Good Morning Everyone
Today is Monday September 19, 2011
The word of the day comes from
Hebrews 10:22
New International Version (NIV)
22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
My Interpretation
We want to look today into the word washing and the significance of the need to be washed by the Word in the life of a believer of Jesus Christ. Washing (λοῦτρον) is also used as a symbol of regeneration in Titus 3:5. [1]If we take a look at Titus 3:5 it reads: 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.[2] Acts 22:16 reads: 16 And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’ [3] 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 reads: 9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.[4]
During my ordination, one of the classes that I had to take was Pneumatology which is the Study of the Holy Spirit. Just by reading the previous scriptures given you can see that the Holy Spirit/Spirit of God plays a prominent role in us being washed by the Word of God. Here are some clip notes from my study book. The first thing we want to look at is who the Holy Spirit is. The Holy Spirit is a person (John 14:16, John 14:26, John 15:26, John 16:8). One of the keys to your understanding about the Holy Spirit lies in your recognition that the Holy Spirit is not an “it,” He is a person. As you study the book of Acts, you will discover that the Holy Spirit played an indispensable role in the birthing of the Church (Acts 2:1-41) and in fact throughout the entire Book of Acts. And He still plays the same indispensable role in the life of the believer today. The Holy Spirit is the 3rd person of the triune Godhead: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit (1 John 5:7, Acts 5:3-4, Mark 1:10-11). Because the Holy Spirit of God is a person, as much as the Father and Son are Persons, He experiences all the sinless elements involved within a divine personality. Personality consists of possessing intellect, emotions and will. The Holy Spirit has all three. He has a mind (Romans 8:27, He has a will (1 Corinthians 12:11), He forbids (Acts 16:6-7), He permits (Acts 16:10), He speaks (Acts 8:29, 10:19, 13:2, Revelations 2-3), He loves (Romans 15:30), He grieves (Ephesians 4:30), He prays (Roman 8:26).
One of the emblems of the Holy Spirit is water which indicates life and cleansing (Isaiah 44:3).
Understanding that we need to be clean, we need to look to God for regeneration. Regeneration is strictly from God. It is the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit on our behalf to help restore the barrier that Jesus’ blood tore down for us and our relationship with God. Without God, we are spiritually dead, incapable of communication, fellowship nor relationship with God. Regeneration through the working of the Holy Spirit gives us a new life “new birth” “born again” with an opportunity for relationship and fellowship with God the Father. This means that we are new in Christ and allowed access to God. We can now hear from God and He can hear from us. We have the ability to work on behalf of Him, with the help of Him in our ordinary lives to be able to do extraordinary things.
Let’s relook at our scripture for today: 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
Colossians 2:13-15 reads: 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. [5] We know through that because we have been regenerated through the work of the Holy Spirit we can freely come to God not concerned about a guilty conscience of past sin according to the Word. This is why it is important to have the Holy Spirit. This will answer the question if we can be a Christian and not have the Holy Spirit. The answer is no. You received the Holy Spirit as part of your receiving Christ. You can’t receive just one part of the Trinity. When you became a Christian- when you confessed your sins and repented of them, when you asked for and received God’s forgiveness- you received the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God came and indwelled your spirit and claimed you as His own. He regenerated you, meaning the Holy Spirit literally re-creates him and gives him the nature of God. The Holy Spirit is the very presence of God within us and all believers, helping us to live as God wants us to live. By faith we can appropriate the Spirit’s power each day.
Using wisdom we will stop right here and continue this Word/lesson/study another time…I pray you were blessed.
[1] Girdlestone, R. B. (1998). Synonyms of the Old Testament : Their bearing on Christian doctrine. (149). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[2] The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (Tt 3:5). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
[3] The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (Ac 22:16). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
[4] The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (1 Co 6:9–11). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
[5] The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001 (Col 2:13–14). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
Have a wonderful, blessed, productive, stress free day!
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