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Commentary on "In the Shadow of His Wings"
Day 5: Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - Whiter Than Snow
Overview
This lesson focusses on Psalm 51 and discusses how God washes and cleanses a person, paying attention to the metaphors such as “purge me with hyssop” “whiter than snow”, and a “clean heart”. The lesson ends by stating, “A new heart is a new mind,” it admonishes, “Prayer for forgiveness always should be united with prayer for heart renewal and holy living.”
Observations
The lesson’s discussions of “hyssop” and its meanings and references to Israel’s history miss the most essential point: hyssop was always used in the history of Israel to apply blood. The lesson attempts to build the point that hyssop was itself a cleansing and healing agent. The fact that hyssop was used in the original Passover ritual, in the cleansing of lepers and the offering of the red heifer as purification from contact with the dead as well as in the ratification of the covenant—this fact does not make “hyssop” a cleansing agent. It was associated with “cleansing” not because of the rituals in which it appeared but because it applied blood.
David’s reference to God’s cleansing him with hyssop in Psalm 51 is meaningful because of its allusion to the many ways hyssop was the agent of applying sacrificial blood. Only blood cleanses from sin; the hyssop was God’s chosen vehicle, but it was not the cleansing agent.
New heart, new mind?
The point at the end of the lesson that a new heart is a new mind, however, is not a biblical idea. The new heart is responsible for transforming the mind; it does not equal the new mind.
The new heart is not a change of mind; it is the new birth Jesus articulated to Nicodemus, and it is a miracle that has nothing at all to do with a person’s effort. It is a new nature, not a new mind—and it is the miracle of one’s spirit being brought from death to life by the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Unless a person believes that humans have an immaterial spirit that is naturally dead but which is made alive when one trusts the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, the concept of a “new heart” remains theoretical and speculative.
The miracle of the indwelling Holy Spirit, however, could not occur prior to the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Pentecost was the first instance of people being made permanently alive by the indwelling life of God. This miracle is the direct result of the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice and resurrection.
Our hearts are renewed when we are born again. We do not have to beg God for “heart renewal” when we confess our sins after being born again. We certainly can ask Him to teach us to trust Him and to act in obedience to Him, but unless one understands that life isn’t a progression towards perfection, one won’t have any idea how to relate to forgiveness and cleansing.
Once again, the truth about the new birth is missing from this discussion. We are instantly counted as “whiter than snow” when we repent of our innate and helpless sin and receive Jesus’ blood as our payment for sin. From the point of our new birth and onward, we are working from victory instead of toward victory. This fact changes the way we look at sin and life.
The command not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds in Romans 12:2 is not a command to people who are working toward salvation. It is a command to believers who already are born again. Paul is exhorting believers not to be spiritually lazy but to live in the reality of their already completed salvation. They are not to act as if they are still in the world; instead, they are to live in trust and in the fact of their already being counted righteous.
Because the lesson author does not understand the spiritual reality of the new birth, the lesson has become a moral imperative, not an exhortation to live in reality and truth.
When we are born again, we can live in rest, submitting our desires and dreams and fears to the Lord Jesus and knowing He will direct our lives. He is sovereign.
Summary
- Hyssop is not itself a “cleansing agent” according to biblical typology. Rather, it is the medium by which cleansing blood is applied.
- A new heart is not a new mind.
- A new heart is the miracle of the Holy Spirit indwelling us and bringing our dead spirits to life when we place our faith in the Lord Jesus.
- When we receive a new heart—the actual life of the Lord Jesus—then our minds begin to be renewed.
- When we are born again, we do not have to fear losing our eternal life. Rather, we pray for God to plant us in truth and reality and to make us more and more spiritually mature.
- When we are born again, we work from victory instead of toward victory.
Copyright 2011 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised May 9, 2011. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
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