Ephesians 5:26 That He might sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing of the water in the word, (27) That He might present the church to Himself glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such things, but that she would be holy and without blemish.
The washing in verse 26 does not deal mainly with sins [which is taken care of by Christ's blood], but deals with spots and wrinkles. Spots are something out of the natural life [such as our natural biases, and disposition], and wrinkles are signs of oldness. Only the water of life can metabolically wash away such defects by the transformation of life.
All the spots and wrinkles in the church will be washed away through the inner cleansing of the water in the Word. The more we come to the Word, the more we are nourished. The nourishment we receive brings about an inner cleansing from the defects caused by the natural life and from the wrinkles caused by oldness.
We all need such an organic, metabolic washing to take away our defects and the marks of our oldness. As the church is washed organically and metabolically in this way, the church is renewed and without blemish. Such a washing takes place entirely by life and by the nourishment of life.
Let us be encouraged to abide in Christ as the source of nourishment and to contact the Word to receive the nourishing element so that we may be washed organically and metabolically from all defects and oldness. By means of such a washing, the church will be perfected and become glorious.