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“‘Every person that eats what dies of itself, or that which is torn by animals, whether he is native-born or a sojourner, he shall Wash his Clothes, and Bathe himself in Water, and be Unclean Until the Evening: then he shall be clean. But if he doesn’t wash them, or bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity.’” – Leviticus 17:15-16

In this season of Passover in which there is a focus on spring cleaning and getting the Chametz out I want to discuss how we get clean. One of the Rabbinic practice focuses on getting the leaven out of our hearts. As Paul said to “be cleansed of all filthiness of soul and spirit.”

How do we experience purity? What is the process of purity? One of the popular articles I wrote was “How To Experience Freedom From Shame?” This is a further exploration into the concepts and application of how we experience purity and freedom from shame.

In the Torah we see a clearly laid out process for those who became unclean or unpure. For example if there was an emission of semen or a flow of blood you had to Wash Your Clothes, Take A Shower, in essence Sleep It Off and then one was clean depending upon what made one unclean.

Even in the Brit Chadasha if one has defiled a relationship you are to go Make Amends and restore that which was made unclean. This applies if you have offended someone else or they have offended you. An offense can be considered an unclean communication, a defiling moment or impurity of speech. There are clear processes of relational purity. You go to the person to make amends. If that doesn’t work, you take a couple unbiased parties. If that doesn’t work you bring it before the congregation. We should see to have pure thoughts, pure relationships, pure practices and pure lives.

There is a clear process of being clean and purifying one’s self if you become unclean. In essence clean and uncleanness can be rightly described as healthy and unhealthy. We should have healthy lives, healthy habits and healthy communication. If one touched a dead thing, if there was a flow of blood, if there was a nocturnal emission, etcetera. Even the laws of foods that are Kosher to eat still fall into the healthy eating category.

In the Torah one would experience a day or a week of uncleanness, take an offering to the temple and then go to the priest let Him declare you clean depending on what was done to make one unclean. The process was defined had limitations and rules of ethical application. It was a very healthy process. There are laws of purity, kosher (or clean) eating and right living.

If one was sick with Tzarat they went to the priest, if one became unclean they went to the priest, if the person sinned they had to bring a sin offering, if they had increase they we’re to bring their tithe to the priest. The priest was a central member of the community. In a sense “the Doctor” was the priest, the tax collector was the priest, the priest did a lot. It was a dignified process of purity, cleanness and health. Maybe the old maxim cleanliness is next to godliness has a element of truth in it. Adonai wants us to be clean, healthy and pure.There is a distinct difference between the laws of purity and confession. Weekly confession removes a person’s self from the responsibility of purity and liberate’s the person from conscious of the soul’s filth. However this does not make one’s spirit clean or free, this isn’t a process of purity its a practice of cognitive dissonance. However this is why Catholic’s who ritually or weekly go to confession seem more free to do things and less burdened with guilt for the Catholic who drink, party and go to confession. Once they see the priest, then do the prescribed Hail Marys, Our Fathers and Penance then the release the burden of their soul.

In the protestant reformation there’s was a removal of the need for confession. But with the focus on apostate’s and the witch hunts there was a lot of condemnation and guilt. A lot of judgment without release. A lot of handing out scarlet letter’s with no process to remove it aside from death or banishment. Biblically a day or week of unpurity would have made sense. But a life of condemnation isn’t. This has confused and tainted purity in Christianity.

The idea that one is once guilty is always guilty seems to be universally applied. Yes we “can confess” our sins to God however there is no process of purity or declaration of being made clean for each specific sin. At best there’s a vague declaration of one’s cleanness or purity upon each act of uncleanness or sin. Those who are guilty are the one’s who go around and condemn others.

I remember attending bible school and feeling a lot of shame and guilt over smalls sins things like attitudes or emotional outburst. I would walk around feeling shameful and guilty for weeks and months. Trying to be penitent and remorseful. There was no process for grieving or process of becoming pure. I remember being told we can go to God ourselves. Or that we we’re made pure once we got saved. Or that we we’re sanctified completely at salvation. Which is rather vague and not specific or episodic.

How do I become pure when I sin or make a mistake? How do we experience freedom from shame and purity? Having a delineated process is essential. Even if its simply a mater of I’m unclean and unhealthy and it takes twelve hours for the germs to die.

We must seek to understand the processes of becoming saved, sanctified, being filled with the Holy Spirit and practicing becoming Adonai’s redeemed community. For example the Process of becoming Saved, is the process of becoming His peculiar people. He has washed our sins of commission and omission away when we repent (turn from) our sin, confess Him as Elohim and ask Him to indwell our heart. He then commands that we must go and sin no more. Whenever we do sin, miss the mark or stray from the path we must apply the blood to the doorpost of our hears thus working out our salvation with fear and trembling. This is the process of becoming a vessel of honor who was once a vessel of dishonor. Becoming once again a vessel of dishonor is dishonorable to our honorable savior. We must not crucify again our savior. We must seek to remain vessels of honor once we become pure.

The Process of Sanctification is the practice of the dance of staying His, seeking to live and become more and more (progressively) set apart. Couple this with the process and habitual act of seeking to be filled with the Holy Ghost equals having power to remain His. The Holy Spirit is the Charis (Adonai’s ability) to live right. This is the fulfillment of the promise to never leave nor forsake you. The Paraklete, the comforter, is one who comes along side to help or aide much like Eve who was created as Adam’s help mate. This is in effect how Yeshua keep’s us in His hands and doesn’t let us go. It has to be an extreme act of volition to walk away from or grieve the Holy Spirit. We must seek to be filled with the Holy Spirit. As DL Moody aptly said “we leak” therefore we mist constantly seek to be filled and refilled.

Redemption is for those who have sinned and need to be saved. Redemption includes all the second, third and endless chances you need. Redemption can mean to redeem something that was already yours. Salvation is for first time offenders, redemptions is a first time and repeat offenders. Once you’ve fallen and need redemption again their is grace for you. For example if you drop your car in valet they give you a token or ticket. They have your car, then you go eat or shop. When your done then you come back with the ticket or token and redeem you car and give a monetary compensation for them keeping your car safe for you.

We need to do more than understand the terminology we need to understand the process in which we put it into practice. We need to do more than find comfort in terminology, we must understand the process. Its not enough to say I’m saved, redeemed, being filled with the Holy Ghost and being sanctified. Just saying it doesn’t make it so. That’s why many get tired of “churchy” terminology because they hear the catch phrase’s and don’t know how to apply it.

So let those who “are” redeemed say “so,” not just those who “want to be” or “hope to be.” Apply the process and become saved, redeemed and practice the process of being sanctified and filled with the Holy Spirit. People can say it all they want. At times it seems too many say “I’m filled with the Holy Ghost,” who aren’t and don’t appear to be seeking to. They are full of zeal, self knowledge and dogma. That’s not the spirit, you may have a religious spirit but that’s about it.

You can practice “being” filled, as in, its an on going process. Its like a cup of water to the thirsty if I drink it up its empty. If you use the gift of the spirit then you’ll get thirsty and need a drink again.

Their is a measure of sanctification at salvation however the nature of our fallen bodies is that we have a default setting of fallen so we must seek to be sanctified to seek to strive to become set apart and holy. On one hand we are set aside to practice being set apart and on the other hand learning to become a truly set apart process is complex, long and involved. We are to grow in grace, from grace to grace, to go from glory to glory. Its both instant and progressive, not one or the other. Its a process and a relationship.

So confess your sins to Adonai through Yeshua, and one to another if necessary. Go and make amends, take a shower (Mikvah), wash you clothe’s and go sleep it off. Make it a practice of eating healthy and living clean. Don’t let your mourning and grieving last to long. Even the process of mourning or bereavement has a limitation. Let seek to understand apply and move on.

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• Weekly Torah Portion: Re’eh | ראה | “See” and The 24th Av (paradoxparables.wordpress.com)
• Weekly Torah Portion: Yom Kippur “Day of Atonement” (paradoxparables.wordpress.com)

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