Most of us prefer to drink water that has been found pure. The same can be said about most of our food. Purity is something we consider a serious matter especially when it relates to what we see as most important in life. Perhaps we should be reminded that God takes purity rather seriously as well.
The creation came into existence free from the impurity of sin. Old Testament sacrifices were to be pure, without blemish or scar. The prophets called the people of Israel to practice a pure faith free from the corrupting influence of pagan religions. The God of Israel demanded a pure and holy people that would be his royal priesthood among the nations.
The perfect sacrifice that was pure in every way came in the person of Jesus Christ. He preached purity. He lived in purity. He died in purity. He was raised from the dead in purity to ascend to sit by the throne of glory. Purity is no laughing matter or subject of coarse jokes in the eyes of the Creator of the universe.
Some of my favorite verses for memorization (and thus reminders of how I ought to be living) include the concept of purity. In the New Testament we find in the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart"; in Paul's counsel to Timothy (I Tim. 4:12) he says to set an example for others that includes purity, and in his letter to the Philippian believers he encourages them to keep their thoughts focused on what is pure (4:8); and James says that wisdom from above is known first and foremost by its purity (3:17).
This concept is not just some commercial for getting the stains and residue out of your life. The two more common words used for purity in the New Testament bring together concepts of morality and freedom from corruption, such as an innocent life, clean water, and gold without contamination. There is even the root reference that purity has its foundation in the divine. Being and staying pure is serious stuff.
An individual that responds to the call of Christ is called to be pure, as well as holy, perfect, etc! To be consistent this must be reflected not only in deeds and words but also thoughts. Jesus made it clear that just as sin is a matter of the heart so is purity. Words and actions only follow what has already set up housekeeping in the mind.
Churches are made up of individual believers. Associations and conventions are made of churches that are made up of individual believers. The motives and the actions they prompt in our churches and more extended organizations cannot but help reflect the nature of the individual believers. God calls for us to make sure that nature is pure.
Individual Christians should be motivated out of pure minds. Their words and deeds should reflect that aspect of their transformed nature. Believers should relate to others out of the pure, divine love of their Savior. Believers should see others through purified eyes. They should speak with purified words. They should act in ways that reveal they have been purified by surrender to the Lordship of the Holy Spirit.
Churches should respond to their communities out of a purity of purpose and motivation. The self-sacrificing agape love of our Savior can be the only guide we have. The Church must be pure if it is to be the salt and light its Lord intended. The sins of self-preservation and need for domination have no place in the Church, the Bride of Christ.
Purity in the same way must mark the motivation and actions of the Church in its expanded image of associations and conventions. Self is always subordinated to the divinely recognized needs of humanity. These larger entities must look deep within themselves and find the truth of who they are and why they exist. If purity does not mark what they find, then change is demanded.
Purity demands constant self-evaluation, confession, and repentance. This is no less true of the Church, the association, and conventions than it is of the individual believer.
