature. I take the blame and I bear the burden of their sins. I plead for them and beg of you to pass the guilty sentence on to Me, Your pure and only Son." And the Father does just that. Jesus take the blame for us, takes our unclean sin, our wicked inclinations, and our sinful flesh and bears it and put it to death on the cross. There did Jesus receive our judgement in order that we may receive His verdict of absolution. In Jesus, we are acquitted, cleared of all charges, forgiven all of our sins. The world, the devil, the Old Adam, and everyone around us will remind us that they know we are guilty, and we mustn't say that is a lie, but rather say that Jesus took our guilty sentence for us, suffered our penalty, and in it's place speaks to us His judgment of forgiveness and life. In Jesus, as He distributes His atonement to us in the means of grace, we are acquitted, forgiven, cleared, absolved, cleaned from all transgression. May this comfort you this day my friends. In Jesus, God has made you clean; therefore, you can not be called common and sinful before your Heavenly Father. God's judgement has been declared, you are forgiven, you are clean, you are loved by your Father in heaven.

Peace be with you. May the devil be silenced, the world be hushed, and the Old Adam be drowned anew so that you hear only the voice of your Savior Jesus who says, "I forgive you. I love you. I claim you forever," Amen.

Jesus' Sheepdog,

Pastor Hull