Basic HTML Version
Pathway to Purity, May 16
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as
he is pure.
1 John 3:3
.
Does this text mean that the human agent can remove one stain of sin
from his soul? No. Then what does it mean to purify himself? It means to
look upon the Lord’s great moral standard of righteousness, the holy law
of God, and see that he is a sinner in the light of that law. “Whosoever
committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of
the law. And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and
in him is no sin.”
1 John 3:4, 5
. It is through faith in Jesus Christ that ...
the human agent is purified and cleansed.... “Whosoever abideth in him
sinneth not.”
Verse 6
. God has power to keep the soul that is in Christ....
A mere profession of godliness is worthless. It is he that abideth in Christ
that is a Christian....
In every clime, in every nation, our youth should cooperate with God.
The only way a person can be pure is to become like-minded with God.
How can we know God? By studying His Word....
Unless the mind of God becomes the mind of man, every effort to
purify himself will be useless; for it is impossible to elevate man except
through a knowledge of God. The outward gloss may be put on, and
men may be as were the Pharisees whom Jesus describes as “whited
sepulchres,” full of corruption and dead men’s bones. But all the deformity
of the soul is open to Him who judgeth righteously, and unless the truth
is planted in the heart, it cannot control the life. Cleansing the outside of
the cup will never make the vessel pure within. A nominal acceptance
of truth is good as far as it goes, and the ability to give a reason for our
faith is a good accomplishment, but if the truth does not go deeper than
this, the soul will never be saved. The heart must be purified from all
moral defilement. “I know also my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast
pleasure in uprightness.”
1 Chronicles 29:17
. “Search me, O God, and
know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any
wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”
Psalm 139:23, 24
.
[143]
147