Christ sanctifies and cleanses us by the washing of water, but what sort of water? By the Word. The water which washes away sin, which cleanses and purifies the soul, is the Word.” Charles Spurgeon
Have
you ever seen the illustration of a dirty putrid glass of water having a pitcher of clean pure water poured into it to the point that the dirty water in the glass has been displaced and the water in the cup is now clean? I have always thought that it is an excellent picture of the cleansing power of the Word of God in our lives.In EPHESIANS 5:26 we are told that we are “cleansed … by the washing of water with the WORD.”
In the Greek we find that the literal translation would be … “cleansing by the laver (loutron) of the water in the word.” The laver was the brazen bowl at which the Priests would cleanse themselves and the sacrifices to make them sanctified before presenting themselves and the sacrifices to God. God’s Word acts as a cleansing agent in our lives that helps bring about sanctification.
We see the same use of the word “Word” in John 15:3 when Jesus said, “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” We are made clean by his words and if we believe that the Bible is inspired by God then we can assume that his WORD will cleanse us.
The world offers many things for us to us to fill our lives with. Not all things are bad but we need to be aware of what we are allowing in our lives. We need to know what it is that we 
are ingesting. Are we filling our glass with pure refreshing cleansing water or are we drinking sludge?
are ingesting. Are we filling our glass with pure refreshing cleansing water or are we drinking sludge? How can we make it through this world without being drug down into the mire pit of sin? Psalms 119:9 asks and answers this question: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all of my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” It is through bathing ourselves in God’s Word that we can stand in purity … that we can be truly cleansed.
“The Bible serves as an instrument of Sanctification in three ways: 1) The Holy Spirit uses the Word to reveal our sinful condition (which we will be talking about next time) 2) The Holy Spirit uses the Word to cleanse us from our sinful habits and practices of sin. It is the Word that washes away our daily defilement. The blood of Christ cleanses us from the guilt of sin, and the Bible cleanses us from the habit of sin. The blood deals with guilt, the Bible with our daily pollution. But, as we travel through life we acquire the dirt of the world, for which we constantly need the cleansing of our minds by the Word of God through the Holy Spirit. This results in a progressive transformation into the likeness of Christ, by transforming our character. The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to transform us into the ‘Image’ of Christ.” John H. Stoll, Th.M., Ph.D
Do you desire to experience true transformation? Do you want to have a form (outward semblance) of godliness (piety) but, denying (rather as Greek, "having denied," that is, renounced) it’s power (the living, regenerating, and sanctifying influence of it.)? Then let God’s WORD do its work!! Embrace it!! Drink it in!! Let it cleanse you from the inside out!!
I leave you with the following visual. In doing this study I believe its illustrative power has now come close to surpassing the illustration given at the beginning of this stop along our journey. God’s cleansing Word can become a purifying fire if we will thirst for righteousness and drink it in.
Let God baptize you with the water of his Word and may it consume all that is unclean! May your life be a beacon of holiness in a corrupt and dying world! In our next stop upon our journey we will be looking at how God’s Word helps us see ourselves as we really are.
