Completely Clean

 

Image: Courtesy of news.legalexaminer.com

 

 

"He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean."

John 13:10

You know the story.  Jesus washed His disciples feet.  Peter objected.  When Christ explained it was necessary, Peter again tried to trump our Lord's direction with his own agenda, saying "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!"

I like Peter.  There is so much in him that is typical of our own hearts - my own especially.  Jesus' words and instructions were simple.  Peter insisted on complicating them.  That tends to be our way.  Take a very simple statement of Scripture, and find a hundred ways to "un-say" what it obviously says or implies.  We try to make the words of God fit with our own perspective of right & wrong, rather than humbly asking the Lord to give us faith to trust Him.  Every page of the Bible is, in some sense, God saying "Jason - do it My way." But Jason too often has his own plan, his own agenda, his own goals.  We put "our feelings" before "God's instruction." 

What struck me in Jesus' words today illustrates this.  He spoke of being "completely clean."  Jesus is speaking spiritually.  This is no surprise to readers of John's gospel who have heard Christ speak using earthly words to convey spiritual realities such as the "new birth" and "living water" and "the food which endures to everlasting life."  Completely clean means being completely "clean" spiritually and legally before the throne of God the Judge.  Sin and guilt , over and over in Scripture, is illustrated by uncleanness.  Unforgiven is unclean.  Unforgiven is like coming up from the mud and never being able to wash it off.  Unforgiven is like perpetually living with the black marks of the coal mine of our sinful hearts.

Jesus is speaking to Christians.  He is talking of those who have already "bathed."  In other words, they have already been born again.  They have already been united to Christ.  They have already been once-for-all washed in the blood of the Jesus which "cleanses us from all sin."  But such Christians still need - in addition to this - a daily sense of and appreciation of forgiveness through repentance.  Sin is still a part of my life, and my sin still stains and smudges my Christian walk.  My conscience is stained.  My witness is stained.  My fellowship with the Lord is stained. 

What Jesus is saying is that the daily "foot washing" of repentance makes us really, truly and "completely clean." 

Christian - when you ask the Lord to forgive your daily transgressions - you are completely clean.  Completely.    That's what Jesus said.  "He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean."  But like Peter, far too often we are slow to believe it.  Guilt builds up.  An awareness of inadequacy weighs us down.  Guilt is not the problem.  It is our [my] unwillingness to repent and believe in forgiveness that is the real culprit here. 

Jesus cleanses us daily when we confess our sins.  And this is a pattern for our service to others.  The daily cleansing we receive at Christ's hands provides us the example of the daily service and love we are to show one another. 

Completely clean.  It feels good.  But it takes faith to believe it. 

"My Righteousness"

Christians of all ages, backgrounds and social standing have often  turned together to the Psalms to find comfort and counsel that speaks to the very core of their being.  These inspired songs from the pen of David and others resonate with our souls.  If we are in trouble, we easily find a Psalm that gives expression to innermost longing: "Bow down Your ear, O Lord, hear me; for I am poor and needy (Psalm 86:1)."  When the Christian longs for solid ground amidst the shifting sands of a world sold-out to relativism, then "Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven" (Psalm 119:89)  steadies our soul.  When the stain of sin burdens our heart, Psalms of repentance echo our own experience: "For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me (Psalm 51:3)."

And we could go on.  But there is one expression in the Psalms that I have sometimes struggled with.  It does not seem to fit into the channels of my own experience.  It is the phrase, repeated several times, "my righteousness."

For example:

Psalm 7:8  "The Lord shall judge the peoples; Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness, And according to my integrity within me."
 

or
 

Psalm 18:20 "The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me."
 

 

or

 

Psalm 18:24 "Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight."

 

Sunday School Plans - Pleasure, Politics & the Pen

We have taken a brief intermission in our study of Paul's letter to the Colossians to consider a series of videos taught by R.C. Sproul entitled the "Christian Worldview."

The title may be misleading.  The series seems to me to be really a more full-orbed review of secular worldviews and how they contrast with the Christian worldview.  But maybe that is a distinction without a difference.  I'm not sure.  The topics include such studies as Secularism, Existentialism, Humanism, Pragmatism and others.

We haven't watched every one of the 12 episodes.  We have seen 5, and I will show 3 more.  The following are the 3 that remain which we will watch over the course of the next 3 weeks (D.V.):

• Hedonism
• Government
• Literature

Growing - A 2013 Exordium

Spiritual growth is a funny thing.

I mean, most sorts of growth are pretty easy to measure.  Financial growth (or the lack thereof!) is pretty obvious.  Growth in size (or weight...ugghhh) is not too hard to track.  We can tell when a plant grows - and depending on the time of year - such growth can be observed even daily.  Kids seem to grow right before our eyes.  Scientists can even measure the growing distance (sort of) between the galaxies (thought I won't try to get into the complexity of this phenomenon - since it boggles little minds like mine).

But spiritual growth is another matter entirely.  There is no ruler available to us that adequately accounts for it.  In fact, quite counter intuitively, the Bible seems to describe growing Christians as getting smaller (at least smaller in terms of their estimation of themselves).  John the Baptist summed it up when he said, speaking of Christ, "He must increase, but I must decrease."

I guess I'm thinking about spiritual growth sort of like an investment portfolio, managed by a trusted accountant, but into which you have no direct access.  You know what you put in, but have no real clue where you are at.  Not a brilliant analogy for sure.  But maybe it has some correlation to our situation with respect to growing as Christians.

But we are told to grow.  There seems to be no question about this.  I won't trouble you with quotes.  Anyone familiar with their Bibles is well aware that growing is not merely a spiritual fantasy but a Divine Command.  "Grow, you must!" is how Yoda would say it.  But with abundantly more authority, the Apostle Peter makes it clear, "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18)."

Since we are commanded to grow in spite of our limited capacity to really measure growth, I am especially grateful for books that help me to focus on specific areas to concentrate on.  Rather than always trying to determine if I am ACTUALLY growing, it seems better to just focus on the things that make for growth.  Do them, and we can be reasonably sure we are growing, whether we can see such growth or not.  Donald Whitney wrote a book entitled "Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life."  In it he draws our attention to 10 Biblical Areas to focus on if we want to grow as Christians. 

My ONLY Gun Post

In the  light of recent shooting tragedies in CT and elsewhere around the country this year, the whole situation has given me some cause for reflection.  I'm not looking to make a political post or use these terrible massacres as an opportunity to stand on a personal soap box.  But I, like everyone else in this country, cannot help but pause and ponder what exactly all this means and what I have learned.

I'm a gun owner.  I went through the process of paying for and attending a gun safety course.  I brought my certificate to the local police department and filled out an application for a Class A Large Capacity gun permit.  I paid the fee, submitted the personal recommendations, and waited.  Eventually I received my permit which allowed me to purchase a gun and carry it.  I did so.

There.  My cards are on the table.  If the above means that I cannot speak rationally or reliably on the subject...so be it. 

The point of this post is not to persuade the reader in one direction or another.  I respect your right to hold whatever opinion you have on the subject of gun ownership and the 2nd Amendment of our U.S. Constitution.  But I wanted to share what thoughts have been impressed upon my heart in the light of these terrible murders this year.