TYPES AND SHADOWS | 04 | Living In Purity

Purity (or holiness) is a theme that has taken a backseat in some Christian circles. In a general sense, I have heard several extreme views on the subject matter that ranges from practices of extreme legalism to laziness from liberal thinking.

The former believe that Christians must be placed on rigid and mandatory rules that control their lifestyle choices while the latter believes that Christians should not strife towards holy living because Christ has already done it all for us and our holiness is found in Him.

A Changed Nature

In dealing with this topic, we first have to identify who the target audience is.

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” — 1 Peter 1:13–16 (English Standard Version)

There are many scriptures we can use to identify who the topic of holiness is directed towards, but I have chosen to focus on 1 Peter 1:13–16. In verse 14, Peter uses the term ‘former ignorance’ which is very similar to another phrase ‘old things have passed a way’ used by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. — 2 Corinthians 5:17 (New King James Version)

The first thing that we need to establish is that the subject of holiness is for those who are in Christ. God does not expect holiness from the rest of the world. At this point, I would like to be clear so you do not misinterpret what I’m saying.

Is holiness a requirement for a relationship with God? Yes, it is.

Does God expect the entirety of the human race to be holy? No, He does not.

Our God is not a fool, neither is He is an unreasonable God. He cannot expect from man what man cannot give.

Humanity in its natural state is incapable of producing holiness. This is why Jesus Christ had to die for us. He had to pay the price for our sins and restore unto us all the requirements for man to build a personal relationship with God as we had originally before the fall of Adam.

One of these requirements is a change in nature. This is what the phrases we are examining in the scriptures above are addressing. Paul and Peter are reminding the Christians that something has changed.

They had a former disposition and an old desire for how their lives would be lived, but something is different now. Accepting Christ has given them a new disposition. They now have a soul that is disposed towards holiness and pleasing God. This is the miracle of the new birth and without it, living in purity would be an impossibility.

Work It Out

From verses 13–14, Peter mentions the need for Christians to set their minds and their beings towards holiness. This is a very active thing and this is where some sections of liberal thinking miss the mark.

The sacrifice of Jesus has given us a new nature and has given our souls a new disposition towards holiness. But this does not mean that we should lie on our backs and do nothing. There is a mandate for us to work it out in practical terms in our lives.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery. — Galatians 5:1 (Berean Study Bible)

In the scripture above, the same sentiment is communicated quite clearly. It cannot be contested that Christ has set us free, but we still have the responsibility of standing firm.

This is a reoccurring theme in scripture that cannot be overemphasized.

Our Response To Weights and Sin

One of the major hindrances that we have to live in purity is our response to sin and weight. Sin in this context refers to actions or temptations to actions that lead us to grieve the Holy Spirit and affects our relationship with God. Weights are things in our lives that are not necessarily sinful but have a way of impeding our progress as we grow in Christ.

Weights are usually relative, depending on the individual’s relationship with God through His Holy Spirit. Some things are weights in my life that do not apply to you who is reading this.

To deal with this, I would refer us to the book of Judges 1. For length, I will not be posting the entire chapter, but it is important to read the entire chapter for context so I will be placing a link here.

Background

Joshua, the leader of the nation of Isreal had succeeded in bringing the people of God to the promised land — the land of the covenant that God gave to Abraham. Joshua fulfiled this covenant and died, yet there was still work left for the children of Israel. God instructed them to drive away all the Canaanites and all the people that lived in the land that God had given to them.

In this story, Joshua is a type of Jesus who has fulfilled the new covenant of redemption upon mankind by giving His life on the cross. He resurrected into victory and has brought into the Kingdom of God, yet there is still work left to be done in our lives. It is up to us to work out our salvation and to deal with the weights and sins that remain in our lives.

In this passage, we find 4 major responses to God’s instructions from the nation of Israel (all passages in ESV).

Ignorance or Willful Disobedience (21)

21 But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.

We are not told the specific reason why the Benjamites refused to drive these people away, all we know is that they did not obey the Lord. In the same way, sometimes, we simply refuse to heed the instructions of God. This is a dangerous stance to take and it is something that we need to be careful of.

Complacency or Underestimation (22–26)

22 The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. 23 And the house of Joseph scouted out Bethel. (Now the name of the city was formerly Luz.) 24 And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, “Please show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you.” 25 And he showed them the way into the city. And they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go. 26 And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name Luz. That is its name to this day.

This represents those actions, thoughts or elements in our lives that we get complacent about. We usually underestimate them and think they could not lead us into disaster, even when the Holy Spirit is speaking to us about them. The house of Joseph spared this man, thinking little of Him. But time passed and this man established a new city of Luz, totally making their efforts useless.

Sometimes, we feel like we are going around in circles in our quest to live in purity because we ignore the seemingly little things.

The Trap of Weakness (19)

19 And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron.

This represents those things in our lives that are difficult to deal with — habits and addictions. It would be wrong to deny the fact that Christians deal with these things. The new birth is an instantaneous event that occurs in our spirits when we receive Jesus. However, the work to be done on our minds, emotions, wills and bodies can vary in timing. Some things will take a longer time to deal with than others. The key takeaway here is to never give up.

In this passage, the children of Judah had forgotten the previous battles that they had won against impossible odds. They had forgotten the amazing stories of victory that they had heard during the time of Moses and the miracles that God did when Joshua won battle after battle to bring them into the promised land.

At that moment, they looked upon their own personal weaknesses and simply gave up on the battle. As believers, some things will take time for the spirit of God to work on. We have to be ready to do work through it with the help of the Holy Spirit, no matter how long it takes. The devil will always try to make us give up and walk away from God’s presence.

The Illusion of Strength (28–31)

28 When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.

29 And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.

30 Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but became subject to forced labor.

31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob, 32 so the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.

You can make this final point reading until the end of this chapter, although I chose to stop in verse 31. The keywords here are ‘when Israel grew strong’ and they are my focus.

During a period of strength, rather than obey God completely, the children of Israel instead chose to take the inhabitants of Canaan captive and put them to forced labour, taking tributes from them.

At times when we feel our relationship with God is strong, we should be the wariest and careful. These are the moments that the devil uses to get us and he does this by making us flirt with weights or gateways to sin.

Perhaps you once struggled with sexual sin and lust, and the Holy Spirit has helped you to overcome this sin. He has directed your thought life by instructing you on the things you should avoid — some books, TV shows, movies, social media accounts, websites etc. — and for some time you have been doing good.

Months will pass, and the first thing the devil will do is to make you feel like you are okay or that you can handle it. If you buy into this idea, he will make you begin to flirt with some of these things again.

The truth is that for a while, you may be fine and you may not fall into temptation, but the cracks are already forming. You just can’t see it yet.

This principle applies to every situation and is not limited to this specific example.

Reading this story into Judges 2 & 3, you will find that Israel eventually married the daughters of the inhabitants of Canaan and gave their daughters in marriage. They also started to worship their gods.

All of this was not obvious at the beginning, but human strength cannot be trusted. It will always fail.

We must learn to always depend on God, especially when things are going good, realizing that every victory that we are experiencing is by His grace and by our submission to His instructions in obedience.

Purity is not a subject that we can exhaust in one article, but I hope that these few words have imparted something in our minds that will help us work towards this life. God never sets a standard that He doesn’t equip us to meet.

Until next time.

Keep living for Christ!