Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
Despair over unworthiness need not stop you; God promises to fit you for His mercy by His grace before He bestows it. The Spirit sprinkles clean water on the conscience, Christ's blood washes away guilt, and His grace purifies the whole soul. This is the covenant of grace itself, not mere restoration from captivity.
AI summary
Commenting on Ezekiel 36:25-38
Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you,.... Not baptismal water, as Jerom; an ordinance indeed of the Gospel, and to which the Jews will submit when converted; and which is performed by water, but not by sprinkling, nor does it cleanse from sin; and is administered by men, and is not an operation of God, as this is: rather the regenerating grace of the...
The external restoration must be preceded by an internal one. The change in their condition must not be superficial, but must be based on a radical renewal of the heart. Then the heathen, understanding from the regenerated lives of God's people how holy God is, would perceive Israel's past troubles to have been only the necessary vindications of His righteousness.