We, too, are lepers...

"Behold, if the leprosy have covered all his flesh,
He shall pronounce him clean that hath the plague."
~ Leviticus 13:13

Strange enough this regulation appears, yet there was wisdom in it, for
the throwing out of the disease proved that the constitution was sound.
This morning it may be well for us to see the typical teaching of so
singular a rule. We, too, are lepers, and may read the law of the leper
as applicable to ourselves. When a man sees himself to be altogether
lost and ruined, covered all over with the defilement of sin, and no
part free from pollution; when he disclaims all righteousness of his
own, and pleads guilty before the Lord, then is he clean through the
blood of Jesus, and the grace of God. Hidden, unfelt, unconfessed
iniquity is the true leprosy, but when sin is seen and felt it has
received its death blow, and the Lord looks with eyes of mercy upon the
soul afflicted with it. Nothing is more deadly than self-righteousness,
or more hopeful than contrition. We must confess that we are
"nothing else but sin," for no confession short of this will be the whole truth,
and if the Holy Spirit be at work with us, convincing us of sin, there
will be no difficulty about making such an acknowledgment-it will
spring spontaneously from our lips. What comfort does the text afford
to those under a deep sense of sin! Sin mourned and confessed, however
black and foul, shall never shut a man out from the Lord Jesus.
Whosoever cometh unto Him, He will in no wise cast out. Though
dishonest as the thief, though unchaste as the woman who was a sinner,
though fierce as Saul of Tarsus, though cruel as Manasseh, though
rebellious as the prodigal, the Great Heart of love will look upon the
man who feels himself to have no soundness in him, and will pronounce
him clean, when he trusts in Jesus crucified.
Come to Him, then, poor, heavy-laden sinner,

Come needy, come guilty, come loathsome and bare;
You can't come too filthy - come just as you are.

~  Charles Spurgeon