Lately, I’ve witnessed so much controversy around the idea of PURITY. So much so that I had to think twice about accepting the opportunity to weigh in on the subject. Some have said that promoting a culture of purity is more medieval than modern and inevitably crosses a line, becoming a catalyst for shaming others. In no way do I condone nor tolerate shaming, bullying, and discrimination of any kind – from rape to excessive roasting – none of it! And I’m equally concerned that the belief that something can be emphatically and universally impure or all-out wrong is slowly but steadily evaporating from our society.
Believing that there is such a thing as inappropriate behavior or scandalous activity and articulating it, is one of the fastest ways to get “canceled” in our culture today. As a consequence, many truth-tellers have gone silent on many subjects, including the subject of purity, or worse, they’ve capitulated to a belief that we are all pure in perpetuity no matter the choices we make.
In the New Testament, the Greek words for “purity” and “holy” have in common the same word origin – Hagnós. It means to be originally in a condition prepared for worship; to be pure to the core, inside and out, uncontaminated. It is my summation that a call to purity is a call to be like God.
“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15-16).
I think it’s safe to say that that’s a tall order for all of us, pre-Jesus and post-Jesus! While we may not be impure in the same areas, we all have areas of impurity, areas that still don’t reflect the holiness of God despite our best efforts.
So, to accept the reality that there are indeed areas in our lives that are impure, by God’s standards of purity, places the responsibility on us to do something about it and/or accept His grace as we contend for purity in that area. But what we cannot do is expand upon the definition of purity, to include the areas where we lack discipline and areas we haven’t placed adequate boundaries around. God has already defined purity (Exodus 20:1-17), and Jesus came on the scene to clear up any confusion about it.
Read Matthew 5:27-32, 15:19, 19:1-12, and Mark 7:21-23, and you’ll see how Jesus clarifies and reestablishes the boundaries as it relates to the complexion of blessed relationships. He further highlights the dangers of harboring lust in our hearts and then distinguishes adultery (moicheiai) and sexual immorality (porneia). Both being impure but one covering a broader range of impure sexual activity— past, present, and future inventions of it.
The Question of Boundaries
People ask me: “Is impurity that big of a deal since we are not under the law but under grace now?” (Romans 6:15-23). To which I say: Let us not confuse positional purity and practical purity.
Paul uses the preposition “in” Christ to refer to the position in which we experience the blessing of things like righteousness, justification, glorification, being raised, and being seated with Christ. When we legit ask for forgiveness and believe in Jesus His son, we are saved and fully accepted by God because of our new position “in” Christ. However, these are terms of imputation. In other words, the impure are enabled to partake in this righteousness strictly on the basis of faith and are treated as if righteousness and justification are actually ours based on what Jesus did on our behalf. His work makes us acceptable. We are not saved by our own works but we have been saved for works.
Good works are a product of true faith, just as a good tree produces good fruit. The New Testament writer, James, said it this way: “Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead”( James 2:15-17).
James is confronting people who profess to be following Jesus but still lack evidence that their decision was truly authentic. He’s saying real faith is accompanied by righteous activity. Righteous activity is not how unbelievers are saved but it is how the saved behave!
Being in Christ doesn’t give us a pass to intentionally be impure. Actually, over time, my inability to practice purity calls into question the legitimacy of my positional purity. The world only knows we belong to Christ when it evaluates not just what we say but what we practice and ultimately produce.
Wait! What about God’s seemingly increasing or expanded definition of purity, as seen in Acts 10:9-23, where He chides Peter not to call anything impure that He has made clean even if it initially was considered impure in light of another person’s customs (Leviticus 11)? It’s true, that single decision directly impacted and significantly contributed to the steady growth of the church and God’s new civilization. But God only made a cultural concession (around food) that didn’t ultimately violate His moral law as outlined in the ten rules nor in Jesus’ clarification of those ten rules.
Still, God didn’t leave us without more boundaries, even in regards to achieving pure church growth and allowing outsiders like you and me into His new kingdom. Outsiders were welcomed in the kingdom if and only if they consented to the following boundaries: Abstain from things sacrificed to idols. Abstain from blood and from things strangled. Abstain from sexual immorality (Acts 15:20, 29; 21:25).
To live a life that’s pure and holy is to live a life with boundaries! By definition, to be holy means to be specifically set aside. God has already labeled certain things holy, pure, and acceptable so that we don’t have to. Therefore, our agreement with Him on these items is a non-factor. He’s the Creator, we’re His creation! He established right and wrong before any of us ever got here. He wasn’t being mean when He did it, but He wanted to ensure that the world He created ran properly and smoothly just as He intended.
Case Study: Joe
For Joe, at age seventeen, it became painfully evident that he didn’t quite fit in with the other guys. He possessed something that innately infuriated those around him and pushed them to the point of expressing utter hatred towards him. To make matters worse, like most leaders, Joe was a visionary, and his vision of the future threatened the current power structure and upon hearing it, his detractors became livid. However, despite their reaction, he was convinced that one day he would be the one with the influence, and he would be the one with a platform whereby he could significantly shape the future. Because of this, Joe incurred multiple threats against his life and even found himself a victim of a human trafficking scheme!
Joe eventually ended up in the house of a very influential man who worked for the most powerful leader in the region. Although he was there against his own choosing, it wasn’t long before Joe was recognized for his exceptional work. He was eventually given more and more to manage, and his life and career were on a steady incline. He was climbing the ladder of success fast, and everyone he was connected to experienced the residual benefits of all he had been given by God and men of means. Ironically, all this was right in line with the vision he had had when he was only seventeen years old!
Then something happened that could have significantly altered the trajectory of his life.
“…Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while, his boss’s wife took notice of him and said, “Come to bed with me!” (Genesis 39:6-7).
So, what was the problem? Why couldn’t Joe just go on and discretely break her off a piece? It’s because he knew God established a boundary before the temptation ever happened!
In the beginning of time, God blessed the relationship between one man and one woman intertwined in a lifelong covenant. However, along with blessing them, He gave them boundaries by which they could remain pure if they so chose to. Not only did He establish the complexion of a blessed relationship but he reestablished it in the same way (Genesis 6-7) after their decision to violate the set boundaries which eroded the world, producing brokenness and a lower quality of life than what He intended.
God’s Plans for Our Life
Like Joseph, if we want to be truly successful and give our dreams a greater chance of materializing, we must also be willing to do whatever it takes to guard our purity at all costs. And not just our sexual purity but also the purity God established around what we worship, when we rest, words we speak, respecting parents, valuing life, being honest, and being content with what we’ve been given.
Although momentarily, Joseph’s pursuit of purity caused a setback in his life and career but not as great a setback had he complied with the request to jump in bed with a woman he wasn’t married to. Temptation has a way of disregarding the plans of God no matter how elaborate and detailed they are. Infidelity is among the leading causes of divorce. It changes the complexion of the familial structure and erodes trust. However, we are all called to live abundantly within the reality that certain things are indeed off-limits!! Specifically, every woman or every man doesn’t belong to you. They’re not here for your pleasure or sexual enjoyment, whether they appear in porn or in person.
Contending for our purity not only protects us, but it denies others at least one opportunity to violate themselves, the ones they love, and ultimately their Creator, with our help.
6 Purity Hacks
• Engage a lifestyle of prayer and fasting around discipline
• Meet and interact in groups
• Designate someone to be accountable to
• Set times around your availability
• Identify the triggers that can leave you vulnerable
• Refocus personal compliments and don’t feel obligated to reciprocate
