Harrisonburg First Church of the Nazarene
Rule #3
Sin does not just hurt my relationship with God.
We are defining purity as “seeking God’s best for me - heart, mind and body”
Colossians 3:5-14 NIV
Our purity matters to God
-He is a holy God and as His children, we are also called to be holy
-Paul lists specific examples of the behaviors and attitudes we must take off in order to clothe ourselves with God’s best for us
-The act of purifying is God’s work
*We are not the ones trying to purify ourselves
*We cannot take off the old and put on the new by ourselves
-The act of purifying is God’s inner work
*Jesus did not come into the world simply because we had bad habits that needed to be broken. He came into the world because we had dirty hearts that needed to be purified
*This is not about behavior modification; it’s transformation from the inside out
Our purity matters to God, and it impacts those around us
-We often view sin as personal but miss the impact it has on those around us
-Lust distorts our view of others and poisons our minds, replacing meaningful relationships with a facade
-Greed causes us to compare ourselves to others and to view our relationships in terms of what we can get from them
-Lying causes trust to be broken and destroys the foundation of the relationships that matter most
It is impossible to build a life of righteousness on a foundation of sin.
Ephesians 5:8-11 NIV
-Oftentimes, our posture towards sin in our lives is to minimize it, to excuse it, to hide it, or to justify it
-But God doesn’t want us to minimize sin; rather He wants to expose it in our lives so He can bring healing
-A posture of hiding brings shame, and shame will destroy our relationships.
Scripture for further reflection:
Psalms 139:23-24 NIV
Matthew 5:8 NIV
1 Corinthians 13:1-13 NIV