There are two kinds of purity. The first is that which is pure in itself, altogether free from defilement or contamination, This pureness is underived and is a quality belonging naturally to that person or thing. In this class we can place only one person, God himself, who in substance and in character is altogether pure. Next to Him, we place our Lord Jesus Christ whose character was like unto that of his Father, es en though he shared our mortal and imperfect nature. And, then, comes the word of God, the Holy Scriptures, which issued forth from God by His Spirit and is variously described as perfect, pure and clean.
The second kind of purity is that which is attained by a process of cleansing. In other words, something which is impure is rendered pure by means of separation or purging from its impurity. Perhaps the easiest non-scriptural examples are metals, say, gold or silver, which before attaining an acceptable standard of refinement require extensive treatment of one kind or another. The old silver smith would heat his precious metal in a crucible until it was molten and the dross was driven to the surface of the liquid silver. Carefully, in order not to remove the silver with the dross, he would skim away that which was not silver. Patiently he repeated the process until, finally, when he looked into the surface of the shining silver, he could see the reflection of his own face.
Which kind of purity do we possess? Certainly not the first. We were born of sinful parents into a sinful world and became sinners by our own act. (Jude-rived purity does not belong to mankind. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Shall mortal man be just with God? Sin-stained and burdened with the infirmity of our flesh, we were found by God. He, whose eye is too pure to look upon iniquity, took compassion upon us and washed us altogether in the blood, the atoning life, the unsullied purity and completeness, of the Son of God. We heard the Gospel and found that its appeal and promise met all our needs. We came to the water of baptism, the waters (if purifying, and made our confession: ”Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.” To the faithful heart, the Lord replied, “I will, he thou clean.”
Thus, the old way of life was cast away and repudiated in our allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ. His righteousness covered our sins: we stepped from darkness into light, from death into life. Thus began that which Paul describes as the newness of life- ( Romans 6: 1 ). We were given a virgin white sheet on which to begin to write; our garments were clean; we stood on the fields of life like newborn lambs, white and unstained.
It is the tragedy of human existence, even human existence in Christ, that life’s journey leases us sadly sullied at the end of each day. Sin at our heels causes us to stumble, Our newness of life loses its sheen.
Every saint of God has known this experience and made confession of it in variety of ways. “We have sinned,” said Daniel in his prayer to God, ”speaking and praying and confessing ins sin and the sin of my people,” “I have gone astray like a lost sheep: seek thy servant,- said the psalmist (119:176 ). Confession of our sins is right and proper, and there is forgiveness with God through Christ according to the promise of God in His word ( I John 1 :9).
But confession is not all. It is not sufficient to yield to weakness and then honorably to confess and be cleansed. We must purify ourselves and seek to be transformed. The experience in life’s crucible must bring the dross to the surface so that the Master may see his own face in us. If we ire to be like him in the Great Day and surely that is our hope then we must prepare ourselves now to meet our God. -Everyone that hath this hope in (set on ) him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” ( 1 John 3:3).
If the pure life of Christ, given at Calvary, is the means of our cleansing and the true joy of our hearts, then we must seek to imitate him. A woman of old time once said: “How canst thou say. I love thee, when tine heart is not with me” (Judges 16:15). So it is with the believer. Confession with his lips is vain, if his heart is not with Christ. If his daily life denies the Lord who bought him, then his faith is empty.
But how can the impure heart of man be made pure? Certainly not by its own efforts. Men do not draw straight lines when they use a bent ruler. Purity comes by association and by purging. If we desire to be pure, then we must walk with the Lord God who is pure, and with His Son whose garments are always white. This is not just talk, no mere truism. We must make deliberate efforts to think on God and His Son. “Humble yourself to walk with God” is how the revised version margin sets forth the command and invitation of Micah 6:8. Man’s pride is the basic ingredient of his impurity, it is the vein of dross which runs through the center of his heart. It is for this reason that the heart must be broken. Let not a brother say that he is seeking to walk with God if he deliberately chooses as his daily companions, as his friends and walking-mates, men who lie, men who are arrogant, men who are godless, men whose tongues are poisoned with evil speech and whose motives are bent to service of self. Not even ‘good’ men, so-called, are the right companions if they serve not God, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap” (I Corinthians 15:33). The Gospel is called the Way and that means it is a way of life, a way of living. If we purposely let our eyes seek out evil sights, or let our feet take us through uncleanness to defiled places, or if our motives in life are self-centred, then it is high time we took ourselves to task by coming to the side of Christ and of his Father.
Prayer is the life-line. When Peter cried: “Lord, save me,” Christ took him by the hand. He, who trod this way before knows its every snare and pitfall: there is nothing of which he is unaware, nothing from which he cannot deliver us. But he cannot do it unless we seek him. There are no forced marchers on the way to the Kingdom. Every man volunteered when the Lord cried: “Who will go for us?” and each replied: “Here am I, send me.” Let us then wear his garments with joy and circumspection.
There is another undoubted aid. Piercing the heart of man to discern its intents and purpose by human means if like trying to penetrate the mail of the crocodile with a blade of grass. There is only one infallible weapon. It is the word of God. Designed by God for this very purpose, if finds its way to the center of man’s being and parges him. Its purity flushes out the contamination of self by self “Think on these things” is the divine admonition. The good companions of Scripture and the words they said, the revealed word of the Father Himself and the spoken word of Christ, the peerless life of Christ and the examples of his disciples and apostles, all are the guides to keep us in the Way.
If we would be pure, the questions for daily living are simple and arresting. If were in my placer now, what would he read and think, what would he say and do, where would he be going? This is the recipe for daily living. This is the way to purity of life.
Two consecutive Psalms link purity of life with preaching. In psalm 50 we hear God saying that men with impure lives have no business to speak to others concerning Him; and in Psalm 51 the psalmist rejoices because now that God has cleansed him he is admirably equipped to preach to sinners. Psalm 50:16: “But unto the wicked God saith, What has thou to do to declare my statutes . . .?” Psalm 51:10-13; “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me . . . then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee.”
Bring then your own life before God when next you break bread in remembrance of Christ and pray: ”Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight. O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One