|
|
ArticlesBeing An Example In Purity A Call to Purity Sam Lively, age 16 Sacramento Teens for Life
… For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 1 Thessalonians 4:7 (NIV)
There are misconceptions of purity that plague all Christians, or at least me. Sometimes I have looked at purity as a state of perfection that I must reach by an enormous personal effort, (which would be a pain to maintain). As a result, it has been easy for me to dismiss purity as an undesirable and impossible goal and I never wanted to obey Paul’s instruction in 1 Thessalonians 4:7.
Misconceptions are no excuse for not obeying God. Purity is not a personally attained perfection, but a gift of freedom from the sins that drag us down. It is not an undesirable or impossible goal. The bible shows us the way.
In Acts, Peter states it simply:
Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord … Acts 3:19 (NIV)
Repentance is easy enough to understand. Put yourself in the shoes of a little boy (we’ll call him Frank) who has just been caught by his mother with his hand submerged in the cookie jar. After his mother has scolded him and threatened him with a spanking, Frank, convicted of sin, bursts into tears and sobs an apology. His tearful apology is an example of repentance. Like Frank, we need to be scolded and warned of punishment and then to Repent of our sins. The scolding can be done by the Holy Spirit. Jesus said of the Holy Spirit When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment … John 16:8 (NIV)
The Judgment we need to hear can also come from the Bible:
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart . Hebrew 4:12 (NIV)
Once we’re convicted, it’s up to us to repent. Then we must “turn to God”
To understand the “and turn to God” part of Acts 3:19 let’s go back to Frank. Once he has made his apology he turns away from the cookie jar and runs towards his mother. This is an example of turning to God, or Mom in this case. However, Frank seems to have it easier than we do; he only has space between him and his mother, whereas we have a whole dimension between us and God. Fortunately, God has broken through this barrier and has given us many ways to seek Him on this earth. We can turn to His Holy Spirit whom God has sent to this earth. The Bible has the word of God on paper, so you can turn to Him there. You have a direct channel to God through Jesus in prayer.
Let’s not let anything hold us back from repenting and turning to God. All our resources are readily available: the Holy Spirit, the Bible, and prayer. We should take full advantage of them.
Once we have done these things, everything is all right again: we are assured that our sins will be wiped away and we will have freedom from sin. What do you think “times of refreshing from the Lord” are? I am glad to say that I can’t even imagine how good that will be.
Therefore, we should obey the call to purity, as well as any other commandment from God. I would even say we should go farther and praise God that we can have purity. ********************* Read our Fall 2003 Newsletter!
|
