Unusual Water

There are some passages of Scripture that never get read. Well, maybe read, technically, but rarely examined. Take, for instance, this one:

Women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. (1 Cor 14:34-35)

Now, if you are like most people these days, you did not get past the first sentence. What caught your full and unbridled attention, nay, outrage was, "Wait ... what? What kind of male chauvinist sexism is this??! 'Women should keep silent.' Whatever, Paul." What you never got to was the instruction that women should "ask their husbands at home." So while we're agitated about views that appear to be antithetical to modern ideas of feminism, what is missed is the thundering demand that husbands need to be prepared to answer any question their wives might have. That's big.

One that struck me recently was this one:

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. (Eph 5:25-27)

This one comes on the heels of "Wives, submit" (Eph 5:22), and most people are already dubious. Now it's "Husbands, love your wives ..." Since we already know that love is an emotion that can't be controlled, we're ready to write this one off, too. Paul was so far wrong on that "Wives, submit" thing that we can't really pay attention to this "Husbands, love your wives" thing either. But did you notice what we missed by dropping our attention there? We missed an explanation of how Christ loved the church. And it is so good.

It says He "gave Himself up for her." Husbands, that is a serious (and not emotionally-based) love. No matter what she does, we are to give ourselves up for her. Beyond that, however, it indicates why: "that He might sanctify her." He indicates how: "having cleansed her by the washing of the water with the word." He tells the ultimate purpose: "so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor." He describes the nature of the sanctified bride: "without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish." Taking each one on its own, this is big. Putting it all together, and it's massive.

In the little picture, the text is a command to husbands to love their wives in this way. Give yourself up for her for the purpose of presenting her as pure, accomplished by "the washing of the water with the word." Now, ask yourself; how many husbands do you know (include yourself if you are one) who make that their priority in their marriage? And that's the "little picture."

The big picture is really important. Marriage is a picture of Christ's relationship with the Church (Eph 5:31-32). Therefore, Christ's purpose is to present us as pure "by the washing of the water with the word." Now consider for a moment that phrase. Notice anything odd? I think we'd normally leave out one of those "the" terms. You know, something like "the washing of water with the word". Why does "the water with the word" include that first "the"? It's because "water with the word" is a singular entity. You can wash a variety of ways and you can use the word a variety of ways, but this text is referring to one thing; this thing that necessarily includes both washing and the word. Plug that into your big picture of Christ's purpose for His bride, and suddenly God's word becomes much more important than you might have thought. It is pivotal. It is the point here. We are to be washed -- sure -- and we should have the word handy -- got that -- but this points to an ongoing thing, a lifelong immersion, so to speak.

We are commanded to not be conformed to the world, but to be "transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Rom 12:2). We are told that God works all things together for good for one particular purpose, that we would be conformed to the image of His Son (Rom 8:28-29). Redemption is only the start for us. The entire Christian life is one of sanctification -- being conformed to that image. And this text says that this occurs by this singular process -- the washing of the water with the word. You may prefer baptism by sprinkling to full immersion. I won't debate that with you. But we should never be satisfied with a sprinkling of the word. We should be lifelong, full-immersion, sanctified pursuers of holiness. We should be thoroughly and always soaked in the word of God. This is Christ's means of sanctification. This was Christ's intention.