Articles
To Be Sure, Be Pure
For over 100 years, the Proctor and Gamble Company used the slogan ‘99 and 44/100% pure’ for their Ivory Soap advertisements. Obviously, it was a slogan they found worthwhile due to its longevity, and it was aimed at convincing the consumer that the very product they would use to get clean would itself be as clean and as pure as possible. Early in its history, the soap was tested for impurities and it was found to be better than rival products, and the actual percentage was then used to draw attention to its superiority as a selling point.
Most people, if given the choice, would want to consume or use a product that was known to be pure. In the United States, sales of bottled water reached an all-time high of 12.8 billion gallons worth in 2016, averaging out to just under 40 gallons per person each year. The sales of bottled water are attributed to convenience and a desire for a zero-calorie drink [i.e., healthy], but also because most consumers consider the water to be pure, or at least purer than the water they get from home. [Studies have shown this to be false, but people believe it, anyway.] Filtered water sales and water filters for at-home or on-the-go use are increasing, too, because consumers want to ingest water they can believe is pure, or at least water that has as many impurities and contaminants filtered out as possible. Nowadays, some people don't trust that their municipalities are providing chemical-free water, so are seeking filters that will give them peace of mind.
It's all about purity, folks.
As interested as our society is in seeking and using and consuming products verified as pure, it seems we have no such desire for purity in other aspects of our lives, like sexual and spiritual matters [which, not coincidentally, overlap]. We love and seek after pure water, soap, and non-GMO foods, but we don't seem to care when we consume and plunge into sexual filth and profanity, doing so with nary a hesitation or second thought. We strive to put only pure products into our bodies, and use only pure products on our bodies, but then we show no regard as to how the movies and television we watch and the songs we hear pollute, profane, and stain forever our minds and souls. We filter our water and verify our food is germ- and chemical-free, but we don't seem to think we need any kind of 'filter' against the things that pollute and contaminate our minds and souls, and may affect us for eternity.
While society, as a whole, doesn't seem to care about moral or spiritual purity, God cares. He has always cared about purity.
The psalmist once asked, “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place?” (Psa. 24:3); that is, he was asking who might come to the temple of the Lord and worship Him. He answers his own question: “He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully” (Psa. 24:4). Essentially, it is the one who practices moral and spiritual purity who is able to come before the Lord acceptably. We fool only ourselves if we think otherwise.
In fact, the wise writer noted, “The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, but the words of the pure are pleasant” (Prov. 15:26). You see, since, pure thoughts come from a pure mind (Matt. 12:34, 35), God is pleased with pure words because it means the man has a pure heart, too — the very thing He desires in us. Jesus also told us, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8), so this is not a light matter. The problem is, men quite often think they are pure when, in reality, they are not.
While the wise writer tells us, “All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,” we must realize the Lord knows the truth for “the Lord weighs the spirits” (Prov. 16:2); and, while “There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes,” that generation “is not washed from its filthiness” (Prov. 30:12). The wise writer astutely asks, “Who can say, ‘I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin’?” (Prov. 20:9); who, indeed! The reality is, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23); there are none who are truly pure. None of us is morally and spiritually pure in and of self; we need some outside help to be made pure, if we are to ever be acceptable in the sight of God.
The good news is, God has already provided a means of being cleansed, for the child of God is washed from his sins by the blood of Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:5), made effective when we are baptized into Christ (Acts 22:16; Col. 2:11-13). But, just as we have to wash our hands often because we get them dirty over and over, the child of God must often seek spiritual cleansing, for each one will still sin after becoming a child of God (1 John 1:8); the answer is confession and repentance, for it is then that God will cleanse us once again (1 John 1:9).
Of course, the best thing to do is to not allow self to be polluted or contaminated, right? Pure water stays pure as long as no impurities get into the container; a child of God will remain pure as long as he or she refrains from the impurities this world throws at us. Maintaining purity is something we must work at, and never take lightly. Paul admonished the young evangelist Timothy, “keep yourself pure” (1 Tim. 5:22); the obvious conclusion must be that there was [and is] always a danger of becoming impure, or allowing impurities to creep into our lives. One who is not careful to stay out of the mud puddles will inevitably stray into one of those puddles out of carelessness; a disciple who is not careful to prevent moral and spiritual impurities from reaching him will soon be stained by sin.
So, how do we, as Christians, maintain moral and spiritual purity? Well, as we noted earlier, Jesus told us, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (cf. Matt. 12:34), and, as the wise writer noted, as a man thinks in his heart [mind] that is who he really is (Prov. 23:7). So, if we seek to be morally and spiritually pure, it begins with the mind. It is for this reason, Paul urged the early disciples, “whatever things are pure…meditate on these things” (Phil. 4:8). We cannot and will not practice moral and spiritual purity if our minds are on the impure things; we must think on the pure things, to the exclusion of the impure.
Once we have a spiritual focus and are striving to meditate on the pure things, it is necessary to then practice moral and spiritual purity; that is, we must do the things that add up to moral and spiritual purity, and we must likewise refrain from the morally and spiritually impure things. Peter admonished the early disciples, “abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul” (1 Pet. 2:11). Paul admonished the early disciples to not indulge in the worldly ways, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (Rom. 13:13, 14). Simply put, we must focus on the spiritual and don't give opportunity [or look for opportunity] for the things of the world to reach us and taint us.
Purity is an absolute necessity if we seek to please the Lord, and if we desire to see the Lord. Remember, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). To be sure, be pure! — Steven Harper
