The Pollution Scheme Series

Jesus calls the quickening gift of the Spirit “living water” because mere human nature is . . . barren of all virtue by the crimes of the devil. - Cyril of Alexandria(1)

In reference to the arrival of the Messiah, the prophet Isaiah declared, “For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert” (35:6). Jesus entered this world bringing with Him a stream of spiritual abundance that would convey life to dry and thirsty souls. He came to wash away the filth of sin and bestow eternity to those who would believe in Him, in order that they might become as beautiful desert blossoms. Isaiah prophesied, “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation. Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:2-3).

The salvation from sin that God wants to give through His Son, Jesus Christ, is likened to water, for water is vitally important to all life on earth. For example, a human being can survive almost two months without food, but can’t survive a full week without water; and a plant will wither and die if water is withheld, even if it’s rooted in rich soil, because water is required to make the soil nutrients available to plant cells. Without water all living things on earth will die; and in a similar manner, without the water that comes from the well of salvation through Jesus Christ, all human beings will die a spiritual death, for the Bible says, “The wages of sin is death” (Rm 6:23a).

Those who are believers have tasted that the Lord is good (Ps 34:8). They know the truth about life in Christ; but even so, the devil can sometimes muddy the water and cause pain and confusion, as he attempts to pollute the living water within us. He wants believers to become tainted by the same dirt and filth from which they have arisen. If we feel as though the very life is being sucked out of us and we don’t know why, then we’ll soon understand as we discover how Satan is attempting to contaminate our well. We’ll also come to learn how to clean out our well once it’s become stopped up, in order to regain the joy of our salvation and our spiritual vitality.

A Well of Living Water (John 4:14)

The Bible compares the salvation bestowed on believers to life-sustaining water. In Revelation, John said that in heaven there will be “a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rv 22:1; cf. Ps 46:4), and that anyone can partake of this life-giving water right now, saying, “Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (Rv 22:17). This is the same message that Christ proclaimed to the woman at the well. In John 4:14, Jesus said:

But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life (John 4:14).

You might be familiar with the account behind these words. Jesus was passing though Samaria and stopped to rest at Jacob’s well (Jn 4:4-6), and there He saw a woman approaching, and He asked her to assist Him in drawing up some water. The woman was astonished and questioned how Jesus, being a Jew, would dare associate with her since the Jews had no dealings with Samaritans (4:7-9).

Jesus replied, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (Jn 4:11). Jesus was telling the woman that if she would only ask Him for salvation from sin that He would grant her request. She had within her a spiritual thirst that could only be quenched by the eternal fountain of living water that never runs dry.

Jesus utilized this opportunity at Jacob’s well to provide a lesson, in order to reinforce the fact of how He longs to grant people eternal life. If someone decides to give his or her heart to Jesus Christ, then their new life in Him will be eternal. It will be as a constantly flowing well that never runs dry.

A well was “a deep shaft, bored far under the rocky surface . . . which contained water which percolated through the [rock] strata in its sides.”(2) A well was dug down to the depth of the water table and would therefore be constantly replenished by the flowing groundwater as long as there wasn’t a drought.

Water didn’t have to be hauled in by people and poured into the well. It entered the well freely and no human effort was required to place it there. Eternal life in Christ Jesus is obtained in a similar fashion. God’s grace is freely given, it’s always with us, and we do not have to work to replenish it.