THE PURE LIFE
1.
Introduction
1. Introduction
This lesson deals with the believer's everyday life. What is the kind of life which is appropriate to someone who has become a follower of Christ? What are the commandments and principles which he should follow? Whom must he obey? What happens to him when he sins? Does he lose forgiveness and salvation?
2. The Righteousness Which God Requires
One day, one of the Jewish leaders asked the Lord Jesus, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" (Mark 12:28b) "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:29-31) These two commandments are the sum total of the Ten Commandments in the Law given by God to the prophet Moses in the Old Testament. (Exodus. 20:1-17) These Ten Commandments include:
Four commandments which have to do with God Most High and which emphasize the following:
1. That God Most High should occupy all of one's heart and life.
2. That man should not make any statue (idol) or bow down to it, but should bow down to God alone.
3. That man should not take the name of the Lord his God in vain, meaning, without thoughtful consideration and respect.
4. That man should set apart a day each week to keep it holy to the Lord.
Six Commandments which have to do with man:
1. Honour your father and your mother.
2. Do not kill.
3. Do not commit adultery.
4. Do not steal.
5. Do not bear false witness.
6. Do not covet what belongs to someone else.
These Ten Commandments are unchanging diving principles. But Christ taught us another very important thing, that God cares also about what takes place in man's mind and heart. Thus, vain anger is considered by God as a sin like murder, and impure thoughts like the sin of adultery. Christ spoke as much about hidden intentions as he spoke about open deeds. Here are some of Christ's sayings:
"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.' But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother [without cause] will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell." (Matthew 5:21-22)
"You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (Matthew 5:27-28)
"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies, [bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you] and pray for those who persecute you," (Matthew 5:43-44)
"What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean', but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean'." (Matthew 15:11)
"But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean'. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean'." (Matthew 15:18-20)
We see that Christ's teachings generally concentrate on the heart. He speaks not only about the manifestations of sin which are visible to all, but also about the hidden roots of sin which no-one sees but God. God demands purity of heart before good works. If the heart is upright before God, then works will be righteous and acceptable to God Most High. But if the heart is not upright, even good works are unacceptable to God.
Yet it is clear from the Word of God that every person is inclined by his human nature towards unrighteousness. "All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no-one who does good, not even one." (Romans 3:12) "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23)
All mankind, without exception, is unable to attain to the righteousness and goodness which the Holy God demands. But God is righ in mercy and boundless in his love. As a result Christ came to earth to fulfill for mankind what mankind failed to achieve.
Someone summed up his life as follows: "I was raised in a non-believing family, far from truly knowing God. However, I began to desire the ideal life. So I frequently went to the place of worship, fasted and prayed much. I did many works which gave me a feeling of satisfaction. When I became a youth, I entered the battleground of life. I found it to be very far from the ideal life. I looked within me and saw a conflict between the forces of good and evil, and certainly survival of the strongest. You too, need to realise who is the strongest. Do you see like me this same truth? Many times I do things which I do not desire, but rather which I hate completely and which are contrary to my principles. Why? Because sin is deep-rooted in me and has a greater standing in my life than virtue. So, sin is stronger. Therefore, I gave the same old outcry, 'What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?' " (Romans 7:24)
Man in himself cannot attain God's high standards. But Christ's work is sufficient. He died and paid a price which we cannot pay; he came to live in us and to give us inner power to live a new life. When we say that God's Holy Spirit dwells in us, we mean Christ's life in us. God's Spirit and Christ's Spirit are one. The important thing is that we cannot by our own power perform good deeds, but Christ gives us the power when he dwells in us.
3. The Righteousness Which Christ Gives
Christ's life on earth was entirely holy, righteous and without any sin. Since Christ has the nature of God, and is the Word of God, he has not commited any sin. He is the only one who deserves no punishment. Because of his surpassing love, Christ volunteered to offer himself to die on the cross to redeem sinful mankind that whoever believes in him - from every people, tribe and tongue - may receive forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
Man, without faith in Christ, has no way of obtaining forgiveness for his sins. But if a person believes in Christ, God's righteousness in Christ becomes his. Christ deserved to be exalted into the presence of God Most High on the basis of his righteousness and it is this very same righteousness which is given to the believer who depends on Christ for his reconciliation with God. So, the person who believes in Christ is considered righteous before God. This is not because of his own works but because of his faith in Christ's righteousness, in Christ's redemptive death on the cross and in Christ's glorious resurrection.
"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21) Christ, who did not know one single sin bore all the sins of humanity - bore the sins of the adulterer and murder - in order that we sinners may because God's righteousness through faith in him. Not only that, but also we get a new nature which rejects the evil within us and resists sin. The New Testament says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17)
The life of a Christian is not merely following commandments and laws. It is a new life empowered by God's Holy Spirit and producing purity, righteousness and love. It has a clear and practical affect on all aspects of ones life. God says, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws." (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
4. What Would a Believer Do If He Sins?
We must first notice that there is a great difference between the nature of our life before faith and after it. To help us understand this, we explain it by pointing out the difference between the nature of a sheep and the nature of a pig. When a sheep falls in the mud, it gets up quickly, shakes to clean itself, and does not want to remain in this filthy place. The pig, however, even if it was washed, will get again into the mud and wallow in it for this is its pleasure and delight.
The evil nature in our bodies is defiled and it drags us down. What we need then is not only to eradicate it but also to plant a new nature to replace the old. This is what happens when we accept Christ as personal Saviour for our life. He gives us a new holy nature.
Just as the sheep shakes off the mud when it falls in it, as previously described, so must we rise and shake sin off when we fall into it. The New Testament says, "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:1-2) Therefore, we should be honest with God and confess to him our sins, weaknesses and shortcomings. He knows our humanity and forgives our sins on the basis of Christ's death. After we confess to God, we can be confident that he has forgiven us this sin for he said, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) Forgiveness is certain for everyone who believes in Christ, in his death on the cross and in his resurrection. However, in order to enjoy this forgiveness, we should confess every sin right away. We should come to God asking him for his guidance and saying, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalms 139:23-24)
Some people say, "I confess my sin to God and pray, but I feel that I am weak. Why?" We come here to an important point about avoiding the sources of sin and fleeing from them.
We must often ask God to cleanse us and give us the power to live a life of purity and holiness. This prayer is certainly according to the will of God. But what happens is that we find ourselves weak before the temptation. Why? Did God not hear our prayer? Is God far away from me?
Prayer is necessary and important, provided that it flows from a sincere heart and is coupled with a pure life, for the inward attitude of the heart is very important. For example, if one of us spent all day reading some licentious magazines and watching unwholesome television programs, went to bed tired at the end of the day, and then asked God for power and help to live a life of purity -- do you believe that God will answer his prayer? or will this person reap what he sowed all day long?! If the desire of our hearts is to live a life of purity, then we must flee from sin and from the ways it tries to control our thoughts and hearts. The New Testament says, "Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." (2 Timothy 2:22) So, before we follow righteousness, we must flee from evil of the heart and mind. We are confident, of course, that God will help us to flee, if we truly so desire. We all know of righteous Joseph whom his master's wife tried to tempt. The first thing that he did was to flee. When the woman caught Joseph by his garment, he left his garment with her as if to say with the New Testament, ". . . hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh." (Jude 23b)
It is written in the New Testament, "The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life." (Galatians 6:8) So, what do you sow in your thoughts and in your heart? Satan sometimes comes to the believer and tells him, "You have fallen into sin. Are you a believer? Are you a child of God? Is this possible?" Satan tries, of course, to make us doubt that we are children of God in order that he may take us back to the life of sin. However, please remember the words of the New Testament, "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." (1 John 1:7) We will suffer defeat if we do not believe this, and Satan will be right in his words. But we thank God that Christ's blood had its intended effect, "How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!" (Hebrews 9:14) The Lord Jesus accomplished a great work for us, and he is, indeed the propitiation for our sins. The word "propitiation" means "satisfaction." What Christ did satisfied God's wrath against our sins and our shortcomings. Thus, God sees in us the perfect image of Christ. On this basis, we can truly worship God. Because of Christ's act of propitiation (satisfying God's wrath) our sin is not held against us.
This is not a licence to sin. As we have read and will see as we read on, forgiveness without a change of heart and life is not forgiveness at all. The prophet David wrote in the Psalms, "But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love," (Psalm 33:18) Neither does this mean we will be perfect. There will be times when we sin. We may repent and think we are free from that sin, but then we sin again. We may begin to think that perhaps we never truly repented, that perhaps we are not a believer after all. If we think this, we are trusting again in our own works and not in Christ's sacrifice for us. God did not forgive us in the first place because we were good. It was exactly the opposite. He forgave us because we admitted we were bad and trusted in his unfailing love (forgiveness). The Bible says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) Sometimes we say that some sins are worse than others, but God sees all sin as unbelief, whether it is murder or lying. This fact helps us realise that we can have no confidence in ourselves. We have to trust in Christ's sacrifice. He is our only hope.
Christ also intercedes for us in order to guard the pure life in us. Christ told Simon Peter, one of his disciples, "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." (Luke 22:31-32) Christ's prayer for Peter is for us, too. Christ says in his intercessory prayer, "I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name- the name you gave me- so that they may be one as we are one. I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message," (John 17:9, 11b, 13, 15, 20)
Christ died for the world, but his intercession is for the believers only. "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:1-2) Therefore, we should not have the spirit of defeat because Christ is our advocate and he has given us his Holy Spirit, "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:7)
6. The Fruits of Righteousness
What would a branch from an orange tree do in order to bear fruit? Nothing except abide in the tree. Similarly, we need to abide in the tree of life, the Lord Jesus. This means we need to have a strong relationship with him in order that we may bear the right fruit.
Christ says, "Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." (John 15:4-5)
Some people think that they can, after believing, lead their life in their own strength. This is wrong. When an infant in born, he is not able to do anything, but depends on his parents till he grows and learns. God is our heavenly Father. Just as our life has been changed by faith when we believed, so we must continue to live by faith. The New Testament says, "So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him," (Colossians 2:6) How did we receive the Lord Jesus? By faith, of course. Faith is humble, confident trust. It is by faith also that we can walk with him. Then one can shout a cry of victory saying, "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13)
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23) This fruit is from God. At first the fruit is like small buds. But when we give God's Holy Spirit the chance to work in our life, This fruit grows in us. Our spiritual life will, in turn , be so mature that we are able to give love in time of hatred, to show gentleness to those who wrong us, and so forth. This requires that we strengthen our fellowship with God in order that we may give others light and bear fruit for God's glory.
The life of a genuine believer is a life of spiritual growth. Anyone who follows Christ wants to walk as his Lord, Master and Saviour Jesus Christ walked. This is not limited to following Christ's example, but it is submitting to the Spirit of Christ, i.e., the Holy Spirit. He lives in the believer and works in his heart to produce the fruits of righteousness. The believer obeys all of Christ's commandments and teachings of which the Holy Spirit convicts and reminds him. This is a very wonderful thing. We have only to surrender ourselves to Christ, obey him, and have a continuous relationship with him through prayer and Bible study. As a result, we will have in our life the fruits of righteousness which we can never have without Christ.
Some people get very depressed that they are not perfect. Perfection is not the issue. The fact is that we are a part of an eternal family. This is the family of eternal life, not eternal death. Entrance into this family is by receiving the Spirit of Christ. He did not take us in because we were good, nor will he throw us out when we are bad. He will correct us and discipline us, because he loves us. This love that God shows us causes us to love him and honour him with pure lives.
Moses went up to Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments from God. The Holy Bible says, "Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant- the Ten Commandments. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD." (Exodus 34:28-29)
We want our life to be pure before others in order that they may see God's glory in us. But how can this happen? We need to sit in God's presence as Moses did. We do this through prayer and Bible study. In this way we shall see God's glory not by sight but by faith. The New Testament says, "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3:18) We understand from this verse that God performs a miracle in our life to conform us in our conduct to the image of Christ through the work of God's Holy Spirit. But we must come to God in a holy fellowship and a continuous relationship in order that this miracle may take place in our life. "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; " (2 Peter 1:3-5a)
Beloved, do you make every effort to experience the pure life that God promises you? Or do you allow the corruption of sin to spread in your life and ruin your life?
When the light of God shines in your heart, you begin to realise the lofty standard of righteousness which God requires of you. Do not fear, but remember that it is God himself who helps you when you obey him. So do not hesitate to give yourself completely to God and to surrender your will to his will. The world in which we live is doomed because it is a world of rebels. We must not follow the way of the people of the world, but must live in the light of God's presence because God created us for this purpose. We will not find happiness in any other way.
7. Conclusion
If these truths seem hard to understand at first, do not get discouraged. Pray about what you do not understand. Realise that no-one can experience these truths without the help of God's Holy Spirit that promises to work in us. This may take time. Ask God to take away all unbelief and rebellion from your heart. Submit your life to him, trusting that he cares more for you than you care for yourself. If you would like more information on prayer, please not that on the form you send back to us.
May you come to trust fully in God's love and forgiveness, trusting in the work Jesus Christ has done. God's Holy Spirit will teach you as you read God's Word, the Bible and pray.
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