The laver of bronze, which was made of the bronze mirrors from the women who served at the entrance of the tabernacle, was an absolutely crucial furnishing for the operation of the tabernacle; before the priests could offer anything on the altar or enter into the tabernacle to minister to God, they had to wash their hands and feet with the water in the laver. The laver exposed and washed the defilement of the earth with pure water.
In our Christian life this laver of bronze is Christ Himself: after passing through God’s judgement on the cross, Christ became in resurrection a life-giving Spirit, and as the Spirit He washes us, cleanses us, and removes all the dirty of the natural man and the world for us so that we may serve God and enjoy Him.
The spiritual reality of the laver of bronze is rich in meaning and extensive in its application since this washing is not just once for all but perpetual, again and again, and this spiritual water is not only washing us but it is also regenerating us, renewing us, and transforming us! Wow!
Humanly speaking the water we are washed by simply cleanses us and removes the dirt, but spiritually speaking the life-giving Spirit not only washes us but also renews us and transforms us, and we should enjoy the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit every day (Titus 3:5)!
This laver of bronze is so experiential to us, and it is the means for the Lord to carry out His economy and make us the same as He is in life and nature!
What we need to see concerning the laver is the process: it is a lifelong process of coming to the Lord to be washed, cleansed, and renewed; actually, we need to daily be in the washing, renewing, transforming, cleansing, and filling of the Spirit! We can’t rely on being washed last week – we need to daily be in the ongoing organic process of the washing, renewing, regenerating, and transforming of the life-giving flowing Spirit!
Experiencing the Washing of Regeneration and the Renewing of the Holy Spirit
In Titus 3:5 we have a unique utterance from Paul that expounds on how we experience the laver of bronze in our daily life: it is by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit.
The Greek word for “regeneration” here is different from “regenerated” in 1 Pet. 1:23 but the same word as “restoration” in the millennium in Matt. 19:28. The regeneration spoken of here is the change in position, the new state of things, as a result of the divine life getting into us; when we are born again, we are brought into a new state, a new position: we are now a new creation, a renewed being!
The Greek word for “washing” is literally “laver” – we enjoy the “laver of restoration”, the washing of regeneration! Being born again is the commencing of a change in our being: the washing of regeneration begins when we receive the Lord, and from then on the renewing of the Holy Spirit continues!
Today we as believers in Christ are in the process of God’s new creation, a process that makes us a new man (Eph. 4:23-24). As we are being daily renewed in the spirit of our mind, practicing to be one spirit all the time with the only One who is new in the universe, we are becoming the new man!
The washing of regeneration begins with our being born again and continues with the renewing of the Holy Spirit as the process of God’s new creation, a process that makes us a new man. It is a kind of reconditioning, remaking, or remodeling, with life….The washing of regeneration purges away all the things of the old nature of our old man, and the renewing of the Holy Spirit imparts something new — the divine essence of the new man — into our being. In this is a passing from our old state into a wholly new one, from the old creation into the status of a new creation. Hence, both the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit are working in us continually throughout our life until the completion of the new creation. (Witness Lee, The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 3692)
We were joined to the Lord as one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17), and now we simply need to remain in this most precious, holy, romantic, organic union with Him, in which He is reconditioning us, remaking us, and remodelling us.
By our remaining in the process of the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, we are being organically washed and God’s divine element is slowing being added to us as our old, natural element is being discharged.
There’s a metabolic process going on when we allow the Lord as the life-giving Spirit to wash us and renew us: the negative and old things are being purged away, and God’s life element is being added into our being, making us a new person, a regenerated being, a new creation in Christ.
Apart from experiencing and touching the laver of bronze we are dirty, defiled, and unqualified to serve God or offer anything to God; when we come to the Lord and spend time with Him in the word with an open heart and an exercised spirit, the life-giving Spirit as the reality of the word of God is washing us, cleansing us, and renewing us to make us a new creation in Christ.
Lord Jesus, we want to daily experience the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit. Thank You for regenerating us with Your divine life and bringing us into a new state, a new creation; we now want to continue to experience the renewing of the Holy Spirit until we become a new creation in Christ! Lord, keep us one spirit with You, the life-giving, washing, renewing, cleansing Spirit with our spirit. Keep us in the washing, cleansing, renewing, reconditioning, remodelling, and transforming of the Spirit day by day!
Staying in the Ongoing Process of Washing, Renewing, and Transforming of the Spirit
The divine revelation in the Bible clearly shows us that, after a person is regenerated, a process of washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit is going on.
We simply need to remain in this process and cooperate with the Lord the best we can so that He may recondition us, remake us, remodel us, reconstitute us, and rebuild us with Himself until we become the one new man, even His bride without any spots or wrinkles or any such things!
On His side the Lord is eager to take us through this process: He has prepared everything, He is arranging everything, and He is even leading us to many situations and things that will keep us in this process, but on our side we need to be those cooperating with Him by opening to Him, exercising our spirit, drinking and eating the Lord, breathing Him in as the Spirit, and Amen-ing His word!
Amen, we want to be in the washing of the Spirit, the renewing of the Spirit, and the transforming of the Holy Spirit! In this process – which is lifelong! – we pass from our old state into a wholly new one, from the old creation fully into the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15). Amen!
We want to remain in this process of washing and renewing and transforming by exercising our spirit, opening to the Lord, calling on the name of the Lord, praising the Lord, rejoicing in the Lord always, singing hymns and songs to the Lord, and shouting, Praise the Lord, Hallelujah!
The more we cooperate with the Lord in the process of washing, renewing, and transforming, the more we become a new creation in Christ, and the more we are metabolically changed – we become a new creation in Christ, and eventually we become the New Jerusalem!
Every time we say, Amen! to His inner speaking, the life-giving Spirit is renewing us a little more, and Christ is making us a little more like Him! It is good to open to the Lord again and again throughout the day and offer Him short prayers such as,
Lord Jesus, I open to You! Lord, renew me! Keep me one spirit with You. Keep me in the process of washing and renewing. Lord, I exercise my spirit to touch You in Your word and be renewed by You a little more today! Amen, Lord, I say Amen to Your word! Lord, impart more of Your new element into my being! Keep me in the organic union with You today. Lord Jesus, I call on Your name: I need You! Lord Jesus, cause the process of the renewing of the Holy Spirit to advance in me today! Oh Lord Jesus!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, brother Dick Taylor’s sharing in the message for this week, and Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1979, vol. 1, “Basic Lessons on Life,” pp. 528-529, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (3), week 7 (week 31), The Laver of Bronze.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
# If with your sin and self you would be through, / Amen the Word of God! / If you would let the Lord your mind renew, / Amen the Word of God! / Amen the Word of God! / Amen the Word of God! / His Word is living, life-power giving— / Amen the Word of God! (Hymns #1218)
# The Spirit ever giving life / Transforms me thus with life divine; / Renewing all my inward parts, / In life He makes Christ’s image mine. (Hymns #244)
# Amen!—The growth in life! / There’s nothing that Your life can’t do; / Our every part renew. / We’ll make it, we’ll make it just by You. / Lord Jesus, grow in us. (Hymns #1132)
This washing is metabolic because it imparts something new into us, and the new things of the divine life replace the old things of our natural life. In the metabolism of our physical body, the old, negative things are carried away and replaced with the new supply of life so that we may be strengthened and grow. The washing of regeneration is also a metabolic process, a metabolic washing, in which the old, negative things of our natural life are carried away and replaced with the new things of the divine life for our supply and growth in the divine life. (Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1979, vol. 1, “Basic Lessons on Life,” pp. 528-529)
Praise the Lord