bodies washed with pure water

Heb 10:21-22  “…and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

Yesterday in our Lifegroup (the name of the fellowship meetings we’re starting) we studied Hebrews 10:19-25.  In this discussion, the question came up about what it means to have our “bodies washed with pure water.”  I have not done an exhaustive amount of study on this passage, but based on other similar passages like John 13:10 and Ephesians 5:26, I deducted that it ultimately is a “spiritual” reference to believing God’s Word and refers to our sins being washed away which is then symbolized in the act of baptism.

At the end of the study, when I asked the application question, “So, what about this passage can you apply to your life?”  (Pretty straightforward application question, huh?)  A young man named Diasuke said, “I need my body to be washed with pure water.”

Galen and I looked at each other and then I asked him, “Do you know what that means?”  He gave a brief explanation and then we reaffirmed the fact that this happens purely through believing the gospel.  (Which he heard the previous evening when Galen walked through a bluebook with him.  He showed a great amount of understanding but said he needed time to process it.)  We then shared Rom. 10:9, “…that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”  And we asked him, do you believe this?  And he answered, “Yes, I believe!”  Then I told him, “All you need to do is confess it to God in prayer.”  Then he said enthusiastically, ‘I confess, I confess!  Jesus is Lord!”

With a big smile Galen and I explained to him that he needed to confess it to God (not to us!) and we all prayed with Him to receive Christ.

Praise God for a new Japanese brother!