03/03/12 PURITY REQUIRED AND PROVIDED
Do not be robbed of true PURITY of heart and life, just because there is a false form of purity. After all, you would not trash a true treasure just because it has been counterfeited.
PURE HEART
There is a Purity of heart that God provides to those who trust Christ. In fact it is a purity of heart that is required if we want to spend eternity with God. I will share a few verses from the Bible that address this subject.
But first let me mention that there are people who try to enter into a relationship with God through following a path of futility. Some people trust in a personal purity that is not based on the redemptive work of Christ. This false purity is the product of a vain philosophy (which views the human condition to be inherently good), or the notion that works of self righteousness can make a person pure. The fact that there is a false purity of heart does not mean there is not a true purity of heart.
False Purity
Men claim that they can make themselves pure by their own human effort. This is called by various names, "self righteousness," "works righteousness," "works of the flesh." However, man cannot redeem himself from his spiritual bankruptcy by drawing from his empty coffers; he cannot cleanse himself by washing in his own filth.
Men cannot make themselves pure, simply by declaring themselves to be pure. God does not even declare us to be righteous when we are actually unrighteous. Instead, God changes unrighteous men into righteous men, by counting their faith as righteousness, and then God calls them righteous.
Men are born with sinful nature, they are born with polluted nature, and claiming to be without sin does not change the fact of man's need for forgiveness and purification from all sin.
Proverbs 20:9
(9) Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?
Proverbs 30:12
(12) There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
1 John 1:8
(8) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Redemptive Purity
However, there is a purity (holiness, righteousness, perfection) that God provides for those who trust Christ for deliverance from all sin. God has spoken of this atonement purity in several places. Notice that these verses address the question of, "Purity." There are other verses that address, Holiness, Righteousness, Perfection.
Old Testament
Psalms 18:26
(26) With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.
Psalms 24:3-5
(3) Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?
(4) He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
(5) He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Psalms 73:1
(1) ...Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.
(Same Hebrew word as found in Ps. 24:4).
Proverbs 15:26
(26) The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD: but the words of the pure are pleasant words.
New Testament
Matthew 5:8
(8) Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
John 15:2
(2) Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
1 Timothy 1:5
(5) Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
2 Timothy 2:22
(22) Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Titus 2:14
(14) Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
James 4:8
(8) Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
1 Peter 1:22
(22) Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
1 John 3:3
(3) And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
I realize there are renowned Christian teachers that deny personal purity for believers. They offer long explanations on why these verses do not mean what they say. I have not taken the time to explain God's word. Honest reading and simple faith makes it clear that God provides purity for those who hunger for it.
