Ezekiel 36:25
Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
God himself promises to wash his people clean from all moral defilement and from all idolatry. He gives this cleansing in restoring his sinful and scattered people for the sake of his own holy name, not because they deserve it. The washing is joined to his gift of a new heart and a new spirit, taking away the stony heart and putting his own Spirit within. It is done by the Holy Spirit as true conversion and inward rebirth, making sinners into children of God with transformed character and new life. The Spirit within then causes willing obedience, so that cleansed people walk in God's ways and show the change in holy life and speech. This cleansing answers the contrite prayer for a clean heart and comes when sinners acknowledge their condition, turn fully to the Lord, and confess their sins to receive forgiveness.
Cleansing Promised by God
God himself sprinkles clean water upon people and washes them clean, cleansing them from all filthiness, meaning moral impurity and sin, and from all idols, meaning idolatry. This washing belongs with his gift of a new heart and a new spirit, his taking away the stony heart and giving a heart of flesh, and his putting his own Spirit within people to enable them to walk in his statutes and keep his judgments and to live as his people with him as their God. It is part of the Holy Spirit's work of inward renewal, leading those cleansed to turn to God, confess sins, and obey, and it is the converting power needed by professed Christians whose character has never been changed, beginning in the home with fathers and mothers who repent of neglect and then extending to schools, sanitariums, and publishing houses.
The cleansing belongs to God's promised restoration of Israel after their sin and exile, and he does it for the sake of his holy name, not because the people deserve it. It answers the earnest, sincere prayer of the contrite and humbled heart for a clean heart, giving hope to those who turn from evil and making them vessels fit for the Master's use. It comes when people recognize their sinful condition and draw near to God, honestly acknowledging sin, turning fully to the Lord, consecrating themselves to him, and confessing their sins to receive forgiveness. Such honest acknowledgment brings contrition and a felt need for Christ's help, refuge, and healing, as the danger and pain of sin are recognized, and for students this consecration brings forgiveness and new hearts.
The sprinkling of clean water is the purifying work of the saving knowledge of God upon the mind and heart of every believer, cleansing from all filthiness and from all idols. Joined to the giving of a new heart and a new spirit, the taking away of the stony heart and the giving of a heart of flesh, and the putting of God's Spirit within to cause walking in his statutes, it means the descent of the Holy Spirit sent from God to do his office work, by which the house of Israel is imbued with the Holy Spirit and baptized with the grace of salvation. The heart must be cleansed from its natural defilement by God's Spirit before it can be fit for the kingdom of heaven. This describes the inward work of grace in the new birth upon the unregenerate heart, not the resurrection of the body from the grave or a nation being born in a day.
New Heart and Obedient Life
The cleansing is joined to the gift of a new heart and a new spirit, with the stony heart taken away and a heart of flesh given, and with God's own Spirit put within. This washing with clean water from all filthiness and idols belongs with being enabled to walk in God's statutes and keep His judgments, to live as His people with Him as their God. It is an inward change that is not merely a special change in feelings or an emotional experience.
The cleansing is done through the Holy Spirit, whose outpouring renews believers inwardly. The Spirit sent from God to do His office work imbues His people and baptizes them with the grace of salvation, giving a clean heart and a right spirit. This inward work is true conversion, regeneration, and reformation by which people become children of God, a new life and transformed character. It does not cover evil while leaving it unchanged, but prepares for transformed character and makes vessels fit for the Master's use.
The Spirit within causes obedience, enabling walking in God's statutes and keeping His judgments. Those so enabled live as God's people, worship Him in spirit and truth, and show the change in holy speech and conduct. The inward work drives out Satan's influence and ends spiritual lethargy. It brings conviction of sin that leads to contrition and a felt need for Christ's help, refuge, and healing, as honest acknowledgment of sin and knowledge of one's sinful condition reveals the danger and pain of sin.
The cleansing and the Spirit's work make the church fruitful and able to spread the light of truth. The converting power promised is needed first by fathers and mothers who claim to be Christians but have neglected their duties and whose character has never been changed. When they repent and are changed, their homes and lives are made fit for God's presence, and the work then extends to schools, sanitariums, and publishing houses, beginning in the home. In the same way students are converted when they consecrate themselves to God and receive forgiveness and new hearts.
The stony heart of flesh that refuses to hear God's continued messages through His servants keeps its stoniness when the message is rejected. Like Pharaoh who hardened his heart, such a heart despises the messengers, hates the message, and becomes devoid of tenderness.