Pauline Purity

(Transcription of a lesson taught at Hope Bible Church, December 4, 2016.)

Text: Titus 1:15

Purity. The word has a beautiful ring to it, doesn’t it? It’s a positive word, not a negative, and it speaks of value.

·         Even this evil world, as corrupt as it is, puts some value on purity. Take the ring on your finger, if you’re married. It’s priced according to its purity: 10K, 14K, 24K.

·         I love honey, and when I buy it at the store, it usually has something on the label like “100% Pure Honey,” which I suppose means that it has no additives, though raw honey is even more valuable health-wise.

·         God puts value on purity too, in all ages. Purity is mentioned in oldest book of the Bible (pre-law), under the law, under grace, and afterward.

·         This study will focus on purity in this age, and why it’s so valuable.

o   Stats re: the word’s usage in scripture

o   Definition from scripture

o   Source of purity

o   Types of purity emphasized by Paul

USAGE STATS

The root word in “purity” is, of course, “pure,” and here are the stats on this word and its forms:

·         Pure: 93 (10 mystery context)

·         Pu1rely: 1

·         Pureness: 3 (1 mystery)

·         Purer: 2

·         Purification: 8

·         Purifications: 1

·         Purified: 12

·         Purifier: 1

·         Purifieth: 2

·         Purify: 14 (1 mystery)

·         Purifying: 12

·         TOTAL: 147 times (12 mystery)

So purity is predominantly mentioned in a kingdom context, but it’s an important and valuable grace in this age too, as we’ll see.

DEFINITION

Other passages might work for this, but Prov. 20:9 is the one that first came to mind. From the parallel, you can see that the sense of pure is “clean from sin.” The context here is heart purity, which is one type we’ll look at, but the general sense of the word, then, is clean, the opposite of “defiled” in our text verse.

Consider Ps. 19:8-9 also: “…is pure…is clean…” The fear of the LORD is something pure; it’s called “godly fear” in Heb. 12:28, and that leads me to my next point: the source of purity.

SOURCE: GOD

The oldest book in the Bible reveals the source of purity: the Lord himself.

In Job 4:17, Eliphaz the Temanite asks this question: Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?

So our maker is pure, hallelujah, most pure. Some other verses that confirm this:

·         2 Sam. 22:27 (cf. Ps. 18:26; great tribulation context)

·         Hab. 1:13 (great tribulation context)

·         Dan. 7:9 (white throne judgment)

This makes sense, for how could God require purity of us if he wasn’t first pure himself?

·         Jas. 3:16—why? Because the God that is above (Job 31:28) is pure!

·         If God's word is pure, which scripture also affirms (Ps. 12:6, 119:140; Prov. 30:6), then God must be, since “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Mt. 12:34). “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Mt. 5:8). Why? Because God himself is pure in heart.

TYPES OF PURITY EMPHASIZED BY PAUL

Paul emphasizes several types of purity in his epistles, most of which I’ll cover, but three stand out to me, as they relate to people. In an impersonal example, all meats have been purified in God’s sight for our consumption in this age (Rom. 14:20; 1 Tim. 4:3-5), but that’s all I’d like to say about that, since my focus in this study is purification of people. God wants his “peculiar people” in this age to be purified three ways.

Positional

·         Tit. 1:15: our belief purifies us in God’s sight and enables us to think purely (see below)

·         Tit. 2:14 (Eph. 5:25-27); we’re pure positionally, since we’ve been redeemed, but Christ would make that practical (see below)

·         

      Both passages show us how God would unify position with practice, one of his highest priorities for us in this age; let’s move on and look at this more…

Personal

·         Phil. 4:8—thought; “whatsoever things are pure…think on these things.” Why? “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7)

·         2 Tim. 2:22—heart; God expects all of his children to have pure hearts, but the verse implies that all do not, and hence they’re to be avoided; cf. v. 21—we must purge ourselves from “vessels of dishonour,” lest we get dishonour to ourselves too (cf. 1 Cor. 15:33).

·         1 Tim.  5:2—personal dealings, esp. with the opposite gender; note how purity pops up in context of women; 1 Thes. 4 makes it clear that God expects us to “possess our vessels” maintain our marital purity too

·         Tit. 1:15—mind and conscience (opposite of unbelievers); cf. 1 Tim. 3:9, 2 Tim. 1:3

·         Tit. 2:14—practice/manner of life (all saints); only purity will set us apart and produce zeal (“conscience doth make cowards of us all”; cf. Prov. 28:1)

Ministerial

·         Acts 20:26-27—ministerial scope; fulfilling his ministry to all men (lost and saved; “you”)

·         2 Cor. 6:6—ministerial motive; was pure, not pretentious (1 Thes. 2:3-6)

·         1 Tim. 4:12—ministerial example; to all believers—comprehensive purity essential for it

·         1 Tim. 5:21—ministerial accountability; avoiding hasty ordinations, allowing sufficient time for leadership to be proven (1 Tim. 3:10; cf. 1 Sam. 8:1-5—they weren’t proven, and look what followed)

·         2 Tim. 2:21—associations; covered above—poor associations can bring dishonor (now and hereafter), defilement, and unfitness for service, so it’s serious business who you “run with,” ministerially and otherwise

·         Tit. 2:6—doctrinal; your doctrine must be pure for your ministry to be pure; notice how when he exhorts Titus to be a pattern of good works, the first thing he mentions thereafter, as fundamental to that, is uncorrupt, pure doctrine; cf. 1 Tim. 4:6, 2 Tim. 3:10 [also cf. 1 Tim. 3:10—fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience…]

CONCLUSION

So from these references in Paul’s epistles we see how important purity is the for the child of God: (1) understanding his positional purity in Christ; (2) living it out personally and corporately with other believers, and (3) for those laboring in the ministry, keeping their doctrine, motives, and example pure to maximize their usefulness to the Lord and others.

Make purity a priority! It’s a priority to God first of all, spiritual believers, and even the world to an extent.  If our motives and lives aren’t pure, we’ll lose credibility everywhere, something Paul dreaded when he spoke of being “castaway” in 1 Cor. 9:27.

I’m not saying it will be easy; on the contrary, staying pure may be one of the hardest things you’ll ever do. But the rewards are certainly worth it. Do you want to glorify God? be useful to him and others? Leave a lasting legacy? Let the Lord purify you unto himself, and watch him do these things through you!