Washed by the water of his word

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“And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Peter 1:19).

Jesus is our example, and we do our best as His Church to follow all the requirements set before us. From witnessing to disciplining, those who are called to be a part of His body are trained to follow His path. Recognizing that even Jesus was baptized in water, we too practice water baptism. However, there is one very important act of Christianity we do not practice in accordance with our Lord and Savior.

We honor Jesus with our traditional celebrations of His birth and His resurrection; however, we seem to be blinded to one major step in finding our purpose in life. We are celebrated at our birth and somewhere further down our lifeline we may be dedicated to the Lord. Some practice dedication of their children to the Lord while they are still young, while others have their priest baptize their children when they are still in their infancy. All these practices have some form of traditional value, but we are still missing the most important part of putting our children on the right path.

Many of us wonder why our children have to go through a time of rebellion. Sometimes a strong demonic oppression takes them down a path of hellish experiences that can tear a family apart. When parents lose their children to the evil one and they raised them the way they were taught, they feel the teachings of the Church have failed them. Frustrated and sad, parents will quote Proverbs as their evidence of them raising their children up accord to God’s plan. “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:5-7).

Losing our children to the evil one does not have to happen. If we add the missing link in our teaching on how to walk in the footsteps of our Christ Jesus I know His Word will keep our children safe and in His perfect will. With that said, we know that our children will be tested by Satan and his demons just as Christ was tempted by the evil one (Ref. Luke 4:1-13). The difference is Jesus knew His calling and purpose in this life. Not only did Jesus know his purpose, so did His mother Mary and many others. His path had already been preordained, and our lives should be just the same. There should be no reason for the devil to have his way with our children. We should grow up knowing in advance what our calling and purpose in life will be.

Over the many years that I have been involved in the prophetic ministry many things that have been revealed to me, which I have not had a large platform to share. I realize that I am nothing more than an old plow called to break the hard ground, preparing it for others to water with their tears of intercession. One day the sowers of His Word will plant this practice in the souls of Christians everywhere through their gifted teachings, as others will come behind them reaping the harvest of their labor.

Now is the time to turn the revelation of the plow over to the sowers of His Word. Then we can begin equipping this next generation with the power of His Word, going before them as a lamp unto their feet, keeping them out of the pitfalls of the enemy. What is the revelation, the missing link, the one thing that will guide our children into their calling and purpose? It is simple, really. The Word of God is the most important thing in a Christian’s life. Why then do we keep that word from being spoken over our children? I am talking about their personal prophecy. Their gift and calling of God begins with a word of prophecy being proclaimed over them as early as 8 days of age. Why not prophesy over them while still in their mother’s womb? Why is it that we wait until our children have already been spoken over by Satan’s evil ambassadors thousands of times before we allow the personal prophetic words of our Heavenly Father be pronounced over them. It is not enough to just say I give my son or daughter over to the Lord. We need to know what they will be, what they will do, what their purpose in life is all about. When the prophetic word of God is spoken over a child a special ministering spirit (angel) is appointed unto them to minister and fulfill that which has been proclaimed.

“But to which of the angels has He ever said: Sit at My right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:13,14)

Do you recall when Jesus was only 8 days old and His mother and father took Him to the temple, and a woman name Anna who prophesied over Jesus waited at the door for him? When Jesus was taken into the temple the priest said he had waited his entire life knowing that he would not be able to go on until he had prophesied over the Messiah (Ref. Luke 2:21-40). This is our missing link, people; this is the part that of the pattern we have not sown into our God-given covering of protection, which allows us to do what we have been created to do. Even if you missed the opportunity for your children to be prophesied over at 8 days of age, it’s never too late. It’s time we have our children washed in the water of His Word. No more should we allow our children to flounder around in this world wandering around in darkness, waiting for the light to come and illuminate their path so they can see where they are to go and what they are to do.

Early on in this ministry, God had me begin asking parents if I could speak a word over their children. Many pastors have been more than gracious, allowing me to prophesy over the children. It has always made a special service for everyone, especially the parents who fight to hold back their tears as they see their little one receive His Word of Prophecy.

It has been such a rewarding experience to have young men and women come to my home and share with me the prophecy I imparted to them, even when they were so young they didn’t know who I was or what I was telling them. It is such a special part of my life and ministry to see what God has accomplished through this one act of obedience. To be used as a vessel for God, to speak life’s destiny into a baby or young person’s life is so rewarding. I just pray I live long enough to hear more of these testimonies.

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Meet Andy Frasure, Received his first Prophecy at the age of 9. From boyhood to Marine to Minister for Jesus Christ our Lord

Meet Andy Frasure, From boyhood to Marine to Missionary from Kent Simpson on Vimeo.

You can now catch previous stories in our
PREVIOUS WEEKS NEWSLETTERS »

Kent Simpson, Prophetic Pastor
aka,”The Mail Order Prophet”
www.PropheticMinistries.org

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Comments and Testimonies

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WOW! That was REALLY helpful and very confirming. It is what I have been sensing but since it has only barely just begun, I have not had much confidence. I will continue to press in and pray that the Lord would send me a messenger for further clarity and confirmation.

With love and many blessings to you, Brother Kent!

Bree

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Hello Prophet Kent

Thank you so much it’s very uplifting to hear your insight from God’s heart, I just felt a huge burden of what to do lift off my shoulders, I will keep you posted and support you and bless your ministry. Your last prophecy you said that I would be in the ministry also and working to preach and work in signs and wonders as the apostles of old I was in tears. It takes money and lots of it to do the work of our Lord, I look forward to what God has in store for his Kingdom. What our company will be doing is installing solar panels on homes and businesses, and other green products.

Merry Christmas & a Happy Prosperous New Year!

Jeremy Murray jeremysmurray@yahoo.com

www.solaramericagroup.com

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Thank you for this word. I am going over it every day to get a better grasp of what the Lord is saying. Some of it I comprehend readily and some I am yet to comprehend and asking the Lord for better clarity. Mostly, it is affirming and I needed to know the Lords mind concerning me so that I can be better aligned and obedient to his will.

God bless you.

Fola

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Dear Pastor Kent,

I felt I had to wait awhile before writing to you, because really this prophecy about the laying on of hands blew my mind.

Many years ago a friend said to me “hey I think you could heal my back” so I laid hands on her and the pain left her. It was a weird experience where my hands felt tingly afterwards. At the time I didn’t know the Lord and didn’t understand what was happening, so I never did it again. Now in recent years, I’ve had these thoughts or daydreams about praying and laying hands on people. The thoughts just come into my mind out of the blue, also with the thought that if people would see these healings they would believe in the Lord. What a relief to know that you are not doing the healing, because the Lord is healing through you and He is doing everything. Everything works out best when He is in control!

Thank you so much for the prayer handkerchief, I have a beautiful feeling when I pray and hold it.

Once again I want to tell you how much your prophecies have helped me over the years, much more than “church”, etc.

You and your family and your ministry are always in my prayers.
Love in Jesus Christ,
Susanna

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Join Our Prophetic Ministry & learn to operate in your prophetic gifts with the help of The School of Prophetic Knowledge.

Whether you are looking for a way to deepen your relationship with God or you have a desire to share your prophetic gifts with others, Prophetic Ministries Tabernacle’s School of Prophetic Knowledge has much to offer.

For starters, our staff at Prophetic Ministry Tabernacle and the gifted Prophetic Ministers participating in our ministry are friendly and helpful in providing support and guidance in your passion to minister to people in need. As you can see from from our website, we offer many resources to help you establish your internet ministry. Below are the steps which can help prepare you on your journey to becoming a Prophetic Minister.

The training DVD’s will provide many hours of rich, encouraging and inspirational lessons to help take you to the next level of your relationship with God. But don’t take our word for it, come see for yourself.

During your training, you will receive one-on-one instruction and oversight from Kent Simpson as you begin to reach out and operate in your prophetic gifts. So many people are needing a clear word from God. This is your opportunity serve God as a vessel for Him to speak through.

Becoming an Internet Prophetic Minister provides the perfect opportunity for you to win souls for Jesus.

Begin Today:

Step 1 – Enroll in the School of Prophetic Knowledge

Here’s How:

• Obtain the full Set of Prophetic Teaching DVD’s
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Become a Prophetic Family Partner Today

What is Prophetic Counseling?

There is a difference between receiving Prophetic Counseling vs. Personal Prophecy.

When giving prophetic guidance and counseling it helps to know more about the person. The difference is when you receive a prophetic word from God He is telling you what He wants to say. When I am ministering in prophetic counseling He is giving me answers to what you need to know and what to do in order to receive the results you are looking for. When emailing or visiting over the phone most of the time God gives me the answers within seconds, if they are warranted questions. My understanding of this scripture below is different than what the Word of Faith movement taught me:

Matthew 18:20
“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

Anytime I am with someone or chatting via email or other ways I am listening to what God has to say. The is a totally different understanding of this verse rather than what Word of Faith has been teaching over the years; “Whatever we agree upon it will come to pass” one major flaw is the one person left out of this formula, GOD!

The partnership level between being a Prophecy Partner and that of being a Family Partner are different and one does not automatically cover the requested offering for the other.

What do Prophetic Family Partner’s Receive?

• Prophetic Counseling
• Learning How to Know God’s Will
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PROPHETIC COUNSELING #6 School of Prophetic Knowledge – Kent Simpson, Prophetic Pastor from Kent Simpson on Vimeo.

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I Want to be Your Prophetic Pastor

In the past, I spent much of my time traveling to other countries, but ministering in distant places left me drained. I have decided to hang up my traveling shoes and focus upon those families who regularly support this ministry. It is time for me to develop long term relationships with the people who have a real desire to learn more about what God is doing today.

Since 1989, I have ministered to over 120,000 people via prophecy as of May 1995. I receive hundreds of prophecy requests each year and I will continue to send out personal prophecy via Audio Email and on CD’s to those who are seeking God.

In addition to the prophetic gift God has given me, the Lord has also directed me to become a Prophetic Pastor to those who will receive me. In this new capacity, I can sew prophetic seeds into the lives of those who want to prosper with me. If you will allow me to be your Prophetic Pastor, I will commit to be there for you, and help you prosper in spiritual and financial health and wealth.

In recent years, it has become almost impossible to reach me; my home telephone rings day and night. For this reason, I have started the Family Partners Telephone Access Card. The Access card allows Family Partners to reach me during times of trouble or when having difficulty finding God’s will when making tough decisions. When you use the Access card, I will seek God’s direction for you and help determine how God wants to meet your immediate needs.

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”
3 John 2

In HIS service,
Kent Simpson,
Prophetic Pastor

For More Information >

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Receiving Your Personal Prophecy

Though a prophet may receive a monetary blessing when giving a person a word from God, he is not to be mistaken for a hireling. A prophet who is a hireling will give a false prophecy at the request of his financial provider for monetary gain.

In contrast to these false prophets, there are men of God who desire to only speak God’s words and to reveal God’s plans for the people. These men receive their spiritual blessing from God and their financial blessing from God’ people.

Old Testament Times

In the Old Testament we find that the Lord commanded Samuel, a prophet of God, to prophesy over a young man who would be coming his way around lunchtime. The Lord indicated that this young man’s name was Saul and he would be looking for his father’s lost donkeys.

As Saul and his servant wandered around looking for the lost donkeys, the servant spoke up and said, “Look now, there is in this city a man of God, and he is an honorable man; all that he says surely comes to pass. So let us go there; perhaps he can show us the way that we should go.”
I Samuel 9:6

Today’s Spiritual Guidance

As it was in the Old Testament it is today; it is not evil to seek a prophet for spiritual guidance or direction from God.

Then Saul said to his servant, “But look, if we go, WHAT SHALL WE BRING THE MAN? For the bread in our vessels is all gone, and there is not a present to bring to the man of God. What do we have?”
I Samuel 9:7
Then Saul’s servant said, “Look, I have here at hand one fourth of a shekel of silver. I will give that to the man of God, to tell us our way.”
I Samuel 9:8

In this and other scriptures throughout the Bible, God has shown us that we must support his prophets. These men of old had conviction that they must bless the prophet, Samuel, for his intercession. God wants His people to be cheerful in giving.

“But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”
II Corinthians 9:6,7

You Can Receive Your Own Personal Message From God!

Prophet Kent of Prophetic Ministries Today can provide you with a personal audio tape or CD message.

Prophet Kent of Prophetic Ministries Today can provide you with a personal audio tape or CD message.

A prophetic message will include one or more of the following:

• Word of Knowledge – confirms revelation which reveals past or present situation.
• Word of Wisdom – conditional revelation which requires doing something for it to be realized.
• Prophecy – revelation of things to come with or without one’s faith.

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The washing water of the Word is necessary for sanctification and cleansing. In Ephesians 5:26, we read about the sanctification and cleansing of the Church with the washing of water by the Word. But what does the sanctification and cleansing with the washing of water by the Word mean? Does the washing of water by the Word only refer to the water baptism or does it also refer to something else? 

The Church is sanctified and cleansed by the washing of water by the Word

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it; That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:25-27)

But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:4-7)

Just like a person is cleansed from all the dirt and bad odors with the washing of water, the new man is sanctified and cleansed with the washing of water by the Word from all sins and iniquities and all the dirt of the flesh and the world. So that through the washing of water by the Word aka the washing of regeneration, the Church that exists of born again believers, is glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any of such thing and is holy and without blemish.

But the sanctification and cleansing don’t stop after the washing of regeneration. The sanctification process continues with the cleansing by the washing water of the Word.

The renewing of the mind with the Word

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (Romans 12:2)

When you have become a new creation through regeneration in Christ and have been made holy and righteous, you should renew your mind with the Word of God. So that you shall no longer think and live like the world and be conformed to the world, but by the renewing of the mind with the Word of God, you shall think and live according to the will of God.

The Word of God is the Truth, the Light, and the Life and reveals the will of God and His Kingdom and the works of the Spirit and the lies of the devil and the works of the flesh. 

The cleansing power of the Word

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word (Psalms 119:9)

You shall read the words of God and take the words of God and renew your mind with the Word of God. During the process of renewing your mind with the Word of God, you shall be confronted by the Word with the works of the flesh, which are not according to the will of God. 

When you are confronted by the Word you have a choice to either obey the Word and put off the works of the flesh, whereby you will be cleansed through your obedience to the Word and by putting off the works of the flesh, or to rebel against the Word and disobey the Word and reject the Word and obey the will of the flesh and keep doing the works of the flesh.

The decision you make depends upon whether you love God or you love yourself.

The Word of God is no respecter of persons and possesses the same power for everyone 

God’s Word is no respecter of persons and is the same for everyone and possesses the same power, however, the outcome aka the result of God’s Word shall be different in everyone’s life. Since every person chooses to either believe and obey the words of God or to not believe the words of God and reject the words of God, by not doing the words of God. 

We read this also in the parable of the sower. The seed was the same, however, the grounds where the seed was sown were different and therefore the outcome was different (Matthew 13:3-23, Mark 4:2-20, Luke 8:5-15 (Read also: ‘The four kinds of believers’)).

God’s Word is life and is so powerful that the lives of everyone, who yield to God’s Word and obeys and does God’s Word will change and will not remain the same.

Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you (John 15:3)

Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy Word is truth (John 17:17)

Just like the earth that is not filled with water, but always needs water and never be satisfied and can’t live without water, you shall also need the Word every day and can’t live without the Word and never be satisfied and therefore you shall never say, “yeah yeah, I know that already’ or ‘I have enough’. But you shall spend time in the Word of God every day (Proverbs 30:16).

The Word of God is like water and the words of God shall give you life, and shall refresh you and cleanse you from all the lies and dirt of the flesh and the world.

The more you abide in the Word and follow up the words, the more the Word shall possess you and you shall be fully consumed by the Word and the Holy Spirit.

Just like in the vision of Ezekiel, where Ezekiel was brought by the man through the waters and the water was first to his ankles, then to his knees, then to his loins and eventually had to swim because the waters were risen and had become a river.  

And that is the will of Jesus for His Church, Jesus wants everyone, who belongs to His Church through regeneration in Him, to be fully consumed by Him; consumed by His words.

Jesus wants His Church to be washed in the water, not only by the baptism in water, which is a one-time event, but that the Church is constantly cleansed by the washing water of the Word of God. It is the will of Jesus that the Church is consumed by His words and remains in Him; in the Word and stays holy and without blemish and the Church will be a Spring of water, whose waters fail not. 

‘Be the salt of the earth’

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
— Ephesians 5:25–27 —

In his commentary on Ephesians, Clinton Arnold shows how Paul takes up the imagery and language of Ezekiel to explain the work of Christ in purifying his bride, the church. As Ezekiel 16 looks forward to a day when the God of Israel will redeem and purify his covenant people, it is important to see how Ezekiel’s prophecy is fulfilled by Christ and the church. Thankfully, Paul demonstrates how Christ’s purchase and purification of his bride gives us explicit textual evidence for that fulfillment.

Arnold picks up the way Paul has made those connections and helpfully shows us how the many passages describing God’s marriage with Israel (e.g., Isaiah 54:5; 58:8; 61:10; 62:5; Jeremiah 2:2; 3:1–10; Ezekiel 16; Hosea 2:19–20; 4:12; 5:4; 14:4) are picked up and applied to the bride of Christ composed of Jews and Gentiles. Here’s what he says,

There are five distinct ways that Paul develops this theme in Ephesians in light of the advent of Christ.

(1) The covenant relationship between God and his people is still expressed in terms of a marriage bond. This marriage is now between Christ and his church (God’s Son and his new covenant people, who are comprised of Jews and Gentiles in one body in Christ).

(2) This is still a marriage initiated by God with a people who are filthy and undeserving. Just as there was nothing that Israel did to merit God’s attention and favor (in fact, Israel was like an exposed child that lay in a field kicking about in its own blood; Ezek 16:6), so also the new covenant people were once”dead in [their] transgressions and sins” (Eph 2:1).

(3) God continues a work of cleansing his dirty and unlovely bride. In fact, Ezek 16:9 explicitly says that God “bathed you with water”—an equivalent expression to what Paul says that Christ has done for the church.

(4) There is a similar two-stage cleansing and sanctifying work that God does for his people under both covenants. Under the old covenant, God initially cleanses Israel when he makes her his bride, but because of her sin and waywardness, God needs to perform an additional cleansing and atoning work on his bride in the future. This corresponds to the new covenant relationship between Christ and the church insofar as Christ sanctifies and cleanses his bride when he initially makes her his own, but this is a process that will ultimately be completed only in the future when he restores all things (Eph 1:10; 4:30).

(5) Finally, under both covenants, God is faithful to the end and makes his bride glorious and beautiful (Ezek 16:13-14; Eph 5:27).

Eph 5:25- 27 thus becomes Paul’s christological interpretation of the prominent metaphor in the OT of the covenant between Yahweh and his people expressed through the marriage relationship. (Clinton Arnold, Ephesians, ZECNT, 386–87)

Truly, we see in these connections, Paul is doing more than finding a powerful image for marriage. He is showing how Christ’s new covenant is bringing to fruition the long-promised “marriage” between God and his people. Only, as is often the case with marriage itself, the fulfillment is so much more than could be imagined from the original promise. Truly, God is good husband and in Christ, we discover the kind of love he has for his people.

For more on the biblical theology of marriage, see

• Ray Ortlund, Marriage and the Mystery of the Gospel
• Geoffrey Bromiley, God and Marriage

May such love draw us closer to him, empower us to reject all idol lovers, and display his love in our own marriages.

Soli Deo Gloria, ds

Photo by Geetanjal Khanna on Unsplash

Fred Coulter—January 15, 2011

— PDF | Audio

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Greetings, everyone, welcome to Sabbath services! Today we’re going to talk about and study:

• What is the washing of the water by the Word?
• Why do we need it?
• How do we in our prayers ask God to help us?
• It’s a very important thing!

Let’s come to Ephesians 5 and let’s see the one place where Paul writes about the washing of the water by the Word. Then we’ll put some other Scriptures together and understand what he’s talking about here.

Ephesians 5:25: «Husbands, love your own wives, in the same way that Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it; so that He might sanctify it… [sanctify means to make Holy. …having cleansed it… [Cleansed it from what?] …cleansed it with the washing of the water by the Word» (vs 25-26).

This is a process! It’s not just something that happens once, because cleanse it is present tense. And with the «…washing of the water by the Word… [notice what it’s to do]: …That He might present it to Himself as the glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it might be Holy and without blame.» (vs 26-27). That’s the whole process that Christ is using to perfect the Church.

Now, let’s come back to Ephesians 1; let’s see how this ties in with the first part of it, to see what He is doing with us so that we can be Holy and without blame. Ephesians 1:3: «Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly things… [Some people seem to think that means that we go to heaven or something like that. No! But the things that help us in conversion—God’s Spirit, the Word of God—these are heavenly things sent to the earth.] …in the heavenly things with Christ. According as He has personally chosen us for Himself before the foundation of the world in order that we might be Holy and blameless before Him in love» (vs 3-4).

• So what is this going to do?
• How does this operation work?

Let’s see what it’s destined to do, v 5: «Having predestinated us for sonship to Himself through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of His own will.»

What is the washing of the water by the Word? Let’s come to the Gospel of John, chapter four; here we find the first instance where Jesus talks about living water. We will see that the living water has to do with the Holy Spirit. So the washing of the water by the Word, then, has to do with the Holy Spirit. Then we will see that confirmed in John 7.

John 4:9: «Therefore, the Samaritan woman said to Him, ‘How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, to give You water to drink? For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.’…. [They weren’t to associate with any Gentiles. That was a tradition of the Jews, not a Law of God.] …Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you had known the gift of God… [Now what is the gift of God? The Spirit of God.]…and Who it is that said to you, «Give Me some water to drink,» you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water'» (vs 9-10).

Now where else do we find living waters? Where else is that mentioned? Besides John 7 where else is that mentioned? The book of Revelation! What comes out from underneath the throne of God? Living waters, crystal clear! So that has to do with the supply of the Holy Spirit. Then she didn’t understand that and she said: «…how then do You have the living water?» (v 11).

Let’s see how it is explained here in John 7:37. You’ve heard this said before, too. We’ll come back and we’ll see it in John 6 that it’s combined with something else. John 7:37: «Now, in the last day, the great day of the Feast, Jesus stood and called out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. The one who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.’…. [We’ll see that has to do with the washing of the water by the Word.] …But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, which those who believed in Him would soon receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified» (vs 37-39).

So there we have it. «If anyone thirsts…» This is a way of explaining that human beings were made incomplete and needing the Holy Spirit of God and needing the righteousness of God to fulfill their purpose in life. We’ll see how Jesus explains it. We also have to understand that this comes through Christ. This is the part of the Holy Spirit of God which is called the Spirit of Christ and it is to do something for us. This has nothing to do with baptism. Baptism is the start of the covenant relationship between you and God. This has to do with something else that involves overcoming. It involves overcoming in our minds and in our hearts, having our minds and hearts changed.

Let’s see what Jesus said here, John 6:35: «Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me shall never hunger; and the one who believes in Me shall never thirst at any time.'» Meaning this: If you are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit of God, you are believing in Christ at all times and therefore, the Holy Spirit will satisfy the purpose of your life.

Without the Holy Spirit, you’re never going to know the purpose of life, you’re never going to be satisfied in what you’re doing. That’s why people say, like it says in the Proverbs, ‘Fool’s delight is to discover himself.’ And how many people out there, especially the hippies, they come along and they say, ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ Well, man, I’m finding myself. ‘Were you lost? Where did you go? How do you find yourself?’ And all of these things are motivated because God made us incomplete, needing the Spirit of God. So, if we do, then there’s another aspect tied to it: he «…shall never hunger; and the one who believes in Me shall never thirst at any time.»

Here’s how Jesus explained it, v 48: «I am the bread of life…. [the bread of life combined with the living waters then is what converts you] …Your fathers ate manna in the desert, but they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which comes down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he shall live forever; and the bread that I give is even My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world» (vs 48-51).

They couldn’t understand that. They couldn’t understand about eating His flesh and drinking His blood and how does that fill in with the living waters?

• You first have to repent and be baptized; that puts you in covenant with God.
• Then you receive the Holy Spirit; so now you have Christ, Who is the living bread.
• Through the renewal of the covenant with the unleavened bread and wine, then we receive the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is to come to us spiritually just as water:

• to wash
• to cleanse
• to heal

We’ll see how that does here, v 53: «Therefore, Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves.'» When we get to the Passover time, we know that Jesus broke the bread and said, ‘Here, take this, eat, this is My flesh which is broken for you.’ Then He took the wine and He said, ‘All of you drink of it, this is the blood of the New Covenant which is shed for the remission of sins.’ That shows that you cannot have a relationship with Christ unless that is done that way, exactly as the Scriptures show.

Now, for many years I haven’t given detailed sermons concerning the Passover, and so forth, but this year I’m going to because there’s a lot there. What I’ll have to do is also I’ll have to show you the first and second editions of the Passover book, and then third edition—The Christian Passover. How could something so simple require so many pages? Well, the truth is, because it is so simple and so meaningful, Satan the devil has many counterfeits to try and keep the true Christians out of covenant with God. If you get out of covenant with God, you can lose your salvation. So therefore, there are so many things that come along to try and destroy that relationship.

Now let’s see what He said, v 53: «…unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you do not have life in yourselves.» Of course, they were wondering, ‘How can this be?’ These were disciples who were following Him; not all the disciples—and a disciple means a learner—who followed him believed Him. Read John 8, we’ve gone through that before. They didn’t believe in Him.

Verse 54: «The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up in the last day; For My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink…. [Imagine after Christ got done repeating this and repeating this, they were beside themselves. ‘What is He saying and doing?’ See, because after that those disciples who didn’t believe, they were offended and left! So much so that only the twelve were there and Jesus said to them, ‘Are you going to go?’] …The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood is dwelling in Me, and I in him'» (vs 54-56).

So the Holy Spirit and thewashing of the water by the Word and Christ in us all tie together. Here’s the whole lesson of it, v 57: «As the living Father has sent Me, and I live by the Father; so also the one who eats Me shall live by Me.»

• by all the words that He taught
• the message that He brought
• how He inspired the apostles to write what they wrote

We shall live by Him.

Let’s come to John 15 and see something else. Here we see that the Father is also involved in it, because the Holy Spirit, as we have seen, has two aspects:

• the begettal from the Father
• the Spirit of Christ, which gives us the mind of Christ

Then both of these work together with the washing of the water by the Word.

John 15:1: «I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman. He takes away every branch in Me that does not bear fruit; but He cleanses each one…. [How does He cleanse each one?] …that bears fruit, in order that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean through the word that I have spoken to you…. [The washing of the water by the Word.] (Then He explains very clearly here): …Dwell in Me, and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself, but only if it remains in the vine, neither can you bearfruit unless you are dwelling in Me. I am the vine, and you are the branches. The one who is dwelling in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; because apart from Me you can do nothing'» (vs 1-5).

That’s why there has to be conversion. And the washing of the water by the Word cannot take place until there first is:

• repentance
• baptism, which is the circumcision of the heart
• then the Holy Spirit can be given

Once we have that, we need to grow in grace and knowledge, grow in understanding, and all of these things combine together, and that’s the process of conversion that we have by living God’s way. And the washing of the water by the Word becomes very important.

Now let’s look at the opposite of this. Let’s come to James 1, and see where it talks about unstable water of those who are unconverted. This is about praying and asking for wisdom, and so forth, and having endurance.

James 1:6: «But let him ask in faith, not doubting at all because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven by the wind and tossed to and fro…. [That’s the way of the world. And who is the ‘prince of the power of the air,’ which sweeps people along? Satan the devil!] …Do not let that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways» (vs 6-8).

That’s the very first reason why we need the washing of the water by the Word—to increase the faith, to change our thinking. Changing our thinking and cleansing our minds is the whole total purpose of conversion! And it takes the washing of the water by the Word to do that. Let’s see what James says to the double-minded; what happens when you’re double-minded. We can equate this to, as the things that we covered concerning the ‘church wars.’ (Seven Churches-Church Wars I & II)

James 4:1: «What is the cause of quarrels and fightings among you? Is it not mainly from your own lusts that are warring within your members?…. [We’ll see that’s double-minded. You want to follow God, but then you let your lust rule and you’re like the waves of the sea, tossed back and forth.] …You lust, and have not; you kill, and are jealous, and are not able to obtain; you fight and quarrel, but still you do not have, because you do not ask…. [What happens when they hear that? ‘Oh, you’re not asking, well, then I’ll ask.’] …Then you ask, and you do not receive, because you ask with evil motives… [unrepentant; we will see what the washing of the water is to do internally with us through repentance, beginning with repentance] …with evil motives, that you may consumer it on your own lusts. You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?.… [One foot in the world; one foot in the Church.] …Therefore, whoever desires to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God» (vs 1-4).

Now notice what’s taking place inside. This is the reason we need the washing of the water by the Word, v 5: «Or do you think that the scripture says in vain, ‘The spirit that dwells in us lusts with envy’?» Because we’re going to see the washing of the water by the Word is the answer to

• overcoming lusts that pull you down
• sin that still dwells in the mind
• bad experiences of the past that still haunt you

That’s what thewashing by the Word is. It starts with human nature and the lust that dwells in there. That’s what we need to get rid of.

Verse 6: «But He gives greater grace. This is the reason it says, ‘God sets Himself against the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.’…. [And humbling means repenting and yielding to God.] …Therefore, submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you…. [he’s the ‘prince of the power of the air’ giving you double-mindedness so that you’re unstable like water. One way one day; one way another day. Can even change in minutes.] …Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, purify your hearts, you double-minded!» (vs 6-8).

So how do we purify our hearts? It has to do with the washing of the water by the Word. Now notice the word cleanse, so many times that we’ve already covered. ‘You are cleansed by the Word that Jesus has spoken.’ That’s the cleansing by the water of the Word. Let’s see how that requires repentance.
Let’s come to Psalm 51; here is a great Psalm which helps us understand

• real repentance
• how we are to yield to God
• how we are to be completely broken-hearted when we sin and do things that are not right
• we ask God for forgiveness

—and notice what He says, because this ties right in with the washing of the water of the Word.

Now this was after David had committed his sin with Bathsheba and here’s his repentance, Psalm 51:1: «Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion, blot out my transgressions.» This is a model of prayer for repentance, especially if you have committed a real bad one, like David did. You wouldn’t expect that David would have done anything like this, when you consider how he started.

So he was really repenting, and he says: «…blot out my transgressions» (v 1), because there were many. What did he do?

• he shouldn’t have had the affair in the first place
• he shouldn’t have sent a servant over there to invite her over to his place
• she should not have been bathing up on the roof where she knew the king would walk in the evening
• she should not have accepted the invitation
• then they should not have had the affair
• then he tried to cover it up

When you start sinning, what happens? You drift further and further from God! When you try and work it out yourself without repentance, it doesn’t work! It only gets more complicated, only becomes more trouble.

So then he said, ‘Oh, well, I’ll solve the problem. I’m the king, I’m the commander in chief. I’ll get General Joab up here and we’ll work out a deal. I’ll tell him to send Uriah the Hittite here and I’ll get him to go sleep with his wife.’ Well, Uriah wasn’t quite so stupid, because he knew where his house was and he knew where Bathsheba bathed and he knew where the king walked. And why would the king reach clear down into the lower ranks and ask for Uriah the Hittite to come home, eat with the king, and then the king say, ‘Oh, well, go have some pleasure with your wife.’ And he said, ‘No, my lord, if I’m not there fighting with my men, I’m not going to go with my wife.’

So he didn’t do it. Now it makes you wonder what he suspected. Now David was really in a pickle, so he tried to convince him the next night and give a whole much more wine so he would be kind of half-looped and really want to go home and have an affair with his wife, like he should. ‘No, my lord, I can’t do it.’ So then again he called Joab and said, ‘Joab, when you’re in the thick of the battle against the Amorites, I want you, when Uriah the Hittite is right up there with all the opposition, I want you to back away and let him die.’

Joab remembered that. Imagine what the general would think. So this, where he says here, ‘blot out all my transgressions,’ he had multiple transgressions and planning and he still didn’t come to his senses until God sent Nathan the prophet. And he still didn’t understand it until Nathan the prophet said—after giving the parable of the poor man with the little ewe lamb that was stolen, and then David said, ‘Well, that man should be really punished’—’You, you are the man.’ Then he related what he did with Bathsheba and so forth.

Now notice his approach. That’s why you hear sin explained this way—dirty. Right? Because it is! So David said, v 2: «Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.» That had to be washed away internally as well as removed from the book of Life. Washing by the water by the Word!

«For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me» (v 3). Right there in the forefront of his mind. Have you ever had it that way? You just can’t get rid of it? Or you have an experience that you just can’t stop remembering and reliving? That’s why you need the washing of the water of the Word. Think of all the things that he had to have cleansed out of his mind. All the deviousness to work out all these details to try and get it done. The using of an innocent man Joab, his general, to come and have that man killed. Sound a little like the mafia—doesn’t it? But, just because he’s king and has all power, that makes it even worse.

So David in his repentance really understood. He said: «Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done evil in Your sight that You might be justified when You speak and be in the right when You judge» (v 4). God’s judgment was right. What was the everlasting punishment that David had, even though God forgave him his sin, because it was so grievous? He said, ‘You’re going to have trouble in your household all the rest of your life.’

You read the life of David after that. He had the incident with Absalom and Tamar. And then you had all of the other wives that David had. Other men took them that very day in the sight of the sun. Then the rebellion by Absalom. It got so bad that when the rebellion was going on and the kingdom was split, because of Absalom wanting to take over being king, and nothing but trouble and confusion and David was so afraid that he was leaving the palace with some of his troops and things like that. And a man was coming along and he just cursed him, shook his fist at him. ‘You brought all of this upon us, blah, blah, blah.’ And Joab said, ‘You want me do him in?’ He said, ‘Nah, leave him alone, he’s speaking the truth.’ So he finally learned the lesson. God is right!

So then he admits this, he admits human nature. This is what we have to understand. «Behold I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me» (v 5). Was David born of an adulterous affair? No! We are born with the law of sin and death within us! And unless we have the Spirit of God to have the washing of the water of the Word, and to have our hearts andminds converted, we are going to go back and do just like David and revert back to the lusts of the law of sin and death within us. Then think we’re justified in doing it. So this is a really a deep repentance here.

«Behold… [here is the whole purpose of the cleansing and washing the water by the Word.] …You desire truth in the inward parts…» (v 6). Now what is it said of human nature? ‘The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.’ Is that not what happened with David in this affair? Was he not deceitful in it? Was he not desperately wicked in what he was doing? Yes, indeed! Wants the truth in the inward parts.

How much truth do we have? We can put it another way. How much are we willing to let the Spirit of the Truth, which is the washing of the water by the Word to convert our minds and actually change the way that we think with the Truth of God? Because that’s what it’s all about! That’s how we are converted. That’s how we come to have the mind of Christ. So God is really performing a miracle in us. He’s taking us with this deceitful mind:

• leading us to repentance
• granting us His Holy Spirit
• having us grow and overcome
• giving His Spirit to us so we can change from deceitful to truthful, from carnal to Holy

—and all of those things are part of the washing of the water by the Word.

Now notice what else he says here, v 6: «…and in the hidden part…»—or the secret part. The secret recesses of the mind also have to be converted and changed. You can’t say, ‘God, I love you,’ and then in the secret part of your mind still hold hatred for people, still hold grudges against people, still relive sins of the past. You have to have all of that washed out. «…and in the hidden part You shall make me to know wisdom…. [Now along with this washing, notice he gets a little scrubbing with it, too.] …Purge me with hyssop… [What is hyssop? Hyssop is like a scouring pad. Did he have a lot of dirt and sinful things in his relationship with God and in his mind, so to speak? Yes!] …Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow» (vs 6-7).

When did David receive the Holy Spirit? When he was anointed to be king! So here he gave in to the pulls of the flesh after years and years and years. And also, after God gave the blessing and the promise, because David’s heart was tender before he did this. And he was sitting in his house playing on his ten-string instrument. And he said, ‘Oh, God, I’m in this house built of cedar and You have no place to live. Let me build a house for You.’ Remember that? Then Nathan the prophet came and said, ‘Yes, do all that’s in your heart, but you will not build it, but your son because you’re a bloody man.’ But he had the blessing of doing all the plans, saving all the money, and everything to build it.

Verse 8: «Make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones which You have broken may rejoice…. [That’s how crushed he was. His bones weren’t broken, but felt as though he was broken.] …Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create…» (vs 8-10). Now notice that. This is what has to be done. That’s why the washing of the water by the Word because

• it cleanses
• it helps
• it creates

—and you need the Holy Spirit plus the Word of God, which gets back to two things you’ve heard how many times—prayer and study!—right? Yes! «Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me…. [He wasn’t ‘double-minded’ and like the ‘waves of the ocean.’] …Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me» (vs 10-11). So how close was he to really being right on the edge? Very close indeed!

Track 2:
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Now, let’s continue on with the washing of the water by the Word; we need God’s Spirit and we need His Word. What we need to do is have our minds cleansed. I want to go to is Hebrews 10:15, because here is the whole thing concerning how we get converted and change and then build the character of God.

Now they know this, that whenever we change our thinking, our brain structure changes and that the connections between the different cells of the brain refocus in a different way. That’s how, for example, when you first learn to ride your bicycle you’re scared to death. You think you’re ready to fall down and sure enough you do fall down. So then they invented training wheels and then you put it on with training wheels and you don’t know how to hold this thing up and you gradually learn how to do it. Then when you get it all down pat and you have trained your brain on what to do, why you can do so many things. You can do wheelies, you can squeal, you can do loop-de-loops and all this sort of things. You know just when to lean, you know when not to lean, and everything comes automatic. Same way with driving a car. You first get in, start driving a car, oh, man. But once you train your mind, or your brain, then it connects and it does it more automatically.

So this is how the Holy Spirit works and the washing of the water by the Word. Hebrews 10:15: «And the Holy spirit also bears witnesses to us; for after He had previously said, ‘This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days,’ says the Lord: ‘I will give My laws into their hearts, and I will inscribe them in their minds'» (vs 15-16). Changing the way that we think and changing the structure of our brains, that’s conversion and that is the result of having circumcision of the heart.

Let’s see how that works. Let’s see what it does for us. We’ll see why it does it for us, Psalm 19:7: «The law of the LORD is perfect…» If you had a perfect one rare gold coin, would you throw it away? No, you wouldn’t! You would treasure it—right? Yes! God’s law is that way. That’s where the Protestants put themselves. They throw that which is perfect by saying it’s abolished, and accept the traditions and doctrines of men in place of it. «The law of the Lord is perfect…»

Psalm 12:6: «The words of the LORD… [by the washing of the water by the Word] …are pure words…» Jesus said, ‘by the Word, you are cleansed.’ It changes your mind. It helps you overcome the sin within and it actually restructures your brain. That’s why when you have a real problem you need to overcome, you ask God to ‘please with the washing of the water by the Word get rid of this memory in my mind. Let me remember the lesson, but I don’t want to live through it any more. I don’t want to see it the window of my mind anymore. «The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.»

Psalm 19:7: «The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul… [gives you health—physical health, spiritual health. And if you have spiritual health and peace of mind your body’s going to be more healthy—is that not correct? Do not a lot of the problems and sicknesses that people have are a result of sin externally and sin internally? Yes!] …the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandments of the LORD are pure, enlightening the eyes» (vs 7-8). In other words, giving you a new education. Letting you be able to see things in the perspective that God sees them. Or if we have glasses, since you just took off your glasses, you know, through the lens of Scripture. That’s how we are to view things—’enlightening the eyes.’

«The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever… [notice what all these things cover, and then we’ll take some Scriptures out of Psa. 119 and see how all of this ties together. It’s a fantastic thing.] …The fear of the LORD is clean… [Doesn’t come with any baggage. When you love God and fear Him and keep His commandments, it’s right, it’s good, it’s true. You’re doing the right thing.] …enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether» (v 9).

So you see why we need to have our minds converted and changed by the washing of the water by the Word. Now I know I’ve had some things come along in my mind that I’ve just had to pray to God that way. ‘Oh, Lord, cleanse it with the washing of the water by the Word. Help me to just forget this, get it out of my mind. Remove this thought from me.’ You ever had that happen to you? Something just keeps coming, BAM! in your mind! Then you have to go to God that way. You have your part to do, but God will do it.

«…the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether, More to be desired than gold, yea, much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb…. [Now notice what happens when you have these things in your mind. When the laws and commandments of God are in your mind, inscribed there, as part of the way that your brain is structured and then led by the Holy Spirit.] …Moreover, by them Your servant is warned…» (vs 9-11). That’s that automatic thing that comes up, ‘Oh, oh, I’m not going to do that’—internal warning signal.

In our house we have ADT protection against thieves, burglars, and even us if we forget to turn it off. One time it went off and so I was upstairs. So ADT called in about ten seconds. So I’m standing there, ‘Hello, who is this?’ This is Fred Coulter. ‘What’s your password?’ I don’t know. (because I didn’t know it; now I remember it) ‘What’s the name of your neighbor across the street?’ I couldn’t remember, I don’t know. Well, why don’t you let me hang up and I’ll get the information and call you back. ‘No, no, I can’t have you hang up.’ As Dolores pointed out, that’s just the way a thief would answer it—’I don’t know, but I’ll find out.’ In the meantime you never call back, you rob the house and get out of there. I had to call on Dolores, ‘Help, what is the password? What is the name of the neighbor next door?’ Because she was ready to call the police and dispatch them out there immediately.

So just exactly like with the Word of God. Once you have these things in your mind, you are warned. Don’t think that! Don’t do that! Replace it with something good and right. Let it be washed out of your mind.

Verse 11: «…in keeping them there is great reward.» What are the greatest rewards?

• love
• joy
• peace
• peace of mind
• understanding

Correct? Aren’t those the greatest rewards? Yes!

Here’s something else it does, v 12: «Who can understand his errors?.… [You don’t know right from wrong unless you know the Word of God. It doesn’t automatically work unless it’s written in your heart and in your mind. That’s what conversion is all about.] …Oh, cleanse me… [How? With the washing of the water by the Word!] …from my secret faults.» The secret recesses of your mind. That’s what God wants us to do. Now we’ll show you how to do it in a little bit.

«And keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; do not let them rule over me… [This is the whole thing all together. That’s why we’re to have the laws in our minds and inscribed in our hearts. We’re going to see all the things in Psa. 119. ‘Oh, how I love your law. How do I cleanse my way? What do I do?’ And all of these things. It’s fantastic when we put it all together.] …then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart… [with the washing of the water by the Word] …be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer» (vs 13-14).

Let’s go to Psalm 119; we’ll look at several sections of it. If you want a really fantastic revelation concerning the laws, commandments, statutes, judgments, precepts, everything about God’s way, His testimonies, read all of Psa. 119; not all the way through. Take each section. This is an unusual Psalm. Notice right above v 1 it says Aleph. That’s the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Each verse in the Hebrew begins with Aleph. It doesn’t begin that way in English. In each section there are eight verses times twenty-two, which is the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet, then takes up all the verses. Let’s see what the last verse is here so we can get the right one—176.

This entire Psalm is called a Psalm of Degrees. And each one of these eight verses is a degree. The singers at the temple were to memorize this to sing it from memory and notice what it says here. Let’s just start with v 1 because this is a really good place for us to begin.

Psalm 119:1: «Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD…. [If it’s in your mind, you’re going to walk in it automatically—right?] …Blessed are they who keep His testimonies and who seek Him with the whole heart…. [And that’s what’s to happen as we become more converted, become more whole hearted.] …They also do no iniquity; they walk in His ways…. [So if someone says, ‘How do you live?’ I walk in the ways of the Lord. How do you live?] …You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently» (vs 1-4). Now precepts is interesting. That’s every concept of God—diligently!

Notice, he laments a little bit here of the pull of human nature, v 5: «O that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes! Then I shall not be ashamed when I have respect unto all Your commandments. I will praise You with uprightness of heart when I have learned Your righteous judgments» (vs 5-7). That’s what happens with the washing of the water by the Word.

• this is why we have Sabbath services
• this is why we go through the Word of God
• this is why we do what we do, because God is converting us and we’re growing in grace and knowledge

He is perfecting us. He’s getting us ready for His kingdom through the washing of the water by the Word.

«I will keep Your statutes; O forsake me not utterly…. [v 9 ties all of this together]: …With what shall a young man cleanse his way?… [Young man or young woman.] …By taking heed according to Your Word» (vs 8-9). You follow the Word of God. You know the Word of God and have it written in your heart with the washing of the water by the Word. And also what it does with the washing of the water by the Word, it cleanses out those secret little things in the corner of your mind that only you know, that only you’ve experienced, those things that you’ve told no one. And all of us have plenty of those—don’t we? Yes, indeed! God cleanses all of that out.

Verse 9: «With what shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With all my heart I have sought You; O let me not wander from Your commandments…. [notice the cooperation that we need also]: …Your Word I have laid up in my heart, so that I might not sin against You?…. [The more you understand the Word of God, becomes part of the way you think, the less you’re going to sin. That’s the whole purpose of it.] …Blessed are You, O LORD; teach me Your statutes» (vs 9-12).

Come down here to v 18; this one I really, really like because this explains more about the Word of God. How is the Word of God written? ‘Line upon line; precept upon precept; a little here, a little there.’ Are there things in the Word of God that even though you’ve gone over in the past, you go over it and you learn more—right? You understand more.

Verse 18: «Open my eyes, so that I may behold wondrous things out of Your law.» Or we can also say out of the Gospels, out of the general epistles, out of the Epistles of Paul, out of the book of Revelation. Open my mind, open my eyes that I may behold—and that is understand, see the things that I’ve never understood before. And those things will come with the washing of the water by the Word.

Verse 33, I like this section here: «Teach me, O LORD…» And that’s all a part of our prayers to God. How do we learn the Bible? Well, God is the one Who teaches us. How does He teach us?

• from His Word we study
• with His Spirit it’s written in our hearts and in our minds.

That’s how He teaches us. And what does it say there in John 6:45? ‘And all shall be taught of God.’ So all the mechanics of learning and teaching and growing and understanding and God’s Spirit all come from God. So if we want to understand something, we ask God, ‘Teach me.’ He’s not going to teach it to you instantly. You’ve got to search it out. You’ve got to put it together and then when you do, you’ll know it. ‘Well, God has taught me.’

«Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding, that I may keep Your law and observe it with all my heart» (vs 33-34). Notice the complete yieldedness to God, the complete fantastic attitude toward the laws and commandments of God. That’s why you’ve heard me say in the past that Psa. 119 has got to be a prophetic understanding of how Christ looked at the laws of God. Not entirely, but in the main.

Verse 35: «Make me to walk in the path of Your commandments… [Now what is a path? A path is a way! Who is the way? Jesus said, ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life!’] …walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in them…. [What did Jesus say? He said, ‘If you love Me, keep the commandments, namely Mine.’ See how the Bible all ties together? Old Testament/New Testament.] …Incline my heart to Your testimonies, and not to covetousness…. [He didn’t want to become double-minded like we started out there in James 1.] …Turn away my eyes from seeing vanity; give me life in Your way» (vs 35-37). Look at Solomon, did he get lifted up in pride and vanity in his old age? Yes, indeed, he sure did! Did not David with the thing—he wasn’t old age then, he must have been about what, about his 50s at that time, with Bathsheba. But he learned.

«…give me life in Your way. Fulfill Your word to Your servant, so that You may be feared….» (vs 37-38). Fulfill your word to your servant and if we add to that the washing of the water by the Word, to growing in knowledge and understanding and grace with the Word of God by the Spirit of God, then all of this comes alive. I don’t know about you, but hey, when I read and study Psa. 119, I get all excited and I feel about this high. You’ll understand why.

Verse 39: «Turn away my reproach which I fear, for Your judgments are good. Behold, I have longed after Your precepts… [As David said in another Psalm, ‘I have longed after you as in a dry and thirsty land where no water is.’] …give me life in Your righteousness» (vs 39-40). That’s fantastic.

What I want you to do is tie all of this together with the washing of the water by the Word, v 47: «And I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I have loved. And I will lift up my hands unto Your commandments, which I have loved, and I will meditate on Your statutes» (vs 47-48). That’s how you get them written in your heart and in your mind.

Verse 49: «Remember the word to Your servant upon which You have caused me to hope…. [The Word of God gives us hope! Claim the promise of that hope. Claim the promise of God’s inspiration.] (notice what it does): …This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your Word has given me life» (vs 49-50)—or in time of trial and testing. We all have that and we all go through that. That’s why we need the Spirit of God to give us comfort, to uplift us.

Let’s come to v 97; this one you’ve heard many times, but look at it. «O how love I Your law!.…» If you love God,

• you’ll love His Word
• you’ll love His commandments
• you’ll love His law

Notice tying in with having it written in our hearts and in our minds, v 97: «…It is my meditation all the day.» And what you think in your heart, that’s what you are. If you think of these things in your heart, that brings conversion with the Spirit of God.

«Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation…. [Notice what it does]: …I understand more than the ancients because I keep Your precepts» (vs 98-100). Isn’t that something?

Now, I don’t want you to be like the man who shot his TV. He got mad at the TV because there was some commentator on there talking about something he knew was entirely wrong, so he shot the TV. The neighbor heard it, the police came out and he got arrested for aggravated assault. Well, it didn’t do any good to shoot the TV, ruined the TV.

But, when you hear people say things and when you watch the news, how many times do you find yourself talking back to it because you know the Word of God. Now, even if you shout back, you’re not going to make it heard at the other end. It isn’t going to do any good to shout. So if it really upsets you, there is the power off, turn it off. You know more than they do. And the truth is, God expects you to. Is He not educating you to be a king and priest in His kingdom? Yes!

Here’s what else it will do, v 101: «I have held back my feet from every evil way…» So if you’re walking in the way of Lord, you’re not going to be walking in the way of evil.

Now, stop and think about this for just a minute. By keeping the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, that’s the day of pleasure for the world—is it not? Yes, indeed! Starts out Friday night with parties and boozing and carousing, and all of this sort of thing. Saturday in the daytime you’ve got all kinds of sports and sales and shopping, and all of this thing. So just by keeping the Sabbath, that in itself keeps you out of the way of an awful lot of evil. Maybe you’ve never thought of it that way.

Verse 103: «I have held back my feet from every evil way, so that I might keep Your word. I have not departed from Your ordinances, for You have taught me…. [Now let’s tie this in with where Jesus said, ‘He who eats Me shall never be hungry.’] …How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!…. [That is the palette of your mind, because it does so much for you to change you and convert you.] …Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way» (vs 103-104). So again, don’t shoot your TV, just hit the power button.

Now let’s look at some of the things that cleanse us and how we are to change our lives with this. You’re going to notice the comparison. You’re going to notice the difference. Here is what Paul says here concerning how we are to be converted:

2-Corinthians 6:14: «Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and lawlessness have in common? And what fellowship does light have with darkness?» That doesn’t mean you treat people in the world in a harsh way. They just don’t understand. But you can’t have fellowship with them. ‘Oh, come on, let’s go down to the bar on Friday night here and have a good time. All the women will be here and all of this.’ Nah, can’t do that. ‘Oh, let’s go to the ball game on Saturday. You know, this college game. It is a great game.’

I like to watch certain sports and I like football and I’m glad they’re changing the rules so they don’t kill them every time that they tackle them. But you know, you can’t do those things on the Sabbath. You can’t go out with them. Besides, I like to watch it on television. I don’t like to go in the crowd.

Verse 15: «And what union does Christ have with Belial?…» Belial are sons of worthlessness. And that’s generally attributed to what? False prophets! So, we don’t go to other churches and say, ‘How do you understand the Scriptures here?’ Now they may have some things that are right, that’s true. But if it is, we prove it out of the Bible for ourselves.

«…Or what part does a believer have with an unbeliever? And what agreement is there between a temple of God and idols? For you are a temple of the living God… [Christ and God the Father are dwelling in you.] …exactly as God has said. ‘I will dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their God… [That’s the result of the washing of the water by the Word, the cleansing of the mind through the Spirit of God.] …and I will be their God, and they shall be My people…. [So then we have a command. What are we to do here?] …Therefore, come out from the midst of them and be separate,’ says the Lord, ‘and touch not the unclean, and I will receive you; And I shall be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty» (vs 15-18).

Now notice what we are to do, what this is to lead us to do, 2-Corinthians 7:1: «Now then, beloved, since we have these promises, we should purge ourselves from every defilement of the flesh and the spirit… [How? By the washing of the water by the Word!] …perfecting Holiness in the fear of God.»

There’s one other step that needs to be, 2-Corinthians 10 and this tells us how we are to do it. This is the way that we need to do it mentally and spiritually:
2-Corinthians 10:3: «For although we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh…. [This is why we cannot use human betterment as a way to improve ourselves, because that’s the way of the world. Yes, we need to be better, but we need to be better from the inside with God’s Spirit.] …we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the overthrowing of strongholds» (vs 3-4). That is with the Spirit of God. And what stronghold is the hardest one to control and overthrow? The mind!

So he talks about, v 5: «Casting down vain imaginations… [You correct yourself. You know when your vanity is starting to get a hold of you. You know when the thought is a wrong thought.] …and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God…» We are to

• use our minds
• use the Word of God
• use the Spirit of God

—this way: «…and bringing into captivity… [controlling it] …every thought into the obedience of Christ» (v 5). That’s the perfect thing we need to do. We’re going to fall short.

• That’s why there’s repentance!
• That’s why there’s the washing of the water of the Word!
• That’s why in bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ we get the reliving of the past experiences and sins out of our lives!

We remember the lesson, like the Apostle Paul did. He remembered he persecuted the Church, but he didn’t relive it. When you relive those things over and over and over again, or there is something that just keeps coming back into your mind, coming back into your mind, you need to grab a hold of that thought, pray about it, come before God and ask Him to cleanse it out of your mind with the washing of the water by the Word.

«…bringing into captivity every thought into the obedience of Christ; And having a readiness to avenge all disobedience, whenever your obedience has been fulfilled» (vs 5-6). That’s how you overcome the disobedience!

• you replace the disobedience with obedience
• you replace sin with righteousness
• you control your thoughts

As the Proverb says, ‘Guard the door of your mind.’ That’s how the washing of the water is to work in our lives.

Scriptural References:

1. Ephesians 5:25-27
2. Ephesians 1:3-5
3. John 4:9-11
4. John 7:37-39
5. John 6:35, 48-51, 53-57
6. John 15:1-5
7. James 1:6-8
8. James 4:1-8
9. Psalm 51:1-11
10. Hebrews 10:15-16
11. Psalm 19:7
12. Psalm 12:6
13. Psalm 19:7-14
14. Psalm 119:1-12, 18, 33-40, 47-50, 97-104
15. 2-Corinthians 6:14-18
16. 2-Corinthians 7:1
17. 2-Corinthians 10:3-6

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• John 8
• John 6:45

Also referenced:

• Book: The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
• Sermon: Seven Churches-Church Wars I & II

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 1-24-11

Formatted: bo—1-25-11 

Context is the key to interpretation. You’ve heard the mantra in real estate, “location, location, location.” Well in interpretation its, “context, context, context.” The location of a verse matters in its interpretation.

Think of the word “hand,” for instance. What does it mean? Without context “hand” could have quite a few meanings.

• the hired hand fixed the railing
• his hand was illegible
• he wanted to try his hand at singing
• I didn’t hold a good hand all evening
• The hands read 3:25
• give the little lady a great big hand
• hand me the spoon, please

we can see the words meaning more clearly in context.

The Immediate Context

The phrase «born of water and Spirit» appears in Jesus’ night-time conversation with Nicodemus. In John 3:3, Jesus says,

I tell you the truth, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is
born again.

Nicodemus is dumbfounded

How can a man be born when he is old…surely he cannot enter a second
time into his mother’s womb to be born!

Jesus then rephrases his earlier statement

I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of god unless he is
born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the
Spirit gives birth to spirit.

The contrast between flesh and spirit in the last verse would seem to indicate that water stands for natural birth.

Beyond the Chapter

But there’s an even broader context to John 3:5 that others pick up on. Two chapters earlier, in John 1:32-33, John the baptist testifies,

I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.
I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize
with water told me, “the man on whom you see the Spirit come down and
remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.”

Here water and Spirit are linked in the Baptist’s ministry and testimony. John baptizes with water but Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit. If John 3:5 is linked to this verse, water could refer to baptism (or repentance which John’s baptism is often said to represent).

A Look to the Whole Book

But there’s still a greater context which defines the meaning of water. Water isn’t simply mentioned in these two scenes. It’s used everywhere in John as a metaphor and a symbol.

• John says three times that he baptizes in water (1:26, 31, 33)
• Jesus turns water into wine (2:1-10)
• Jesus says we must be born of water and the spirit (3:5)
• John baptizes at Aenon near Salim because “there was much water there.” (3:23)
• Jesus promises the woman by the well living water (4:4-28)
• The lame man wants to get healed in the troubled waters of Bethesda (5:7)
• Jesus walks on water (6:19)
• Jesus invites the thirsty to come to him and drink (7:37-39)
• Jesus heals blind man in pool of Siloam (9:6-7)
• Jesus washes his disciples feet (13:4-5)
• Water flows from Jesus’ side (19:34)

With the exception of John’s baptism and Jesus walk on water, these references do not appear in Matthew, Mark or Luke. They are entirely unique to John.

Each of these scenes plays a crucial role in revealing the water’s intended meaning. John develops this meaning early in his gospel, contrasting water that is used in ritual and tradition with a higher, heavenly water offered in Jesus.

John the Baptist’s Testimony (1:19-34): John says Jesus’ baptism in the Holy Spirit surpasses his baptism in water. Water here is the medium of a traditional ritual of purification. But Jesus’ in a comparative and a contrasting sense baptizes with the Holy Spirit (i.e water from above).

Jesus Wedding Miracle (2:1-11): Jesus’ “water-turned-wine” is better than the choice wine/water which came before. The water which becomes wine is drawn from containers used for ritual purification. Though Jesus could presumably have reused the empty wine jars, he instead has the servants fill six waterpots which John says were “set there for the Jewish custom of purification.” Jesus surpasses this ritual water by transforming it into wine (spirit water) which the headwaiter testifies surpasses the wine that came before.

Jesus Conversation by the Well (4:4-26): Jesus’ living water is greater than Jacob’s well. The well itself is a traditional site analogous to the Samaritan’s worship on the mountain. The woman points to the greatness of the well by pointing to “father” Jacob as the source and user of the water. The word “father” is again used when the topic of conversation moves from well to worship. Just as ‘father” Jacob gave the well, the Samaritan “fathers” had given them worship on the mountain. When Jesus offers the woman living water she responds by asking if he is “greater” than Jacob who gave them the well. Jesus indicates that it is by contrasting the limitations of the well water with the never-ending life-giving water he supplies. His water is «Spirit» like the true worship God seeks.

His Healing by the Pool of Bethesda (5:1-9): Jesus’ healing is greater than the troubled water in the pool of Bethesda. Once again the waters of Bethesda are linked with tradition. While the tradition mentioned in 5:3 may not be original to John, it appears to be in line with John’s repeated use of water. While the man looks to the traditional water to heal him, he is powerless to reach it. Because Jesus reaches the man at his need, His power is revealed to be greater than the stirred water’s of the pool.

Jesus’ Invitation to Drink (7:37-39): Jesus’ “living water” is greater than the feasts water ceremony. Jesus invitation occurs on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. On this day the High Priest poured water out in the temple as a symbol of the later day river that would flow from the temple (Ez. 47:1-12; Zech. 14:8). Jesus’ invitation and reference indicates that he is the scriptures true fulfillment. The water here is explicitly connected with the Holy Spirit (John 7:39).

The cumulative effect of these scenes indicates that there’s more than one meaning given to water. Sometimes water is simply a clear physical liquid used for washing, drinking etc. However when associated with Christ, water signifies the Spirit (i.e. «living-water or water from above).

A contrast between two waters (higher and lower) fits within John’s narrative’s dualism. Many of John’s metaphors and symbols have natural polarity. For instance John employees the imagery of light and darkness, life and death, above and below, true and false. Each refers to a separation between tangible world in which we live and the intangible realm of the Spirit. Because it’s immaterial, the world “above” is separate from the world “below.» For instance in John 3:12, Christ distinguishes between “earthly things” and “heavenly things” and in 8:23 He separates Himself from His opponents, stating, “You are from below I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.” The higher world represents an intangible reality which man cannot perceive. The prologue asserts “No one has seen God at any time” (1:18). Yet, it also goes on to equally claim that Jesus’ physical presence “explained” or “made known” the invisible God (1:14, 18).

Through metaphors and symbols, John constructs a ladder of understanding from the lower physical world to the higher world of the Spirit. A symbol, according to ordinary sense, is “that which represents something else by virtue of an analogical relationship.” H. Levin describes it simply as “a connecting link between two different spheres.” The symbol, “points beyond itself”, and in some way “embodies that which it represents.” Thus, John takes tangible images and infuses them with a higher connotation in order to define the imperceptible world of God.

Water function within this dualism.

Reading John 3:5 in light of its context

Returning to John 3:5 we can see how this repeated contrast between two different waters fits into the phrase «born of water and the Spirit.»

Most interpretations hold that water and Spirit exist as two distinct elements in the process of rebirth. The English word “and” implies two distinct things. This would certainly fit the apparent contrast between the lower water and the Spirit (higher water) in the scenes outlined above. But these scenes also make a comparison between water and Spirit and unlike the English translation, the Greek may suggest that water and Spirit are one thing and not two. C.H. Talbert states,

The construction in Greek is that of two terms joined by “and” (kai)
and governed by one preposition. This Greek construction normally
points to one act: e.g., Titus 3:5. If two acts were involved,
normally two prepositions would occur.

Though Talbert appears confident in this translation, J. Ramsey Michaels counters with a more moderate approach. He states,

The fact that both are governed by a single preposition in Greek
suggests that they are one. Yet in 1 John 5:6, the same sort of
construction is immediately followed by a singling out of each element
with its own preposition and definite article. The decision must
therefore be made on other than grammatical grounds.

Given room to maneuver, immediate context points to water symbolizing the Spirit. “Born of water and Spirit” occurs as a reiteration of John 3:3’s phrase “born again”. The word, “again” possess two meanings. Though Nicodemus translates the word as “a second time,” the word also means “from above.” It is this later interpretation, which Jesus seems to intend. Thus Jesus, in John 3:3 and 3:5, speaks of one birth from above. According to the freedom granted by both grammar and context, Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be “born of water from above, which is the Holy Spirit.”

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,” (Ephesians 5:25-26)

Nestled within one of the most popular passages on marriage is a description of how the church is sanctified by the washing of water. On the surface, we could think of nothing more than taking a hot bath or shower at the end of the day, using water to cleanse our bodies. But the symbolism behind washing with water is both rich and deep throughout the Bible.

#1 Water for Purification

Washing with water was a ritual sign of holiness. All throughout the Law of Moses were commandments related to cleanliness and holiness, and washing with water was one of the primary ways that a person could be proclaimed “clean” or “sanctified.” The high priest was to wash his hands and feet with water before ministering before the Lord, and washing with water was required when a person contracted a disease or brought an infection or other defilement into the community. If you have ever eaten a Passover meal, there are several moments where a ceremonial hand-washing occurs to show that everyone has cleansed themselves and made themselves worthy to partake of the meal.

This did not mean that such rituals were the only opportunity the Israelites had to bathe; instead, it was a sign that they had purified themselves and removed any blemish or fault before God. These holiness codes became bloated and legalistic during the time of the New Testament. Using water to wash one’s feet was considered a social obligation (Luke 7:44), and Jesus and His disciples were frequently at odds with the Pharisees over stipulations like washing their hands before a meal (Matthew 15:1-2).

#2 Washing for Salvation

Jesus had more in mind than a simple washing of water when He considered sanctifying mankind. He knew that His purpose for being born as a human being was to die for the sins of the whole world, and His blood would be the atoning and cleansing flood through which we could be forgiven (Matthew 26:26-28). His blood is the source of our redemption (Ephesians 1:7) and provides a stronger cleansing and means of forgiveness than water alone (Hebrews 9:22).

Seen through the eyes of heaven, the requirements of the Law of Moses were a symbol of things to come – washing with water was meant to foreshadow the washing with Christ’s blood. The result was incomplete by just using water before His coming, but was made perfect and complete by His death, burial, and resurrection.

#3 Weddings and Sanctification

When we think about this verse in the context of a marriage relationship, we need to remember that the husband is called to be the head in the earthly relationship, just as Christ is the head of our eternal relationship with Him (Ephesians 5:23). This makes it all the more touching and tender when we consider that Christ loved the church, gave Himself up for her, and shed His blood so that He could pronounce her clean and holy (Ephesians 5:25-27).

This does not mean that a husband can atone for the sins of his wife because she is responsible for her own actions before the Lord. We are each called to confess our sins, and God will deal with us individually when He extends His free gift of grace (1 John 1:9). But the analogy in marriage is a loving devotion that involves giving and sacrificing with one’s whole heart and body. It required everything for Jesus to cleanse and sanctify the church with His blood and make it possible to wash her clean, so it will require everything for a husband to love his wife with the very best he can offer.

#4 Worship through Application

This verse is a beautiful expression of Jesus’ earlier recognition of the most important commands we can obey as His faithful followers. When others asked Him the greatest commandment in Scripture, Jesus stated that loving God with everything we have and loving our neighbor as ourselves was the ultimate fulfillment of the Law of Moses (Mark 12:28-31). Even the teachers of the time recognized that, if we could perfectly obey these commandments, we would have fulfilled the entire Law; Jesus even acknowledged this application (Mark 12:32-34).

Conclusion

When we look to God in every area of our lives – and especially in the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman – we sanctify our lives and set them apart as holy. The original way we did this was to ceremonially wash with water as an outward expression of an inward allegiance. The sacrifice of Jesus allows for the deepest cleansing possible: the removal of sin from our lives and the ability to stand before the throne of God without any blemish or stain. Because Jesus has washed us in His blood, and with the power of His Word, we can be redeemed.

That is why we still symbolically wash with water when we are baptized: we use water to symbolize our death with Christ and the newness of life we can now experience (Romans 6:4) by the cleansing power of being washed in the water of His Word.

As Christians, one of the first rites I believe every born-again believer should observe, either at the moment of being saved in the Lord or sometime shortly thereafter, is to be baptized with water. You can either be baptized with water at the moment you are receiving your gift of eternal salvation from the Lord, or you can be baptized with water at a later date.

As you will see in the verses below, Jesus is definitely telling us that He wants water baptism to be included as a part of the salvation experience with Him. However, I do not believe that water baptism is an actual “essential” for a true salvation experience to occur with the Lord. In other words, it is not an actual requirement for salvation.

If you are saved at a Billy Graham crusade, but do not go through an actual water baptism at the crusade, you will still go straight to heaven if you should die on the way home before you could have gone through an actual water baptism at a later date.

As you will see in one of the verses listed below, we are saved by grace through our faith in Jesus – not by any type of water baptism. Water baptism is still a rite of “works,” and the verse I will give you below will definitely tell us that we are not saved by any type of works, but only by grace through our faith in Jesus.

There are some who believe in what is called “baptismal regeneration.” This is a belief that we cannot be saved and regenerated by the Holy Spirit unless we go through an actual water baptism. However, when you look very closely at the verses I will list below, and exactly what water baptism is really signifying and symbolizing with the Lord, I believe these verses are telling us that water baptism should be included as an actual “part” of the salvation experience with the Lord, but that it is not an actual “essential” or necessary requirement of it.

As you all know, people can receive the Lord’s free gift of salvation anywhere and at anytime. If you can be baptized with water at the time you are receiving your salvation in the Lord, that is great and you should always do that if at all possible. However, there will be other times that there will be no means to actually baptize someone with water when someone is being saved in the Lord.

If that should happen, then the person who has just been saved should be baptized with water as soon as they reasonably can at a later date. But if by chance they would die before they could have been baptized with water, they would still go straight to heaven. The fact that they could not be baptized with water will have no bearing or influence on them being able to enter into heaven if they should die before they could have been baptized with water.

If we are only saved by grace through our personal faith in Jesus and not by any type of works we can do, which will include any type of water baptism, then why is Jesus telling us that He still wants us to include water baptism as part of the actual salvation experience with Him?

I believe there are five main reasons as to why Jesus wants us to include water baptism as part of our salvation experience with Him.

1. To Symbolize the Washing Away of Our Sins

When you are being saved through your faith in Jesus, all of your past, present, and future sins are now being fully forgiven. As you will see in the verses below, all of your sins are actually “washed away” by the blood of Jesus. When you are being fully immersed during the rite of water baptism, you are going through a perfect, symbolic act of having all of your personal sins completely washed away by the blood of Jesus.

The rite of water baptism perfectly symbolizes the purification and cleansing that we are receiving from the Lord during the salvation experience with Him.

2. To Identify With the Death and Resurrection of Jesus

As you will see in the verses below, water baptism is also identifying and testifying to the death and resurrection of Jesus.

When we are being fully immersed into the water, we are identifying with Jesus’ physical death on the cross and His body going fully into the grave. When the pastor raises us up out of the full immersion, this is identifying with the full resurrection of Jesus from that grave.

The rite of water baptism by way of a full immersion is thus a perfect outward symbol act of both the death and resurrection of Jesus.

3. To Symbolize the Death of Our Old Life and Old Man, the Inward Regeneration of the Holy Spirit, and the Resurrection Into a New Life

The Bible tells us that once we are saved – that we have now become new creations in Christ, that our human spirits have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, and that our old life and our old man have now died and been done away with.

Being fully immersed in water symbolizes the death of our old life and old man and the inward regeneration of the Holy Spirit – and the pastor raising us up out of the water represents the resurrecting into a brand new life in the Lord.

4. Signifying Our New, Inner Union With the Lord

When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we immediately receive the Holy Spirit on the inside of our human spirits. As a result of receiving the Holy Spirit on the inside of us, we now have a new, direct, spiritual union with both God and Jesus on the inside of our beings since the Holy Spirit is the One who divinely connects us to both God and Jesus in heaven.

As you will see in one of the verses below, the Bible tells us that we have been “united together” with the Lord when we accept Him as our personal Savior. This uniting together with the Lord now forms an actual spiritual union with Him.

We are now all part of the same one Spirit, and that one Spirit is the Holy Spirit Himself. Being fully immersed into the water during the rite of water baptism perfectly symbolizes our new inner union with the Lord since water is one of the main symbols of the Holy Spirit in the Bible.

5. Initiation Into the Body of Christ

I believe that going through a proper water baptism is also an actual initiation rite with the Lord. Not only are we being directly joined to the Lord through the Holy Spirit as a result of being saved, but we now also get to become an actual member of the Body of Christ, which is the Church itself.

Definitions

The word “baptism” means “to dip, to immerse.” Here are some of the basic definitions from some of the different Bible Dictionaries and Commentaries on what the rite of water baptism is all about, and why the Lord wants us to include this as a part our personal salvation experience with Him:

• To dip, to immerse, to submerge
• Signifying union with Christ
• Initiation into the Christian community
• Ritual commanded by Christ to be practiced in the church
• Identifying with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ
• A rite signifying one’s cleansing from sin through Christ’s sacrifice
• Outward sign of inward regeneration by the Holy Spirit
• The immersion or dipping of a believer in water symbolizing the complete renewal and change in the believer’s life and testifying to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the way of salvation

Though we do not need the rite of water baptism to actually receive the gift of eternal salvation from the Lord, this rite is still very powerful before the Lord and before the world in general, as we are making a public profession of our faith to the Lord by being willing to be fully submerged in a pool of water. As such, every Christian should make it their top priority to be baptized with water as soon as they can after receiving their salvation from the Lord.

The Scripture Verses

Here are some of the main verses from the Bible having to do with being baptized with water. Once again, I will break these verses down under 8 different captions so you can see exactly what the Lord is trying to show us with this powerful rite of passage.

1. There is Only One Baptism

The first thing you need to know is that there is only one official baptism. However, this one official baptism is not water baptism – it is being baptized direct with the Holy Spirit Himself.

Here are two powerful, foundational verses showing us that there is only one baptism, and that this one baptism is being baptized with the Holy Spirit.

1. “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism …” (Ephesians 4:4-5)
   
2. “I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:8)

The first verse perfectly lays it out for all of us when it specifically says that there is only “one baptism.” The second verse then tells us what this one baptism is going to be.

Notice that John the Baptist is saying that he was baptizing people with water, but that when Jesus would come, He would be baptizing people with the Holy Spirit. What is actually being baptized in this one baptism is our human spirits are being baptized with the Holy Spirit, since the Holy Spirit immediately enters in and takes up residence in our human spirits at the moment of our conversions to the Lord.

I believe John the Baptist is letting us know that there is a major difference between being baptized with water like what he was doing before Jesus arrived on the scene, and then being baptized with the Holy Spirit through Jesus. Though water baptism is a powerful rite and symbolic act to make before the Lord – it is not what actually gets us saved and born again before Him. And this will now lead us right into the next section.

2. We Are Saved by Grace Through Faith – Not by Water Baptism

These next five verses will specifically tell us how we are saved in the Lord. Notice the first verse will tell us that we are specifically saved by God’s grace through our faith in Jesus – not by any type of works. And the rite of water baptism is still a form of works, and as a result, cannot be accepted as being an essential or required part of the salvation experience with the Lord.

The second verse will then add some more meat to this revelation when it tells us exactly how we are to receive the gift of salvation – and that is by making a public confession with our mouths that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead by God the Father, and that He came down to our earth in the flesh to die on a cross for all of our sins.

In other words, we have to believe in our hearts who Jesus really is, and then be willing to confess out loud with our mouths the basics of our salvation as to who He really is, and exactly what He has personally done for us with His sacrificial death on the cross.

1. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8)
   
2. “… if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made to salvation.” (Romans 10:9)
3. “… I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God … unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3,5)
4. “… having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever …” (1 Peter 1:23)
5. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having sport or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:25-27)

The third verse is where some people get the mistaken notion that water baptism has to be an essential part of the actual salvation experience. This third verse says that we have to be born of “water” and the Holy Spirit. They believe the word “water” is referring to being baptized with water. But I do not believe that this is the correct interpretation of the word “water” in this verse. I believe the word “water” in this verse means “the Word of God.”

I base my reasoning off the last two verses. The verse from 1 Peter specifically says that we have been “born again … through the word of God.” The Word of God is specifically being tied to us being born again in the Lord. We thus need both the Word of God and the Holy Spirit in order to be able to be truly saved and born again in the Lord.

Notice in the last verse from Ephesians that Jesus is looking to clean up His church by the “washing of water by the word.” In other words, you have to have the Word and the knowledge of that Word before God can start to clean you up on the inside by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit needs something to work with to begin the sanctification process in your life – and that something is knowledge – and that knowledge can only be received by studying the Word of God.

Notice that it says “the washing of water” by the Word. I believe God is trying to tell us that getting into His Word and soaking into the truths of His Word will “wash” and scrub us clean just like taking a good bath or shower will clean the dirt and grime off our physical bodies. In other words, the Word of God can “wash you like water.” This interpretation fits much better into this born again verse than it referring to the water from a water baptism.

You do not need the water of water baptism to be able to be truly saved with the Lord. You need the Word and the knowledge of the Word. You cannot accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior unless you have some basic information and knowledge as to what eternal salvation in Him is really all about.

This born again verse is telling us that we need two specific things to be able to receive eternal salvation. We need basic, working knowledge from the Word of God on what it actually means to be saved, and then we need to receive the Holy Spirit into our human spirits at the moment that we are actually being saved. In other words, we are saved through the knowledge that the Word will give us, and through the Holy Spirit who will come to live on the inside of us at the moment of our conversions to the Lord.

3. Jesus Commands That All Believers Be Baptized With Water

Though we are not actually saved by water baptism, Jesus still wants all of us to include this rite as a part of the salvation experience with Him. As you will see in reading these next set of verses, Jesus is specifically commanding all of us to baptize with water when we are working with others to get them saved.

If Jesus is making sure to include this rite as part of the salvation experience with Him, then we should fully obey Him on this issue and make sure that we are either baptized with water at the moment of our conversions to Him, or make sure that we do it as soon as we can after we have been saved.

Here are 9 very good verses showing that water baptism was always a part of the salvation experience in the New Testament.

1. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
2. And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:15-16)
3. “Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” (Acts 22:15)
4. “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.” (Acts 2:41)
5. “But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.” (Acts 8:12)
6. Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?” Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.” (Acts 8:36-38)
7. “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.” (Acts 10:47-48)
8. “Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.” (Acts 18:8)
9. And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.” (Acts 16:30-33)

Notice in verses 6 and 7 the word “water” is being directly connected to the rite of water baptism. This is how you know that water baptism should always be included as a part of anyone’s personal salvation experience with the Lord.

4. Water Baptism is an Outward Sign of Dying and Resurrecting With Christ

Water baptism is also a perfect, symbolic act of our old man and old life dying with Christ and our new life resurrecting with Christ. The first verse I will give you will show you that our “old man” was crucified with Christ. In other words, our old man was fully put to death.

As a result of our old man being fully put to death, the rite of water baptism, especially being willing to be fully immersed in a pool of water, is a perfect outward sign of our old man and old life being fully put to death in the Lord.

In the rite of water baptism our old man, the body of sin, is going fully underneath the water in the same way that Jesus’ physical body went fully into the grave after He was crucified. And just as Jesus fully resurrected on the third day from His death, in the same way the pastor raising us up out of the water represents us being fully resurrected into a new and better life in Jesus.

Notice in the first two verses that it specifically says that we have actually been “buried” with Jesus and His death on the cross “through baptism.” And just as Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day, so too are we raised into a brand new life.

In other words, we have now died with Christ and we have now risen with Christ if we are willing to accept Him as our personal Lord and Savior.

The third verse will really hammer home the point that as a result of dying and resurrecting with Jesus, we have now all become “new creations” in Him. And as a result of becoming new creations in the Lord, all of the “old things” of our past have now fully passed away. And as a result of all of the old things in our lives having passed away, all things have now been become brand new. In other words, we are now being given a brand new life with a brand new fresh start.

The last verse will then put the icing on the cake as it tells us that the reason we are now able to become brand new creations is because we have now “put on Christ” as a result of being baptized into Jesus through the Holy Spirit. This is powerful and profound revelation being given to us by our Lord in these next 4 verses.

1. “Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” (Romans 6:3-6)
   
2. “… buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all your trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:12-14)
   
3. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
   
4. “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” (Galatians 3:27)

Again, going through the rite of water baptism where you are being fully immersed in the water is a perfect, symbolic act of dying and resurrecting with our Lord. This is a very beautiful and powerful rite to go through and experience with our Lord.

5. Water Baptism is an Outward Sign of Having Your Sins Washed Away

When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, all of our past, present, and future sins will be fully forgiven. The Bible tells us that all of our personal sins will be “washed away.” And what better way to symbolize the washing away of all of our sins than to be fully submerged in a pool of water during the rite of water baptism.

When you are being fully immersed in the water during the rite of water baptism, this is a perfect symbolic act that all of your sins have now been fully forgiven and fully washed away by the blood that Jesus has personally shed for you on the cross.

Here is a very good verse that will specifically tell us that all of our sins have been fully washed away by Jesus, and that it is also directly tying in this divine act to being baptized with water.

“Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” (Acts 22:15)

Being willing to be fully submerged in water to symbolize the complete washing away of all of your sins is a very powerful statement to make before the Lord and anyone else who may be witnessing your personal baptism.

6. Sprinkling, Pouring, or Full Immersion?

Another area of debate on this issue is whether or not to undergo a full immersion or to just have water sprinkled or poured on you.

I personally believe that God will honor and accept all three ways. However, among the three options, I believe that the full immersion is the much better choice. The reason being is that when you are being fully submerged in water, it is a much better symbolic act of the physical death of Jesus, the death of our old lives and old man, and the complete washing away of all of our personal sins.

When Jesus died on the cross, His body was taken off the cross and His whole body was placed into a grave. Note that His whole body was placed into the grave, not just His head or a part of His body. In the same way, I believe that we should undergo a full body immersion to line up with Jesus’ physical body being put fully into the grave. Just as Jesus’ physical body was fully placed into the grave, in the same way our physical bodies should undergo a full immersion in this rite.

The second good reason to undergo a full immersion rather than just having water sprinkled or poured on you is that a full immersion is better symbolizing all of our sins being fully washed away at the moment of our conversions to the Lord. Having our bodies being fully submerged underneath the water is a much better symbolic act of all of our sins being fully washed away by the blood of Jesus rather than just having a few drops of water being sprinkled on us.

The third good reason to undergo a full immersion is that this also lines up better with our old man and our old life being fully put to death. Full immersion in the water thus symbolizes and represents a complete and maximum death of our old lives and our old selves.

Being baptized by either sprinkling or pouring does not capture or symbolize the above issues as well as being fully immersed into the water does.

7. At What Age Should People Get Baptized?

Another area of debate among some of the different denominations is at what age should people go through the rite of water baptism.

Some denominations like the Catholics still like to baptize infants with water shortly after their births. Others will argue that water baptism should only be done when a person is old enough, ready enough, intelligent enough, and mature enough to make a public profession of faith to the Lord. In other words, when they are ready to make an eternal commitment to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

With all of the above verses tying in water baptism to being saved and converted to the Lord, and that someone can only receive salvation if they have the actual knowledge and intelligence to be able to understand it all – for the most part, we believe that water baptism should be confined to when people are old enough, intelligent enough, mature enough, and accountable enough to be able to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

That age will vary depending on how well a child has been brought up in the Lord. Someone who has been brought up very early in the Lord and His Word can receive the gift of eternal salvation at a much younger age than someone else who has had very little upbringing in the knowledge and ways of our Lord.

However, for those denominations who still like to baptize infants shortly after their births – I personally do not see any harm in doing this. I believe that a certain amount of grace may be imparted by the Lord to the infant at that young age, even though the infant obviously has no idea of what is really going on.

However, I do believe that the infant needs to then be personally brought up in the Lord and His Word, and as they grow and mature in the Lord, they should then make a personal commitment to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior once they are old enough, mature enough, and intelligent enough to be able to understand what it is all about.

8. Who Should Baptize?

For the most part, I believe that you should go through the proper chain-of-command in the Body of Christ and have either the pastor or one of the ordained clergy of your church do the water baptism if you belong to a church. Since one of the outward signs of water baptism is being initiated into the Body of Christ, which is the Church, I believe you are better off having this rite done in the church, since this would be a perfect symbolic act of becoming an actual member of the Body.

However, in cases where you cannot get to a church for whatever reason, I believe that every believer has the authority from the Lord to be able to baptize, since we all have a royal priesthood from the Lord. The Church is really the individual body of believers, and when there is no church available or nearby, I believe you can baptize another into the Body of Christ by either fully immersing them in a pool of water if a pool of water is readily available, or by sprinkling or pouring water on them from a nearby water source.

Conclusion

When you put it all together, the rite of water baptism is like the putting the icing on the cake. It really seals the deal with our Lord.

Once again, here are the 5 main things that this powerful rite of passage will signify and symbolize with our Lord:

• Initiation into the Body of Christ
• To symbolize the washing away of our sins
• To signify our new inner union with the Lord
• To identify with the death and resurrection of Jesus
• To symbolize the death of our old life and old man, the inward regeneration of the Holy Spirit, and the resurrection into a brand new life with the Lord

Though I believe the above verses do show us that the rite of water baptism is still an actual “work” and we thus cannot actually be saved by it, the fact still remains that the Lord has commanded all of us to include this rite as a part of the Great Commission that He has given to us. As such, I believe that every born-again believer should fully obey this command from the Lord and go through this rite if they have never done it before. It is never too late to go through a proper water baptism if you have never done so before.

This rite of passage is very beautiful and very powerful – and it is making a bold and powerful statement to the Lord, to yourself, and to the rest of the world when you actually go through it.