… cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,
Summary: Paul’s use of words always keeps us on our toes. In this passage he gives us something interesting to think about.
What do you think of when you read “washing with water?” Baptism? That’s where my mind went, but I’m not sure that is what Paul meant.
In the larger context, Paul is not talking about believers as individuals. He is talking about Christ’s love for the “church,” a collection of individuals. To back up farther, Paul is talking about how husbands should love their wives as Christ loved the church.
And how did Christ love the church? This is where it gets interesting!
Jesus needed to make the church holy, like himself. Not perfect, not all powerful, but holy. Holy means set apart for God. As he says later, “without blemish.”
To do this he needed to cleanse the church of sin. Of course, when we “wash” something we use water. So water becomes a metaphor for something we can’t see, something spiritual.
It sounds like Paul is describing how Jesus washes the stain of sin from the church body, just like he washed the dust from his disciple’s feet (John 13:1-17). To make sure that we understand Paul is not talking about literally washing with water, he adds “through the word.”
If you look up this verse in different English translations, you will find that the Greek is translated in many different ways. If we look at the Greek directly, we can see why there is so much variation in the translations.
The Greek word for “water” can mean actual wet stuff, or it be used metaphorically. If used metaphorically, it means “that which refreshes and keeps alive the soul” (Strongs G5204). This spiritual cleansing of the church doesn’t happen through literal water, but “through the word.”
That brings to mind the opening words of John’s gospel:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” (John 1:1-3)
Jesus himself is the Word. The cleansing of the church, the washing away of sin, is accomplished by Jesus, the Word.
Application: Reflect on what Jesus is doing for his church.
Food for Thought: What does it feel like to be washed by Jesus?
I think it feels like being truly alive. It is true cleaning. It is wholeness. The Jews might say it is complete Shalom.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5: 17). After all, 1 John 4; 9 says we live through Him: “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.”
What does it feel like to be washed by Jesus?
I think my “feeling” has changed as my walk has changed. The basic “feeling” is consistent, but the intensity has changed. Always humility, gratitude, safety, and a sense of peace; I struggle to define those feelings except to say that they surpasses logic and my understanding. Like having a kind and wise father’s hand on your shoulder that never leaves.
Lamentations 3:55-57 ESV
“I called on your name, O Lord,
from the depths of the pit;
you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
your ear to my cry for help!’
You came near when I called on you;
you said, ‘Do not fear!’
09-13-2023, What does it feel like to be washed by Jesus?
To be washed by Jesus is to be cleansed of all sin, to have all existing sin, the power of sin, the burden of all past sin, removed from our lives. For many of us it is to be restored to the person we were created to be and the first time have an opportunity to experience fellowship with our God who loves us enough to die for us.
What does it feel like to experience spiritual life for the first time? We no longer stand before God carrying all the guilt of sin, because He has cleansed us from it. We are a new creation and something that is ‘new’ has no past. In Christ our sins, our past, our old self is gone, completely washed away as if it never existed. God has no more remembrance of it, and as we fully understand the cleansing power of the Blood of Jesus we will be freed from the guilt and condemnation of those sins.
We have a new joy and purpose in life as we begin to realize, what God has done for us, the reason we remain on earth, is to grow in our spiritual relationship and knowledge of Him, and find our peace and comfort and joy come as we allow Him to minister to others through us.
John 1:29, 10:10, 14:6, 1 John 1:7, 1:9, Titus 3:5, 2 Corinthians 5:17
1 Timothy 1:12, I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service.
2 Corinthians 3:3, being manifested that you are a letter of Christ, cared for by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
2 Corinthians 9:12, For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God.