November 19th~Purity Within and Without

Acts 18:24-19:20


1 Corinthians 1:1-3:23

Paul addressed some important issues in the lives of believers in the church of Corinth — their disunity, spiritual pride, sexual immorality, lawsuits against each other, and questions about marriage. Evidently, there was a great deal of spiritual immaturity in this church. While the people said all of the right things, they were not living righteous lives. Paul wrote to them, “The Kingdom of God is not just fancy talk; it is living by God’s power” (4:20).

The bottom line of Paul’s instruction on these issues is that God expects His people to be pure. He desires purity in His Church and purity in our personal lives. This theme was central to God’s covenant with His people in the Old Testament — “Be holy for I am holy” — and it is a theme in the New Testament as well. Paul even started his letter to the Corinthians by saying, “We are writing to the church of God in Corinth, you who have been called by God to be His own holy people. He has made you holy by means of Christ Jesus...” (1:2, 3).

The holiness or purity that God has enacted for us internally, by the work of Christ, should be expressed externally in our lives, first by how we live and, then, by how we view and treat the Church. This letter includes Paul’s most pointed words regarding church discipline. “Don’t you realize that if even one person is allowed to go on sinning (this was in regards to sexual sin), soon all will be affected? Remove the wicked person among you, so that you can stay pure. How terrible that you should boast about your spirituality and yet you let this sort of thing go on” (5:6-12).

However, purity in the Church begins with purity in our individual lives. Noah Webster defined purity as “innocence, cleanness, or freedom from foulness, dirt, or defilement.” As

Christ has set us free on the inside, so, in His power, we must free ourselves on the outside, both from sin and worldly distractions. “Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit...? You don’t belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body” (6:19, 20).

He continued, “God purchased you at a high price, so don’t be enslaved to the world... Those in frequent contact with the things of this world should make good use of them without becoming attached to them, for this world and all it contains will pass away. In everything you do, I want you to be free from the concerns of this life... I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord, with as few distractions as possible” (7:23, 31, 32).

Daily Reflection

Evaluate your personal holiness. How would you rate your life (0-10) in the area of purity and freedom from worldly distractions? Explain.

With what temptations, sins, and distractions do you struggle most? What issues exist in your life that are not honoring to God? What steps do you need to take to correct these things?

BiAY.org |Day 323 — 42 Days to Go