An Article of Faith

One of the pieces of furniture in the Old Testament tabernacle was called the bronze laver (see Exodus 38:8). It consisted of a huge upright bowl filled with water, resting on a pedestal. The Old Testament priests would often stop at the this laver and wash.
The Word of God may be thought of in terms of this laver, for it too has the power to cleanse. The Old Testament laver could only remove the physical dirt from human hands, but the Scriptures possess the ability to take our moral filth:
“You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart. For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living Word of God” (1 Peter 1:22-23 NLT).
“If we confess our sins,” writes John, “He is faithful and righteousness to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
What areas of my life does the Bible cleanse? It cleanses me from wrong thoughts. Sometimes we are tempted to think critically of others:
“But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. ... So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:10, 12).
On other occasions fearful thoughts may race through our minds:
“This is my command – be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 NLT).
In fact, the Bible will establish your total thought-life if you’ll allow it to do so:
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise” (Philippians 4:8 NLT).
God’s Word can cleanse us from wrong words. Of all the Bible authors, James seems to be God’s expert on the sins of the human tongue:
“Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way. We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth. And a small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go, even though the winds are strong. In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. People can tame all kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and fish, but no one can tame the tongue. It is restless and evil, full of deadly poison. Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right! Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring” (James 3:1-12 NLT).
God’s Word also cleanses us from wrong actions. Jesus prayed: “Make them holy by Your truth; teach them Your Word, which is truth” (John 17:17 NLT).
Finally, God’s Word will keep us from sin or sin will keep us from God’s Word: “I have treasured Your Word in my heart so that I may not sin against You” (Psalm 119:11 HCSB).
(Jessie J. Charpentier Sr. is pastor of Jenkins Memorial Baptist Church in St. Martinville.)