When I was a chemistry teacher , occasionally I would perform a demonstration before the class instead of their doing a routine lab experiment. This choice was sometimes governed by a lack of equipment, but I usually chose a demo that would have a dramatic ingredient that would impress my students with my scientific expertise or excite their curiosity. One of my favorite demos was the neutralization of a base and an acid by a procedure called titration. The equipment consisted of two burets suspended vertically side-by-side on a support rod. A buret is a long, graduated glass tube with a stopcock at the bottom that allows the measuring out of small quantities of liquid. One of the burets was filled with a concentrated solution of hydrochloric acid and the other with a concentrated solution of sodium hydroxide, a very strong base. Both of these solutions are very caustic and would cause serious burns and blistering to any body tissue.
A glass beaker containing a small amount of water and a few drops of the organic dye phenolphthalein was placed under the buret containing the base. This dye is a blood red color in a basic solution, but it is colorless in an acid environment. Thus, when some of the basic solution was drained into the beaker, the liquid in the beaker turned bright red. The beaker was then placed under the acid buret, and acid was drained into the beaker until the solution became colorless. The transition point was very critical with one drop causing the change. This transition point marks a pH of close to 7, which is considered neutral. The color change is so sudden that it is a dramatic moment, but then to add more drama, I would take a sip of the seemingly toxic mixture. I say seemingly because, actually, the reaction between the acid and the base produces a harmless saline solution of sodium chloride.
The Bible presents its own neutralization demonstration. Isaiah tells us to use our heads and test the Lord's reliability when He tells us to come on now, let's reason together, I can take your sins that are as red as scarlet or crimson, and neutralize them until they become white as snow; I can purge out the baser elements of evil from your character so that you will desire to do well, to seek justice, to relieve the oppressed, to aid the fatherless and widows, and to be obedient (Isa. 1:16-19).
We have all been stained with the crimson stain of sin, but we don't have to remain that way. God has provided a cleansing, neutralizing process which will remove all the guilty stain, and clothe us in the spotless robe of Christ's righteousness. In the great struggle between good and evil, Christ gives us the victory, He is "the Great Neutralizer."
