Jesus Gave His Life to Purify Us, Let's Give Our Lives In Maintaining That Purity

 “…looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing 

of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, 

who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us 

from every lawless deed and purify for Himself 

His own special people, zealous for good works.”  

(Titus 2:13-14 NKJV)

    Jesus died for us, so that we could be free from the bondage of sin and be His own special people, pure and holy, and desirous to do good for others as we daily consider what He has done for us!

    The very blood Jesus shed on the cross cleanses us from sin (1 John 1:7). We come into spiritual contact with that blood when we are buried with Him in baptism (Romans 6:1-14, Acts 2:38-39; 22:16). When we are baptized into Christ, we become members of His body, we become His own special people who belong to Him (1 Corinthians 12:12-13) and we begin our walk in “newness of life” (Romans 6:4) because He has given us a new start! Jesus has cleansed us from our sins and made us pure!

    So how do we maintain that purity? I believe Colossians 3 has the answer!

“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things 

which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 

Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 

For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” 

(verses 1-3 NKJV)

    When we keep in mind that Jesus died for us to make us pure we will want to seek those things above and we will readily obey God’s command to rid ourselves of these earthly desires: fornication (any sexual relations outside of marriage), uncleanness, passion, evil desire, covetousness (Colossians 3:5) as well as anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language, and lying (Colossians 3:8-9) because we will see them for what they are: lawless deeds that will only lead us away from Him.

    When we determine to seek those things above and keep ourselves pure from sin we will want to wear the beautiful traits that God wants us to put on: tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, patience with others, forgiveness, and love (Colossians 3:12-14), something we can only do when focused wholly on Him!

    How do we keep our minds pure from earthly things and focused on heavenly things?

• By letting the peace of God rule in our hearts (Colossians 3:15) – joy in God! Give your worries to Him, so you can share in His peace (Philippians 4:6-8)

• By being thankful (Colossians 3:15, 17) – keep your eyes open to your blessings (Psalm 68:19) and give thanks to God always (Ephesians 5:20, 1 Thessalonians 5:18)!
  

• By letting the word of Christ dwell in us richly with all wisdom (Colossians 3:16) – read and study the Bible, it is God’s instructions for you (2 Timothy 3:16-17) and ask Him freely for wisdom (James 1:5)!

• By teaching and carefully warning others through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Colossians 3:16) – teach others, warn others in loving ways (Ephesians 4:29-32; 5:19)

• By singing with grace in your heart to the Lord (Colossians 3:16) – let your heart sing out in praise every day (Psalm 92:1-2, 146:1-2)!

• By doing all that you do in the name of Jesus (Colossians 3:17) – always remember Whom you serve when you are busy doing good works (Ephesians 2:10, Titus 3:8, 14)

    Yes, we can and will make mistakes, we will stumble, impurities will get in and sully our heart/mind/soul, but because Jesus gave His life so we can be pure, we need to take serious action in identifying the impurities, confess them to God so that He may cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9)!

    Jesus gave His life for us! Let’s determine to give our lives to Him! Let’s do  all we can to maintain that purity and hold onto that hope which He gave His life to provide and keeping His sacrifice always in mind let us selflessly give our time to help others so that they too may see the Light and learn of Jesus and the redemption found only in Him!

Set your mind on things above!!

You can do it! So can I!!