Followed By Mercy

Washed And Free

• W. Austin Gardner

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Still wrestling with old regrets even though you trust Jesus? This episode gets honest about that tension, the gap between what God declares over you and what your mind won’t stop replaying. Starting with Ezekiel’s picture of clean water, we trace how the Old Testament’s rituals pointed ahead to something far greater: not a temporary washing, but a once-for-all cleansing, finished at the cross and confirmed by the resurrection.

We break down imputation in simple terms. Every charge from your past was transferred to Christ’s account, and His perfect righteousness was credited to yours. That truth reframes shame because God has chosen to remember your sins no more. From there, we anchor assurance in Hebrews 10, where hearts are sprinkled from an evil conscience, and walk through Ephesians 1 to remember who we already are in Christ: chosen, adopted, accepted, forgiven, sealed, and secure.

You’ll also learn how to renew your mind when guilt flares up. Write the thoughts down. Test them as true or false. Find Scripture that answers them. Then let truth outrank your feelings. We discuss filling your mind with gospel-centered songs, leaning on community when shame whispers lies, and learning to live as someone whose ledger has already been settled.

If you’re ready to stop looping shame and start living from full assurance, this conversation will help you reset your inner dialogue and rest in who you already are in Jesus.

Short Summary:

 Why does shame still linger when Christ has already cleansed us? We transition from Old Testament cleansing to New Testament assurance, providing practical tools for retraining a guilty conscience through Scripture, song, and community.

Thanks for listening. Find us on YouTube, Substack, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

Austin Gardner:

Welcome to Followed by Mercy, our podcast. I'm here with my co-host, Robert Canfield, who is the founder and director of Taking the Light Ministries. And this is Austin Gardner. We're certainly glad to have you here and uh to be able to talk with you today. Robert, we were just at breakfast with a very good friend, several friends, and one of the men mentioned, who doesn't listen to the podcast, but he said uh he used Ezekiel uh chapter 36 and verse 26. He is was just uh reading his Bible and he came across a new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. I will take away the stony heart. Excuse me, that's the oh 25 is what he read. It's all in this together. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your filthiness, from all your idols, will I cleanse you. And he is still bothered by his past. He's been saved, I don't know, I know at least 15 years, but he still thinks about all the filthiness in his past. And so we discussed that in just a minute. So why don't you uh why don't you jump in right quick and and say a few things about that?

Robert Canfield:

I think if you're a a person here on earth and you have, I mean, everyone has a past. Everyone has sin. The Bible is pretty clear about that. I mean, it says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And a lot of times in our lives, those those wrongdoings, those sins, those things that we cause, it causes shame. That it it has a negative effect on our minds and our hearts. And it's hard to think, it's hard to realize that we have been made pure from all of that. And sin is very costly. That's why God's Old Testament.

Austin Gardner:

He's reading Old Testament, he's reading Old Testament, and he's interpreting it from an old testament position.

Robert Canfield:

And for our friend, right? You're going back to the Ezekiel, yeah. That's one thing that when you think about, like before they were even allowed to the priests were allowed to minister offerings, before there were festivals, there was a purification that they had to do.

Austin Gardner:

They had to do a washing of the all of that is, you know, everything in the Old Testament has to be seen in light of the New Testament. That's true. And, you know, God reveals Himself more and more through the scripture. And so this is beautiful, but here they were, they were washed by water. You are washed. So that was water. They were going to take some water and wash them. In the New Testament, that's not what happens with us.

Robert Canfield:

No, no, no. We've been we've been clean, we've been made pure by the the blood of Christ, is what the scripture says.

Austin Gardner:

And and so in this passage is I will sprinkle clean water upon you. And you can't be as a New Testament believer, you can't be stuck in the Old Testament. They were to be cleansed from all their filthiness. He's talking about the nation, he's talking about the people, and they've been worshiping idols. It's not an individual, and he's not talking about them, but you're an individual and you're in the New Testament. And those of you listening today, he said, you know, sometimes I just can't get over all the junk I did wrong. And so we have a New Testament verse that I think is a correlating verse. It says, and such were some of you, but you are washed, you are sanctified, you are justified by the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God, in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. And so you were like that. We were like that, but we've been washed, we've been sanctified, we've been justified by the name of the Lord Jesus, by the Spirit of our God. And so, how much of how much of my past does God remember and keep in mind? He chooses to remember it no more. He chooses. That's not what he does. And so, if you are you and and and Robert, why don't you go over a little bit of the new creature with them? They're new creatures.

Robert Canfield:

Yeah. In in salvation, there is nothing that we could do to save ourselves. Romans, this is extremely clear about that. He says in Romans chapter 3, he says, Therefore, by the deeds of the law shall no man be justified in his sight. There is nothing that we could do in order to make us right before a holy God. And so he had to do something for us. And that's the great thing about the gospel. The gospel is that Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

Austin Gardner:

That's that's the whole point of salvation. That's what happened at Calvary. Jesus died, took our sin, made us righteous. He was buried, rose again. I don't think it's good enough to stop that he died on a cross for us because he didn't just die.

Robert Canfield:

Well, yeah, he tasted, well, he did, he did die. He tasted death for every man, but then he proved that he had power over sin and death through the resurrection. We look at the cross and sometimes we just get hung up on the cross and paying for the death. I think for our sins.

Austin Gardner:

Another verse I think that I would challenge people to consider is uh 2 Corinthians chapter 5, when it says that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. Even the lost world. When God looks at the lost world, he doesn't hold their sin against them, he doesn't put it on their account. Why don't you, if you don't mind, help our listeners uh imputing?

Robert Canfield:

Imputing. So that's it has the idea of of a of an accountant and bookkeeper. A bookkeeper, yeah. And so you have an account, right? Everyone has an account in our transactions, we put it on our account, like this transaction. So we're keeping record of all the things that's done. And so what the scripture is saying there is as God is the accountant, he's not taking our sin and putting that on our account, but he put that on Jesus. He took those transactions that we've made, those foolish ones, those willful those willful disobeying, those horrible stuff that we've done, all the stuff we like to keep in secret. He took those and he didn't put it on our account, but he put it on Jesus. So Jesus can now pay for it. And that's the great thing. And if you just read the scripture, he just didn't do that for those that believe. He did it for everyone. He tasted death for everyone, Hebrews says. That's the only thing. And at that moment, we have changed not just to we're no longer sinners, but now he has made us his righteousness. He's given us his account. And that's the new creation. That's we are new creations at that point.

Austin Gardner:

Old things are passed away, and behold, all things are and here's the deal you can have that true, and and my friend is thinking these negative thoughts. And where do those negative thoughts come from?

Robert Canfield:

It's from his mind, it's from his conscience, and that's why But your conscience is also about rule keeping. Well, and that you you taught me this. Our battle is between the ears. That's where our battle's always been. And I was remembering just a verse that goes along similar to this Hebrews, the writer of Hebrews is writing to a people that think the old way, the law, all this stuff is the best thing to do. And he's telling them there's a new way. There's a new way, guys. And it's so much better. Jesus is much but better. And he says in Hebrews 10 22, he says, Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance. Full assurance. That is an assurance is something that you know. Assurance is something that you can walk around with your head held out. Assurance is something that you know that is absolutely true. He says, full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with a pure water. And what he's trying to tell them there is that Jesus, his blood and his sacrifice has totally changed us and it's made us. So we don't need to keep a ritual. We don't need to atone for our own sins, that we don't need to purge and cleanse our own conscience, is that Jesus has already done it.

Austin Gardner:

And you either have full assurance or don't. Well, what you got to do is decide. I will trust his word, I'll believe his word, not my feelings. I'll believe what he says and not what I my the identity or whatever. That just tying this to Ephesians chapter one, since that's where I have supposedly been heading. I've been kind of off track a little bit on our podcast, but Paul writes to saints in Ephesus and faithful in Christ. He says they've been blessed with all spiritual blessings. He talks about them being chosen. He talks about how they're predestined to be adopted, they've been made to be accepted in the beloved, they're forgiven. And he goes through all of that. Talks about their inheritance. And then he gets to a prayer. He said, uh, you know, they've trusted the Lord. And so he comes down here and he says, I don't stop thanking God for you. I don't stop mentioning you in my prayers. And I I'm praying that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Father of glory may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding and being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. So God's wanting, Paul's wanting God to open our eyes to see and understand. Because it's kind of hard to remember to know me, to know my life, know my past, know my present, know my future, and not and realize that I sin, but I can't see what God's done. And that's what I want to do.

Robert Canfield:

You know, I think our mind likes to always go back to, and we're negative people by nature. We like to keep ourselves captive. Yep. And I I was reading, you went to Ephesians, so I was there was a verse that I preached to the chapel to little kids. In Ephesians chapter 1, verse 7, he says this in whom, talking about Jesus, we have redemption, we have been set free. The captive has been released, is what he's saying through his blood. The forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. Sin is a destroyer, it holds us captive, it controls, it, I mean, and that's why he he warns, he makes such strong warnings against it because he knows that it would hurt his children. But all those sins we have been delivered from. And it wasn't by what we've done, it was all did at the cross and at the tomb. He overcame it all. And we have this really, really good, good, good news that we can be delivered from it. And it doesn't matter. I'm I'm I'll just state this it doesn't matter what anyone's done out there. There is redemption, there is a there is a liberating thing.

Austin Gardner:

And I think what you want to remember, I mean, uh what you're saying is fantastic, but Jesus didn't come to condemn people. No, he came to rescue. Sin already condemned us.

Robert Canfield:

It was it was already there and it's present and it's still present in this world. And it's and until the day he comes and returns. It's horrible.

Austin Gardner:

It is. It's in no way are we trying to act like sin is not a horrible thing. The willful disobedience of God's a horrible thing, but Jesus has already come to this world, not to condemn you, but to rescue you. That's what he's came here.

Robert Canfield:

He set the captive free. And that's what that's such a wonderful thing. I mean, when we get that in our mind and heart, then that overflows into praise and thanksgiving.

Austin Gardner:

All right. As we wrap, as we wrap up for today, Robert, I want you to. So a friend is listening, another friend, and he's listening, and I want you to help give him two or three things to do with these truths for today. Here's a guy who's been messed up. He's still kind of beat up because his sin has just really eaten his lunch. And so he feels terrible. He he feels like I'm I'm not worthy, I'm no good. So help him.

Robert Canfield:

So if I have a friend and I got a friend out there and he is he is troubled, I would say, I would at that moment, in those times where I'm feeling troubled, I would stop and I would say, Where is this coming from? You have to get control.

Austin Gardner:

Yeah, you have to get control over your thoughts. Is this a is this is this a a self-thought, a Satan thought?

Robert Canfield:

And you have to analyze it a little bit. Write it out, what you're feeling. Our feelings oftentimes dictate our actions.

Austin Gardner:

How about maybe they ought to write down the thought and and and and and decide is it true or false? And if it's false or true, find a Bible truth that that states what is true.

Robert Canfield:

I it's funny you said that. I was talking with a friend this week and he was talking to me, and I said, you need to write out all your thoughts and your feelings on one column. And then on the next column, almost do a spreadsheet on the next column. Then you need to act like you're the your own therapist, act like you're you're your own counselor, and say, okay, what's the truth about this thought? And then you just don't write down what you think is truth. There needs to be Bible verses about that. I think that's the the key is what did God say about this? It doesn't matter what my feelings say, because my feelings change with a with a change of a song.

Austin Gardner:

I think that's a good thing to take home today. You need to write down all your thoughts and find Bible truth to go there to either confirm your thought or to to uh disaffirm, to call it a lie, if that's what it is. All right, that's one step. What's another?

Robert Canfield:

So I would stop, I would get my thoughts out, and then I would compare it with the scripture. And then the second thing is this you have to make the decision that you are either going to listen to your feelings or you're going to listen to truth.

Austin Gardner:

I can't help it. I just can't help it. This is what I hear from them.

Robert Canfield:

I can't help it. It just comes on me, that's what I think. And oftentimes I've been called out by my middle child that I'm quite condescending at times. That's what you said, Dad. You're very condescending at times. She's like, You're just a jerk. And she didn't call me a jerk, but she said, You're just condescending. And if someone says that, I was like, Oh, you're the poor victim, aren't you? But in the reality, that that's and that's my that's my unkindness. That's that's me being it is true that a lot of times people want to play the victim. I mean, we who we could all figure out, you know, when I was reading through and I preached. The truth is you're not a victim. No, go ahead. And and I was I was preaching Sunday morning and I was preaching, and I was talking about the the the Good Samaritan and and the the lawyer that was arguing with Jesus. All he tried to do was just justify himself. And a lot of times our victim mentality is nothing more than just say, I'm just trying to make sure that I look right in front of other people. You just got to cut that junk out because we are not right.

Austin Gardner:

He's right, he's good. Greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world. We are more than conquerors. You have no reason to accept the fact that you're a victim. And and you say you can't overcome it, then his power is not that strong. The problem is you're you're keeping your thoughts in the past, you're holding on to the past instead of clinging to the savior.

Robert Canfield:

And I used to say this when I was training young men. I would say, it's truth over feelings. And so I would say, stop, get it out, find truth, and then make the decision saying, I'm not gonna think on this. And then one thing that that that I've I've found, it's even in the scriptures, you know what helps make a merry heart songs. That's good. I think there is an entire book, the biggest book in our Bible, is all dedicated to songs. That's good. And you've got to be able to pump into you truth, and you've got to guard your mind and your heart. You can't be undisciplined, and I'm not, I'm not, you just can't be like free willy-nilly, you know what I mean? He's gonna make it happen or whatever. You've got to control those thoughts and then start pumping real truth and singing songs and psalms and spiritual hymns and songs. That's what a spirit-filled person does. It's just reminding yourself. I'm oftentimes reminded, and I tell people this too. When I used to work with you, I would often hear you walking down the halls, and you were always whistling a tune. And the tune was usually annoying, wouldn't it? It was just a hymn. Yep. Because your mind and your heart, I don't even think you knew it. I don't think you realized it. A lot of times I didn't pay attention to it. I I mean, you were just whistling, it was always something. I was like, what song is that? I was like, and you were whistling, you you didn't like singing, because I know you feel like you didn't keep a tune, but you just like whistling, and it was just it was God pouring out of you. It was the Holy Spirit leading you just to remind you of good truth. And when when we do our devotions in the morning, I think it's oftentimes it's great to write out our prayers. It's oftentimes to take those prayers and then compare it with real truth. I think, you know, the old the old Christians, the old saints of old, they would read their scripture, read their Bible. And they oftentimes they had a hymn book where they would read a hymn too.

Austin Gardner:

And I think if you want to, if you want to control that, that junk that's going on in your mind and your heart, you just gotta, I mean, I think that's and I I could be wrong with all that, but I think I got enough Bible to I think uh all of you should take this home today and let that be in your reminding thought that you would keep your heart and your mind focused on truth. Write down what you're thinking, find scripture, focus your thinking, get a song in your heart, listen to some good music that'll tell truth, and that might help you have a better day today. Well, I hope you've enjoyed this today because I don't want you living, beating yourself up for what Jesus has already taken on himself and taken your beating. Any final words? Nope.

Robert Canfield:

If you're out there and you're struggling, I would, I would, I would get connected with good people too. That's going to encourage you. A lot of times you get around negative people. Negative people just help fester negative thoughts.

Austin Gardner:

Yeah, and they're they're they're always on what you need to be doing instead of on what Jesus has already done. Well, thank y'all for listening. I hope that if you've enjoyed it, you'll share it with somebody. And Robert, thank you for being here today. Thank you. Looking forward to speaking to you again. God bless each of you today.

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Austin Gardner

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