Jeremiah 2:22 “For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD.”

Being physically clean is unarguably an essential part to being healthy.

When we get home from work, we have a bath or shower to cleanse the day off us. If we get a cut or scrape, we clean it so it doesn’t get infected and heals properly.

How we typically clean our body is by washing with soap, which is effective at cleansing what is outside.

But while most recognize the importance of being clean physically, many neglect cleanliness where it matters the most, which is inwardly, in the heart of man.

There is a saying that goes like this “cleanliness is next to godliness” … because one of the main themes of the Bible is being clean.

Going back to the Old Testament Jewish worship system, cleansing through washing was vital to being accepted by God.

Old Testament Levitical law required that the inwards of the sacrificial animals be washed before being offered, emphasizing the importance of being clean inside before God.

But all these Old Testament cleansing rituals and ordinances never cleansed anyone’s heart, because soap and water cannot wash sin away. They pointed to Christ.

But to understand why being clean inwardly is much more important than outward cleansing… you have to realize that you are not just a physical body… every human being consists of body, soul, and spirit.

While we tend to prioritize our body and it’s physical needs, it actually is not the most important part of us… in fact, it is the part of us that ages and dies, but the other parts of us do not.

Thus, cleansing the body only has short term value, whereas the cleansing of the soul and spirit has eternal value.

Why do we need to be cleansed inside? Well, because we get dirty, very dirty inside… in fact filthy and condemned inside.

The Bible teaches that we are all sinners, and it is important to understand that all sin, bar none, that we all do, always defiles us and makes us unclean.

As people go along in sin, they accrue more and more baggage that sin comes with, such as guilt, issues, heaviness and uncleanness.

People who live in sin are badly and ultimately terminally affected by it. And uncleanness inside is why many people in our society have all sorts of psychological and mental problems.

Most people turn to counselling and prescription drugs. Or they turn to the bottle. Or they just love being in sin.

But few truly turn to Jesus Christ for cleansing… yet the Bible teaches that he is the only way that the human soul and spirit can be cleansed from sin.

Where soap and water cleanses the physical body, it is the water of God’s word and the blood of Jesus Christ, which, when applied by faith, that washes our sins away.

Being cleansed from sin is what the Bible is all about, because it is mandatory for being right with God now and going to heaven when you die.

So hopefully one day we all prioritize being clean where it matters most.

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