purity

one was pure,
saving
everything
for marriage.

the other was
not-so-pure.

then
we realized:
the only purity
that matters
is the purity
Christ purchased for us
with his blood
and works into us
through
his
matchless,
limitless
grace.

all of our own
worked-up,
uptight,
self-satisfied,
arrogant
purity
is as filthy rags.

"come now,"
he invites,
"let us reason together:
though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be
as white
as snow.
though they be red as crimson,
they shall be
as wool."

now,
wash me,
and i will be
whiter
than
snow.