True Purity

By Fred Wikoff

Years ago a group of my friends went camping in Oregon’s scenic Cascades. One of the men also happened to be the county health inspector, and took home a sample of the crystal clear water they had downed in huge quantities from a cold, pristine stream. Much to their chagrin, the water when tested had enough coliform bacteria in it to close the local creamery had it been found in its products.

What looks pure on the surface is often misleading. Christ warned of this when he called the Pharisees “white washed tombs;” and chastised them for rigorously adhering to the external purifying requirements of the Jewish law, while neglecting important moral issues. (See Matthew 23:23-28)

These external cleansings gave the Pharisees a false sense of purity. It permitted them to conceive wrongful acts in their hearts and do them, then perform physical cleansings and think themselves free of sin and pure compared to obvious sinners. (See Luke 18:10-12)

We like to ridicule the Pharisees arrogance. But truthfully we Christians often see ourselves just as pure compared to disbelievers, criminals, and others. Pharisee or Christian, the mistake is in the comparison.

Billy Graham observed this when watching his wife do the family washing back in the days before electric clothes dryers. “The clothes looked white and clean in the house, but when she hung them on the line they actually appeared soiled and dirty in contrast to the fresh-fallen snow.” (Graham: “The Secret of Happiness”)

When we compare our purity to anyone other than God we fool only ourselves. Isaiah 64:6 tells us that mankind is “unclean” and our righteous deeds like “soiled garments.” We’re all infected from birth by an impure world; and keeping clean is like working on a car dressed in a white shirt and tie. No matter how diligent, we’re going to get dirty. And that dirt (sin) keeps us from God and achieving his purity. Even more disturbing, God demands that we be as pure as he. (See I Thessalonians 4:7-8)

Fortunately, God’s desire for our purity is so strong he gave his life to attain it. (See John 3:16) Then, to make sure His death was not in vain, He sent His Spirit to live within us to help us keep the purity His death bought. (See John 14:16-17)

Still, even though God’s purity is free, we must do our part to receive it. We don’t get it all at once. It takes a lifetime of continued spiritual harmony with God that enables us to denounce sin and all right to our selves, by freely giving our entire being to Him.

When this truly takes place, God’s purity shines forth from us in a brilliance that not only testifies to His presence, but also to His great love for all mankind. And unlike the false purity of the world, the purity God gives us is genuine and for eternity.

“Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8

Fred Wikoff writes from Eugene, Oregon. EugeneSpud2@live.com