Hebrews 10:22

‘Let us draw near with a true heart in fullness of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and having our body washed with pure (‘clean') water.'

The first consequence of our new means of entry into God's presence and of our new High Priest is that we can draw near to God. And it is something that we must do with a true heart and in fullness of faith. Then, putting it in a cultic way, we are to have our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed, with purified water. So having responded to our great High Priest we are to submit to His ministrations which will produce trueness of heart and fullness of faith.

We may see this from two angles.

· Firstly it is a description of what makes us acceptable to God. We come through faith and through the benefits of what Christ has done for us on the cross which has sanctified and cleansed heart, mind and body once for all. ‘Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to Your cross I cling.'

· Secondly it is a reminder that we must maintain our situation before God daily. Having been ‘bathed' once for all, we need continually to wash our feet (John 13:10). Having been perfected before Him once for all we must continue being sanctified (Hebrews 10:14).

In other words the practical result of Christ's activity is that we can draw near continually (present tense), through Him as our great priest (Hebrews 10:21), and because He shed His blood on our behalf (Hebrews 10:20), doing so in fullness of faith, that is with a confident and full faith that has no doubts and fears. And we are beng exhorted to do so. This drawing near does not simply refer to prayer, it refers to our taking our firm stand in the spiritual realm, living in His light (1 John 1:5), recognising that we have been transferred into His kingsom (Colossians 1:13) and walking with God in the full confidence that we are His (Romans 8:4; Galatians 5:16; Galatians 5:25). It refers to our being aware of our privileges, and enjoying them to the full. It refers to our approach to God in the whole of our lives. We are to walk continually with Him in heavenly places (compare Ephesians 1:3; Ephesians 2:6).

This drawing near is to be with ‘a true heart' and ‘in fullness of faith'. This emphasises both that our hearts must be genuine and true, and that it is through unfeigned faith, and through faith alone, that we must approach Him. It is a reminder that there is no room for dissimulation or guile in our walk with God, while at the same tiome emphasising we can approach Him with continuing and ever growing confidence, as long as we maintain a genuine attitude towards Him. As Jesus said, ‘those who worship Him, must worship Him in Spirit and in truth' (John 4:24). Faith and genuineness of heart is everything. Ritual is secondary. Thus our hearts having been transformed by Him when we were ‘perfected' (Hebrews 10:14) and born from above (John 3:1), we are to allow ourselves to be continually prepared and made ready by His Spirit, approaching Him through our own spirits on the basis of the truth that He has revealed as established by the Scriptures (‘salvation is of the Jews').

Thus if we approach Him it must be as those who walk in His light (compare 1 John 1:5), and any prevarication will hinder our entrance. All must be open to Him. On the other hand, once that is so, there are also no grounds for hesitancy. For we come by the guaranteed way through the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 10:23; 1 John 1:7). Here then we have what Christ has bought for us, and provided for us, confident access to, and certainty in, the presence of a holy God.

The contrast, of course, is with the difficulty of approach under the old ritual. Then the people could only enter the outer court, the priests only the Holy Place, while the High Priest's entry into the Holy of Holies was limited to once a year and that on the most stringent terms. It was all in order to emphasise the holiness of God.

But now the way has been flung open. But let us not think that it means that God is less holy (as we will shortly learn). It is rather because of the all sufficiency of the sacrifice made on our behalf. No longer the need for continual offerings and sacrifices, becuse He as the One sufficient sacrifice for sin for all time has been offered on our behalf.

Fullness of faith then expresses our response as we respond to the wonder of what Christ has done for us. We do so with a confident faith that is without fear, a faith that overflows. But the expression may also contain within it the thought that we need to ensure that we move on to a maturer, a fuller faith (compare Hebrews 5:11). Our faith should be a faith that is continually expanding and growing. It needs to be filled to the full. This faith is the first element of the three Christian virtues, faith, hope and love. Thus here we have fullness of faith, in Hebrews 10:23 we have the confession of hope, and in Hebrews 10:24 we are to be spurred on to love. These are the three basic attitudes required in the Christian life (1Co 13:13; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:8; Romans 5:1; Galatians 5:5; Colossians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:21). And it is through faith that we enter into His presence.

These ideas are then expressed in terms of two Old Testament rituals, both of which are connected with water, and illustrate the true heart and fullness of faith which Christ will work in us. The first is the ‘sprinkling from an evil conscience --- with pure water'. This ‘sprinkling' mentioned here is by some all to easily connected simply with ‘the sprinkling of the blood of sacrifices'. But hrantizo is never used in LXX of the sprinkling of the blood of sacrifices, and those commentators who maintain this generally mainly pass over briefly or ignore the reference in Hebrews 9:13 to the ashes of the red heifer. If, however, we do consult Hebrews 9:13 where such sprinkling is mentioned we find in Hebrews 10:13 that it is the ashes of the red heifer for the removal of uncleanness, (which contain sacrificial blood - Numbers 19:5), which are described as sprinkled and are then dealt with in more detail, for it is the ashes of the heifer alone, contained in the water of purification (Numbers 8:7; Numbers 19) that are sprinkled on people to remove uncleanness in the Old Testament ritual.

The blood of such sacrifices as are described briefly in Hebrews 9:12 were never sprinkled on the people in the Old Testament ritual in the tabernacle. They were applied to the altar, or before the veil, or on the Mercy Seat. Nor is the blood of Christ specifically spoken of as sprinkled on the people, certainly prior to this point in Hebrews. In Hebrews 9:14 ‘the blood of Christ' sums up the totality of what is described in Hebrews 10:13, and in that sense it can be seen as both applied, as with the blood, and sprinkled, as with the ashes of the heifer in the water of purification. But it is the ashes of the heifer as contained in the water of purification that alone are sprinkled on the people.

‘The blood of sprinkling' mentioned later in Hebrews 12:24 may be intended to be seen as sprinkled on the people in order to bind them into the covenant as in Exodus 24:8 but if so it is not as part of the tabernacle ritual, and is using a verb not used in LXX. As we have seen in the tabernacle ritual it is only the water of purifying that is said to be sprinkled (hrantismos) on the people. And as this verse here appears to suggest that the sprinkling is to be seen as on the people, in the same way as the water for washing is also applied to the people, it would appear that the idea in mind here is similarly of the sprinkling of the water of purification.

It is true that the blood was sprinkled (but not hrantizo in LXX) on the people in the covenant ceremony at Sinai in Exodus 24:8 but there is no reason for thinking that that that is in mind here or in Hebrews 9:13. It actually comes to play in Hebrews 9:15 onwards when the covenant comes into prominence.

It should further also be noted that ‘clean water' meant a very different thing in those days than it does to us. To us ‘clean water' contrasts with ‘dirty water' hygienically. With clean water we wash and satisfy our thirst, and with dirty water we perform lesser tasks (if we use it at all). But in those days matters were a little different. To them ‘clean water' was water that had been religiously cleansed by the use of the ashes of a sacrificed heifer, and was in contrast with water not so religiously cleansed. Such ‘clean' water was useable for the removal of uncleanness (Hebrews 9:13; Ezekiel 36:25) and especially for the removal of the taint of death (Numbers 19).

For in general in fact their water was not clean unless they went to a spring. Their cysterns rather produced water that was only relatively clean, and their contrast would rather then be between drinkable or not drinkable water, neither of which were fully clean, the latter being used among other things for washing. And what they considered drinkable would be of a standard that we would reject totally. It is also doubtful whether they would actually call it clean water. Clean water would either be spring water (although that is usually described as ‘living water') or water that had been made ‘clean', that is ritually purified. Significantly therefore it was spring water (‘living water') that was used along with the ashes of the heifer for the production of the water of purification (Numbers 19:17).

So ‘having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and having our body washed, with pure (‘clean') water,' must surely be considered in the light of this. It refers to thorough spiritual cleansing (2 Corinthians 7:1) as seen in terms of the water of purification which was sprinkled on the unclean, and in terms of water that was used to wash in order to remove ‘earthiness' (it is never said to cleanse).

But washing in the Old Testament was not with ‘clean water'. The point therefore is that through what Christ has done for us we have a better cleansing. It really will cleanse because it is the equivalen of purified water.

There is not, of course, in mind the thought of the use of actual water. What is to be applied is spiritual ‘cleansed water', made clean through the blood of Christ. In the words of 1 John 1:7, we are to walk in the light as He is in the light, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, will go on cleansing us from all sin.

So as in Hebrews 9:13 the connection is with the removing of the defilement within the conscience, which in Hebrews 9:13 was described in terms of the sprinkling of the ashes of the heifer, that is, of the sprinkling of the water of purification, which, as a parallel to the cleansing of the conscience in Hebrews 10:14, deals with the uncleanness of the flesh. To the Jewish Christians to whom this was written the idea of full cleansing from all defilement would be very significant.

The phrase ‘with clean (purified) water' is here to be seen as connecting both with the sprinkling and the washing. That is, we may translate ‘having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience (with purified water) and our bodies washed with purified water.' As a result the sprinkling of the conscience and the washing of the body are both connected with the water of purification (which contains the sacrificial blood), and therefore, in the light of Hebrews 9:13, with the blood of Christ. Those who are sprinkled and washed are seen as being made clean from the taint of death and given life by His blood. They are cleansed in both the spiritual side of their nature and in its fleshly side.

In one sense this occurs once for all when we come to Christ and are brought through faith into the sphere of His obedience and the sprinkling of His blood (Hebrews 13:12; 1 Peter 1:2). From then on it is to be experienced continually as we seek day to day cleansing.

We can compare the words of Paul. ‘Seeing then that we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God' (2 Corinthians 7:1). Here then both ‘heart and body' (body and spirit) are to be seen as effectively purified because of the shedding and sprinkling of the blood of Christ by our Great Priest, and are to be maintained in that state. And this is far removed from the literal sprinkling of water which merely made the flesh ‘clean' and the literal washings which simply removed earthly defilement and never cleansed (those who were washed were never directly cleansed, they remained unclean ‘until the evening'), rituals to which some were thinking of returning.

Taking the sprinkling with clean water first the conscience is here seen as cleansed through this ‘sprinkling of clean (purified, cleansing) water', removing the taint of spiritual death and bringing peace within. It is something that happens once for all when we first come to Him in faith, and are ‘perfected for ever', and it is something that is to be applied continually as we ‘are being sanctified' (Hebrews 10:14). We are both accounted righteous though His blood once for all (Romans 3:24), and we are to be continually cleansed by His blood from daily sin (1 John 1:7).

The implication is that the Spirit acts through His spiritual water of life (compare John 4:10; John 4:13; John 7:37) in response to our faith, which is the nore effective because it contains spiritual cleansing as a result of something that was superior even to the ashes of the heifer, the blood of Jesus. And as a result of that, it is ‘the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son' which ‘cleanses us from all sin' (1 John 1:7).

This idea of the ‘sprinkling of clean (purified) water' (perfect tense, what has happened in the past and is presently effective) is also spoken of in Ezekiel 36:25 where it is also closely connected with the life transforming work of the Spirit. Whereas the other prophets depicted the Spirit's activity in terms of rain, the priestly Ezekiel did so in terms of water of purification, with the sprinkling of ‘clean (because cleansed) water' coming on them. It refers to the cleansing and renewing of the Spirit, through faith, by the application of the blood of sacrifice, which is here described as the blood of Christ (compare Isaiah 52:15).

This then takes us back again to Hebrews 9:13 where the cleansing of the conscience was through Christ's sacrifice and the shedding of His blood (Hebrews 10:14), and was connected with ‘the eternal Spirit, and was closely connected in context, in Hebrews 10:13, with the application by the ‘sprinkling of the ashes of the heifer', that is, of the water of purification. The same combination is at work, the blood of Christ illustrated by the sacrificial ashes of the heifer in the water of purification, which has cleansed us and will continually cleans, and the power and life of the Spirit ever at work within us. The sprinkling of the heart with ‘clean' water is thus a brief way of saying the same thing as is said in Hebrews 9:14. We are purged, cleansed and renewed by the blood of Jesus through the Spirit of God in order to enter into His presence and serve the living God.

‘Our body washed with clean (purified) water.' This again must not be interpreted too arbitrarily. We note that ‘the body' here is in the singular in direct contrast with ‘our hearts'. This is not accidental. We are probably intended to make a comparison with Hebrews 10:5; Hebrews 10:10 and see the specific contrast between ‘the body' and ‘His body'. For there we had already had cause to see that ‘His body' had a special significance (Hebrews 10:5; Hebrews 10:10). It was a body fashioned for obedience. The whole emphasis of His ‘body' prepared for Him was that it was prepared for Him that He might obey and do the will of God. But His ‘body' did not need to be ‘washed'. He was clean in every part.

That therefore also surely compares with ‘the body' here, as given to us, given so that we also can obey God, just as His body in Hebrews 10:5 was given to Him in order that He might fully obey God. Then the idea here is that not only is the conscience to be cleansed, but also the body, that body which was given to us that we might do His will, that was given to us in order that we might obey God, is to be washed with the same ‘purified water' of the blood and of the Spirit so that it might fulfil its potential of obedience to God. Unlike His ‘body', ‘the body' given to us needs to be ‘washed' in order that we might continually recommence obedience anew. We are to be cleansed in both flesh and spirit in order to perfect holiness in the fear of God (see 2 Corinthians 7:1). This kind of ‘washing' is then to be seen as resulting, by a determined effort through faith as a result of the cleansing in the blood, to put away sin and obey God. This ties in exactly with Isaiah 1:16, where we read, ‘Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do well.' In other words ‘wash yourselves' refers to the commencing of a process which will result in doing right in the body. It is saying ‘do not wash yourselves in vain ritual (which has been condemned previously in Isaiah 1:11) but ‘wash yourselves by a positive attitude to righteous living', which will result from His offered forgiveness (Isaiah 1:18).

Thus ‘washing' with ‘purified water' signifies responsive obedience in accordance with God's word to us, and it is ‘the washing of water with the word' which produces that obedience (Ephesians 5:26). It is only seen as possible through obedience combined with the sacrifice of Christ (1 Peter 1:2). Compare how ‘washing' is also elsewhere closely connected with new life and the regenerating work of the Spirit (see Titus 3:5). So the reference here is not specifically to being baptised but to the deeper requirements of obedience as a result of cleansing.

These ideas of ‘sprinkling and washing with ‘clean' (purified) water' thus both have very much in mind Ezekiel 36:25 where the ‘sprinkling' of ‘clean (purified) water' is stressed and is directly connected with the promise of a new heart and a new Spirit, while the taking of the stony heart out of the flesh and the giving of a heart of flesh may well be seen as the ‘washing' (purifying) of ‘the body' to obedience by the Spirit (compare Titus 3:5). They refer to the life changing power of God through the blood and through the Spirit.

To conclude therefore, ‘Having our hearts sprinkled (with clean water) from an evil conscience, and having our body washed, with clean (purified) water' must be seen as having in mind the shedding of Christ's blood in the light of the waters of purification in Numbers 19, and as connecting with Hebrews 9:14 and with Ezekiel 36:25 onwards. Connection with Isaiah 1:16 is also probable. Intended here is thus a spiritual cleansing, both of the inner conscience and of the ‘physical' (fleshly) man with his physical desires, through the blood of Christ and the work of the Spirit, with a view to obedience (compare 2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 Corinthians 6:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:23 where Paul speaks of the same thing). It occurs once for all when a person receives Christ through faith, and is something that is to be then constantly renewed as we walk in His light.

That will mean that having in Hebrews 9:14 referred to the activity of the eternal ‘Spirit' working through the blood of Christ and through Christ's offering of Himself in order to ‘cleanse the conscience' (as connected with the ashes of the red heifer in Hebrews 10:13), that ‘cleansing of the conscience' is now here described as through ‘sprinkling from an evil conscience --- with clean (purified) water', in other words with the spiritual equivalent of the water purified by the same ashes of the red heifer. In Hebrews 9:13 the idea of the cleansing of the conscience was compared in context with sacrifices, and especially and specifically with the ashes from the sacrifice of the red heifer, here it is connected with the water of purification which is from the same source and delivers from an evil conscience. And the idea is that the believer's body, destined like Christ's body to obedience, indeed as being part of Christ's body (Hebrews 2:11; Hebrews 10:10; Hebrews 10:14), is to be thoroughly purified so as to be obedient.

We may then see both as connecting with the work of Christ on their behalf as confirmed by Jesus' words in the Upper Room. ‘He who is bathed (made acceptable to God through overall forgiveness and salvation) needs not save to wash his feet (seek daily forgiveness)' because he is fully clean (John 13:10)

Others have connected the washing with purified water with the preparations of the High priest for the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:4), and of the priests for their priestly work generally (Exodus 29:4), but it should be carefully noted that that was never said to be with ‘pure water'. The emphasis on ‘pure' water must be taken into account and indicates that any such idea is secondary. The sprinkling and the washing with purified water go together in his thoughts which suggests the close connection with Ezekiel 36 and Numbers 19.