Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
“But though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”
2Corinthians 4:16
“. . . but according to His mercy, He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the holy Ghost.”
Titus 3:5
It is one of the fundamental scientific truths of all this universe that everything in creation is in a state of deterioration. Contrary to the doctrine of evolution, this world-recognized scientific fact states that all natural things are becoming less organized and less structured and, in the case of living organisms, decaying. Your body is a living organism, and if you do not keep it clean, people around you will soon become uncomfortable with the odor. In this world, we have to take baths, even if we do not wallow in mud with pigs. Our washed bodies naturally deteriorate, even if we sit at home and do nothing. That is life on this cursed earth.
Spiritually, there is a similarity. “The whole world”, John said, “lies in wickedness.” And just living in this wicked world, dealing with the unclean spirits around us, makes it necessary for us constantly to be washed by the refreshing Spirit of God. Paul said that we are saved not only by the washing (baptism) of new birth but also by the inward man being “renewed day by day”, and without that inner cleansing of the Spirit every day, our spirits can begin to smell bad. But if we walk in the Spirit, “We are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved.”
How do you smell today?