Purity

“and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” –James 1:27

What is purity in the eyes of God? We can look at the word “purity” in many different ways. For example, in a relationship seminar we might end by committing to remain pure, but how deep does this commitment go? Does this level of purity simply mean that we will choose to maintain sexual purity until marriage or does it go further than this? What about kissing someone? What about guarding and protecting our hearts? What about exposing our feelings to someone before the time is right? (…not to awaken love until the time is right – Song of Songs 2:7)

The bible tells us in James 1:27 that “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” I want to focus on the last part of that verse: “and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” What is it to keep ourselves unstained by the world? It is to live a lifestyle of purity (pure and undefiled religion). But then we have to define what purity is. First of all, by nature, we are not pure. Our human nature is full of evil. This evil can be found in our movies, in our television, in our stores, on our internet, but where it all starts is in our hearts and who we choose to follow: our desires or those of God. We are sinners in a need of a Savior, and can only be made pure by committing ourselves to Christ.

Job was a man that wanted to live a pure and undefiled life. He saw that he was a sinner and nothing without God. This realization led him to make this commitment: “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust upon a young woman.” (Job 31:1 NLT) This is a commitment of purity. It is a commitment of guarding and protecting what we let our eyes see (through television, movies, the internet, etc). Daniel was another man that knew that the human nature is evil. Therefore, out of his desire to be committed to a pure and holy God, Daniel made this commitment: “But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank;” (Daniel 1:8 NASB) Here we see purity in a different light. Daniel wanted to keep his physical body undefiled from the foods which he consumed. His focus was on God and on being obedient to God.

These are two examples of men that chose to keep themselves unstained by this world. It began with them realizing that they were sinners and needed a Savior. They chose to be obedient to God and maintain a level of purity that their world did not practice. In our world today, there is much evil; the same evil that Job and Daniel faced. Are we willing to live a high level of purity? To commit ourselves to live a pure and undefiled religion by keeping ourselves unstained by this world?


*Feel free to leave comments, questions, or thoughts about what has been posted above. Your thoughts are valuable!