How befilthying a thing it is

(Thomas Watson, "The Beatitudes" 1660)

"Unto Him who loved us, and washed us from
 our sins in His own blood!" Revelation 1:5

We are all loathsome to God, before we are
washed pure in the blood of Christ!

By nature, we are all in a filthy and cursed condition.
We are a lump of clay and sin mingled together. Sin
not only blinds us—but defiles us. It is called filthiness
(James 1:21). And to show how befilthying a thing
it is, it is compared . . .
  to a plague of the heart (1 Kings 8:38),
  to corruption (Deuteronomy 32:5),
  to vomit (2 Peter 2:22),
  to a menstrual cloth (Isaiah 30:22).

If all the evils in the world were put together and their
quintessence strained out—they could not make a thing
so black and polluted as sin is! A sinner is a devil in
a man's shape! When Moses' rod was turned into a
serpent—he fled from it. If God would open men's eyes
and show them their deformities and damnable spots
—they would fly from themselves, as from serpents!

When grace comes—it washes off this hellish filth!
It turns ravens into swans. It makes those who are
as black as hell—to become as white as snow!

"Christ gave Himself for us to redeem us from all
wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that
are His very own." Christ shed His blood—to wash
off our filth. The cross was both an altar and a laver.
Jesus died not only to save us from wrath (1 Thes.
1:10)—but to save us from sin! (Matthew 1:21).
Out of his side came water which signifies our
cleansing—as well as blood which signifies our
justifying (1 John 5:6).