A Spiritual Bath

"The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one." (Psalm 14: 1-3 KJV)

"Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?" (Job 15: 15, 16 KJV)

"All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away." (Isaiah 64: 6 NIV)

"Who can say, "I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin"? (Proverbs 20: 9 NIV)

These verses tell us that all men are spiritually and morally "filthy." As such they need to be "cleansed" and "washed."

God and cleanliness go together. The Psalmist indicated this when he said:

"The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false." (Psalm 24: 1-4 NIV)

"And he set the porters at the gates of the house of the LORD, that none which was unclean in any thing should enter in." (II Chronicles 23: 19 KJV)

"And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein." (Isaiah 35: 8 KJV)

"Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean." (Isaiah 52: 1 KJV)

The only ones who will enter heaven and receive the gift of immortality and eternal life are they who are pure and without any filth. Upon completion of the Day of Judgment, Lord God will say:

"He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still." (Revelation 22: 11 KJV)

Since man's fall into sin and moral filth, Lord God has been calling him to return to him and to receive pardon and cleansing from him.

"Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow." (Isaiah 1: 16, 17 KJV)

"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." (II Corinthians 7: 1 KJV)

So, in both Testaments, the message is the same. God calls the filthy to come to him for cleansing and cautions them to be careful not to use their own "soaps" and self-manufactured and self-supplied "cleansing agents" but only the means of cleansing that he stipulates and supplies for the filthy sinner.

"Although you wash yourself with soda and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me," declares the Sovereign LORD." (Jeremiah 2: 22 NIV)

Man may have done well with his "soaps" that wash off dirt from the body, but he has not been able to produce a cleansing agent to remove the stain and filth of his sin.

Dry cleaning professionals today are very apt at removing all kinds of difficult "stains," but no man can remove the stain of his sin and guilt with any cleansing agent of his own, but only with what God has provided. This divinely provided cleansing cleanses the whole man, in body, soul, and in spirit. It's end is the "perfection" of the sinner, his purification.

"'For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36: 24-26 NIV)

"In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness." (Zechariah 13: 1 KJV)

"I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before. I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me." (Jeremiah 33: 7, 8 NIV)

The above verses relate the gracious promise that Lord God gave to sinners by the mouths of the prophets. The Lord promises to thoroughly wash away the filth and stain of sin, providing for sinners a "spiritual bath," a place where they may come and be cleaned and healed. Involved in this spiritual cleansing is the riddance of all sources of uncleanness, such as the worship of idols.

"The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!" (Hebrews 9: 13, 14 NIV)

"In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (and no cleansing)." (Hebrews 9: 22 NIV)

"Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation." (Hebrews 9: 10 KJV)

Through the various legal cleansings that were ordained under the Old Covenant Lord God was teaching sinners about sin and its remedy. In the Old Testament both water and blood were the chief elements used to remove moral filth.

"But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, 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 Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." (Titus 3: 4-7 KJV)

"And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood." (Revelation 1: 5 KJV)

"And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." (Revelation 7: 14 KJV)

It is the blood of Christ that "washes away sin." Nothing else will do the job. When Paul mentions the "washing of regeneration," he is clearly referring to the bath the Christian takes when he is made a believer in Jesus and comes to him for cleansing and for healing. It is the "bath of regeneration."

Oh how good it feels to take a bath! Yes, children do not like it, but adults who are dirty find it quite enjoyable. It is such a good feeling to walk from a bath all clean and fresh!

"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." (I Corinthians 6: 9-11 KJV)

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." (Ephesians 5: 25-27 KJV)

"You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you." (John 15: 3 NIV)

"And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." (Hebrews 10: 21, 22 KJV)

Not only is the blood a cleansing agent in the purification of the sinner, but so is the water of the word of God, or the gospel which points to the blood of Christ as remedy.

The cleansing is first internal, in the heart, mind, soul and "conscience" of the sinner, but becomes external in the removing of all. This cleansing by the application of the water and the blood produces a person who is pure, sanctified and holy, and guiltless (or justified).

"Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy. Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy." Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. "By all means, go," the king of Aram replied. "I will send a letter to the king of Israel." So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten sets of clothing. The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: "With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy." As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, "Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!" When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: "Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel." So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha's house. Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, "Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed." But Naaman went away angry and said, "I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than any of the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be cleansed?" So he turned and went off in a rage. Naaman's servants went to him and said, "My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, 'Wash and be cleansed'!" So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy." (II Kings 5: 1-13 KJV)

"A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, "If you are willing, you can make me clean." Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured." (Mark 1: 40-42 NIV)

Leprosy is a type of the filth of sin. It is removed only by the Lord speaking the words to the sinner - "be clean." But, it is the sinner who is called upon to avail himself of this cleansing. The "man with leprosy" that Christ cleansed and healed came to him and begged to be cleansed of Jesus.

Naaman is like so many proud sinners today who fail to see the wisdom in God's way of healing and so think his way is just too simple and easy.

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." (Matthew 23: 25-27 NIV)

Oh how many sinners think that they, of themselves, can "clean up" their lives, their souls, by externally reforming their lives, or by "getting religion," or by "turning over a new leaf," etc. We must experience an inner cleansing and regeneration BEFORE a sinner's external cleansing will mean anything to God or be non-hypocritical.

"Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin." (Psalm 51: 2 NIV)

Friend, is that your prayer in Christ?