Purity

Be holy, because I am holy (1 Peter 1:16).

King David loved God—he loved the Lord so much that he wanted to be the one to construct God’s temple in Jerusalem. How disappointed he must have been when God said no, that his hands were too soaked with blood from years of war to build something that was holy.

But David’s hands were not the only impure things about him. David had an eye for the ladies. When King Saul died and David took the throne, David took for himself all of Saul’s wives and mistresses. To this already large household, David added even more wives and mistresses. But none of these women could satisfy his lust. One morning, David was on the roof of his palace and saw a beautiful woman taking a bath. Inflamed with desire, David had her brought to him, even though she was married to a man who was off fighting in a war. The affair resulted in a pregnancy, and David had the husband called back from deployment, hoping that time at home would suggest that the husband was the child’s father. But the husband was an honorable man, who could not bring himself to enjoy time with his wife when the other men in his unit were engaged in combat. In desperation, King David ordered the husband assigned to the thick of battle and left alone to die; in this way, David thought, no one could prove that the baby was illegitimate. David’s lust destroyed a marriage and murdered an innocent man.

Our world needs more purity and less passionate desire. Our commercials are soaked with sexuality, whether they be on TV, in magazines, or on billboards. The Internet is flooded with pornographic websites, and they are the most successful of all online businesses. Most couples think that great sex is so important for a marriage that they experiment with it before making a commitment, like a person test-drives a car before deciding to buy it. Married people dabble with secret affairs, putting families at risk for the sake of passion and excitement. Passionate desires undermine relationships—and this includes more than just sex and marriage. A passionate desire for revenge can lead a country to violate the terms of a peace treaty and launch an attack. A passionate desire for profit can lead a company to cut pensions that were promised to retired workers. Passionate desire is willing to disregard promises made when they prove to be inconvenient, whether those promises were made before an altar, in a board room, or at the signing of a treaty.

Where is the purity? How many couples save their virginity for their wedding night? How many people blush when they see a picture of someone nude? How many countries hold fast to their international agreements? How many businesses are committed to high ethical standards of conduct? When temptations come along, how many people immediately close their eyes and ask Jesus for the strength to resist committing a sin? How many people would rather make Jesus happy than make themselves feel good?

When Jesus forgives your sins, He changes the course of your life. Romans chapter 12 tells us, do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. When we let Christ take charge of our lives, we are reborn; our priorities change and we look at life from a new perspective.

When we think about the Christian outlook on life, one characteristic that comes to mind is a desire for purity. In Philippians chapter one Paul writes, this is my prayer: that…you…may be pure and blameless…filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ. The desire for purity comes from wanting to be like Jesus. Jesus is pure; His every thought, word and deed are beautiful because of their sheer perfection.

We want to be like Christ; we would love to go through life without making a single mistake. Of course, such a thing is impossible; because we are sinful through and through, the only way we can have any purity in our lives is through divine intervention. Jesus extends His righteousness to us, allowing us to experience purity through Him.

What does purity look like? Purity wants to evaluate everything in light of God’s holy Word. Purity rejects sinful desires as distracting and corrupting, a waste of the time and resources God has generously given you. Temptation wants you to try all sorts of different things without giving much thought to the consequences; purity says ‘take your time, don’t rush into things blindly.’ Purity doesn’t find humor in dirty jokes, nor is it entertained by gossip; purity chooses refinement over crude behavior.

Lust demands immediate action, heedless of risk or long-term repercussions. A lust for sex ignores things like marital boundaries, unplanned pregnancy, or the risk of contracting a serious disease. Lust for alcohol ignores things like possible liver damage, speaking words that might hurt another person, or dying in a car crash. Lust for buying something new ignores things like the state of your bank account or whether the same item might be on sale elsewhere for a better price. The impulsiveness of lust doesn’t allow the time for reflection that purity demands.

Jesus spoke about making pleasure your top priority. In the Parable of the Sower, He described four kinds of soil planted by a farmer. One type of soil was so hard that birds ate the seeds before they had a chance to sprout. Another type of soil was rocky; the seedlings died when they could not get sufficient root. The third type of soil was infested with weeds, which choked the crops and made them unproductive. But the fourth type of soil was rich, and it produced an abundant harvest. Jesus then explained that the types of soil illustrated the different ways people respond to hearing the Good News of salvation. Some are so stubborn that God’s word does not penetrate and take root. Some are superficial, fair-weather Christians—religion is a nice diversion, but is quickly abandoned in times of stress. The weeds represent earthly pleasures and distractions; such things get in the way of spiritual growth and make a person’s life unproductive. Lust for earthly pleasures inhibits growing up strong and pure in God.

Those who are pure dislike temptation; they want to preserve themselves for Christ as a woman preserves her virginity for her wedding night. In his second letter to the believers in Corinth (chapter 11), Paul pictures their relationship with Jesus in terms of marriage: I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you to him as a pure virgin. Considering that Jesus died to free us from sin, it just isn’t right to claim Him as our dearly beloved while at the same time embracing sin like a lover that you keep on the side.

Joseph shows us what purity looks like. Joseph was one of the youngest sons of Jacob, yet his father gave him special treatment. This made his older brothers jealous; they sold him to a passing group of slavers, then told their father that he had been mauled by a wild animal. Eventually, Joseph wound up in Egypt and was sold to a government official. Joseph proved a talented administrator, and soon he was put in charge of running the entire household.

But Joseph was also young and handsome, and his good looks caught the eye of his owner’s wife. She made repeated attempts to lure him into bed with her, but Joseph resisted. He told her, you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God? (Genesis 39:9) In spite of every attempt she made to seduce him, Joseph never gave in to her sexual advances. Eventually her lust turned to hate, she falsely accused Joseph of trying to rape her and had him thrown into prison.

How is Joseph an example of purity? First of all, he respected the vows of marriage, even though his master’s wife did not. Second, he resisted giving in to temptation, even though standing up for what was right turned the woman against him. Most importantly, Joseph understood that such an act was not just a sin against his master’s marriage, but it was a sin against God Himself. Joseph did not want to disobey God.

We live in a dark and evil world. Jesus came among us to drive back the darkness with the light of His love. We help drive back the darkness of evil when we strive for purity in everything we say and do.