A Call to Purity

“Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing of water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant Church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Eph. 5:25-27)

Since our primary goal in the transformation of our congregation and community is to attract the presence of our Holy God, this covenant of purity becomes a critical step in our journey forward.

In order for us to prepare ourselves to be a place where God’s glory and presence will “rest”, we must uproot through repentance those things which offend God and keep His presence at a distance.

Jesus is inviting us to cleanse ourselves from all defilement of sexual immorality and to be delivered from its bondage and power. What we gain in return, in addition to personal freedom and wholeness is His restored presence in our midst.

All sin is not equal in its gravity and impact. Sexual immorality in Scripture is revealed as a major “tap root” of sin that offends God and causes Him to withdraw His presence and favor from the Church.

The pervasiveness of sexual immorality is so widespread in our culture that it is now viewed as “normal” and acceptable lifestyle. It has permeated all of our institutions, our media, entertainment, schools, universities, and even the Church!

Many are conceding that immorality and internet pornography are simply too strong to overcome, so they respond with a passive attitude of toleration. Others insist that it’s permissible or even excuse it as “human nature” covered by God’s grace.

We cannot allow the status quo to go unchallenged as long as immorality abounds. We must NOT be silent and tolerate sexual immorality in our midst.

Our response cannot be either passive toleration or embracing false grace to cover our disobedience. The only way Jesus exhorts us to respond to this issue is to acknowledge it and repent for it.

We must choose to listen carefully to what the Holy Spirit is saying through His Word to our hearts. We must choose to trust God and submit to the authority of His Word, His ways, and His Lordship if we want the freedom and life He promises to every believer.

Repentance

Jesus makes clear that the origin of our sin is first of all “from within”, out of the hearts of men, evil thoughts proceed…wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness…all these evil things proceed from within and defile the man” (Mark 7:21-23).

Repentance, like sin, is first of all a heart issue. Until we are willing to face the probing by the Holy Spirit of our own heart, a revival of repentance will not happen on a larger scale.

A clear Biblical principle is that if our sin has separated us from God and therefore impacted our relationship with Him and others, the only way to return to Him is to humble ourselves, submit to God and repent for the sin that has separated us.

Twice Jesus warned, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Lk 13:3, 5).  These words were not primarily spoken to Gentile sinners or pagans, but to the Jews, God’s covenant people, who were religious but not righteous. 

Repentance is not something that is necessary only at the point of our conversion. Rather, repentance is an on-going necessity in our life in order to remain clean and connected in our hearts with God.  When we let sin accumulate in our lives without repentance, it leads to spiritual defilement, dullness, and even relational disconnect with God.

God’s people are called to be morally and sexually pure (2 Co 11:2; Titus 2:5; 1 Pet 3:2). Sexual purity involves refraining from all acts and thoughts that incite desire outside one’s marriage covenant or one’s virginity before marriage. Purity involves controlling one’s own body “in a way that is holy and honorable” (1 Th. 4:4) and is the opposite of “passionate lust” (1 Th. 4:5). Purity involves our thoughts as well as expressed acts.

As God’s people we are to live lives separate from the influence of the society and culture where we live. “come out from among them and be separate”

“The kindness of God leads us to repentance.” (Rom 2:4) Jesus, when writing to the churches at the end of the first century, declared: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent” (Rev 3:19).

The repentance that God’s grace makes possible through the cross involves grief, a genuine regret for sin, an honest confessing of sin, renouncing and decisively turning from sin, and a turning to God in faith in the Lord Jesus. The New Testament insists that true repentance will be evident in the fruit of a changed life (Mathew 3:8, Acts 26:20).

The habit of sinning cannot be broken superficially. Sins begin tentatively. When lightening bolts do not fall from the sky after sinning, temptations are indulged more freely. Sin doesn’t seem as bad as it did at first. When sin is repeated, the pleasure of sin grows, the conscience is dulled, and a habit develops and tightens its grip.