Good Tuesday morning! How does a person cleanse his soul? If we can save ourselves, as some believe that we can, we must be able to or have the ability to discover how to, cleanse our own souls. Where would one start? I suppose we would have to be able to first touch or sense our own soul. Some would have us believe that so-called right thinking is the answer. However, if our mind and soul is the same thing, then what did Jesus die for? If by disciplined, cognitive, or critical thinking we can cleanse our minds, and most of us might doubt the possibility of ever doing that perfectly in our own strength, can we also cleanse our soul? Of course, I don't know the answer to this, nor can I tell you where to find your soul. Does music touch the soul? Maybe, but I don't think that any amount of good music will cleanse our souls any more than thinking good thoughts can. Does our soul use the brain to think? If so, where do the afterlife visions come from?
We have more questions than answers this morning, but perhaps Jesus has given us some guidance on this. Jesus told at least one parable of the afterlife with Lazarus the beggar and the rich man. We also have a few accounts of going to heaven or hell after persons have been found dead and later revived. It would seem there is an awareness after our human body dies that must be separate from our brain. Some have found that a body weighs less after death, the 21 grams that we've heard about in books and at least one movie. So, if we believe Jesus and the few accounts we have that there is an afterlife, is it possible to give our souls a good scrubbing to get them ready? Is it possible to trap this 21 grams of stuff and wash it?
I don't want to get all silly and write about soul laundromats and soul washing machines; actually I do, but I'll resist. The fact is that none of us has any idea how to go about cleansing our souls. There is a stain on our souls that is quite apart from our lusts of the flesh which can be attributed to our human bodies and brains. We don't even know how to touch this stain, much less clean it. We don't know that the soul even has a mass or weight that can be measured or touched. The 21 grams could be something unaccounted for in the body.
Like a box that is too heavy for us to lift, Jesus keeps this knowledge to himself. The cleansing of our soul is His business as He has already paid the price and performed the sacrifice. We know that our souls will be cleansed by the blood of Christ, but exactly how this will take place is beyond our understanding. In our witness, we will meet those who want to understand the mechanisms of salvation and cleansing. Jesus told Nicodemus that our salvation is quite beyond our understanding. No one can afford to wait for complete understanding, this is something we accept on faith. Jesus died for our sins and saves us by the grace of God through faith in Him. We might complain, "I want to understand it, Lord!" as we yearn for more knowledge, but isn't that how Adam and Eve got into this trouble in the first place?
Have a wonderful day in Christ!
Bucky
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