"Let us
draw near with a sincere heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled clean from an evil conscience
and our bodies washed with pure water."
Hebrews 10:22
When we come to Jesus old things pass
away. When we receive Him our old self
dies and we become a new creation in
Christ. We were once in sin but now have
been transferred into the righteousness
of Christ and are declared "holy,"
"unblemished," "innocent," and "above
reproach." In Romans 8 the Apostle
boldly cried, -"Who
dares bring an accusation against those
whom the Lord has justified."
I am reminded of when Joshua, the High
Priest was standing before God’s Throne
wearing filthy rags and Satan was at his
right hand making railing accusations
against him. The filthy rags represented
Joshua’s life work and the devil was
pointing out that he was not worthy to
serve as High Priest of Israel.
The High Priest entered into the Holy of
Holies on the Day of Atonement to atone
for the sins of the people, but first he
had to be cleansed from his own sins.
The filthy clothing was evidence that he
was not clean and therefore was unworthy
to make atonement for the sins of the
people. Then suddenly the Lord rebuked
Satan and commanded His servants to
remove the filthy garments and clothe
him with pure and clean garments,
saying, -"See,
I have taken your iniquity away from
you." (Zech.3)
This same blessing is lavished upon
every Christian - "He
made Him who knew no sin to be sin on
our behalf, so that we might become the
righteousness of God in Him." (2 Cor.5) At
the cross Jesus became our sin and when
we come to Him we become His
righteousness.
The
flesh is too bad to be cleansed -it must
be crucified - it must die.
Though the flesh dies when we come to
Jesus, the conscience and the heart
remains. This
is why our text says that our hearts
must be sprinkled clean to protect us
from an evil conscience.
We are given a type for this when the
High Priest entered through the veil and
sprinkled the Mercy Seat with the blood
of a sacrifice to atone for sins. The
sacrifice, the flesh, had already been
offered and burned on the altar, but now
comes the role of the blood which
cleanses our hearts.
Under the Old Covenant the sacrifices
and the ritual had to be done every year
because the blood of animals could not
atone for sin. These things served as a
reminder of sins - was only a shadow of
the reality that a holy sacrifice was
still needed which came in Christ, the
Lamb of God.
We can receive salvation yet still be
hindered by an evil conscience which
reminds us of our sins -in Christ there
should be no reminder. David, a man
after God’s own heart cried, -"Create
in me a clean heart and renew a right
spirit in me." (Ps.51) His
evil conscience was reminding him of
sins which God had already forgiven him
of.
David
knew he needed his heart sprinkled and
cleansed by the blood to walk unshackled
by guilt. The blood satisfies God’s
wrath.
On the first Passover in Egypt, God told
the Israelites to kill the lamb and eat
it in their houses but first put the
blood on their door posts, saying, -"When
I see the blood I will pass over that
house and no plague shall come near."
(Ex.12)
Proverbs
23 says that as a man thinks in his
heart he becomes. Every person will act
like who they think they are. This is
why we must allow Christ to finish His
work in us by giving Him full access to
our heart, and receive by faith that He
has cleansed it and we are fully
innocent and may boldly come through the
veil into the Lord's Presence. "Beloved,
if our heart does not condemn us, we
have confidence before God; and whatever
we ask we receive from Him, because we
keep His Commandments and do the things
that are pleasing in His sight." (I John
3:21-22)
