Cleaning Our Spiritual Pools

The weather has been decent and is supposed to be warming up even more the next week. Everyone who has one of those luxuries called a swimming pool has been working hard to get them clean. With the pools sitting up all winter the scum and algae have been having a vacation in them. Gunk has built up in places where no one ever thought gunk could get. The pretty clear water is anything but clear. But now it is time for the summer so the scum and everything else has to go. People are getting ready to take a dip. You ever think about how our lives are like those swimming pools before we take that baptism dip?

Before we are saved our lives are about as pretty as that scum filled pool. Sin is our scum. Ananias told the apostle Paul how to get rid of that spiritual scum: be baptized, and wash away thy sins (Acts 2:16). But alone one can be dipped as many times as he wishes and the sins are not going to leave. Baptism alone won’t save anyone. Peter told those who asked on the day of Pentecost what they must do to be saved: Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). Baptism without repenting is of no value just as repenting without baptism is useless. That little three letter word “and” carries a lot of what in this verse. Because of that little word, whatever repenting means to “for the remission of sins” baptized means the same thing. The two can’t be separated.

Many say that baptism is a work and we are not saved by works. Yet, no one denies that repentance is a part of the salvation equation. Now, ask yourself which one do you have to work at? If baptism is a work it would have to be a work for the one who baptized you after all he did the work you just submitted. Paul said baptism is a work of God: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead (Colossians 2:12). Repenting is our job. We have to turn from spiritual scum and let God do his work. We repent and God does the forgiving and raises us to a new life. Through baptism God, not us or a preacher, washes away the spiritual scum.

Even now that we are saved we have to be careful because that spiritual scum still tries to sneak back in. And, when it does we have to go back and repent and ask for forgiveness: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). After our initial cleansing we have a means through confessing to keep the spiritual scum level down. Have you scrubbed your spiritual pool lately?


I have asked for prayers a few times for a friend of mine who was in rejection from a kidney/pancreas transplant. Here is an email II received from her:

Hello everyone,

Things are good and so is God!

I received my 10th treatment this morning and will wait a couple of weeks to find out if I need more. I praise the Lord that I am still responding wonderful to each treatment. There is however a hematoma on my kidney and we'll wait to see if that will resolve itself. For now, I am home and will have labs done weekly to make sure everything is working properly. So far, so good:)Thank you all for your prayers!!

Wanted to share the awesome view God gave me from my hospital room. He's so good to me!

Blessings,

-katherine-

Around the world of Blogdom tonight:

John Dobbs has a tribute to Virginia Tech
Trey Morgan looks at Tornadoes
Neva Cooper asks that we don't read her blog :-)
Lisa Leichner shows us the normal part of her week
Bobby Valentine has Heaven part two
Matt Dabbs has Old Man Strength

One closing thought: Happy Birthday Mama! Thanks for helping to show me how to get rid of all that spiritual scum.

Until next time May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You: Al Y'all!

Bobby

Bobby Cohoon
North Carolina, USA
cohoon@earthlink.net