The Truth About Christian Purity

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Today I’m inviting you to step into a discussion on the importance of purity in the lives of Christians.

What does purity mean in the life of a Christian?

What happens when we make mistakes?

Why is it important for Christians to be pure?

In preparing to write this article, I first reviewed Dictionary.com ‘s definition of pure:

pure: free from anything of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind

It’s interesting how the word “pure” is a positive, wonderful word when it comes to drinking water to sustain our bodies. But somehow, the same world that wouldn’t think of drinking contaminated water will often ridicule people who desire to remain pure in their relationships.

Purity in the life of a Christian means making the proper choices to be without sin in your life. So no matter your life status, single, married, divorced, remarried… God wants us to be free from contamination in our relationships.

If you’re familiar with the Bible story of David and Bathsheba, then you may know that David committed adultery with Bathsheba, then murdered her husband. And we have a detailed account of David’s sinful choice and the circumstances that followed. The following is an excerpt from my  free ebook, Outside the Zone:

David made mistakes.  A huge mistake.  He committed adultery and then murdered a man over it.  There is no scale of sin degree in God’s eyes.  David was still a man after God’s own heart because when he did sin, his heart immediately repented.

Do right, but when you fail, not if, but when, turn immediately to the Lord again.

Psalm 51 is prefaced with the words “To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.” I would encourage you to read this entire Psalm, but I’ve highlighted just a few of the verses below:

Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

When we make mistakes in the area of purity, we have the freedom as Christians to make our hearts right with God through repentance, as evidenced in the example of David.

In regards to the importance of purity in the life of Christians, I love what Paul says about the reason for purity:

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. I Tim. 1:5

In February of this year, my pastor preached a sermon series entitled “Great Sexpectations” and the four week series covered what the Bible says about God’s plan for sex and marriage- one man and one woman for life. Interestingly enough, I’ve grown up in church and I’ve heard loads of sermons about how wrong sexual sin is. And it is wrong- the Bible is clear.  But I honestly can’t remember hearing any sermons like the ones my pastor preached, especially the message entitled “Walk the Line.” I highly encourage anyone reading this post to head over to the church website for this awesome series if you’d like more answers to questions like:

“How far is too far?”

“Can I (fill in the blank)?”

“Is it wrong that I/we do this?”

I’m so blessed today to be a part of a group of Christian bloggers uniting in a discussion on  purity.  We’d love it if you’d join the conversation and read more posts like this one, which you can find right here.

Do conversations about purity engage your heart on the subject? I’d love to read your thoughts in the comments.