May 27

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, — Eph 5:25-26 BSB

Consider the Church without the sanctifying operations and influences of regenerating grace. She would be far from Christ, with no desire for Him, no manifest union or communion with Him, no faith in His blood, no hope in His mercy, and no love for His name. If she were left in this condition, where would her fitness for heaven be? But when the word of truth comes with power, accompanied by the Holy Spirit’s influence on the heart, there is not only a cleansing of the conscience from the guilt and filth of sin but also the imparting of a new heart and a new spirit. This is clearly spoken of by the prophet Ezekiel, where God promises, “From all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you,” and adds, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.”

It is not enough to be washed from our sins in the blood of the Lamb, to be pardoned and forgiven, and to have a title to heaven. We also need a fitness for heaven—a new heart and a new spirit that enable us to taste, handle, feel, and enjoy the love of Christ as it is shed abroad in our hearts, and to experience the flow of love back to Him. Just as the blood cleanses, so the Spirit sanctifies. John writes, “This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood” (1 John 5:6). The blood represents the atonement, while the water signifies the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

Notice the order in which these blessings come: First, the love of Christ in eternity; second, the gift of Himself in time; third, the cleansing by His blood; fourth, the sanctification by the Spirit.

Now, examine these truths for yourself. Are your sins pardoned? Do you have any evidence that you are washed in the blood of the Lamb? Do you believe you are going to heaven? What is your belief or hope based on? Where are your evidences? Surely, it cannot be from merely reading these truths in Scripture as the bare revelation of God or believing them because I have spoken of them. Such a faith and such a hope, if they are all you have, will prove to be delusions and leave you in the hands of Him who is a consuming fire. If your hope of eternal life is truly well-founded, it is because the word of life has come into your soul, and you have not only been cleansed by the blood of Christ but also sanctified and renewed by the power of the word, through the Holy Spirit, working in your heart.