October 7, 2019 PURIFY YOURSELF
1 John 3:2-3 “Behold, we are now children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
1 Peter 1:15: but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior.”
It’s rather easy to live on auto-pilot. However, to live in such a way is to insure spiritual immaturity and a life far short of what God has made available. Also, there is a viewpoint among some that believes that the primary thing is to trust God for salvation, and ‘wait’ on Him to do whatever He wants to do in us. There is a sense in which we are to wait on God and not pursue our own ways-but that is not the point here. The truth is that we have been called to work with Him as He works in us; we are to work out our salvation. Philippians 2:12 tells us: “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed-not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence-continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” The word of God can and should be seen as instructions for life from our Heavenly Father. From the verses above, two things we are called to do is to purify ourselves and to be holy in all our behavior. We are ‘holy’ because we are in Christ, but we are also called to live holy-to express holiness. We cannot purify ourselves nor can we be holy in our own strength; it’s only by the power of the Spirit within us. There are many scriptures that tell us that obeying God is a result of loving Him-we do not obey in order to earn His approval. So it is with purifying ourselves and being holy in conduct-we do these things because we love Him; in fact, if we love Him, we will do what He says. We know what God means by purifying ourselves; it means getting rid of what is impure-wrong thoughts, wrong actions, wrong response, living for self, etc. It means having a pure heart, because out of the heart the issues of life flow. To be holy in conduct simply means to do the things that please the Lord. If we believe that Jesus is coming again and if we are eagerly awaiting that day, surely we will want to be found living in purity and holiness. All of this is based not on fear, but on the love that God has for us and the love we have for Him.
Colossians 1:9a-10 “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.”
Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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