“And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.”  (1 John 5:8)

The water, blood and Spirit can all be seen in the consecration of Aaron, at the very beginning of the organized worship of the people of Israel.  In Exodus 29 God instructs Moses to wash  Aaron with water at the door of the tabernacle, pour the anointing oil (symbolizing the Holy Spirit) on his head and take blood from the altar and sprinkle it upon Aaron.  This was the ceremony used to consecrate each new high priest before he could enter God’s presence in the Holy of Holies.

The Spirit calls us and tells us we are sinners, alienated from the fellowship of God.  When we repent, it is the Spirit that comforts our inner turmoil and gives us peace.  The Spirit offers guidance for the temptations and trials of life from that point on.  Obedience to the Word of God will purify our lives of the filth of sin and the corruption of the world.  Therefore, it is symbolized by water.  However, forgiveness of sins is only possible through the blood of Jesus that was shed on Calvary.

Something about our nature as humans finds it difficult to maintain a balanced view of anything.  This may be especially true about the way of salvation.

We can put our trust in the blood alone, thinking that once we are washed in the blood, we are forever cleansed.  This seems to mean that we have no further need of Jesus.  It would be an added blessing to have the guidance of the Spirit in our life, but that is not essential for salvation.

We can place our confidence in leading a pure and holy life in obedience to the Word.  We hope that when we reach the end of the way and appear before the judgement throne our striving for purity will be enough.  Yet we cannot know for sure until then whether our sins are forgiven.

We can put our trust in thrilling experiences that appear to be the work of the Holy Spirit.   What does it matter that these experiences do not always conform to the teachings of the Word of God?  God is doing a new work in our day and the important thing is to be where the Spirit is moving.

Many sincere Christians seem to have ideas somewhat like this.  When some people talk of being born again, they dwell a lot on the confessions they made and things they had to deal with, but do not seem clear on what Jesus did for them.  Others had a dramatic experience when the Lord spoke peace to their troubled soul, and have difficulty grasping that they need to live in obedience to the Word to keep this peace.

The problem is not with the experiences.  It lies in our understanding of what happened when we were born again, and the expectation we have of Christian life.  The only way to have the witness of the Spirit in our lives is to be willing for both the water and the blood.  We are unclean in the very essence of our being; righteous living can ever cover our sin and guilt.  Only the blood of Jesus can do that.

Even when our sins are forgiven and we are walking in the grace of God, we still think and say and do things that are not pleasing to the Lord.  Things that sometimes hurt and confuse those who are nearest and dearest to us.  Often we find it difficult to do things we know we should.  This is evidence of a need for “the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:26).

The apostle tells us that the Spirit, the water, and the blood agree in one.  When Jesus died on the cross the curtain that closed the Holy of Holies from the view of all but the high priest was forever opened.  Yet we cannot enter God’s presence any other way but the way that Aaron’s consecration symbolizes.