SEEK PURITY

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

2 Corinthians 7:1

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

How does our Lord desire for us to live?

It could be summed up in these words spoken by Him to His believers:

“I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves and be holy because I am holy.” Leviticus 11:44

Consecrate yourselves and be holy..

Note here that God isn’t providing a suggestion. He’s giving His people a command to consecrate themselves (an action word) so to gain a specific result (to become holy).

Why?

Because God wants His people to dedicate themselves to be like Him, to be holy as He is.

Okay, so what in the world does it mean to consecrate something, in this case ourselves?

The dictionary tells us that we are to make something sacred, dedicated to a divine purpose. Spiritually speaking, we are to strive to be perfectly righteous and blameless in the sight of God and the world. This means we need to shun sin and when we do, we won't look like the people of the world anymore. Rather, we will be drastically different and set apart. In other words, we will be defined more by our purity and holiness than by our wickedness.  

New Testament missionaries didn’t wish for God’s people to forget His order to consecrate in order to be holy. We find Peter quoting God’s word from Leviticus in the opening chapter of his letter (1 Peter 1:16). And we find the Apostle Paul presenting the importance of holiness to the Christians in Corinth as he writes this opening verse from the seventh chapter:

Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

Chapter 6 of 2 Corinthians ends with a call to avoid uncleanliness (sinfulness) in life for this is the life that would be favorable in God’s sight, a life that He would receive. In verse 18, Paul repeats God’s promise to be the Father of His sons and daughters who devoted themselves to righteousness.

It is this promise that we find Paul referring to at the start of chapter 7 and in response to God’s promise, he exhorted the Corinthian believers to purify themselves “from everything that contaminates body and spirit”. This spiritual cleansing would lead to “perfecting holiness”, to be holy as God the Father is holy. Ultimately, it would show a deep reverence and respect for our Lord, reverence and respect born out of an obedience response to His commands.

Friends, we need to ensure that purity is a quality we seek daily. God called us to it and that really settles it. If we want to honor Him the right way, we can start by doing what He told us to do and He demanded that we be holy as He is holy.  

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to Gods4all@aol.com