Topical Bible: Cleansing

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Definition and Significance:
Cleansing in the biblical context refers to the act of purifying or making something clean, both in a physical and spiritual sense. It is a recurring theme throughout Scripture, symbolizing the removal of sin and impurity to restore a right relationship with God. Cleansing is essential for holiness, as God is holy and requires His people to be holy (Leviticus 11:44).

Old Testament Context:
In the Old Testament, cleansing is often associated with ritual purity. The Law of Moses contains numerous regulations regarding ceremonial cleanliness, which were necessary for worship and community life. For instance, the purification rituals for leprosy (Leviticus 14) and bodily discharges (Leviticus 15) highlight the importance of being clean before approaching God.

The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) is a significant event where the high priest would perform rituals to cleanse the sanctuary and the people from their sins (Leviticus 16:30). The use of water, blood, and specific sacrifices underscores the gravity of sin and the need for divine intervention to achieve true cleansing.

New Testament Fulfillment:
In the New Testament, the concept of cleansing takes on a deeper spiritual meaning through the work of Jesus Christ. John the Baptist's call for repentance and baptism for the forgiveness of sins (Mark 1:4) sets the stage for the ultimate cleansing through Christ's sacrifice.

Jesus' ministry emphasized inner purity over external rituals. In Matthew 23:25-26, He rebukes the Pharisees for their focus on outward cleanliness while neglecting the inner state of their hearts. Jesus' cleansing of the temple (John 2:13-17) serves as a powerful symbol of His authority to purify and restore true worship.

The cleansing power of Jesus' blood is central to the New Testament message. Hebrews 9:14 states, "How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to serve the living God?" This cleansing is not merely ceremonial but transformative, enabling believers to live in righteousness.

Spiritual Cleansing:
Spiritual cleansing is a continual process for believers, involving confession and repentance. 1 John 1:9 assures, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." This ongoing cleansing is vital for maintaining fellowship with God and growing in holiness.

The Holy Spirit plays a crucial role in the believer's cleansing, as He convicts of sin and empowers for righteous living. Titus 3:5-6 describes this work: "He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit."

Symbolism of Water and Baptism:
Water is a prominent symbol of cleansing in the Bible. Baptism, as instituted by Christ, represents the believer's identification with His death, burial, and resurrection, signifying the washing away of sins and the start of a new life (Acts 22:16).

Ephesians 5:25-27 uses the imagery of water to describe Christ's love for the church, "to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless."

Conclusion:
Cleansing is a multifaceted biblical theme that encompasses physical, ceremonial, and spiritual dimensions. It underscores the necessity of purity before God and the transformative power of Christ's atoning work, enabling believers to live in holiness and fellowship with their Creator.

Topical Bible Verses

1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Topicalbible.org

1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleans us from all sin.
Topicalbible.org

2 Corinthians 7:1
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Topicalbible.org

Titus 3:5
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Topicalbible.org

Romans 12:2
And be not conformed to this world: but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Topicalbible.org

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

(p. pr. & vb. n.) of Cleanse.

Greek

2512. katharismos -- a cleansing
... a cleansing. Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: katharismos Phonetic
Spelling: (kath-ar-is-mos') Short Definition: cleansing, purifying ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2512.htm - 7k

2514. katharotes -- cleanness
... See 2513 (). [In contrast, 2512 ("purification") focuses on the (the Lord),
bringing the cleansing about which makes something ().]. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2514.htm - 7k

4027. perikatharma -- that which is cleaned off, refuse
... 4027 -- properly, off-scouring (refuse); "left-overs," rejected after a thorough
cleansing; (figuratively) an , viewed as scummy residue (used only in 1 Cor 4 ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4027.htm - 7k

2511. katharizo -- to cleanse
... Word Origin from katharos Definition to cleanse NASB Word Usage clean (3), cleanse
(5), cleansed (16), cleanses (1), cleansing (1), declared...clean (1), make ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2511.htm - 8k

49. hagnismos -- purification
... purification. From hagnizo; a cleansing (the act), ie (ceremonially) lustration --
purification. see GREEK hagnizo. (agnismou) -- 1 Occurrence. 48, 49. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/49.htm - 6k

Strong's Hebrew

2893. tahorah -- purifying, cleansing
... 2892b, 2893. tahorah. 2894 . purifying, cleansing. Transliteration: tahorah
Phonetic Spelling: (toh-or-aw') Short Definition: cleansing. ...
/hebrew/2893.htm - 6k

4935. mishi -- a cleansing
... 4934, 4935. mishi. 4936 . a cleansing. Transliteration: mishi Phonetic
Spelling: (mish-ee') Short Definition: cleansing. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/4935.htm - 6k

2891. taher -- to be clean or pure
... to be clean or pure NASB Word Usage become clean (2), becomes clean (2), becomes
cleansed (1), clean (25), cleanse (15), cleansed (19), cleansing (1), cleared ...
/hebrew/2891.htm - 6k

1253. bor -- lye, potash
... never so, purely The same as bor; vegetable lye (from its cleansing); used as a
soap for washing, or a flux for metals -- X never so, purely. see HEBREW bor. ...
/hebrew/1253.htm - 5k

2398. chata -- to miss, go wrong, sin
... to miss, go wrong, sin NASB Word Usage bear the blame (2), bewildered (1), bore
the loss (1), bring sin (1), cleanse (5), cleansed (1), cleansing (1), commit (2 ...
/hebrew/2398.htm - 6k

2715. chor -- a noble
... Or (fully) chowr {khore}; from charar; properly, white or pure (from the cleansing
or shining power of fire (compare choriy); hence (figuratively) noble (in ...
/hebrew/2715.htm - 6k

Library

The Cleansing
... THE CLEANSING. Every Branch That Beareth Fruit, He Cleanseth It, That It May Bear
More Fruit"John 15..2. ... Consider a moment what this pruning or cleansing is. ...
/.../murray/the true vine meditations for a month on john 151-16/the cleansing.htm

The Cleansing of the Temple.
... Chapter II. The Cleansing of the Temple. ... This cleansing of the temple must not be
confounded with the later one that occurred on his last visit to Jerusalem. ...
/.../the new testament commentary vol iii john/the cleansing of the temple.htm

The Cleansing of the Earth.
... EXPOSITION OF THE APOCALYPSE. The Cleansing of the Earth. There is, in
the Apocalypse, no symbolic representation of the act of ...
/.../bliss/a brief commentary on the apocalypse/the cleansing of the earth.htm

Whether the Cleansing of the World Will be Effected by Fire?
... OF THE FIRE OF THE FINAL CONFLAGRATION (NINE ARTICLES) Whether the cleansing
of the world will be effected by fire? Objection 1: It ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether the cleansing of the.htm

Christ Cleansing the Temple
... CHRIST CLEANSING THE TEMPLE. 'Take these things hence; make not My Father's
house an house of merchandise.'"John 2:16. The other ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture i/christ cleansing the temple.htm

Cleansing.
... CHAPTER XI. CLEANSING. As there are conditions requiring to be complied
with in order to the obtaining of salvation, before one ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/macneil/the spirit-filled life/chapter xi cleansing.htm

The Cleansing of the Temple.
... VI. THE CLEANSING OF THE TEMPLE. "After this He went down to ... Spirit of God.
For us this cleansing of the Temple is a sign. It is a ...
/.../the expositors bible the gospel of st john vol i/vi the cleansing of the.htm

A vision of Judgement and Cleansing
... ZECHARIAH A VISION OF JUDGEMENT AND CLEANSING. 'And he shewed me Joshua
the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture a/a vision of judgement and.htm

A Prayer for Cleansing of the Heart and for Heavenly Wisdom
... THE THIRD BOOK. ON INWARD CONSOLATION A PRAYER FOR CLEANSING OF THE HEART AND FOR
HEAVENLY WISDOM. 4. Strengthen me, O God, by the grace of Thy Holy Spirit. ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/kempis/imitation of christ/a prayer for cleansing of.htm

The First Stage in the Leper's Cleansing
... THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS THE FIRST STAGE IN THE LEPER'S CLEANSING. ... There was a double
process in the cleansing rite, restoring to each. I. Sketch the ceremonial. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture k/the first stage in the.htm

Thesaurus

Cleansing (37 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Cleanse. Multi-Version
Concordance Cleansing (37 Occurrences). Matthew 10:8 infirm ...
/c/cleansing.htm - 18k

Ablution
... (3.) There were washings prescribed for the purpose of cleansing from positive
defilement contracted by particular Acts. ... 2. (n.) The water used in cleansing. ...
/a/ablution.htm - 18k

Feet (2931 Occurrences)
... place of baptism, to cleanse the entire person, but clearly distinguishes between
the bathing (louo) of the entire body and the partial cleansing needed after ...
/f/feet.htm - 17k

Washing (56 Occurrences)
... & vb. n.) of Wash. 2. (n.) The act of one who washes; the act of cleansing with
water; ablution. 3. (n.) The clothes washed, esp. at one time; a wash. Int. ...
/w/washing.htm - 38k

Purification (25 Occurrences)
... 2. (n.) The act or operation of cleansing ceremonially, by removing any
pollution or defilement. 3. (n.) A cleansing from guilt ...
/p/purification.htm - 18k

Comb (3 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (n.) An instrument with teeth, for straightening,
cleansing, and adjusting the hair, or for keeping it in place. ...
/c/comb.htm - 8k

Leper (34 Occurrences)
... even contact with a leper defiled whoever touched him, so while the cure of other
diseases is called healing, that of leprosy is called cleansing (except in ...
/l/leper.htm - 28k

Fulness (76 Occurrences)
... Leviticus 12:4 and thirty and three days she doth abide in the blood of her cleansing;
against any holy thing she doth not come, and unto the sanctuary she ...
/f/fulness.htm - 30k

Cleanse (75 Occurrences)
... the King James Version), renders nearly the same roots, and has the same overlapping
phases, as "clean." 1. Physical: Physical cleansing, often figuratively ...
/c/cleanse.htm - 36k

Blood (435 Occurrences)
... Blood was commanded to be used also for purification or for ceremonial cleansing
(Leviticus 14:5-7, 51, 52 Numbers 19:4), provided, however, that it be taken ...
/b/blood.htm - 54k

Resources

What is a mikvah? | GotQuestions.org

How many times did Jesus cleanse the temple? Why did He cleanse the temple? | GotQuestions.org

What was the meaning and importance of the baptism of John the Baptist? | GotQuestions.org

Cleansing: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus

Concordance

Cleansing (37 Occurrences)

Matthew 10:8
infirm ones be healing, lepers be cleansing, dead be raising, demons be casting out -- freely ye did receive, freely give.
(YLT)

Mark 1:44
and said to him, "See you say nothing to anybody, but go show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing the things which Moses commanded, for a testimony to them."
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Luke 5:14
He commanded him to tell no one, "But go your way, and show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing according to what Moses commanded, for a testimony to them."
(WEB KJV ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

John 11:55
Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and numbers of people went up from the country to Jerusalem to make themselves clean before the Passover.
(See NIV)

Acts 15:9
He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.
(WEB ASV NAS)

Ephesians 5:26
in order to make her holy, cleansing her with the baptismal water by the word,
(WEY NIV)

Hebrews 1:3
who being the brightness of the glory, and the impress of His subsistence, bearing up also the all things by the saying of his might -- through himself having made a cleansing of our sins, sat down at the right hand of the greatness in the highest,
(YLT)

Hebrews 9:13
For if the blood of goats and oxen, and the dust from the burning of a young cow, being put on the unclean, make the flesh clean:
(See NAS)

2 Peter 1:9
For he who lacks these things is blind, seeing only what is near, having forgotten the cleansing from his old sins.
(WEB ASV YLT)

Leviticus 12:4
And she shall continue thirty-three days in the blood of her cleansing; no holy thing shall she touch, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her cleansing are fulfilled.
(DBY YLT)

Leviticus 12:5
And if she bear a female, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her separation; and she shall continue sixty-six days in the blood of her cleansing.
(DBY YLT)

Leviticus 12:6
And when the days of her cleansing are fulfilled, for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring a yearling lamb for a burnt-offering, and a young pigeon or a turtle-dove for a sin-offering, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, unto the priest.
(DBY YLT)

Leviticus 13:7
But if the scab spreads on the skin, after he has shown himself to the priest for his cleansing, he shall show himself to the priest again.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Leviticus 13:35
But if the itch spreads in the skin after his cleansing,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Leviticus 14:2
"This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest,
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Leviticus 14:11
And the priest who is cleansing hath caused the man who is to be cleansed to stand with them before Jehovah, at the opening of the tent of meeting,
(YLT)

Leviticus 14:23
"On the eighth day he shall bring them for his cleansing to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting, before Yahweh.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Leviticus 14:32
This is the law for him in whom is the plague of leprosy, who is not able to afford the sacrifice for his cleansing.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Leviticus 14:49
And he hath taken for the cleansing of the house two birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop;
(YLT RSV)

Leviticus 15:13
"'When he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count to himself seven days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes; and he shall bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Numbers 6:9
"'If any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles the head of his separation; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing. On the seventh day he shall shave it.
(WEB KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT RSV NIV)

Numbers 8:7
You shall do this to them, to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of cleansing on them, let them shave their whole bodies with a razor, and let them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves.
(WEB NAS NIV)

Numbers 19:9
And a clean man hath gathered the ashes of the cow, and hath placed at the outside of the camp, in a clean place, and it hath become to the company of the sons of Israel a charge for waters of separation -- it 'is' a 'cleansing';
(YLT NIV)

Numbers 19:13
Whosoever toucheth the dead, even the body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself--he hath defiled the tabernacle of the LORD--that soul shall be cut off from Israel; because the water of sprinkling was not dashed against him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.
(See NIV)

Numbers 19:17
and they have taken for the unclean person of the ashes of the burning of the 'cleansing', and he hath put upon it running water unto a vessel;
(YLT)

Numbers 19:20
But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the LORD; the water of sprinkling hath not been dashed against him: he is unclean.
(See NIV)

Numbers 19:21
And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them; and he that sprinkleth the water of sprinkling shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of sprinkling shall be unclean until even.
(See NIV)

Numbers 31:23
every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean; nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of sprinkling; and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make to go through the water.
(See NIV)

1 Chronicles 23:28
for their station 'is' at the side of the sons of Aaron, for the service of the house of Jehovah, over the courts, and over the chambers, and over the cleansing of every holy thing, and the work of the service of the house of God,
(YLT RSV)

2 Chronicles 30:19
who hath prepared his heart to seek God -- Jehovah, God of his fathers -- yet not according to the cleansing of the sanctuary;'
(YLT)

Nehemiah 12:45
And the singers and the gatekeepers keep the charge of their God, even the charge of the cleansing -- according to the command of David 'and' Solomon his son,
(YLT)

Isaiah 66:17
Those sanctifying and cleansing themselves at the gardens, After Ahad in the midst, Eating flesh of the sow, And of the abomination, and of the mouse, Together are consumed, An affirmation of Jehovah.
(YLT)

Jeremiah 4:11
At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A hot wind cometh from the heights in the wilderness, on the way of the daughter of my people, not for fanning, nor for cleansing.
(DBY YLT)

Ezekiel 16:4
And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water for cleansing; thou wast not rubbed with salt at all, nor swaddled at all.
(DBY JPS NAS)

Ezekiel 36:33
Thus said the Lord Jehovah: In the day of My cleansing you from all your iniquities, I have caused the cities to be inhabited, And the wastes have been built,
(YLT)

Ezekiel 43:23
When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a young bull without blemish, and a ram out of the flock without blemish.
(WEB KJV ASV WBS YLT NAS RSV)

Ezekiel 44:26
And after his cleansing, seven days they number to him.
(YLT)

Subtopics

Cleansing

Related Terms

Crystal-clear (1 Occurrence)

Clear-sighted (1 Occurrence)

Clearness (1 Occurrence)

Crystal (7 Occurrences)

Quality (14 Occurrences)

Events (27 Occurrences)

Purge (35 Occurrences)

Sense (195 Occurrences)