State and Standing

by D. S. Parrack (England)

No. 2 — WASHING/CLEANSING

We are probably only too well aware of how easy it is to get defiled, or quite bluntly dirty, in our spiritual living. Can we say then, in any really meaningful sense, that God can see us as, or that we can claim to be, absolutely clean?

Paul was obviously talking of a once-for-all washing when saying of God that it was “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,” Tit.3.5. Believers accept, and accept with gratitude, that being born again, regenerated, is a ‘forever’ happening. Well, here the apostle links it with our being washed, being cleansed, from the defilement of judgment-deserving sin.

Because of some of our own personal experiences, we might find that vista particularly hard to contemplate. Of believers in N.T. times whom we might first think of as susceptible to such doubtings, perhaps the Corinthians spring to mind. There were certainly enough problems in that church when Paul first wrote to them, however, having cited a whole catalogue of sins, potential and actual and included the words “such were some of you,” he continues, “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,” 1Cor.6.11. That is a very comprehensive range of fully conferred blessings and we cannot doubt any one of them singly without casting doubt on them all.

Peter appeared to be unsure at one time as to just where he stood in the matter, and his quandary gives us a clear picture of the twin aspects of once-for-all and ongoing washing. Since feet washing was in N.T. times essentially the task of a servant, Peter's incredulous, “Lord dost thou wash my feet?”, is eminently understandable. Jesus' assurance, “What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter” was insufficient to prevent the apostle's next exclamation. “Thou shalt never wash my feet.” He does deserve some credit for his desire, even if misplaced, to safeguard the disciple/master relationship between himself and his acknowledged Lord. Then the Lord Jesus begins to show what He wanted His disciples to learn from the incident. “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me” but then He goes on to say, “He that is washed” a completed operation, “needeth not save to wash His feet.” Here we have an activity which will bring our daily living into closer accord with how God sees us as being, which is “clean every whit” (see Jn.13.3-17). But that too was always in the mind of the Lord Jesus as being an integral part of the salvation which by His sacrifice He offers to those who trust Him. “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it,” but again, as with redemption, there is an ongoing factor, “that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word,” Eph.5.25,26.

“Washing of water by the Word” then, is how the Lord Jesus accomplishes what He wants for His church and all of its constituent members, people who because they have been washed and made clean, go on to show that cleanness in their daily lives. Although we could do nothing to achieve that cleansed standing in God's sight, we are expected to be cooperatively submissive in our ongoing state of being washed from the daily defilement which results from our living in what is, after all, a defiled world. In this context we have, as quite often we find in the Scriptures, a question posed and an answer immediately given. The Psalmist asks “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his ways?” The reply is given “By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word,” Ps.119.9. The Scriptures are there available for us, but it is only when we “take heed thereto” that they will prove their effectiveness as a cleansing agent.

The causes of uncleanness can vary both in actuality and in our own perceptions. Paul's second letter to Corinth was not dealing with blatant fornication as was the first, though the ramifications were referred to (see e.g. 2Cor.2.1-11). He now talks about being “unequally yoked together with unbelievers,” 2Cor.6.14, and we need to be quite sure if we feel others are moving in defiling circles, that we are not ourselves just as much enmeshed but in ways less openly apparent. Having highlighted the problem the apostle looks for an action-invoking response. “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit” and the former is easier than the latter, “perfecting holiness in the fear of God,” 2Cor.7.1.
A similar approach is taken when writing to Timothy about service amongst God's people. Having acknowledged that “in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and earth, and some to honour and some to dishonour,” the apostle encourages his younger protégé by saying “If a man purge himself from these” and note the word “purge” has a strong affinity in the original to the word ‘cleanse’, “he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified and meet for the master's use and prepared unto every good work,” 2Tim.2.20,21.

Do you want to serve the Lord? You want that service to be both acceptable to Him and of help and benefit to others? You are already, as far as God is concerned, “clean every whit” as regards reception into, and service within, heaven. This is your standing, secure and inviolable because of the Person and work on which it is based. But what about here and now, what about service in this world? God has given, by the application of His Word, the wherewithal to enable an ever-increasing degree of practical cleansing. How effective it is for you personally though, depends on how attentive, obedient and responsive you are to that Word.

—to be continued (D.V.)