“Go to the blood of Christ, and that will purge thee, and wash thee from all thy sins.”
Richard Sibbes
Last Sunday, Adam preached from 1 John. And one of his key points was concerning purity and sanctification. Adam notes, “The hope we have is fixed and certain. It is not wishful thinking. We have an anchor…and his name is Jesus. He cited Ephesians and illustrates the passage in this way:
Ephesians 5:25-27 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
Imagine a water bottle with dirt in the bottom. If you don’t do anything the dirt will just say in the bottom. And I used to live out in dusty west Texas, and if you were walking around with the water bottle with the cap off dirt might just get in there more and more just from being in the environment. We are like the water bottle, we have some dirt in us, sin that we need to put to death so that we can made more and more like Jesus, but like the dirt, the sin won’t go away if we don’t do anything. If you put the bottle under a faucet and leave it there long enough the water will wash away all the dirt. In the same way we constantly need to be filled with the living water, with Jesus so that we might have clean hands and a pure heart.
The only thing I would add to Adam’s illustration is that it is the very hand of Jesus holding that water bottle. He is so very active in our sanctification, and he cleanses his bride by the washing of water with the word. Today, let’s celebrate what Christ has accomplished for us, namely, he is our very complete Savior. I will close with 1 Corinthians 1:30-31, “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” Have a blessed week and we will see many of you on Sunday.
Love in Christ,
Pastor Dale
