We don’t hear the word purity much today except in descriptions of cleaning agents and snow-covered landscapes. We do hear the word spoken more frequently in the Christian community, but its use is largely confined to matters of carnal innocence. We have lost sight of all it means to be pure as God intended. So what does it mean? Purity is much more than good moral behavior. Purity in the biblical sense is purity of heart. To be pure is to be single-minded. It is to have a single goal, a single focus, and a single purpose for ourselves and our lives. That is biblical purity, and from it springs moral behavior—the good we do with our bodies. Real purity is having a heart for the Lord that isn’t watered down or polluted by lesser things.

The apostle James wrote, "Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded." According to James, a double-minded woman spends her passion going after what this world offers. In contrast, Jesus describes a very different sort of passion: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.” (Matt 22:37). Elsewhere Jesus attaches a promise to purity: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God" (Matt. 5:8).

To see God is to know the joy of living in close relationship with him. A pure heart is able to enjoy Spirit-filled, biblically-guided direction and guidance for all of life. A woman who is pure in this way realizes ever-increasing ability to rightly apply God’s Word to the little, day-to-day things.

Putting Christ first is the essence of purity. That is why Jesus words in the beatitude, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,” are the starting point for all true purity. But the beatitude is not only our starting point; it is also the place to end. Viewing purity from a biblical perspective takes our understanding of what it means to be pure beyond mere outward conduct to a whole new level, a deeper level. And if we approach purity as Jesus describes it, we will discover that our battle to be pure in body, as well as in mind and spirit, comes much more easily.

We women struggle, often with little success, to master particular sins—outward displays of impurity. Perhaps that’s because we have been trying to clean up our act while failing to see the impurity in our hearts. What are we to do? We can’t clean our own hearts. Besides, the extent of dirt and sin inside us is beyond our comprehension. A heart is made pure as Christ washes and cleans it. Nancy Leigh DeMoss prays, “Lord, wash my heart.” That’s a good prayer. But becoming pure in heart doesn’t end with prayer. It comes as we lean on the purity of Christ, on his perfect work for us. It comes as we lean on grace. It comes as we acknowledge our utter inability to become pure women and our need of Christ to make us clean and to purify us through and through.

Depending on Christ for purity leads us to enjoy the blessings of the pure in heart that Jesus was talking about in Matthew’s Gospel.

Labels: godly character