All saints are clean, only they may defile their feet. The Spirit, through the intercession of Christ, applies the Word and rebukes evil, shows the starting-point of it, and after a while restores the soul to communion. But God never deals with the conscience to falsify the relationship of the saint. The distress may be the greater, because everything is judged by the light we are brought into, but confidence in God will be untouched. If I apply 1 John 1:7 to failures, I ought to read, "If we do not walk in the light, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us." In truth, that verse gives the whole Christian standing. It is, abstractedly, the portion of the Christian, which can never be lost.