Holiness and purity go hand in hand. To be holy means to be unique, separated, to stand out. If you are to be holy, you cannot be like everyone else. Plain and simple. The Christian life calls for separation. This is a central theme throughout the entire Bible: “Do not be like them.” When I call for a higher standard, I often get a response of “Who are you to be ‘holier than thou’?” Frankly, we SHOULD be “holier than the thous” out there. I’m not saying we should boast our chests out as we do so (though that’s easy to do), but that we should live a life that is unique, that stands out, and that models what Christ expects out of His Bride.
One of the ways we can do that is by living a pure life. Purity is something often related to sexual morality. If you are living sexually pure, that means the only person you will have sexual relations with is your spouse. Yet purity goes so much deeper than that. When many think of “living separate,” they think that you need to be isolated and kept innocent of the things of this world. That’s “living under the rock” mentality and sadly many people have this mindset. Stay away from the world, lest the world corrupt you. But that’s not Biblical either. Why? Because it shows how little faith you have in the God who saved you.
The other side of the pendulum of error is indulging in the world so you know what the world is like, so you know how to keep away from it. Some versions describe if you can control the worldly ideals, they are fine. If you can understand how that is supposed to work, please comment.
Purity is not innocence. Innocence comes with a connotation of ignorance - not being aware of what is out there and thus not being influenced. Innocence is a state of being. Purity, on the other hand, is a choice. Purity is the ability to see and recognize darkness or even to be in and among darkness and not partake in it. Innocence is: “I have no knowledge of that evil.” Purity is: “I will not touch that evil.” There is a difference. As we go out into this world, we can be among the heathen who smoke, drink, cuss, and engage in all sorts of vanity, but we are not to touch the profane thing ourselves.
So how can we live holy and pure lives? First, we should ask God, because we can’t do it ourselves. That’s what David did in his famous psalm of brokenness and repentance. He begged God to give him a clean and pure heart, because he knew how his sin was a violation of God’s heart and character. We too have to recognize our sin and our sinful nature. And I’m not talking about the “I’m sorry, please let me off the hook” recognition. I’m talking about the, “This was evil, and I deserve death for it, but I will follow you even if I go to Hell in the end” recognition. Start with that, then we can move on to the cleansing process. You can’t and won’t clean anything until you acknowledge it is dirty.
One thing God asks for is purity of mind. That means our minds are to be wholly submitted and devoted to thinking God’s thoughts. Many of our minds are NOT pure. Some of you may be thinking: “What bad things do you think about?” That’s none of your business. But I can safely say that very few of us regularly practice Philippians 4:8 which tells us what to think about and what not to. This deserves a whole series, but I don’t have time or space for that now.
We need to be pure of heart. It cannot be divided with multiple masters. Jesus said we can’t serve two masters, because we are going to serve one or the other. David was known as a man after God’s own heart. David went after God’s heart with everything he knew and had. He had a pure heart, even though he was anything but perfect.
We need to be pure of lifestyle. We all have those buddies that after work want to go to the bar and party. We have those co-workers and classmates who tell the dirty jokes, insult the boss/teacher, and cheat the system. Do we join in with them? Laugh at the jokes, tell them something you know the boss/teacher did wrong, turn a blind eye to playing the system? Or are we going to be separate, living a life of integrity, even at the cost of the approval of those who really don’t care about you anyway?
What about your job or college choice? Why are you going to school where you are at? Why are you doing the job you are at? Is it because of the prestige and honor, or it is because it is where God has placed you? What are you doing with it? My parents stand out to me because they are constantly thinking about how their lives and their property can be used in ministry. We designed our lot so we can service the bus for the school my church helps to run. Who thinks that way? Not many. I am a teacher, but I’m not merely thinking about teaching physics. I’m thinking of how I can use my skill sets and my knowledge to further God’s Kingdom. I don’t have the opportunities I really want to have yet, but I am part of Fellowship of Christian Athletes and I’m preparing to lay down foundations for starting a fencing program. I want my thinking at my job to be Godly and to use what God has equipped me with.
Living holy and pure lives is perhaps the most difficult thing to do because it requires surrender of self. It means to do the hard thing. It means to go where others won’t go. It means being unpopular and it often comes with suffering. But it never comes without reward. Let us live holy lives. God is holy, let us be holy as well.
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