My high school buddy and fellow muscle car fanatic, Scott Douglas, who made the Shelby Mustang and Cobras legendary in the minds of his friends, once told me spit and gasoline are the two best solvents for cleaning, but since those old days of dreaming and working on muscle cars, I’ve discovered the ultimate stain remover ever.
(At the end of my regular article, I’ll share some thoughts about what’s going on in Paris and the world).
It’s interesting how we find an apt description of the necessary unblemished or clean and righteousness state of the Church in a passage given as an instruction for how husbands should love their wives. Marriage is an institution ordained by God and is meant to be an earthly model of God’s plan for His Son and His eventual marriage to His Church. Hence, Marriage is sacred in its institution and significant in its symbolism.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. – Ephesians 5:25-27
For those of you who understand the basic doctrines of Christianity, you know that the “bride of Christ” is the Church, the Body of Christ. Each person who is truly part of the Church is made holy and righteous through the atoning blood of Christ. True believers strive for sanctification in the Christian life, though believers, from their Justification are, In the sight of God, seen as righteous due to the propitiation of Jesus’ righteousness to cover our sins. Once we are bodily raised in the Last Day, the Church will be renewed, each will be transformed to be sinless with a glorified body.
“Purify” is another word commonly used to describe the stain removing righteousness imputed on believers, as seen in this example from Paul’s letter to his disciple and church leader Titus,
“…our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” – Titus 2:13-14
Stained, soiled, polluted, and blemished*
Before we receive and proclaim Christ as Lord and Savior, we are at enmity with God, our focus is on ourselves and our self-interest. Our nature is evil, since the Fall of Man, “the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth…” (Genesis 8:21). We are predisposed to do all with ourself interest in mind; moreover, our self-interest will lead us to worship either ourselves or things or people, possibly even our own family, living with sinful habits and attitudes without any desire to seek righteousness because there is no profound drive to do so.
The average person sees him or herself as “good” in relation to other people. This self-centered concept gets shattered or must otherwise undergo a necessary transformation or conversion that leads to becoming a servant of the Lord. Jesus spoke of many life conditions that break our pride that may lead people to God and His blessings in Matthew 5, the first part of the Sermon on the Mount.
In other words, we have an enormous stain of unrighteousness that makes us require acceptance of God’s mercy to avoid judgment. There is no work of our own that we can achieve reconciliation with God, though God will show mercy and kindness and be just in judgment. We can trust in God’s provision of grace for each of us because God is trustworthy and He cannot lie. Are you sorry for your sins and are you willing to trust in God’s gift of Salvation?
The Gospel is the finest stain remover there is. Much better than spit and gasoline.
God’s gift of Grace – Supernatural Cleaning
Jesus Christ took upon himself, the burden our all of our sins and took the judgment that we deserve. But we need to accept that gift, to repent, and to offer ourselves to serve the Lord Jesus.
You are secure. Not by works of your own but by the grace or God.
Then the cleaning process, in gratitude for God’s gift of life, continues in effort to remove hypocrisy from one’s life.
We can live in the glory of God’s righteousness, by seeking to obey His word, not out of duty, but in gratitude to the mercy and kindness. Following God and His instructions are poetically described in Psalm 119. You should read the Psalm 119 in its entirety, I will only include an excerpt here:
Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes;
and I will keep it to the end.
Give me understanding, that I may keep your law
and observe it with my whole heart.
Lead me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight in it.
Incline my heart to your testimonies,
and not to selfish gain!
Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
and give me life in your ways.
Confirm to your servant your promise,
that you may be feared.
Turn away the reproach that I dread,
for your rules are good.
Behold, I long for your precepts;
in your righteousness give me life! – Psalm 119:33-40 (ESV).
You can get a sense of what the true life of a believer is. There is an openness to God’s Commandments and a willingness to humble oneself in effort to further distance ourselves from the sinful habits of our previous pre-born-again life. We desire to remove those attitudes and habits that displease and anger God. We have an increasing desire to revere and honor God.
It’s hard to beat the way Paul writes to describe this “washing” process:
3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. -Titus 3:3-7
Hot Topics: The Opening Ceremony
Most of you probably know about what happened in Paris last week during the Olympics Opening in Paris so I won’t bore you with the regurgitated details, so I’ll just offer you some of my personal perspective, though as a Christian I should not be very unique in my opinion.
That God and His son Jesus Christ should be mocked by the world is not a surprise. The world has always been an enmity with God and will always be until the end of this Age. The world has a bigger and bigger megaphone and as the world community gets tighter, it will become more obvious the intent of those who are in power. You will know who the true God is, in part through the insane hatred and self-righteousness of the world.
Because of the sin in the world, Christ, who was fully God yet fully Man, suffered and was put to an agonizing and humiliating death on a cross. He did it in sacrificial love and submission to His Father’s will. He did it not to judge the world but to save the world. He died for my sin, yours and for all performers, all the critics, all those who don’t care, and even those whose decisions were to use the showcase of the Olympics to mock Christianity.
“I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.” John 12: 46-48.
People lie. Governments lie. Despite the obvious evidence to the contrary.
No one is absolved except through the saving grace of God. The greater sin are those in leadership, the responsible ones in power.
We are reminded of the 3rd Commandment regarding blasphemy (which includes the dishonoring and mocking of God), so serious it was punishable by death in ancient Israel. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.” – Exodus 20:7
Having a pornographic, even satanic, themes on prime time not surprising and the degeneration of conscience and moral standards, especially in regards the growing influence of sexual immorality, murder (including abortion), the institutionalized mutilation and drugging of children, the legislative attack on Marriage, the family and parenthood, the degeneration of the schools, and the turning away from Biblical standards, even in the so-called churches, has been relentless for decades.
The degeneration we observe is in large part made possible by every one turning a blind eye to his or her own sin. It’s little too easy to point our fingers at the sin we see that is moving quickly relative to our own sin speed, but in reality, we are all moving at a million miles per hour towards divine judgment.
Followers of Christ are sensitive to the mocking of our glorious head, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Body of Christ (the true Church) but Christ also taught us to not dwell in hate: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” – Matthew 5:21-22.
We trust and fear the judgment of a Holy, Righteous, and Just God. He is the one true force that can bring everyone together. God is a force who those who follow must be willing to serve His purposes in the world through the gospel.
*All terms (and there are more) that describe the unregenerate state of the human soul without trust in the Lord Jesus Christ the propitiation of Christ’s righteousness to cleanse, wash, and purify.
For a detailed explanation of who Jesus Christ is from the Bible’s perspective go to the video in this website , “Who is Jesus Christ?”
For a one minute explanation of the Gospel, watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCP9UcC7BzE
For a review of the Ten Commandments: https://www.challenyee.com/the-ten-commandments/
CKY
P.S. Typos and all, I do not use AI.
Sunset photo in Hawaii (Maui) is from my personal stock.