“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:2-3, NKJV).
It was “Family Car Wash Day”. All four of us were in the backyard putting hands together to wash the three cars in our household. Thad, my husband, had just gotten through lathering the truck and John our son followed with the hose, rinsing off the soap. As the flood of water ran down the side of the truck, it revealed areas that still needed washing. Grace commented how interesting it was that it looked like the truck was washed clean, but the rinsing revealed that it wasn’t. She continued with her observations about the need for more washing for it to be thoroughly clean. As she shared, I was reminded of the 3-fold washing taught by Scripture: the washing by the blood, washing of the word, and washing by the Spirit. Without all 3, we will not be thoroughly clean. “There are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one” (1 John 5:8, NKJV).
As I meditated on this throughout the following days, I thought on how we live in a world that is obsessed with having, having more and having it at any cost. Unfortunately, being immersed in such an environment increases our risk of being contaminated or defiled. There is that constant influence that affects our desires, ambitions, and focus. If we are not intentional about rejecting that influence, we will remain in a state of uncleanness and miss our reward at Jesus’ appearing.
1 John 3:2-3 (NKJV) states, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
“… everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” Everyone who has this hope in Christ should cleanse oneself, or should take upon oneself purification. We each have a responsibility to endeavor and maintain purification so we can be pure as Jesus Christ.
Yes, there is an act of purification that comes through the blood of Jesus; through and by His blood our sins are washed away. But there is further purification needed to free us from contamination and defilement as we live in this world. This purification or cleansing is done ‘with the washing of water by the word’ (Ephesians 5:26, NKJV) and “through the washing in which the Holy Spirit gives us new birth and renewal” (Titus 3:5, GW). We must aspire for these to be daily applied to our lives.
Friends, to be totally free of the past, we must ensure that we are washing; washing daily, washing frequently. Washing ensures cleanliness. Just as we see the importance of washing our bodies, cars, clothing, utensils, etc, we should also see the importance of washing our soul daily. It is when we have clean hands and a pure heart that we can ascend into the holy hill and partner with God (Psalms 24:3-4, KJV). The cleaner we are the more we become like Him and the more intimate we can become with Him (1 John 1:5-7, NKJV). The more intimate we are with Him the more access we have to His heart and His power.
Paul said to the church at Corinth, “And such were some of you. But you were washed …. (1 Corinthians 6:11, NKJV). Let us endeavor to be WASHED.
Let us pray: Dear Lord, I thank you for your blood that washes away my sins. Thank you for the availability of your word and your Spirit that sanctifies and cleanses me until I become as pure as you. May I not be content with the contamination of the world that settles on and around me. Instead, may I have a desire to access both your word and your Spirit as a means of purifying/washing myself daily. I look forward to being like you on the day of your appearing. Amen.
DIG DEEPER:
- Bible Study: The Laver of Brass