Spotless In Christ

GREEK WORD WITH ENGLISH TRANSLITERATION: αmωmος (amomos)

PRONUNCIATION:  AH-moe-mos

STRONG’S CONCORDANCE #: 299

MEANING: without blame, spotless

BACKGROUND OF WORD (ETYMOLOGY): from two Greek words literally meaning "without spot"

HOW TRANSLATED IN KJV, NASB AND/OR ESV:  without blame; without spot' without blemish; faultless; blameless

# OF TIMES USED IN THE GREEK NEW TESTAMENT: 9

KEY VERSE IN THE BIBLE WHERE GREEK WORD USED:

Ephesians 1:4 - "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless (αmωmος) before Him.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

God chose us in order that we might be holy and blameless. ‎Amomos ‎(blameless) literally means without blemish, or spotless. Because we are chosen in Him we are holy and blameless before Him. Because Jesus Christ gave Himself for us as "a lamb unblemished and spotless" (1 Peter 1:19), we have been given His own unblemished and spotless nature. The unworthy have been declared worthy, the unrighteous declared holy. It is Christ's eternal and foreordained plan to "present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless" (Ephesians 5:27).

Obviously Paul is talking about our position and NOT our practice. We know that in our living we are far from the holy standard and far from being blameless. Yet "in Him," Paul said in another place, we "have been made complete" (Colossians 2:10). All that God is, we become in Jesus Christ. That is why salvation is secure. We have Christ's perfect righteousness. Our practice can and does fall short, but our position can never fall short, because it is exactly the same holy and blameless position before God that Christ has. We are as secure as our Savior, because we are in Him, waiting for the full redemption and glorious holiness that awaits us in His presence.

And because God declares us and leads us to be holy and blameless, we should strive to live lives now that reflect the holiness and blamelessness that are our destiny.    The idea of us being “spotless” is based on the requirement in the Hebrew sacrificial system that an animal offered in sacrifice to God had to be perfect, without any defect or blemish. The two adjectives occur together also in Ephesians 5:27, and the whole clause here is closely related to Colossians 1:22, "to present us as holy, blameless, and faultless before him."

It may be appropriate to render holy by "as God would want us to be." Though the meaning of holy in this context is primarily ethical, it is more than just "good." In some languages the word traditionally used for "holy" means "taboo." This idea should be avoided here, and a word or expression that means "clean" or "pure" should be used, if it is clearly understood that spiritual or moral purity is meant. The phrase without fault is simply a negative way of stating essentially what is stated positively in the term holy. In many languages without fault is translated simply "without any sin" or "without any guilt."

CHALLENGE FOR THE DAY:

Nothing of our “practice” can be spotless and without fault (αmωmος) because we are born in sin.  But praise God that IN CHRIST we in fact are “spotless”, just as expected of the sacrificial lamb in the Old Testament.  My challenge is that though we are created “in sin”, why not seek ways to “clean up your life”, not to EARN salvation…but to PROVE it.  God wants you and I not only to be holy, since we already are in Christ and have been “before the foundation of the world”, but He wants is to LIVE holy lives.  Commit one area of your life to Him today where you are marred.  Ask His Holy Spirit to reveal to you that one area wherein you struggle most and ask the Father to begin to cleanse you of that unrighteousness. 

PRAYER FOR THE DAY:

Spotless Heavenly Father, it is so hard for me to believe that I am spotless before your through because of Jesus Christ.  Not because of anything I have done or anything I have earned, but because you loved me and love me and have done so since before time…since the foundation of the world.  I thank you Father for choosing me and extending the shed blood of your Son to cover my sin.  Forgive me for the flaws and sin in my life that have made with so many spots.  Yet I thank you that through the eyes of your Son you see me as spotless and pure.  Cause me today to have victory in the area of _______ in my life, where I have shown forth the greatest blemishes and cause me to portray the righteousness of Christ.  I pray for this in that precious, holy and spotless name of Jesus.  Amen.