Leviticus 13:12-15
Let us now go down to verses 12 and 13. There we read a most extraordinary statement. "If a leprosy break out abroad in the skin, and the leprosy cover all the skin of him that hath the plague from his head even to his foot, wheresoever the priest looketh; then the priest shall consider: and, behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh, he shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague: it is all turned white: he is clean.”
Strange! Strange!! Strange!!! When a few months or years before he was brought to the priest with only one tiny rising, scab or bright spot, the priest pronounced him unclean, and he had to go outside the camp and dwell alone. Now he is all covered, and what says the priest? "You are clean!" Strange indeed! What can the meaning be of this?
It tells us of a poor sinner, who has not one word of good to say about himself. We may see many lepers who were all covered with leprosy in the Bible, and all were cleansed. Look at Peter in Luke 5. He finds out for the first time he is covered with leprosy. Hear him: "Depart from me; for I am a sinful man" (or, "a man full of sin"). Luke 5:8. If you have a cup full of water, you have no room for anything else in it. If you have a man full of sin, you have no room for any good in him. Such was the apostle Peter. Look further in the same chapter, verse 12:
“It came to pass, when He was in a certain city, behold a man full of leprosy; who seeing Jesus fell on his face, and besought Him, saying, Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean. And He put forth His hand, and touched him, saying, I will: be thou clean." Luke 5:12-13. Never was a man full of sin or full of leprosy who need wait longer to be cleansed. The Priest, our Savior, is just waiting for such men. Look at the thief on the cross: "We receive the due reward of our deeds." Luke 23:41. And that day he was in paradise with his Savior and Lord. See the prodigal son in Luke 15:21—"I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight," and instantly the father's arms were round his neck and he "covered him with kisses." Luke 15:20 J.N.D. Trans. Look at the publican in Luke 18:13—"God be merciful to me a sinner," and he went home justified. Look at Paul: "I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing." Rom. 7:18. Look at Job: "I am vile; what shall I answer Thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth." Job 40:4. And again: "I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." Job 42:6. But, justified at once. See, again, Isaiah: "Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips." Isa. 6:5. Instantly: "Thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." Isa. 6:7.
Yes, friend, all these men got cleansing in the same way. They all found out that not only were they lepers, but that they were full of leprosy, from the top of their heads to the sole of their feet. Not one of these men will be in heaven by his own good works. They all stand up and witness that "there is none that doeth good, no, not one." Rom. 3:12. Dear reader, where Peter and Paul and Job and Isaiah and every other saint in glory has failed, you cannot succeed. They were each one lost and ruined and on the way to hell, and they all owned it and took their place as poor lost ruined sinners, and in that place alone did they obtain pardon and cleansing. In that state alone can you also obtain pardon and cleansing.
We read in Job 33:27-28 (J.N.D. Trans.): "He will sing before men, and say, I have sinned, and perverted what was right, and it hath not been requited to me; He hath delivered my soul from going into the pit, and my life shall see the light." There will not be one person in heaven who will sing, "I have never sinned, and so I have gotten here myself." The song up there tells of our hopeless ruin—and of the grace of God.
Come then! Come now! Come just as you are to that gracious Priest. He is waiting. He says, "Come now, let us reason together, saith Jehovah: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isa. 1:18 J.N.D. Trans. He knows you are full of leprosy—full of sin—but will you believe His testimony of yourself? Will you take that place of a lost sinner, full of sin? If so, cleansing, pardon, peace and blessing are yours.
But one word more before we turn from these verses. We read, "But when raw flesh appeareth in him, he shall be unclean. And the priest shall see the raw flesh, and pronounce him to be unclean: for the raw flesh is unclean: it is a leprosy" (vss. 14-15). This tells us of the man who is willing to go on in sin, even though he owns himself to be a sinner. He is all covered with leprosy, but there is raw flesh, sin, actively working in him. It is very remarkable that although there are many men in Scripture who take the place of saying, "I have sinned," yet not all of them obtain cleansing. David (2 Sam. 12:13), Nehemiah (Neh. 9:33), Job (Job 40:4;42:6), Isaiah (Isa. 6:5;64:6), Jeremiah (Jer. 14:7, 20), Daniel (Dan. 9:5), Micah (Mic. 7:9), the prodigal son (Luke 15:21), and the thief on the cross (Luke 23:41): These all took the place of sinners and all got cleansing or blessing. But look at Pharoah (Ex. 9:27; 10:16), Balaam (Num. 22:34), Achan (Josh. 7:20), Saul (1 Sam. 15:24; 26:21), Shimei (2 Sam. 19:20), and Judas (Matt. 27:4): These all confess they have sinned, yet they perish. These all admit the leprosy, but they have the raw flesh appearing. There was no hatred of the sin. There was no desire to turn from it and give it up. There was no true repentance. But the active evil was still working in their flesh.
When we know the wonderful grace of God that takes me, a poor sinner full of sin, and in that terrible condition cleanses and pardons me, and brings me to God—this grace makes me long to be holy, and long that sin shall not have dominion over me. (See Rom. 6:14.) If I allow active sin to go on working in me unchecked, it is a proof that I do not know the grace of God that cleanses and pardons. John writes, "He that practices sin is of the devil." 1 John 3:8 J.N.D. Trans.
This does not mean that after we are saved we will never sin again. The apostle John plainly writes of people who say this, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves." 1 John 1:8. Note that we do not deceive God, or other people, but only ourselves.
Nor does this verse in Leviticus mean that if we sin, it is a proof that we never were saved. How often the devil has tormented young Christians in this way. A sheep may fall into the ditch and get dirty, but that does not mean it is not a sheep, and it is unhappy till it gets out and is clean once more. A pig delights in the dirt and filth of the ditch. The one "practices" dirt, the other does not but hates it. A sow that is washed will always return to its wallowing in the mire. (See 2 Peter 2:22.)But it has always been a sow— it never became a sheep.
The one whom the Lord Jesus cleanses is changed, not only on the outside, but also on the inside, when he is born again. The Lord gives him a clean heart, a new nature that hates and loathes and abhors sin, and is never happy if the one in whom that nature dwells has fallen into sin, until he is restored.