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The Scriptorium

Completely Clean

Believers are always washed and needing to be washed.

The Gospel of John: John 13.1-11

Read and meditate on John 13.10.
There is a once-for-all-time cleansing, and a need for ongoing cleansing. We need to make sure we understand the difference.

                                                  10But Jesus said,
“He who is bathed need only wash his feet,
but is completely clean; and you are clean,
although not all of you.”
 
- John 13.10

Reflect
1.  Jesus indicates that for those who follow Him, there is cleansing which makes us completely clean, and a washing which needs to be undertaken from time to time. What is He talking about? Complete this prayer: Thank You, Lord Jesus, for washing my sins away once and for all; today, wash me from…

2.  The washing whereby believers become completely clean does not remove their sins, but their sin. Although this completely clean washing does not eliminate the need for daily washing, it provides the basis and incentive for such washing. Explain. You have taken away my sin, Lord Jesus; today, cleanse me from my…

3.  Mediate on Galatians 4.6, 7. When does the once-for-all, completely clean washing occur? How does this completely clean washing occur, and what does it accomplish? Thank You, Father, for Your indwelling Spirit, Who…

4.  Jesus said that whoever has been made completely clean “needs only to wash his feet…” Meditate on 1 John 1.8-10 and Psalm 51.1-14. What’s the difference between confessing sin and repenting of it? Can we truly have one of these without the other? How can we know when we need to “have our feet washed” (Ps. 139.23, 24)? Convict me, Holy Spirit, and show me my sins, that I may…

5.  Finally, let’s consider the role of baptism in expressing what Jesus was talking about in this verse. Baptism does not save us. It is a sign and symbol of what God does for us once-for-all. Explain. Should a person need to be baptized more than once? Explain. Further, baptism serves as a reminder for those who are already baptized about their need for daily washing. Do you think baptism is important in the life of faith? For the Christian community? Explain. Bring together into one your prayers from questions 1-4.

Summary
“Jesus is giving clear notice that this washing of the feet indicates pardoning of sins, and not only that which is given once in baptism but in addition that by which the daily guilty actions of the faithful that everyone lives with in this life are cleansed by his daily grace. Our feet, by which we move about [and] touch the ground—and for this reason we cannot keep them free from contact with dirt, as we can the rest of our bodies—signify the necessity of our living on earth, by which we who are idle and negligent are daily affected to a great extent. Even outstanding people who live the highest kind of life are distracted from the heavenly contemplation that they love so much, so that ‘if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.’ The person who has been cleansed in the baptismal font and has received pardon for all his sins has no need to be cleansed again. Moreover, he cannot be cleansed again in the same way. He finds it necessary only to have the daily defilements of his worldly life wiped away by the daily forgiveness of his Redeemer. His whole body, together with its actions, is clean, with the exception merely of those things that cling to the mind because of the necessities of temporal cares. For their daily polluting and cleansing we say daily in prayer, ‘And forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors.’” The Venerable Bede (672-735 AD)

Jesus said we need to have our feet washed. Did He mean this literally? Should this become part of our daily walk with the Lord? Is it part of yours?

Closing Prayer
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.

Psalm 51.7-13

Psalm 51.7-13 (Passion Choral: O Sacred Head, Now Wounded)
In Jesus’ blood and mercy, Lord, cleanse my evil heart!
Let me washed, cleansed, renewed be and pure in whole and part.
Bring joy again and gladness; look not upon my sin.
Deliver me from sadness; renew me yet again!

Create in me a clean heart, renew me from within!
Take not Your Spirit from me because of all my sin.
Salvation’s joy restore, Lord, and keep me in Your hand;
Thus shall I tell Your strong Word to sinners in the land.
           
T. M. Moore

We are happy to offer each week’s Scriptorium studies in a free weekly PDF, suitable for personal or group use. You can download all the studies in our series on the Gospel of John by clicking here. Please prayerfully consider sharing with The Fellowship of Ailbe through your giving. You can contribute to The Fellowship by clicking the Contribute button at the website or by sending your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction, VT 05452.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from
The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series IV a and b: John, edited by Joel C. Elowsky, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Verse translation of John by T. M. Moore.

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore

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