Five Forgotten Truths

He was calling me to a level of holiness that I thought was impossible. Remember, I had not been taught very well, and so I just assumed holy living, sanctity, was something that just magically happened if you were really a Christian. And up to this point, I thought I was doing pretty well, at least better than most other people I knew. That was one of my biggest mistakes--comparing my holiness to others' and not to God's. I did not understand the value of confession and repentance. I knew nothing about transformation and renewal. God was telling me that, more than anything else, I needed to understand the truth about sanctity. John 13 records a beautiful moment of Jesus' ministry to His disciples. Verses5-10 especially give us some great insight into how we should live our lives as Christians. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?" Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." "No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me." "Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!" Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." You already understand that taking a bath two thousand years ago was not as simple as it is today. Getting a bath and getting your body clean was a big deal. Of course, if you walk around in mostly unpaved streets with open shoes or none at all, of course your feet get dirty. That's why foot-washing was customary in the ancient world. After all, who wants to relax for dinner with dirty feet? But in this case, Jesus wasn't just being gracious and humble. He was teaching His disciples a very vital lesson about how to live their lives. When Jesus said, "you are clean," He was telling Peter, "You are a Christian." He was explaining that Peter's faith in Christ had already washed him of sin. Jesus was in the process of defeating sin and death once and for all. However, Peter needed to understand that even after he bathed and put on clean clothing, as soon as he walked outside his feet were likely to get dirty, and would soon need washing. That is true in the life of every Christian. The blood of Jesus washes you clean, and it is a bath that does not need repeating. But in the process of living life and going about your daily routine you will encounter temptation and yes, you will sin. Jesus knows that you will not be perfect this side of heaven, and He was explaining to Peter the simple lesson of confession and repentance. As a believer and follower of Christ, you were washed, so to speak, in His sacrificial blood. "....but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." -- 1 Corinthians 6:11. As a Christian, you are clean, but you will not live a perfect sinless life. Jesus knows that, and that's why He offers to wash our dirty feet for us, every single day. You cannot lose your salvation. You will never need another bath from Christ. "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet." But you will need to show Him your dirty feet and let Him wash them for you. In other words, you must confess your sins to God on a daily basis. This sounds so simple, yet it is probably one of the most under-taught and least understood doctrines of Christianity. Consequently, it is probably why so many Christians live such defeated lives. They have been taught that confession is a one-time event that happens when you accept Christ as Savior--that you confess you are a sinner, and then you're done confessing! Unfortunately, many Christians are walking around with feet that are filthy and disgusting, often unwilling to expose their feet to God for washing. Jesus Christ, our Sacrifice, is waiting with basin and towel; waiting for you to simply show Him your feet; waiting for confession. Why does it matter so much? Because of what Jesus said to Peter: "unless I wash you, you have no part with me." Jesus was teaching His disciples the truth about sanctity. Sin in the life of a Christian does not cause you to lose salvation. If it did, then Jesus would have taught Peter that he would need to be bathed over and over again. Instead, He taught Peter that only his feet would need washing again, but unless he allowed Jesus to do this, his fellowship with Jesus would be broken. Sin will never take away your salvation--it is secure in Christ--but sin will interrupt your fellowship with God. In Part Two, I shared my belief that many people come to Christ as a cognitive choice only, without the initiation of the Holy Spirit, and it is my belief that they are not truly saved at all if they are only seeking "fire insurance." Unfortunately, many do come to Christ as the Spirit calls and beckons, but they never learn the truth about sanctity, and they never grow in Christ the way God intends. The truth about sanctity is that God expects holiness from you, and holiness requires confession and repentance.