Why do believers still get defiled in their daily walk?
Believers still get defiled in their daily walk because they remain in this old sin-filled earth. Though they have been washed and forgiven in salvation, walking through the world soils them, so they constantly need daily cleansing—not by water, but by the cleansing of the Word.
Les explains that the foot-washing lesson shows believers have already been washed and have salvation, but because they are still in a sin-filled earth, their daily walk causes defilement—their feet get dirty. He connects this to Jesus washing the disciples’ feet in John’s Gospel, where Peter and the other ten were washed, all but Judas. Then Les takes you to Ephesians, where Paul speaks of a daily cleansing, not with a tub of water or a washcloth, but with the cleansing of the Word. All through Scripture there remains an apparent need of cleansing even for the believer, because we are left in this old world to be defiled. Les also illustrates that in Jesus’ day, after a person bathed at the central bath and walked home in open-toed sandals, the feet would be filthy even though the rest of the body was clean, so the feet needed constant washing. That is the lesson: even though believers have been cleansed and forgiven, they still need daily cleansing.