Habits of Effective Disciples: Purity
God calls His disciples to live pure lives in an impure world.
How do we avoid impurity in our world? In Psalm 119:9
the psalmist asks: "How can a young man keep his way pure?"
This question is now more relevant than ever before. It also
applies not only to a young man, but to all men.
We find help in the words of King David and also in Paul's
letter to the Ephesians.
King David knew from Samuel's story that God had always been
the king of Israel (1* Samuel 8:7). When Israel cried out for an
earthly king they did not reject Samuel but rejected God. The time
of the pure relationship between the Lord and His people was
no longer direct and the Lord was not pleased.
How do we avoid impurity in our world? In Psalm 119:9
the psalmist asks: "How can a young man keep his way pure?"
This question is now more relevant than ever before. It also
applies not only to a young man, but to all men.
We find help in the words of King David and also in Paul's
letter to the Ephesians.
King David knew from Samuel's story that God had always been
the king of Israel (1s Samuel 8:7). When Israel cried out for an
earthly king they did not reject Samuel but rejected God. The time
of the pure relationship between the Lord and His people was
no longer direct and the Lord was not pleased.
So now in our day we seek to bring a pure heart to the worship of the
Lord.
Why is this need so important?
PROMISES TO THE PURE
Psalm 24:5-6
God's promise to the pure in Psalm 24 is powerful. When we worship God
in purity, we receive the two-fold grace of His blessing and His never ending pardon.
First, God blesses worshipers who come into His holy house in purity of heart. We do so
by confessing our sin in prayerful communion, repenting of those sins, and asking His
forgiveness. We also extend to Him in prayer our forgiveness of those who have
wronged us. By these factors, we approach in purity.
Next He offers His pardon to His people who come to Him in purity. God
does not wink at our sin.
How can a holy God make unholy people pure? Paul gave us this answer in
2nd Corinthians 5:21:
"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might
become the righteousness of God".
Through these promises, both fulfilled, the Lord allows us joy in worship.
PURIFIED BELIEVERS BECOME CHILDREN OF LOVE AND LIGHT
Ephesians 5:1-16
We may be tempted to think of our time as the darkest of all days since
Jesus ascended and sent the Holy Spirit to be our help and guide. But an honest study of
history reminds us of many dark ages until now.
Before we mature into true disciples, we must lean into what it means to be
children of God, loved by Him, and living in His precious light.
Paul extends a simple and powerful lesson of comfort for all followers of
Jesus, which is you are loved. This love is kind and compassionate toward us and it
leads us to be kind and compassionate toward others. Paul teaches us that we are loved
by God when we were dead spiritually in our trespasses and sins. He taught us in
Romans 5:8 that Jesus died for us in loving sacrifice BEFORE we were saved. The
power of the lesson is that He loved us at our worst.
DISCIPLES IMITATE GOD IN HOLINESS
Ephesians 5
Paul was working to bring God's kingdom to the entire world, through the
salvation of sinners who would then witness to others who would then seek their own
salvation. This effort reflects the true spiritual purity of purpose. In S:7 Paul warned us
to walk as children of light and in 5:8 we are to live that way. Here is a lesson of
importance. Paul did NOT say we were once IN darkness, but he went much further and
said that we WERE darkness itself.
Through grace we have become His disciples. We have been changed from
darkness to light by salvation and are being changed even more into images of Jesus
Himself by the work of His Holy Spirit in sanctification.
God's standard of purity is not subject to popular opinion.
We want to be kind and loving to all we meet as His disciples and
ambassadors of His work in our lives. God loves sinners. This is actually very good
news because we are still sinners ourselves, seeking to sin less.
Let's live what we believe, becoming pure through Christ and purifying the
world we see around us by putting forth His gospel in the life we live and use words if
necessary (St. Francis of Assisi taught that little lesson).
Jesus put the final exclamation point on this lesson for us in Matthew 5:8:
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God".
