Saturday, July 29, 2017

Purity and the Christian


As Christians, we must have a high standard of purity.  We must be pure in our speech, pure in our dress, pure in our relationships.  All of this stems from a heart desire to please the Lord and become more like Him--He Who is completely holy and without blemish.  We must not let anyone dissuade us from living a life of purity.  This is why it is so important to be careful what company we keep, not only with friends, but also what books we are reading, what we watch on TV, and what we read and look at on the internet.  Impurity and immorality is all around us.  We must be careful to guard our hearts and minds from what would draw us away from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sexual immorality is a huge problem in our culture, even among those who profess Christ.  Single Christians must be careful to live in chastity and live a sexually pure life.  Singles must remember that the only legitimate outlet for urges and feelings of this sort is marriage.  The Scriptures state, "It is better to marry than to burn" (1 Corinthians 7:9).  Scriptures do not state, "it is better to give in in a 'committed relationship'" or "it is better to indulge one's feelings" by committing what some would term "self-love".  I could use another word, but I won't here.  If you don't know what I mean, send me a message.  I would say that most people are not gifted with singleness.  I believe the Lord created most of us to be in a marriage relationship.  You probably know who you are.  I would urge you singles, while you are awaiting the Lord's perfect timing to bring you a spouse, that you keep busy in serving your families and also busy about the Lord's work in ministry.  There are always people who need help, and there are always people who need the Gospel.  Just don't completely neglect your family at home (they probably need your help too), to go and serve others.  Be busy about the Lord's work.  And use your time of singleness to grow closer to the Lord.


Married Christians must also keep a high standard of purity.  Sometimes when people get married, they let go of previous convictions in favor of new experiences, forgetting the former boundaries that kept them on the straight and narrow.  Purity is still very important in marriage.  The marriage bed must be kept pure and undefiled.  Only pure things should take place there, and we also must be careful to guard our relationships with our husbands (and of course, husbands should do the same for their wives.)  It is probably unwise for men and women (who are not husband and wife), to ever be alone together, or to have close friendships with one another.  We must observe that most adulterous relationships began with two people who never initially had that intention.  Keeping some boundaries is wise and helps preserve the sanctity of marriage, and also avoids the appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22).

I will leave you with Matthew Henry's commentary on Hebrews 13:4:
To purity and chastity, Heb_13:4. Here you have, 1. A recommendation of God's ordinance of marriage, that it is honourable in all, and ought to be so esteemed by all, and not denied to those to whom God has not denied it. It is honourable, for God instituted it for man in paradise, knowing it was not good for him to be alone. He married and blessed the first couple, the first parents of mankind, to direct all to look unto God in that great concern, and to marry in the Lord. Christ honoured marriage with his presence and first miracle. It is honourable as a means to prevent impurity and a defiled bed. It is honourable and happy, when persons come together pure and chaste, and preserve the marriage bed undefiled, not only from unlawful but inordinate affections. 2. A dreadful but just censure of impurity and lewdness: Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. (1.) God knows who are guilty of such sins, no darkness can hide them from him. (2.) He will call such sins by their proper names, not by the names of love and gallantry, but of whoredom and adultery, whoredom in the single state and adultery in the married state. (3.) He will bring them into judgment, he will judge them, either by their own consciences here, and set their sins in order before them for their deep humiliation (and conscience, when awakened, will be very severe upon such sinners), or he will set them at his tribunal at death, and in the last day; he will convict them, condemn them, and cast them out for ever, if they die under the guilt of this sin.
I also want to encourage you, if you have been involved in some impurity in the past, that the Lord is willing and able to forgive your sins.  There is no sin too great for the blood of Jesus to cover.  If you are guilty of some sin of impurity, repent and turn away from your sin.  Turn to the Lord for His forgiveness and cleansing.  He can give you new life in Christ.

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12 comments:

  1. I truly love your blog.
    God bless you!
    Mrs.O

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    1. Thank you, Mrs. O. I'm so glad it blesses you. God bless you ♥

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  2. This is a great article, with reminders to the unmarried not to replace obedience to God's commandments with worldly substitutes and to the married that purity and chastity are still required of them, too. Thanks for publishing.

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    1. You're welcome, Lady Virtue, and also thank you for letting me know it was helpful.

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  3. Love this topic, one so many people just fly through life not realizing what they are really suppose to do,and 2 morals have gotten so loose that it amazes me just the language alone gets me. I also have a question about spouses, what to do when one spouse is more devoted to the marriage more than the other? I ask because I have a high school friend ( yes it's a friend and not me) who recently found out her husband has been unfaithful, and I really don't know what to say. So far all I've done is let her talk. Any hints?

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    1. Well firstly, I would ask, are they Christians, and also, is the husband repentant? That is very sad for your friend.

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    2. I believe they are Christians just not sure. NO her husband is not repentant he holds her responsible, and this is not the first or second or third time he's done this. I have asked her this question before are you better with or with out him. I've never been in her position and to be honest I don't know if I could get over that, I have prayed for and with her. The only other thing I said was talk to their pastor but they don't have a home church. This really does hurt my heart we have been friends since we were 14, we are both 55 now. Maybe I need the prayers. Thank you for listening, I appreciate your blog one of the most true Christian sites.

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    3. Well firstly, if they are not Christians, that is the first thing that needs help. Her husband's behavior is not at all Christian. Maybe you can share the Gospel with her? That's wonderful you are praying for her. Her husband has broken covenant with her, and he is responsible for his actions and needs true repentance. It's hard to say, when I don't know the entire situation. Maybe your husband has some words of wisdom?

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  4. Thank you for this article. It was very well written. It gave perfect insight of how a unmarried and married woman should be and think act etc.. with love Janice

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  5. Ana Cuneo on July 30, 2017 1:27pm
    HI SISTER: HE LEIDO TU POST SOBRE PUREZA EN LOS CRISTIANOS Y REALMENTE ESTOY DE ACUERDO CONTIGO, HAY DEMASIADA INMORALIDAD AUN DENTRO DE LA IGLESIA. ME SIENTO MOLESTA POR LA MANERA EN QUE VISTEN ALGUNAS JOVENES Y OTRAS QUE NO LO SON, PANTALONES AJUSTADOS, PANTALONES RASGADOS, POLLERAS DEMASIADAS CORTAS, ESCOTES PRONUNCIADOS, TAMBIEN DEBE HABER PUREZA EN EL ESTILO DE ROPA QUE SE USA, NO HAY PUREZA EN HOMBRES QUE MIRAN A OTRAS ESPOSAS Y MUJERES QUE MIRAN A OTROS ESPOSOS, JOVENES QUE NO PRESTAN ATENCION DURANTE EL CULTO, ANDAN HABLANDO CON CHICOS DE SU EDAD, Y LOS PADRES NO HACEN NADA, YA ME CANSA ESTA SITUACION, ¿SERAN TODAS LAS CONGREGACIONES IGUALES? ¿PORQUE LOS PASTORES NO HABLAN SOBRE LA ROPA ADECUADA PARA IR A LA IGLESIA? ¿TENDRAN MIEDO DE PERDER A LOS MIEMBROS DE LA CONGREGACION, ¿CREERAN QUE ES LEGALISMO? REALMENTE ESTOS ULTIMOS TIEMPOS, LA IGLESIA DEJA MUCHO QUE HABLAR, HAY DEMASIADA INFLUENCIA MUNDANA DENTRO DE SUS PAREDES, ES LAMENTABLE, LE DIJE A MI ESPOSO QUE QUIERO CAMBIAR DE IGLESIA Y ME HA DICHO QUE EL NO SIENTE QUE DIOS LO QUIERA LLEVAR A OTRA PARTE, HACE 20 AÑOS QUE NOS CONGREGAMOS EN EL MISMO LUGAR. SIENTO QUE NECESITO UN CAMBIO, PERO MI DEBER ES SEGUIR A LA CABEZA, O SEA MI ESPOSO. ESPERO QUE ME PUEDAS CONTESTAR. BENDICIONES DESDE BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA.

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    1. Hi Ana. I'm very sorry about the delay in replying to you. You are right that immodest dress is a huge problem these days. Even people who call themselves Christians walk around in very revealing clothing. This should not be so. The shepherds of congregations should be preaching about this. Why don't they? Are they worried that women will get mad at them? Well, then maybe they need to let them be mad!

      I'm sorry about the situation at your church. I don't know if it would be any different if you went to a different church, but you're right that you should follow your husband. Pray, pray for your husband to be led by the Lord. Support him. Pray for your pastors. Pray for people at your church, that their eyes would be opened and their hearts would be softened. And do not give in. Keep strong in your convictions so that *you* do what you know is right. You may not even know that you will be an example to those around you. But you must do this in love and out of a sincere desire to please the Lord. We cannot change other people, but we can do what is right, with the grace God has given us. And we can do what is right when everyone else is following their own way instead of following God's Word. And we can lovingly instruct our children in what is right. ♥♥

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