Of Water And Of Spirit

The Lord woke me early this morning as He often does (2:34 a.m. it was) and began filling my mind with scriptures and the direction for this blog. Here are the words that came to me:

"You must be born again of water and of spirit." John 3:5 (Tell them what is meant by Water and Spirit.)

"By the washing of the water by the word." Ephesians 5:26  (I'm coming for a Church washed in water without spot or blemish. Tell them.)

As I thought about the words in these scriptures, I started breaking them down:

We must be born again which involves two things. Water and Spirit. What are water and spirit? Simply His Word and the Holy Ghost. We can read in scripture that Jesus is coming for a Church (believers) who are sanctified and holy. The only way for this to happen is through washing in water BY THE WORD (Ephesians 5:26) and receiving the Holy Spirit. What does washing in water mean?

We can break it down even further. First, We must be born again of water OR in other words, we must be washed IN THE WORD because he said "by the washing of water BY THE WORD. What about actual water baptism? Doesn't that count? By coming forward to be baptized in literal water is like a promissory note, an act of faith showing our commitment to God, symbolizing the washing away of our old life, and beginning to walk in newness with Him. We know Jesus was THE WORD made flesh (John 1:14; Revelation 19:13) therefore Jesus and the WORD are synonymous. Secondly, we must be born of the spirit is the same as we must be born of the Holy Ghost. Acts 1 records John baptized with water" (the baptism of repentance of sin). After you repent of your sins, you need to immerse yourself IN THE WORD (the Bible is the spiritual water). Then you will receive power from the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8) to witness as you begin your journey of holy living. Remember, the word holy means separated, it doesn't mean you are some kind of pure god being. It means you are dedicated and consecrated to God, it means you are separated from your sin and unto Christ alone. Being born again of water and of the spirit is the regeneration of the human spirit in contrast to physical birth. Jesus also told us not to be surprised by the idea of rebirth in John 3:5-7.

It's time for believers and even non-believers to understand the call of God because the days are evil. When you think about the world in these times that we are living in, it isn’t hard to see that there is a huge amount of suffering going on. Warfare, poverty, political unrest, innocents suffering and being killed, etc. It can leave us wondering: when will it all end? Have you as a Christian ever wondered how long can God allow this to continue? But did you know there is something that believers can do to shorten these evil days? “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God.” 2 Peter 3:11-12. 

It is through the fear of God that we can hasten the coming of the day of God. As believers, we are to come to perfection in Christ, so that there is no spot or blemish in us. This is said of Christ, "that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:27.) With the strength and guidance God gives us by the Holy Spirit, each one of us can live without committing conscious, willful sin. With that strength and grace, we are able to overcome sin in our flesh when we are tempted, to the degree that we are obedient to the light and understanding that God has given us. The more faithful and obedient we are, the faster the work He has prepared for us will be accomplished (Ephesians 2:10) By this “holy conduct and godliness” we hasten His coming.

Paul said it like this: “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on …” He is speaking about being perfect as Jesus is perfect; coming to the whole fullness of God (Colossians 29; Matthew 5:48). Are you thinking nonsense, none of us can be perfect. But Paul says that he was "reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” Philippians 3: 12-14. How can we possibly come to the point where we have no spot or blemish or wrinkle? What does that even mean?

To have no spot or wrinkle or blemish doesn’t mean that we have no sin, as we can clearly see in 1 John 1:8 all have sinned and fallen short of what God intended for us. As we grow in Him we become more and more enlightened to what He desires of us. We sometimes harbor sin (gossip, jealousy, anger, and the like that we are as yet unaware of, which God hasn’t given us light/understanding over because He only shows us as much as we can bear at a time. The more we read and learn, the more we grow and mature. We confess our sins, repent, and keep pressing on. That sin which He hasn’t shown us yet doesn’t cause us to be blemished, but what does cause a blemish in us, is disobedience. If God has spoken to us time and time again about something that we need to overcome, if He has given us light over something, and we don’t do anything about it, but allow that sin to remain active in us, then we get “spots” and become blemished. That will make us unfit to be a part of that glorious church that He will present to Himself. We have to do something when He shows us something in ourselves; we have to repent and continue to fight and come to victory over that sin.

We are not accountable for the sin that we are not aware of. Have you ever read the Word of God and discovered something you were doing in your life was a sin but you weren't even aware of it? That's what I'm talking about   But we are fooling ourselves if we think we can say, “Yes, I knew about that sin in myself, but the righteousness of Jesus covers me, so I will not be held responsible for it. I overcome through faith in His finished work on Calvary, not by anything I must or can do.” Through Jesus’ sacrifice, we can indeed receive undeserved forgiveness for sins we have and do commit. But the salvation obtained through forgiveness is only the beginning of a disciple’s life. Jesus opened a way of salvation from sin for us. This way, the way that Paul was pressing forward on, leads to the goal: to be perfect in Christ as far as we have received light/understanding. This way reaches all the way to God’s throne (Hebrews 10:19-22). There we receive all the mercy and grace and help we need to overcome sin (Hebrew 4:15-16). The power of the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus sent to us after He had opened up this way, is what enables us to be “… more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:27).

It is critical that we pursue this goal, and be faithful to the extent that we have light/understanding over the sin in our flesh. None of us can do more than what we understand to do. But we can be 100% faithful to do that which we do understand. Then God can give us more light and understanding as time goes by, and if we are faithful to be obedient, then that pursuit of righteousness will hasten the coming of the day of God and He will receive a Bride whose lamps are burning bright, who are washed in His Word of Truth, kept by the power of His Spirit through grace and mercy, without spot or wrinkle.

Until He Comes,

-Pat-