But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
God cleanses us at conversion in the sense that He will never bring us into condemnation for our sins (cf. Romans 8:1; 1 Corinthians 6:11; Ephesians 1:7). However, we need continual cleansing from the defilement that sinful daily living brings because it hinders our fellowship with God (cf. John 13:10). The "blood of Jesus" is a metonymy for the death of Jesus. [Note: Ryrie, p. 1467.] A metonymy is a figure of speech in which a writer uses the name of one thing for that of another associated with it or suggested by it. It is Christ’s death that cleanses us, not that Jesus’ blood cleanses us like a kind of spiritual soap.