Nothing is more enchanting than waking up to a blanket of snow covering the neighborhood on Christmas morning. Nearly everyone dreams of a white Christmas because snow makes it feel like Christmas. Without snow, there are no snowmen, snowball fights, or “dashing through the snow in a one-horse open sleigh.” Christmas and snow go together like hot cocoa and marshmallows. 

Snow is also a biblical symbol for righteousness and purity. Snow was the purest form of white to the Jews—nothing was as perfect and pure. Not to mention, the fluffy flakes covered the filth and dirt of the earth. It is no wonder that people in Scripture sought to be as pure as snow, such as David, who prayed, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psalm 51:7). The prophet Daniel also used this imagery to describe God who is uncompromisingly pure and holy: “As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow” (Daniel 7:9a).

The Lord reminded His people in Isaiah 1:18 that they were not as white as snow: “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” Their sins were like “scarlet,” which is as red as red can be. They were stained, and the sin that colored their lives needed to be washed away. And God promised that they could be made white like snow if they turned to Him in repentance (cf. vv. 19-20). Despite being engulfed in sin’s filth, they could be snow-white by the Lord’s thorough washing. 

You also need the Lord to cleanse you of sin. Paradoxically, the blood of Jesus Christ is the only sufficient means of being purified from sin’s crimson stain. As John the apostle said, “The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7b). His death makes you whiter than snow in the sight of God because He clothed Himself in the filthy rags of your sin and, in exchange, gives you the white robes of His righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). You receive this cleansing when you repent of your sins and trust completely in Christ alone for your salvation (Acts 17:30; Ephesians 2:8-9). 

Unfortunately, sin will still make you muddy every now and then. And Jesus will continue to wash you when it does. That is why, whenever you sin, you must plead the words of James Nicholson’s hymn, “Whiter Than Snow”: 

“Lord Jesus, for this I most humbly entreat,

I wait, blessed Lord, at Thy crucified feet;

By faith, for my cleansing I see Thy blood flow,

Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.”