Instant purity. Just add Jesus!
Yeah, another cheesy one-liner.
Purity, holiness, and righteousness are important, because without them we can't stand before the Father. That's why the Father has given us Jesus. Jesus is our purity and our righteousness. The best news you'll hear today is that the message of "God is holy; you're not; you must try harder in order to be a good Christian" is false! The truth is this: "God is holy; He has given us Jesus; through Jesus we have the holiness and righteousness that God desires for us." The Christian Life is about becoming what we already are. We've been made holy and righteous by His death on the cross and by His resurrected life dwelling within us. We put on that holiness by clothing ourselves in Christ -- not by trying to be better people, and not by trying harder to imitate Jesus.
Eph. 4:22-24
22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Gal. 3:26-27
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Romans 13:14
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
We are merely to make provision for Jesus. To submit to Him. We sin when we make provision for sin. And yes, we will all sin and continue to stumble, but the purity that comes from putting on Christ is always ready and available to us.
This topic is extremely encouraging to me. It's especially nice in the morning just after waking up. Try starting your day with a prayer like this: "Thank you, God, for granting me the free gift of purity and righteousness in this very moment. I thank you that you've given me Jesus to put on just as I put on my physical clothes for the day. I thank you that I can start this day with purity of Christ -- a perfectly clean score card. Help me resist putting back on the 'old man' today."
Something like that. I'm sure you can come up with something better.
Sin is sin. Don't think that sinning in one way makes you less pure than sinning in a different way. Even if you somehow go 24 hours without "sinning," your purity is only found in Christ. Sin is in your nature (your OLD nature), and Christ is your new nature. We are new creations in Him!
There is NO condemnation for those who are in Christ, who live according to the Spirit. So enjoy clothing yourself in Christ's purity and holiness!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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