Those who write enduring hymns and spiritual songs usually reflect their highest ideals and their moments of deepest intimacy with God. For that reason, we sometimes find ourselves singing words that overstate our own true commitment, challenge our actual spiritual state and convict us of our present laziness and mediocrity. Anglican clergyman Augustus M. Toplady (1740-1778) expressed just such sentiments in his well-known hymn, "Rock of Ages," when he requested that Jesus Christ who is that refuge:

"Be of sin the double cure;
save from wrath and make me pure."

Because the meaning of that couplet is a bit obscure, some hymnals have changed it to say:

"Be of sin the double cure;
cleanse me from its guilt and power."

According to Scripture, God intends to rescue us from sin in every dimension. By Jesus' sinless life and atoning death, God saves us from sin's penalty, its power, and its presence. When we sing "Rock of Ages," we ask Jesus not only to save us from God's wrath (by cleansing us from sin's guilt), but also to make us pure (by cleansing us from sin's power). These two divine works constitute the "double cure" for sin mentioned in Toplady's grand old hymn.

Largely ignored in American churches today, the connection between justification and sanctification is biblically indisputable. Every person whom God pronounces innocent is also predestined by God to "become conformed to the image of his son" (Rom. 8:29-30). Theologians explain the mechanics in different ways, but all reliable Bible teachers agree that while God loves us just the way we are, he loves us too much to leave us like that. God not only cleanses us from guilt. He also intends to make us pure.

Do you remember the story of the adulterous woman whom Jesus forgave and gave a second chance? Although the story is not in the oldest and best Greek manuscripts, we still love it, for it sounds like something that we imagine the Savior doing and saying. It also illustrates Jesus' two-part remedy for sin referred to by the beloved hymn "Rock of Ages" in the lines:

"Be of sin the double cure;
cleanse me from its guilt and power."

Whether or not Jesus personally spoke the words, "Go and sin no more," they express his message, and the message of the New Testament Scriptures as a whole. "Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?" Paul asks rhetorically, and as quickly answers, "By no means!" (Rom. 6:1-2). Indeed, "the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people." But instead of encouraging or perpetuating sinful living, this grace teaches us "to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives (Titus 2:11-12). Jesus gave himself to redeem us -- not only from sin's penalty but also from its practice, and to purify us for his own purposes (Titus 2:13-14).

Peter says the same. Because Christ suffered for us, we should stop our sinning and devote the rest of our lives to doing the will of God (1 Peter 4:1-3). John warns us not to be deceived in this matter: Jesus came to take away sins, which means that we should not keep on sinning (1 John 3:5-7). Jude denounces as "ungodly" any people who twist God's grace into sensuality, charging them with denying the Lord Jesus Christ (Jude 4). God, who cleanses us from guilt, also intends to make us pure.