Our duty to understand God 's way of cleansing The importance of this duty is taught us by God himself. The legal institutions of the Old Testament show us the importance of this duty, for every sacrifice had something in it for purifying from uncleanness. In the gospel, the greatest of our needs is shown to be the need of being cleansed from sin. Two things make such faith effectual. The first is the excellence of the grace or duty itself.
Faith discards all other ways of cleansing.
It gives all glory to God for his power, faithfulness, goodness and grace in spite of all difficulties and oppositions. Faith glorifies God's wisdom for working out this way for us to be cleansed. It glorifies God's infinite grace in providing this fountain for all uncleanness when we were lost and under his curse. Thus we are united to Christ from whom alone comes all our cleansing. The first duty is to be in continual self-abasement.