The greek
word for Purity is:
Hagneia (G40)
hag-ni'-ah
From G53; cleanliness (the quality), that is,
(specifically) chastity: - purity
Hagnos (G53)
hag-nos'
From the same as G40; properly clean, that is,
(figuratively) innocent, modest, perfect: - chaste, clean,
pure.
God’s Word clearly
shows a picture of how the life of a born again believer is to be one of
purity. It should be clean (unsoiled), chaste
(undefiled), innocent (free from moral wrong/sin), modest, (humble) holy (set apart) and perfection reached for.
(1 Peter 1:15/Matt 5:48)
The culture
(which is not of God) has a heavy influence on the people living in it and if Christians are not careful, they will be swept away with cultural activities and
lack of morals. Genuine purity begins in
the heart and as a result there will be fruit (works) shown on the outside.
Yes, God
looks upon the heart, but the world looks upon the outside so our wonderful
Father has covered all the bases as He has clearly shown us in His Word that if
we have His qualities inside, they will be manifest on the outside for all the world
to see. He also expects us to be obedient as well.
(Hebrews 5:9)
(Hebrews 5:9)
As born
again believers walk through this world on their way to everlasting life, there
will be many trials and temptations that must be dealt with along the way. Through much prayer, training, growth and maturity
a believer can successfully walk in this world and not be of it. A believer who is strong in faith will find
these temptations easier to spot and avoid very quickly and it is necessary to
be strengthened in His Word daily so as to be able to win the battle that satan
is sowing around us.
God’s Word tells
us how women are to dress in order that they may cover our forms in a pure
manner (1 Timothy 2; 1 Peter 3 and 1 Corinthians 11) with long, loose flowing
garments and also to wear a headcovering per His Word. The actions of godly women (many apply to men as
well) are to be...
(Here are just a few.)
- Gracious (Proverbs 11:16)
- Virtuous (Proverbs 12:4)
- Sober (1 Thessalonians 5:6)
- Chaste (Titus 2:5)
- Prudent (Proverbs 19:14)
- Discreet (Titus 2:5)
- Peaceable (1 Timothy 2:2)
- Patient (1 Thessalonians 5:14)
- Kind (Colossians 3:12)
- Faithful (1 Timothy 3:11)
- Joyful (Psalm 149:5)
- Merciful (Proverbs 11:17)
- Humble (Colossians 3:12)
- Honorable (Romans 12:10)
- Meek (Colossians 3:12)
- In Subjection (1 Timothy 2:11)
- Quiet Spirit (1 Peter 3:4)
- Modest (1 Timothy 2:9)
- Obedient (1 Corinthians 14:34)
- Shamefaced (1 Timothy 2:9)
What a
beautiful picture of a female dressed in purity and chasteness both inside and
out.
Revelation 19:7-8 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Revelation 19:7-8 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Now let’s
look in God’s Word to see the opposite of purity…
Isaiah 3:16-24 Moreover
the Lord saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with
stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and
making a tinkling with their feet: Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of
Zion, and the Lord will discover their secret parts. In that day the Lord will take away the
bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and
their round tires like the moon, The chains, and the
bracelets, and the mufflers, The bonnets, and the
ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,
The rings, and nose jewels, The
changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping
pins, The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.
And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there
shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair
baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning
instead of beauty.
2 Kings 9:30 And
when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face,
and tired her head, and looked out at a window.
Revelation 17:4 And
the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and
precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations
and filthiness of her fornication
We see God’s Word
has given us the picture of what not to be as well as what characteristics He
desires in His godly women. The
contrasting picture certainly shows the stark difference between a godly woman
seeking purity vs the worldly ways of harlotry and whoredom.
Why is purity so
important? For an example we’ll share a true story about a
little 6 year old boy who was sitting with his grandma at a playground waiting for
his grandpa to bring him an ice cream cone.
As he turned his head to look for grandpa a young girl in shorts as
small as underwear walked by him and he stared at her virtually naked
backside. His face turned red and he was
very embarrassed when his grandma asked him what he was looking at. She then explained that as worldly nakedness ( she teaches him biblical truth often) and the
little boy said ‘Yes, I know that.’ The
look he had was not one of total innocence and although he probably does not realize
the total depravity of it, he certainly knew it was sinful as he is taught what sin is and he was compelled to look. Later, in the play room while
running and playing tag with other little boys, some girls only about 8-9 years old,
dressed very immodestly, joined them.
One particular girl was wearing a mini string top with bare midriff and
tight spandex pants. At one point in the
game the little boy grabbed the immodest dressed girl by the shoulder to tag
her and his grandpa stepped in and had a talk with him. Grandpa told him to be very careful and not
to touch girls. Not 5 minutes later when
the little boy sat down in a little enclosure to take a break, this little girl
sauntered over and cornered him. As he
stood up to dodge to the left, she slid over to block him, back and forth she
did this in a seductive manner until he was able to cut to the side and get
away from her. The grandma and grandpa could not believe their eyes; this sexual dress and behavior at such a young age!
It’s hard to
fathom a girl so young acting out in such a perverse and sexual manner or a boy
of such tender age enjoying the sinfulness of nakedness but the cause is not
hard to figure out:
Did you know the public schools (we call them government schools) are sexualizing children at very young as ages (1st or 2nd grade) teaching them about sex and that sodomite/lesbian behavior is a normal lifestyle.
Modern religion has also compromised on God's Word and His standards by letting go of what God taught His people (holiness) and was practiced for 1900 years to now bow to the carnal culture in dress, behavior and lifestyles to fill up the pews. (See HERE for much more info about mans denominational religion.)
Parents are bringing into their homes TV, movies, video games, music videos, immodest violent sports, graphic novels, immodest magazines etc.
Clothing stores are filled with vile, immodest clothing often aimed right at young children.
Young boys and girls watch as their mothers indulge in their vanity of jewelry, make-up, hair styles, tanning, nails, suggestive clothing and acting in an unpure manner and they see how the men react to them.
Sons and daughters watch as their father does not look away from the harlots of the world (like cheerleaders, waitresses, women walking by etc) and through the actions of the parents and what the parents allow as influences, these children are taught what draws attention… which is what they seek after.
If you have sloppy/ungodly standards it is likely so will your children.
Did you know the public schools (we call them government schools) are sexualizing children at very young as ages (1st or 2nd grade) teaching them about sex and that sodomite/lesbian behavior is a normal lifestyle.
Modern religion has also compromised on God's Word and His standards by letting go of what God taught His people (holiness) and was practiced for 1900 years to now bow to the carnal culture in dress, behavior and lifestyles to fill up the pews. (See HERE for much more info about mans denominational religion.)
Parents are bringing into their homes TV, movies, video games, music videos, immodest violent sports, graphic novels, immodest magazines etc.
Clothing stores are filled with vile, immodest clothing often aimed right at young children.
Young boys and girls watch as their mothers indulge in their vanity of jewelry, make-up, hair styles, tanning, nails, suggestive clothing and acting in an unpure manner and they see how the men react to them.
Sons and daughters watch as their father does not look away from the harlots of the world (like cheerleaders, waitresses, women walking by etc) and through the actions of the parents and what the parents allow as influences, these children are taught what draws attention… which is what they seek after.
If you have sloppy/ungodly standards it is likely so will your children.
Christian
parents, please examine yourselves
2
Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the
faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus
Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
Do your life actions show purity in the home, purity of heart in how you
dress and act toward others?
Women are you becoming of a godly woman or are you
acting as the undressed, unruly, loud, assertive feminists of the world? Mothers, are you dressing your daughters to
protect her virtues or are you teaching her the ways of the Proverbs 7 harlot? Are you teaching her the characteristics of a
lovely, godly, shamefaced (means bashful toward men) manner or are you teaching
her brazenness, boldness and authority toward the male gender?
Fathers are you teaching your sons to avert and guard their eyes to keep
them pure and undefiled or are you teaching them to look upon immodesty in lust
or desire? Do your sons see you
rejecting/avoiding the carnal ways of the world and the temptations it has to
offer or are you teaching them to indulge?
Are we as Christians letting our light shine and showing the world God’s goodness and purity in every
aspect of our lives from inside and out? Or have you compromised to the culture around you?
Take a good hard look at your family life and the sinfulness of what you
allow into your homes that will influence yourself and the future of those little children…then
pluck it out! (Matthew 18:9)
Beware…Jesus said:
Mark 9:48 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that
believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his
neck, and he were cast into the sea.
We have to
make many choices in this life and as believers we all should weigh each and
every one of them against the Word of God.
After the incidents at the playground the grandparents now have a choice to make
the next time the grandchildren visit.
They can either subject themselves and that little boy to more perverseness of the
world by taking him back there again or they can look for a more wholesome
choice to (hopefully) avoid such exposure.
There is no doubt that warm
weather brings out more nakedness and vileness and in knowing this, Christians should
weigh where they place themselves when there are other options. As the
world comes closer to the end times it will become more and more perverse in
all ways, therefore Christians will be forced to take the hard road more often
than not, which can cause inconvenience and quite often require planning ahead
and even the possibility of cancelling plans.
This should all be done joyfully to the glory of the Lord as we are not citizens
of this world. (Philippians 3:20)
We are to keep
ourselves (and our children) unspotted from the world (James 1:27) and
therefore we must be on guard at all times to not compromise, nor let ourselves
be convinced that we are helpless and become complacent about sin. Remember the martyrs who died because they
took the hard road of truth, who are we to complain about some inconveniences?
Matthew 7:13-14
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate
and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who
go in by it. Because
narrow is the gate and difficult is
the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Yes, we are warned that ‘difficult is the
way which leads to life’ but the alternative is the wide and easy road to
destruction.
Let us believers strive for purity of heart and action, lead
the young in truth and forsake the trappings of the world.
Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
For they shall see God.