“Jesus answered him, ‘If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me.'” John 12:8
Dear Ones:
There are no imperfections with God, hence, He requires perfection. This is why His commandments, and His promises, are absolutes. The written expression of God’s purpose, will, and way, corresponds to His character. He is absolute, and thus, His word is absolute. How then can a perfect, absolutely holy God, have anything to do with imperfect, flawed, sinful man? The answer resides in another aspect of the perfection of God, His mercy and His grace. It is according to, and by the means of His mercy and grace, that His way and provision is given to sinful man. A prisoner of sin and Satan, sinful man is called by God to know the life of God, and that eternally. But, how, on this earth, can a sinful man live in a manner that will please the perfect, Almighty God? What is God’s way by which we can live in harmony with Him, by the power of Christ’s life, for the high glory of God? The answer resides in two absolutes, the forgiveness of EVERY sin, and the embracing of Christ’s fulness by the Spirit.
With regard to the forgiveness of every sin, how is this possible? From a positional standpoint, peace with God is only possible when the perfect righteousness of Christ is attributed to the sinner. This occurs the moment a person repents of his sin, and by faith, is born of the Spirit. God takes that sinner, from being in the position of sinful Adam, where sin and death reign, to be eternally, and irrevocably, placed into Jesus Christ. The believer is then clothed with the perfect righteousness of Christ, accepted in the Beloved by the Father. But, what about sinful, imperfect man here on earth. How is he to live before the eternal God, in a manner where his voice is heard on high, and where God reveals Himself to the heart and soul? The answer lies in the words, “nothing between.”
By Jesus’ own words, we are called to be “perfect,” as our Father in heaven is perfect. Is this possible? Did not John Calvin say that man does not know the thousandth of his sin? How then can an imperfect man, though saved and yet still a sinner, walk perfectly before God? It is not by a perfect performance, but by a perfect attitude of heart. In Jeremiah 24, we read: “And I will give them an heart to know Me.” (v.7) He goes on to say, “…for they shall return unto Me with their WHOLE heart.” (v.7) Essential to knowing God is a “perfect heart,” a “whole heart,” with nothing between the Lord and the believer. James would call the evidence of such a heart to be one which exhibited “faith… without doubting,” no doublemindedness. Jesus would call this heart, a “pure heart.” It is one where the attitude towards God is an entire one of faith, trust, and obedience. It is also one where the heart is cleansed and kept clean by God. John makes this clear when he writes, “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from ALL sin.” (1 Jn. 1:7) But what of our inconsistencies, and those sins that we are not aware of? The Lord Jesus, before His crucifixion, rose from having a meal with his disciples, took water and a towel, and began to wash the disciple’s feet. Peter objected, to which the Lord made it very clear that He alone can cleanse from sin, and also, that if we allow Him to deal with that which is revealed to us, He will cleanse the entire person.
The second absolute is the fulness of the Spirit of Christ. When Jesus finished His work on Calvary, it was NOT that we should just taste of His life, but be FILLED with the gift of His Spirit. Christ comes to dwell in the heart, to FILL it, revealing there His glory.
Dear Father, Cleanse us, keeping us clean. Fill us, keeping us filled, with Thy Spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad