GOODNEWSLETTER
_______Number 392 October 26, 2011________
WASHING BY THE WORD
"Husbands, love you wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it;
That He might sanctify it by the washing of the word," Ephesians 5:25, 26.
I just washed my hands. Filth is all over the place and we get dirty. No wonder Mom always said, "Wash those hands." Mom was right! Washing of the hands keeps away germs; which can lead to disease and sickness.
While, the phrase "Cleanliness is next to Godliness," is not in the Bible, verbatim, we read that we must stay clean, if we want to approach the Holy God. In our title verse (Eph. 5:25,26), we understand that even the church of Jesus needs washing by the Word.
Now, it is not difficult to understand that WASHINGS are needed to remove the sin stain of mankind. It all begins with when we were saved. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit," Titus 3:5.
And, it all comes through the Son, Jesus Christ. "Which He shed upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior," Titus 3:6. But, Paul quickly adds, "...that those who have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works..." (3:8).
Added to Paul's words, we read that Hebrews 10:22 instructs us to "...wash our bodies with pure water;" which again, has to be the Word of God. Further, when we began – when we were saved – we were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. This is clearly taught by Paul in Ephesians 1:13. "In whom ye also trusted in Christ, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise."
We were sealed but, are we obeying the word of God. What about service and the washing that takes place within the church? Without question, John lays it out for us. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to CLEANSE us from all righteousness," 1st John 1:9. Sin is everywhere and we get dirty as we walk within this world. "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves..." (I Jn. 1:8) .
Scripture remains true, of course, in every step of service. What we have is a total and finished work of Christ. It all begins in faith and continues as we walk within His truth. What the church has to see is that there is nothing that we can do except honor what Jesus has already done. Obedience comes by following the Bible in all it's ordinances. Not all churches do this and many believers never get into a church, at all.
To understand a finished work, in which every man is transferred from sin to Christ, we must study the Bible, carefully. Jesus "abolished in His flesh the enmity" in order to accomplish man's forgiveness. Without His work, man is eternally lost and undone. And then, as the title verse states, the church is washed; not by any work we do, but by the washing of the word. Church members know of His work and they honor it with their lives. They attend services and they change what is necessary to change. And, we pray, a lot.
Of course, the Bible is written to churches for the most part (Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, etc.). Within the church letters however, we read of where we were cleansed and how we are to stay clean as were serve in the body of Christ, His church. So, what's the difference? What will be the final standing of men on the resurrection day?
I have learned many years ago that the Kingdom of God teaching gives us what is needed to see Christ's work, the church and, faithfulness to His work within His church. From the Old Testament accounts of FIRST BORN SONS – Isaac, Jacob and Israel, the truth says that faith is the answer. And, faith never stops. The promise was to Abraham that ran though his son, Isaac; then, to Jacob. Esau thought he needed food rather than the First Born position he gave up when he accepted the beans Isaac gave him.
When we come to the New Testament, there is a continuation of the first born son; but, now Gentiles come into the picture, as well. In essence, due to the finished work of Christ, we are born again by His blood's atonement. We are baptized into His body, the church; which, alone has authority and, we obey the Word of God by faith. The mercy of God is extended to us in this manner, I believe.
Paul did, too, instructing the Ephesian Church not allow "immortality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is proper among saints" (Eph. 5:3). The warning is clear. "For this you know with certainty,that no immoral or impure person or covetous man,who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the KINGDOM OF CHRIST AND OF GOD" (5:5).
Let the word of God wash us! Nothing else can do the job. The Jews could not understand the finished work of Christ and held on to doing things as they tried to please the Lord of heaven. But, to no avail. Once saved, always saved is Biblical. However, we are saved to honor the Lord with our lives. Those who obey and heed the Scriptures are His people, today; just like Israel was in the Old.
It is glorious to be saved AND it's glorious to serve. In the NASB, Romans states, "that if you confess with the mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, YOU SHALL BE SAVED. For with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation" (Rom. 10:9-10). However, don't forget the remaining Scripture that demands service and, certainly do not forget the Kingdom truth.