HC 70

Q70. What does it mean to be washed with Christ's blood and Spirit?

To be washed with Christ's blood means to receive forgiveness of sins from God, through grace, because of Christ's blood, poured out for us in His sacrifice on the cross. To be washed with His Spirit means to be renewed by the Holy Spirit and sanctified to be members of Christ, so that more and more we become dead to sin and lead a holy and blameless life.

Proof texts

• Ezek. 36:25 — [25] I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
• Zech. 13:1 — [1] “On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.
• Eph. 1:7 — [7] In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
• Heb. 12:24 — [24] and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
• 1 Pet. 1:2 — [2] according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
• Rev. 1:5 — [5] and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood
• Rev. 7:14 — [14] I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
• John 3:5-8 — [5] Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. [6] That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. [7] Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ [8] The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
• Rom. 6:4 — [4] We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
• 1 Cor. 6:11 — [11] And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
• Col. 2:11-12 — [11] In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, [12] having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

For discussion

1. The Assembly cited Ezek. 36:25 in support of this answer. Read it in context — how does it bear on what is claimed here?
2. 11 passages are cited here. Which does the most work, and is anything claimed that the proofs do not obviously carry?
3. WSC Q88 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?
4. WLC Q149 treats the same ground. What does it add, and why might it put things differently?

Read alongside

WSC Q88 · WLC Q149 · WCF 27.1 · BC 8.1 · BC 8.2 · BC 8.3 · 1689 28.1