“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.”
ISAIAH 1:18
Ah, snow-capped peaks. The white looks so pristine, especially when it’s gleaming against a blue sky. What could be purer than snow? Intricate, delicate, six-sided crystals of ice. For all their individual complexity, when snowflakes pile up, they all blend together. Then snow has a way of covering ugliness. A fresh snowfall of several inches not only blankets everything in white, it muffles shapes and sounds, and it softens harsh edges. It can be hard to guess what’s under those white mounds! Is it a bush or a doghouse? A grill or a garbage can? A well-tended lawn or a trash-strewn weed patch? A child’s toy or one of Dad’s tools? Is that your car in the crowded parking lot, or one that looks just like it? A car alongside the road, or just a big berm of snow thrown there by the plow? Sometimes a familiar place becomes practically unrecognizable!
Of course, in most parts of the world, this transformation is temporary. A light snowfall may melt off in a matter of hours. Others may last for days, weeks, or even months up in the mountains. Snowplows, car tires, and human feet make paths through the snow. Sunshine, warm air, rain, and wind all take their toll. Those mysterious piles of snow shrivel and reveal what’s underneath. Eventually, pine needles, grass, and bare ground start to emerge. The snow melts away—often leaving a muddy mess!
When the Lord says our sins shall be white as snow, He’s not talking about this temporary hiding, merely leaving our sins there and covering them up. God remembers our sins no more. In fact, Psalm 51:7 says that when He washes us, we will be whiter than snow! That’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? Yet “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
We are forgiven completely.