Useful Through Cleansing
After explaining that the godless words of Hymenaeus and Philetus has destroyed the faith of some, Paul went onto to say this: “Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” (v20)
And then Paul says this in the next verse: “Those who cleanse themselves, will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.” (2 Timothy 2:21 NIV)
Cleansed for Service
It is those who are cleansed and made holy that are useful to the Master in the end. Imagine for a second, a dirty spoon. Maybe it’s got all sorts of old food that’s dried up all over it. Nobody’s really gonna want to use it. It needs to be cleaned before it can be of much use. And this is a picture of our Christian lives – our sin sticks to our souls like bits of old food, and we need cleansing if we are to be truly useful in our Christian living.
Samuel Brengle, the great Salvation Army writer, wrote this in one of his books: “So long as there are any roots of sin in the heart, the Holy Spirit cannot have all His way in us, and so our usefulness is hindered, but when our hearts are clean, the Holy Spirit dwells within, and then we have power for service. Then we can work for God and do good, in spite of all our ignorance and weakness. Hallelujah!”
He’s right. When we are cleansed and made new, that’s when our usefulness to God soars!
Cleansed by Faith
Now, Paul says we should cleanse ourselves. And we can probably clean up our act in our own strength – changing our ways and avoiding certain things and so on. But true cleansing of the soul is something you and I can’t do to ourselves. Do you remember the old hymn – “what can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.” Cleansing of the soul doesn’t come by cleaning up our act. It comes by submitting to Jesus as our Saviour, and by believing that His death on the cross made a way for you to be cleansed in the eyes of God.
Submit to Jesus today. Call out to Him in faith for cleansing. Ask Him to forgive you, and to wash away those bits that are clinging to your soul.
And then friends, believe that He has done it. Ask for it and believe. And Jesus will say, as he said to many people on earth when he was here, “your faith has made you well”, and you will be cleansed and ready to live that useful life that God has in store for you.
