Ye Shall Be Clean

"Ye Shall Be Clean"

Ezek. 36:25-27

Here is the greatest promise in the Book of Ezekiel. The prophet is speaking "directly of the cleansing of those who would return to the land that had been promised to their fathers. They were to be cleansed from their filthiness and their idols.

But the complete fulfillment of this great prophecy came only when Messiah came. It is the promise of a double cure for sin.

A new heart is promised. The stony heart defiled by sin was to be taken away and a new heart given. Ezekiel prophesied the new birth, of which Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, saying "Ye must be born again" (John 3:7). Paul wrote, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (2 Cor. 5:17).

A new spirit within is also promised. It is cleansing of the polluted nature of man. Adam Clarke comments, "It is the truly cleansing water; the influences of the Holy Spirit typified by water; whose property is to cleanse, whiten, purify, refresh, render healthy and fruitful." With the cleansing comes the new spirit. "I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." Again quoting Adam Clarke, "Here is the salvation that is the birthright of every Christian believer: the complete destruction of all sin in the soul, and the complete renewal of the heart; no sin having any place within, and no unrighteousness having and place without. '"