Girls sometimes wear purity rings to indicate their commitment to saving sex for marriage. Sexual purity is freedom from immorality or perversion. The term purity is often used today in relation to sexuality. We must have Christ’s righteousness credited to our accounts (2 Corinthians 5:21). We cannot be pure enough on our own to see God (Romans 3:23). In the New Testament, purity is reclaimed by placing our faith in the perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3–7). Repentance and faith in a coming Savior, as shown in their obedience to the Law, were sufficient for God to pronounce people righteous. God had declared that He would purify them (Leviticus 22:32) if they kept all His commands (Leviticus 22:31), His Sabbaths (Leviticus 26:2), and His sacrifices (Exodus 8:27). In the Old Testament, people reclaimed purity by sacrificing animals in the way God specified. In order to have fellowship with a holy God, we must reclaim the purity that He originally intended for us: “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart” (Psalm 24:3–4). Impurity renders a person or a nation unfit for entrance into God’s presence (Joshua 3:5 Revelation 21:27 Ephesians 5:5 James 4:8). Impurity is often listed as one factor that will keep us away from the presence of God (Colossians 3:5–6 Galatians 5:19–21 1 Corinthians 6:9–10). However, sin is the corruptor of purity (Psalm 14:3). He created human beings to reflect His image and to live in pure, unbroken communion with Him (Genesis 1:27). Everything He does is good (Psalm 18:30 145:17). In Him, there is no confusion, contradiction, or compromise. God creates pure things because He is pure. There was no death, decay, pollution, or sin. When God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1 - 2), everything was pure. The New Jerusalem is described as a “city of pure gold, as pure as glass” (Revelation 21:18). The Lord has “pure” eyes (Habakkuk 1:13) and speaks “pure” words (Psalm 12:6). The oil used in the tabernacle was to be pure, as was the frankincense (Leviticus 24:2, 7). When Moses was building the tabernacle, God specified that the lampstand and other items inside the Holy Place be made “of pure gold” (Exodus 25:31 cf. Purity is often used in Scripture as a means to communicate holiness or perfection. Purity is important to God, who alone is truly pure. And a pure life is one in which sin no longer determines the choices one makes. Pure gold has been refined to such a degree that all dross has been removed. Pure water is free from any other substances. Purity is the quality of being faultless, uncompromised, or unadulterated.
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