The Hope that Purifies

The Hope that Purifies.

[this article is in process, and so it is yet unfinished. Please don’t read until it is completed]

“We know that when Jesus appears, we shall resemble Him, for we shall see Him as He truly is. Everyone who treasures this hope, this eager expectation of the Lord’s coming, continues purifying themselves, just as He is pure.” (1 John 3:2-3).

Purify Yourselves! As we trust in Jesus and expectantly believe His promise to return, this eager hope of ours will motivate us to do our part in continually cleansing ourselves from anything that keeps us impure. We will do all we can to remain as pure of heart and mind as He is. We will intentionally commit to decontaminating ourselves from the moral and spiritual pollutants of this world by embracing the hope of seeing Jesus one day face-to-face. Our hope of being with God in the future will serve to unite us to His purity right now. This earnest hope for sharing in God’s glory will shape how we live presently. We will, with God’s help, purify ourselves by hoping in Christ’s return to claim us for His own.

St. John used this Greek word for “purify” only one other time, when he reported something interesting in John 11:55: “It was almost time for the Jewish Passover, and many people went from the countryside up to Jerusalem many days early in order to purify themselves through ritual washing before the Passover.” John is referring here to the water of the “Mikvah Bath.” By the time of John the Baptist, baptism was nothing new to the faithful Jews. Ritual immersion was an important means of purification according to Biblical law, especially before Temple worship, a wedding, a conversion, during a mother’s pregnancy, and whenever entering a sacred space. The Jewish believer undergoing the ritual bath had to be completely naked, must fully soak every inch of the body by immersing him/herself under water, and the pool of water was required to be “living” water from a stream, river, or rainwater. Moses’ teaching in the Torah left an indelible impression on Yahweh’s chosen people that they needed to be officially set apart in dedication to their holy God by submitting to an outer cleansing that represented an intentional inner purification. The external cleansing was a sign of the internal cleansing needed before meeting their God and worshipping in His presence in the Temple. St. James reminded the new Christ-followers of this holy tradition as he wrote in his letter, “Come near to God, and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (James 4:8). 

Jewish Roots of Purification. 

1. The Water of Purification in the Red Heifer Ritual. There appeared to be no logical reason for the red heifer ritual as God explained it (Numbers 19). A perfect, unblemished red heifer, one who hasn’t been yoked, was to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered. This heifer has to be completely red, and it had to be a young female cow that had not borne a calf. After the butchering of the heifer, the attending priest was required to sprinkle some of the cow’s blood seven times directly in front of the Tabernacle. The dead heifer was then to be completely burned, including its hide, its flesh, everything. Into this fire the priest was to place some cedar wood, a branch of hyssop, and a scarlet woolen thread. Both the man who burned the heifer and the eye-witness priest were then required to clean their clothes, take a bath, and be considered unclean till the evening. The priest was then instructed to gather the ashes and make a thin paste as they mixed the ashes with clean “living” water from a nearby stream. This mixture is called the “water of purification” by the Lord. “It is for purifying from sin,” says Yahweh (Nu. 19:9). If someone is deemed unclean, then a branch of hyssop is dipped into the watered-down paste and is applied to the person’s tent, his vessels, and his body. The mixture of ash and water will purify the unclean person in the sight of God.

The water of cleansing was noted in Leviticus 14:8 and Exodus 19:20 in Mosaic tradition. And water cleansing came to symbolize moral purification and repentance all through Hebrew Scriptures:

• “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin” (Ps. 51:2);
• “Wash and make yourselves clean, take your evil deeds out of my sight!” (Isaiah 1:16);
• “I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities.” (Ezekiel 36:25).
• ‘O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?” (Jeremiah 4:14);
• “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.” (Zechariah 13:1).

An Early-Church Sacrament. In the Orthodox Church, this foot-washing is a symbol of baptism, for after Peter is revolted by the thought of His Lord washing his feet and flatly refused it, Jesus says, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me, and you can’t be a part of what I’m doing.” (v. 8). The cleansing water of the bowl symbolizes the cleansing, purifying power of Jesus’ Cross and Resurrection. Finally, stubborn Peter started getting the right idea when he said in v. 9, “not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” In other words, Peter is proclaiming to Jesus that if this is the only way for him to be Christ’s partner, then wash all of him! Peter is saying… Wash every inch of me, Jesus, a full bath from head to toe! Referring to baptism once again, Jesus replied to Peter, “He whose whole body is bathed need only to wash his feet, but is completely clean.” Foot-washing has since become a sacramental act in the Church, a time when the physical mingles with the spiritual, when we are able to experience the spiritual power of tangible servanthood. Our consistent offering of repentance and confession may be viewed as periodic foot-washing, being cleansed by Christ, the dirt of our sins being washed away as we confess our way through a sinful world.

Kept Clean. When Jesus washed His disciples’ feet in John 13, Jesus made a striking remark, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me and what I’m doing.” (13:8). Jesus is making a spiritual statement here, pointing to Holy Baptism, and that unless He has totally cleansed us, we are neither a follower of Him nor a part of what He is doing. Through accepting the Anointed One into one’s life, and believing in His death and resurrection, Jesus has fully cleansed His followers. They have taken the mikvah, the Jewish ritual bath for purification. As the Message translation puts it, “If you’ve had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now and you’re clean from head to toe. My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene.” (MSG).  So those of us who have been purified through our Baptism in Jesus and our anointing in the Spirit continue to need for Him to keep washing our feet. We need to keep ourselves set apart for Him, to remain sacred and holy and pure as we live into Him and His purity. We need to keep ourselves clean, dedicated to God, set apart for Him through His foot washings of repentance, confession and living into the fullness of His Holy Spirit. For “God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives.” (1 Thess. 4:7). When believers daily repent of our sins, humbly confess allegiance to the Anointed One, and surrender to the Holy Spirit, God is in effect washing our feet and keeping us sacred, holy and pure. Unless He continues to wash us, we will not grow in holiness.

More cleansing thoughts from Scripture: “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings before My eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; Seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, and plead for the widow… Though your sins are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1:16-18). “O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?” (Jeremiah 4:14). “Purge me with the shrub of purification; Un-sin me, that I may be purified.  Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow… Create in me a pure, clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:7, 10). “Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (James 4:8).

there is no mistaking the fact that the Lord finds crooked hearts detestable, and blameless hearts a delight. Here are a variety of ways to say the same thing:

• They who are perverse in heart are extremely disgusting in the eyes of the Lord, but He is very pleased with anyone who walks with integrity.
• Deceitful hearts are utterly vile to the Lord Yahweh, but those who are undefiled are a source of pleasure for Him.
• God will stand against those with a twisted mind, but He will take pleasure in those with a sound, healthy mind.
• The Lord detests the people who have purposely developed a perverted heart, but he takes joy in those with unblemished hearts.
• Yahweh will remain in opposition to anyone with a warped or distorted heart, but He will extend goodwill towards the person who is sincerely upright in his ways.
• The Lord will be an enemy of anyone with a deceitful mind, but He will show favor to the person who follows the right way.
• Depraved hearts are abhorrent to Yahweh, but dear to Him are those whose hearts are wholesome.
• God can’t stand those who are perverted, but He relishes those who are upright.
• Devious people are disgusting to the Lord, but He favorably accepts those who are innocent and genuine.
• The Lord hates the stubborn heart bent toward evil, but He treasures those whose ways are pure.

We all need to take our hearts to God’s laundromat every day as we ask Him to purify our innermost beings. 

Purity of Heart: A Combination of Human Effort and Divine Grace:

1. “Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”? (Proverbs 20:9).
2. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24).
3. “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (James 4:8).
4. “We know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”  (I John 3:2-3).
5. “The goal of this teaching is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (I Timothy 1:5).
6. “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers and sisters, love one another deeply from the heart.”(I Peter 1:22).
7. “True devotion, the kind that is pure and faultless before God the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their difficulties and to keep the world from contaminating us.” (James 1:27).

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8).

You will cheer with delight when your innermost being is cleaned of mixed motives and impure thoughts. Congratulations! Your clean inner reservoir of natural instincts will now more clearly reflect a pure image of God, and your eyesight will continue to improve as you gaze upon Him.

‘The essential bliss of the creature is to behold the face of the Creator.” (George MacDonald). Sometimes we have hidden agendas, even kept secret from ourselves. Often, we are mysteries, even unto ourselves. We can surprise ourselves with our double-mindedness and questionable convictions. How can we ever see deeply enough into our psyche to determine if our motives are really pure? Can we consciously choose to have innocent knee-jerk reactions to situations in life? Will we ever have spotless, involuntary impulses? These are deep internal matters, and here we find ourselves right where God wants to work. He wants us to be gradually purified at our subterranean level. He longs to see our motivations become unmixed with inner sinfulness. He yearns that our heartfelt reactions become clean and upright. God wants to transform our deepest, most innermost beings to become unsullied, a pure mountain stream flowing way below the surface with all the impurities washed away. God wants our unbidden thoughts to be righteous, our random feelings to be filled with goodness.

“Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.” (Ps. 51:10-11). This purification process is a continuous cleansing, it is ongoing. According to Jesus, when we daily submit to that cleansing process, we are to be envied! We are supremely fortunate! For hearts filled with light and purity allow us to see God more and more clearly. The purer our hearts, the more light that is allowed to reach under the surface, the wider open our eyes to recognize the Lord. When complete purity has been achieved, it’s time to celebrate! We will then be seeing Jesus face-to-face! In the meantime, our vision of God will only sharpen as we ask the Holy Spirit to wash us clean at that deep, deep level. Ask for a daily bath down below in the heart. We are unable to cleanse our own hearts at that level. Only the Spirit.