The Scope Of Biblical Purity
December 2011 – Grace & Truth Magazine
The Scope Of Biblical Purity
Even though the word “impurity” appears three times more often in the Bible than “purity,” I don’t think this means that God wants us to spend all of our time dwelling on impurity. And even though most readers think that biblical references to purity and impurity are usually to sexual sins, I think it is good to consider some other thoughts about biblical purity.
For instance, the Bible lists “purity” as one of the ways “as servants of God we commend ourselves” to others (2 Cor. 6:4-6 NIV). Purity is also one way that we represent ourselves as God’s children. Paul wrote this to Timothy: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12). Purity also helps us relate to others in a non-threatening way: “Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity” (1 Tim. 5:1-2).
Purity is mentioned as a way for Christian women to lead their unbelieving husbands to God: “Wives ... be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the Word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives” (1 Pet. 3:1-2). Purity also identifies God’s people as different from the world. This is why the Bible urges us to “put to death ... impurity” and whatever else belongs to our earthly nature, such as sexual immorality, lust and evil desires (Col. 3:5).
We hope that this month’s articles on purity will prove helpful to our readers. The first uses both the Old and new Testaments to make the point that we can be kept pure in an impure world. The second tells us that we have the resources to present the purity of God to the world. And the third gets very specific about ways to maintain sexual purity. The message is clear: God wants us to keep ourselves pure (1 Tim. 5:22).
By Larry Ondrejack