Lesson 2: Foundation for holiness – purity

Read 1 Peter 1:1-25 - https://www.bible.com/bible/59/1pe.1
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

One of the most significant qualities of holiness is purity. In Verse 4 above we read that our inheritance is undefiled. And all through Scripture, beginning from the moment God first started teaching us about worshiping Him in Leviticus, He said He wanted us to be holy as He is holy (Leviticus 11:44) with the emphasis on purity.


How are we to be pure? Since we are made up of body, soul, and spirit, let us see what purity is in each of these parts of who we are.

First, purity in our body means we do nothing to our body that will hurt it, like using drugs or abusing alcohol or eating too much or too little. We also keep our bodies pure sexually by following God’s guidance: having sex only with the one person (one man with one woman) to whom we are married. Anything else defiles us (Hebrews 13:4). We cannot redefine what is acceptable to God by thinking whatever WE want must therefore be good.

Second, purity in our soul means how we think. Ephesians 5:4 says we should never speak filthiness or foolishness or crude joking. James 3 tells us we are to tame our tongue, and Romans 12:1-2 says we can only do this by transforming our minds into thinking God’s way. Purity of thought will result in purity of action.

Third, purity in spirit means how we worship. Jesus said in John 4:24 we are to worship in spirit and in truth. This means worship can never be just a ritual for us; it must include every part of our being and it must be by our own choice and will. We CHOOSE to worship God alone. And worshiping in truth means we worship according to all He has told us in the Bible. We cannot choose just one piece, such as music, in which to worship – it must also include obedience to what He has said, in unified fellowship with other believers, and in growing and learning of Him.

While we say purity is so important to holiness, we must also know we cannot become pure by ourselves. We must obey what we read in Scripture, and ask the Lord to make the changes in us necessary to be pure.

*What is God working on in your life for purity?