While We Were Yet Sinners

St. Paul certainly had a way with words. Every once in a while, a reading from one of his epistles really resonates with me, even though I may have heard it many times before. One day, it was Romans 5:8, “God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” It made me think. “While we were yet sinners.” That little phrase says a whole lot about how much God loves us.

I used to think it was necessary to have my feet firmly planted on the “straight and narrow” if I wanted to approach God. But actually, it doesn’t matter who I am or where I’ve been or how many times I’ve messed up, God welcomes me and accepts me as I am. He doesn’t wait for me to make myself more presentable. He knows my heart better than I do. The fact is: Jesus loved and accepted me, lived and even died for me, long before I ever turned to Him. Like St. Paul said, “While we were yet sinners.”

Jesus’ invitation to, “follow me” is repeated throughout the Gospels, but He set the bar awfully high when he said in Matthew 5:48, “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Impossible? On our own, it would be; but God has a plan all figured out. He shared it long ago with the prophet Ezekiel: “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.” (Ezekiel 36:25)

I like the image of water in this Old Testament verse. Water is cleansing and refreshing and life-giving. But water is just the beginning. John the Baptist says in Matthew 3:11, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I… he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” In the days following Jesus’ Ascension, Peter stood before a huge crowd in Jerusalem and said, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

God, in His mercy, accepts us as we are, “while we were yet sinners,” and pours out His Spirit on us, washing away everything that stands between us and Him. “Baptism… saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21)

His grace makes possible the holiness we can’t achieve on our own, and our renewed relationship with Him makes us whole. St. Paul said it so beautifully in Romans 5:1-2: “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God.”

Thanks be to God.

Many Christian traditions include a Renewal of Baptismal Promises. Baptism is a one-time event and most of us were too young at the time to remember it. During the Easter season, the Catholic Church offers us the opportunity to renew the vows our parents made for us when we were infants. The priest blesses the whole congregation with a sprinkle of holy water. It’s a beautiful way to revisit a decisive day in our lives and to think about the event that forever marked us as belonging to Christ.