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Washed Acceptable!

Drawing near to God is a thrill that fills you with peace and joy. But thoughts of doing so can make you afraid. This is a problem that needs an effective solution.

The Bible says, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts" (Isaiah 6:3b). We also know, "There is no one holy like the Lord" (1 Sam. 2:2a).

When you draw near to God, you have to do so giving due consideration to the holiness of God. Isaiah saw God in a vision and wrote, "I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted" (Isa. 6:1b). But, during the vision Isaiah became vividly aware of the holiness of God and felt tremendous shame as a result. His reaction was to say, "Woe is me, for I am ruined" (see Isaiah 6:1-7).

If you enter the throne room of God without applying God’s provision—both inside and out—your reaction would likely be similar to that of Isaiah. Rather than being filled with peace and joy, you could be overwhelmed by fear—not because God is out to get you, it is just because the difference between us and God is so great.

Bottom line is that we must have the full acceptance and approval of God, or it is just not good enough. We must be able to draw near to God without feeling shame. Otherwise, there would be no way for us to stand before Him and quench our thirst without having to hold back. The good news is that God has provided a powerful solution.

Once you understand His provision—for both the inside and the outside of you—and you let your heart believe it, you won’t have to stay away from God because of shame.

Because God is so holy and good, somebody had to take the punishment for our sin. If we had to pay the price ourselves, justice would require our death. But God doesn’t want that! The Bible says, "‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways’" (Ezek. 33:11b). God is holy. He is also good!

The purpose of the Old Testament sacrifices was to make people acceptable to God, "you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted" (Lev. 22:29; also 19:5). Our sin made us incompatible for relationship with God because of the far surpassing greatness of His holiness and purity. Because of this God made a choice to provide a sacrifice on our behalf in order that we could be made acceptable for relationship with Him. The Bible tells us that Jesus is, "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29b). The Bible also says it is, "the gospel of God, that...the Gentiles might become acceptable" (Rom. 15:16).

The reason Jesus needed to die as a sacrifice was because our very core nature made us enemies toward God (Rom. 5:10 and below).

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest (Eph. 2:1-3).

Before we became Christians the verse above says we were "by nature children of wrath." But, when God saved us, He put the Holy Spirit in our human spirit and changed our core nature forever. By having received the Holy Spirit inside us, we have "become partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4). It is by your having taken some of God’s nature inside of you that your nature has been changed.

You have a new nature because speaking about salvation, God says,"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone...And I will put My Spirit within you" (Ezek. 36:26b,27). You have a new nature because there is a "new Spirit" at work within you. The Bible says that by Jesus’ death He actually became "sin" for us so that we could become, "the righteousness of God." (2 Cor. 5:21). The moment you become a "partaker" of His righteousness nature God made you acceptable at your deepest level.

Let me emphasize again that it is because the goodness, love, kindness, and purity of God is so far beyond us that we needed salvation. During Old Testament times, the smell of the smoke from the sacrifice was a "soothing aroma" that made the people acceptable to God: "As a soothing aroma I shall accept you" (Eze. 20:41a). In the same way, when the Holy Spirit comes to live inside us, the Bible says, "For we are a fragrance of Christ to God" (2 Corinthians 2:15). Jesus paid the penalty in full.

God has given you a new nature and the old one is gone (2 Cor. 5:17). The Bible says that you are a temple of God, the Spirit of God dwells inside you, and that you are holy because of it (1 Cor. 3:16,17). It is the inside of us that God has made holy.

The struggle we still have with sin isn’t because of our core nature. The Bible says that Christians still sin because of sin that dwells in the fleshly, outer-body part of us (Rom. 7:22,23). You don’t have two natures deep inside you—God didn’t make you schizophrenic when you became a Christian!

Let me emphasize again that, by agreeing that the death of Jesus payed the price for your sin, you actually received Christ into the inside of you. The Bible explains that "the Spirit of God dwells in you...the Spirit of Christ" (Rom. 8:9b). When you "received" Christ, it was God who came to you.

How did all this happen? The instant you first trusted Christ, the Bible says God washed you by literally pouring His Holy Spirit down upon you: "He saved us...by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior," (Titus 3:5,6). These aren’t my words it is the Bible that says God saved you by "washing" you with the Holy Spirit! The Bible says something similar when it says, "For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body...we were all made to drink of one Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:13). The Bible says we were "baptized" by drinking the Holy Spirit! One example of this happening was when Peter was preaching about salvation to Gentiles.

Of Him [Jesus Christ] all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.

While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message...the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also (Acts 10:43-45b)

God interrupted Peter’s preaching by "pouring" the Holy Spirit upon the people. Let me emphasize again that according to the scriptures, having the Holy Spirit "poured out upon us" is how all of us receive Christ (Titus 3:5,6). It is just that the "pouring" most of us receive isn’t usually as obvious as what was recorded in the book of Acts. Washing, cleansing, and pouring are terms the Bible uses to explain how salvation comes to us in spiritual realms.

If you have not yet prayed to receive Christ as your savior, you can do so right now. Talk to God. Tell Him you need His forgiveness and that you are choosing to trust the death of Jesus Christ as full payment for your sins. Ask Him to come and to wash you clean on the inside. Whether you just became a Christian right now, or you prayed to receive Christ previously, take time to thank God that He has saved you by washing you with the Holy Spirit.

Because you received a washing from God at the beginning, it is realistic for that washing to continue—not because you need it on the inside. You need His washing on the outside of you continually. 

Speaking again about salvation the Bible says, "...you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor. 6:11). "Sanctification" refers to our being set apart for God and being made holy and acceptable to God: "acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit." (Romans 15:16). That God "sanctified" you means He made you holy by washing you with the Holy Spirit.

It is also vitally important to understand that sanctification is a process that continues after salvation. Therefore, the washing must also continue even after salvation. The Bible says, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thess. 5:23). When we are sanctified "entirely" we can stand before the Lord, "without blame." Being sanctified entirely requires that you let Him wash you inside and out. Doing so, is a wonderful solution that dissolves shame.

The prophet Zechariah saw a vision of Joshua the high priest concerning his need tp put on the proper garments necessary for free access to enter and stand before the Lord.

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him...Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. He spoke and said to those who were standing before him, saying, "Remove the filthy garments from him." Again he said to him, "See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes." Then I said, "Let them put a clean turban on his head." So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the Lord was standing by.

And the angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, "Thus says the Lord of hosts, "If you will walk in My ways and if you will perform My service, then you will also govern My house and also have charge of My courts, and I will grant you free access among these who are standing here" (Zech. 3:3-7).

You don’t have to keep weighing the evidence of whether you are good enough to welcome God’s presence or not! Trust simply and profoundly that you are drawing near to God and let Him draw near to you (James 4:8). Like a robe around you, trust that you are wearing His presence on your body—radiated upon you from the fountain of God. You don’t have to feel shame because the washing of God is powerful.

I don’t think it is possible to both honor the holiness of God and solve the problem of shame apart from the presence of God as the solution. Don’t make the mistake of entering the throne room and feasting on God without having clothed yourself with the presence of God.

"But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, "Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?" And the man was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, "Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness" (Matt. 22:11-13).

Again let me stress that when we get saved, God becomes our righteousness. Yet this involves only our inner person. The contrast between Almighty God, and the frailty of our humanness overwhelming. Our humanity and our sense of shame is directly tied to our physical body. Confidence before Almighty God, requires that we trust God to be washing our outer body as well. That way, rather than our humanness, God becomes our good. Rather than our weakness, the presence of the Holy Spirit with us becomes our adequacy. He becomes our righteousness, soul and body included.

Let me remind you again of this important verse, "Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming." (1 John 2:28). We are to "abide" with Him in us and us in Him so that we won’t shrink away in shame when He comes to us. That way, on a practical everyday level, we won’t have shame when He draws near to us.

We have to get our heart to hear that we can stop protecting ourselves from receiving the presence of the Holy Spirit. The issue is not to deal with our shame by believing we have worth. The problem is pride and self-protection. The Bible says, "By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy" (Leviticus 10:3b). We dare not draw near to God disregarding His holiness. We have to apply our faith to trusting God Himself as that which makes us acceptable. If we hide from the faith that allows God to shower His Spirit upon us, then we will be ignoring the transcendent holiness of God! If we don’t let God close to us we won’t be able to trust His nearness as our good (Psa. 73:28).

It is right to let God wash your humanity. The Bible says that to present our body to the Lord is a spiritual act of worship (Rom. 12:1). The Bible also talks about how, "The Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion...by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning" (Isa. 4:4). Use thanks and praise until you delight in God’s power to burn away the filth of even the greatest weakness of your humanity. If you don’t, you will keep struggling with feelings of shame and you won’t want to stand before Him.

Click HERE to go to Acrobat Reader version of the Heart-training! about training your heart to trust the forgiveness of God and the power of the cross rather than self-inflicted punishment.

Click HERE to go to Acrobat Reader version of the Heart-training! about training your heart to trust the power of the cleansing of God.

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I am praying for the Lord's abundant blessing on your efforts to direct your heart toward Him.

Barry.

       What About Shame? — Continued...

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(C) Barry Hall 1999

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