09/03/2026
📖 — DIRTY FEET, BUT STILL CLEAN
John 13:1–11 | Christ’s Love, Judas, and Eternal Security
This past Sunday, Pastor Boone preached from one of the great questions of Christ: “Know ye what I have done to you?” (John 13:12). As he walked us through Jesus washing the disciples’ feet, he touched on two tremendous theological truths worth looking at a little deeper this —the universal love of Christ, seen even in His treatment of Judas, and the eternal security pictured in Jesus’ words, “clean every whit.”
“Peter didn’t need another bath. That was a picture of salvation. Peter needed his feet washed. That’s a picture of his daily walk.” — Pastor Boone
John 13 contains one of the most beautiful pictures of grace in the entire Gospel of John.
Within a matter of hours, Jesus would be betrayed, arrested, falsely accused, beaten, and crucified.
He knew it all.
He knew Peter would deny Him.
He knew the disciples would scatter.
And He knew exactly what Judas Iscariot was preparing to do.
Yet Jesus took a towel, poured water into a basin, stooped to the place of a servant, and began washing the disciples’ feet.
There are two tremendous theological truths in that room that night.
First, look at the love of Christ—even toward Judas.
The Bible says:
“…having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.”
— John 13:1 KJV
Judas was sitting at that table.
Jesus was not ignorant of who Judas was:
“For he knew who should betray him…”
— John 13:11
Christ knew the feet before Him were soon going to walk out that door toward His enemies.
He knew Judas would lead the mob to Gethsemane.
He knew Judas would betray Him with a kiss.
And still Christ stooped with the towel.
Jesus had commanded:
“Love your enemies…”
— Matthew 5:44
John 13 shows us that Christ practiced what He preached.
Whatever theological system we build, it must leave room for the genuine goodness, compassion, and love of God toward sinners who ultimately reject Him.
That presents a serious problem for the idea that God possesses no genuine love toward the non-elect.
And Scripture does not stop with John 13:
“For God so loved the world…”
— John 3:16
“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
— 1 John 2:2
“…that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”
— Hebrews 2:9
“Who gave himself a ransom for all…”
— 1 Timothy 2:6
The Gospel is not a secret provision made only for a hidden group of people.
Christ is sufficient for all.
The invitation is genuinely extended to all.
“…whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
— Revelation 22:17
Judas demonstrates something important: Christ can show real love and goodness toward a man while that man stubbornly rejects Him.
Judas was not betrayed by Christ.
Christ was betrayed by Judas.
But John 13 contains another truth just as powerful.
It gives us a beautiful picture of eternal security.
When Jesus came to Peter, Peter protested:
“Thou shalt never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered:
“If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.”
— John 13:8
Peter immediately swung to the opposite extreme:
“Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.”
— John 13:9
In other words:
Lord, if I need cleansing, wash me all over again.
But Jesus said something remarkable:
“He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit…”
— John 13:10
Peter did not need another bath.
He needed his feet washed.
That distinction matters.
The full washing beautifully pictures the cleansing of salvation.
The washing of the feet pictures the continual cleansing necessary in the believer’s daily walk.
We live in a dirty world.
We still stumble.
We still fail.
We still sin.
Sometimes our spiritual feet get filthy.
But dirty feet do not mean the whole man needs to be washed all over again.
Jesus said:
“He…is clean every whit.”
The believer who sins does not need to be saved again.
He needs his fellowship restored.
That is why Scripture tells believers:
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
— 1 John 1:9
That is not another new birth.
That is fellowship being restored.
Think about the contrast in the upper room.
Peter had dirty feet — but Peter was clean.
Judas could have his outward feet washed — but Judas himself was not clean.
Jesus said:
“…and ye are clean, but not all.”
Then John explains:
“For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.”
— John 13:10–11
Notice what Jesus did not say.
He did not say that Peter had once been clean but had become unclean because of his failures.
He did not say Peter needed to be regenerated again.
He identified Judas as the exception.
Judas’ problem was not merely dirty feet.
Judas had never received the cleansing the others possessed.
That is the difference between salvation and fellowship.
Between position and practice.
Between being born again and needing daily cleansing in our Christian walk.
And that is why John 13 cuts against two theological extremes.
Calvinism errs when it restricts the genuine love and saving provision of God to only an elect few.
Christ’s heart toward Judas, together with the plain universal language of Scripture, shows a Savior whose love and provision reach toward the whole world.
But Arminianism errs when it makes salvation something that must continually be regained whenever the believer becomes spiritually dirty.
Jesus did not tell Peter:
“You were clean, but now you need another bath.”
He said:
You are clean every whit. Your feet need washing.
There is an enormous difference.
A Christian can fall without falling out of Christ.
A believer can sin without becoming unborn.
Fellowship can be damaged without sonship being destroyed.
We confess because we are His children—not in order to become His children again.
So John 13 gives us a beautiful picture:
Christ loves the sinner.
Christ saves the believer completely.
And when the believer’s feet get dirty, Christ restores fellowship without repeating salvation.
Neither Calvinism nor Arminianism is our authority.
Scripture is.
And Scripture presents a Savior who genuinely calls the whole world to Himself and completely keeps every soul who has truly come to Him.
Dirty feet?
Yes.
But still:
“CLEAN EVERY WHIT.”
✝️ Salvation does not need to be repeated. Fellowship sometimes needs to be restored.
