Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 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 5:25-27 (NKJV)

 

Many believers desire to be holy and clean, but they are either unaware or too ignorant to trust and rest on Christ's righteousness working in and through them. Instead, they continue to feel bad and guilty because they are not walking in the light of the gospel truth.

The Apostle Paul tells us to remember how much Christ loves His church and how He completely gave His life for her, setting her apart as "holy and without blemish". Christ loves us too much to let us stay the same. Christ, like a lover whispering sweet words in his beloved's ear, draws us into true holiness and beauty by speaking glorious words of truth and revelation that cleanse and refresh our hearts.

It is interesting that Paul mentions a "double cleansing" when he mentions how Christ sanctified and cleansed the church "with the washing of water" and "by the word". He was using imagery from the Jewish practice of baptism, which required a first bath for ritual purification before being considered "ritually clean" for the second bath, which was the actual baptism by immersion. The water used for the first ritual bath was considered ritually unclean.

Similarly, Jesus became unclean when He cleansed us of our sin by taking it on Himself, allowing us to testify through baptism that we are "made clean" through His righteousness, without spot or wrinkle. This means that your holiness comes solely from Christ through the act (that is, "the washing of water") and truth (that is, "by the word") of His finished work. It is out of this joyful revelation of being made holy, clean, and perfect in God's sight that you receive the power to live a holy and righteous life.