The Purity Tactic

Matthew 5:8, "Blessed are the Pure in heart, for they shall see God." 

Purity Rule no. 1

Don't have sex before marriage.

Purity Rule no. 2 

Keep your hands off of the opposite gender. 

Purity Rule no. 3 

Don't watch pornography. 

Ect... 

"Why do you Christians create rules that they refuse to follow themselves?" A frustrated teenager asks in indignation. "I saw online the other day that more 'Christians' are divorcing their spouses than non-Christians! Obviously your little purity tactics aren't working very well." 

We've been given a pretty rough name, ladies and gentleman.... 

Is our "little purity tactic" failing? Are we no better than those who are not God's children? 

I remember sitting in a youth group lesson on sex and dating when I was thirteen and watching all of these Christian teens giving their testimony about how they had just recently stopped their sexual intimacies with their girlfriends or boyfriends. It had been tough, but God helped them through. Then, growing up, I watched as one after another, the teenagers that I looked up to fell into this same thing. What was happening? I didn't know what to think. These people were breaking all of the purity rules that were set in place! All of the youth group, parent, bible rules on not touching each other, or telling dirty jokes were just thrown out of the window. 

It's true, purity has become a under-cooked issue in a lot of hearts, but inevitably, we will all fight this battle. Once, I heard a woman tell me you will fall if your idea about purity was to just: not have sex. She said that your goal must be to please God, and then you will not fall. This is one of the truest statements I've ever heard. 

Purity needs to be defined a little bit first, because it is a very misconstrued idea. When Christians take on the view that purity is kept in order to be able to give yourself to your spouse on the marriage night, then we miss the mark completely. Purity is so much more than relationships and abstinence. There are several forms of purity. 

1. Purity of the mind. 

2. Purity of words.

3. Purity of lifestyle. 

You see, we cannot live a life pleasing to God's standards unless we possess three forms of purity. When we practice purity of the mind, not only are we avoiding thinking about sexual things, but we are building a wall to protect ourselves from ANY unclean thing! Because purity is cleanliness. And we can't have cleanliness if we are involved in dirty things. This applies to Purity of the mind. You cannot think pure things if you are putting in dirt and grime. (Video games, movies, music, bad friendships) I'm not saying that all video games are of Satan, but I am saying that if you are involved in something that does not glorify God's standards in the Bible, then you are not keeping yourself pure from the world.

Purity of words is speaking truths and (obviously) cleanly things. If you want to keep your words pure, then we have to keep our heart pure. Which (like above) means to stay away from ungodly things. If you put dirt in a cup and then pressure wash that cup, what will come out? Dirt right? Right! So if we're putting dirty things into our heart, then dirty things are going to come out of our mouths. 

Purity of lifestyle is to live according to God's word, which is the most pure way of living that we could have. If we were to wear shirts with secular things on it, wear revealing clothing, not guard our mouths, not guard what we go to see, not guard anything on the outside... people are going to notice. People watch Christians, and if they see that you aren't pure in your lifestyle, then you lose your witness because you aren't any different from them. 

All of these pure things, if put into practice, will lead you closer to the Lord. And if you are close to the Lord, then you will not be tempted to do the hated things of the Lord. Keep yourselves clean. Drop evil with the Lord's help. Ask and you will receive. He won't let you struggle alone. You can be pure if you truly want to please the Lord. I'm praying for you all. 

~Whatsoever Things Are True

Philippians 4:8

The Bible IS Specific

If there is one thing I've learned throughout my relationship with Christ, it's that God is not into the whole "wide road" thing. The road to heaven is truly narrow just like he says.

I've just read an article that blew my mind away. A New York Times opinion piece talked about a man named Jeff. Jeff is a born and raised Southern Baptist man, who eventually became gay. (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/05/opinion/bruni-reading-gods-mind.html?ref=opinion) Frank Bruni (writer of this column) writes: "But has [The Bible] been translated correctly? Interpreted the right way? Are they timeless verities or — more logically — reflections of an outmoded culture and obsolete mind-set? And if all of the Bible is to be taken literally, shouldn’t Christians refrain from planting multiple kinds of seed in one field or letting women speak in church or charging interest to the poor?

“You can twist the Bible any way you want,” Jeff told me, adding, “We overemphasize sexual morality, as if God puts a premium on what we do in the bedroom over what we do at the bank.”

After reading this article, I am put in a state of unease as I read countless articles of people who feel the same as Frank and Jeff. People truly do think that the Bible is outdated and interpreted in the wrong way. Let me give you a couple of scriptures that puts this argument at rest.

Hebrews 3:18 says "Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever."

Malachi 3:6a says, "I the Lord, do not change."

If people truly believed in these verses, then the Christian population of the world would be drastically different. This blog post is not just to talk about homosexuality, but of the specifics in the Bible.

First off, the Bible:

Is without error. (Psalm 12:6)

Is inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16)

Does not change with time. (Matthew 5:18)

Is eternal. (Psalm 119:89)

If all of this is true... then some believers are in big trouble. God does not change with time, and this means his standards are not going to change either. Sure, we don't have to offer sacrifices every time we sin anymore. But this is only because the perfect sacrifice was offered so that we could have a way to be delivered from sin.

I don't know how many times I have heard from people's mouths, "I don't believe that the whole Bible is relevant anymore. People were stoned because they disobeyed their parents, so why is it accepted now?"

Well, just because people put up with this stuff today doesn't mean God does.

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:18-20)

The last time I checked in the Bible, it read that God hated sin. He will not let sin go unpunished. It is true that sin has become a normal thing in this day in age, but when is the last time you heard that God thought it was okay to stab someone because someone said something mean about your mom? If one of God's morals have gone down the drain, then by golly, all of them should. And since that is not the case, then we still face a God that has not changed.

If God's morals have not changed, then his commands and laws have not changed either. Not in:

Homosexuality (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

Lying (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

Stealing (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

Adultery (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

Using His name as a cuss word (Exodus 20:7)

Preaching (Mark 16:15)

Setting good examples (Titus 2:7)

Guarding our tongues (Proverbs 18:21)

Treating others with respect (Matthew 7:12)

Forgiveness (Matthew 5:16)

Love (1 Corinthians 13)

All of these things are just a small glimpse at His will on our life. Yet we treat these like things we should try to do. The last time I checked, the Bible verses that I just listed didn't have anything to do do with the words, "I would prefer if you did this..." or "maybe you should try this..." God says grounded words like, "Go." "Do." "Do not." "Be." "If you don't, then..." These are not suggestions. God's words are commands which are usually followed by warnings. Take 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 as an example:

 Or do you not know that the unrighteous[a] will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

Don't treat the Bible like many Christians treat it. These are not suggestions! These are warnings, commands, and a guide through this tough life. It's not meant to harm, it's meant to keep you from an eternity of death. Take God's words into account. Don't try to follow, give up all you've got to follow. It's the end times. We can't be messing around in sin when Jesus comes back. Don't be asleep. Be vigilant and awake.

~Whatsoever Things Are True

Philippians 4:8