Biblical Studies Journal Volume 1, Number 8

June 15, 1997

Purity Of Life

Purity of Life
Who Are The Pure In Heart?
When Purity Is Lost
Negative And Positive
Purity In Thought
Purity In Speech
Purity In Behavior
Fornicating The Body
Purity Is Not Optional

Purity of Life

When a Christian considers the obligations which his or her commitment to Christ demands, paramount among those obligations is the need for living a pure life. Jesus once said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matthew 5:8).
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Who Are The Pure In Heart?

The only kind of heart which can develop any kinship with a pure God is indeed a pure heart. Perhaps the purest thing on the face of the earth is a newborn baby. When Jesus wanted to demonstrate the kind of life He wanted men to live, He took a child and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3). There is a purity and innocence about a child, though born of the vilest of parents, which is closer to God-likeness than anything on earth.
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When Purity Is Lost

As the child grows, and as temptations come, purity is lost. God longs for us to be pure again--even "born again" (John 3:3-5). God intends that His people "walk in the light" so that "the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin" (I John 1:7). The admonition of scripture is, as Paul said to Timothy: "keep yourself free from sin" (I Timothy 5:22), or, as translated in another version, "Keep thyself pure." This is a difficult task.
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Negative And Positive

When purity of life is considered, there are both negative and positive aspects to be considered. There are "deeds of the flesh" (Galatians 5:19-21) which the Bible condemns, and the Christian must forever fight against these things in life. Purity, however, must be more than the absence of vice. Purity is positive virtue that thinks on pure things, not simply a virtue which avoids thinking on impure things.
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Purity In Thought

The Apostle Paul said, "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things" (Philippians 4:8). Nothing is more vital than proper thinking, "For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart" (Matthew 12:34). Solomon said, "For as he thinks within himself, so he is" (Proverbs 23:7). Whenever we concentrate on pure things, exercise the mind relative to the good, rather than the bad, our actions will necessarily be pure, for our actions are the results of our thoughts. Every impure action is preceded by impure thinking.
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Purity In Speech

James describes the tongue as "a restless evil and full of deadly poison" (James 3:8). One of the commandments of God, carved in stone, said, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain" (Exodus 20:7). In Leviticus 24:11-15 there is a recorded case of a man being put to death because he took the name of the Lord in vain. He cursed! Our Lord once said, "But let your statement be, 'Yes, yes' or 'No, no'; and anything beyond these is of evil" (Matthew 5:37). Our age, perhaps more than any previous age, has seen filthy speech become a way of life. Influenced by what is seen on television, American people have developed patterns of speech which are profane, immoral, and blasphemous.
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Purity In Behavior

The Bible teaches that the body is indeed "a temple of the Holy Spirit" (I Corinthians 6:19) and it further teaches that "your bodies are members of Christ" (I Corinthians 6:15). Christians should exercise care in the matter of ingesting things which will destroy their bodies. It has been reported that the Vietnam war lasted some ten to twelve years and took the lives of 56,000 Americans. In one recent five year period, 125,000 lives were lost in alcohol-related accidents. There are some 9,000,000 alcoholics in the United States. Why would a Christian want to "dabble" in that which causes such horrible results? Think of the use of tobacco and its tragic consequences. Each pack of cigarettes carries a label which says something to this effect: "The Surgeon General has determined that cigarettes may be harmful to your health." Why would a Christian want to destroy this temple of the Holy Spirit?
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Fornicating The Body

Perhaps the very epitome of impurity is fornication. Fornication is a word which covers all manner of impure living. Paul said, "the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord" (I Corinthians 6:13), and then he said: "Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body" (I Corinthians 6:18). When unmarried people cohabitate, when people of the same sex cohabitate, when people violate God's marriage laws and contract further marriages (Matthew 19:9), they fornicate their bodies and sin against God. God has created us capable of withstanding the temptations of life (I Corinthians 10:13), and no one of us need be a "victim of his passions."
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Purity Is Not Optional

Purity is not an "optional" virtue that the Christian chooses or rejects. Without purity of life we cannot participate in the joys of the kingdom of God. Without constant vigilance. we can easily sink into the quagmire of impure thinking and living. The Christian should make a solemn resolve that he or she will strive constantly for the pure life. Paul said, "Flee immorality" (Corinthians 6:18), and this simply means to run away from the immoral," whether it be in thinking, in speech, or in behavior. The greatest challenge facing our nation today is that of an immoral world. When people begin living right, their lives will be better, their homes will be better, their neighborhoods will be better, their country will be better. May God help us to have the kind of faith which truly can "overcome the world."
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Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by THE LOCKMAN FOUNDATION. Used by permission.