Sanctification: Purity of Heart
By Larry White
January 20, 2015
Purity of Heart:
"To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work." Titus 1:15
The pure in heart can see God. Turning our eyes toward greedy desires and passionate lusts will eventually take us out of the realm of light and blind us to God. Repentance and forgiveness restores that sight. But continued lusting after the things of the world will harden us and the blindness will be so dark that we will be in danger of not finding our way back. The flesh will not give up easily.
Our hearts are purified by faith. (Acts 15:8-9) But faith in what? Faith in the light of the spiritual realm where God is and all who love him. With a pure heart the carnal trappings of the world fall away like scales from our eyes and we can see the reality of things around us through the Spirit. We can see the draw of temptations and resist them by remaining true and loving with purity of heart. There is no reason to be afraid. Those with whom we are tempted have no power over us. If they need help we can help them. If they are truly evil we can walk away.
If you are having trouble resisting even after you are clean and restored by God's grace, it is probably the broken heart of the flesh that addictively craves its desire in order to fulfill the need. God is willing and able to give you strength in your heart and heal the brokenness, if you ask him in faith with a commitment to resist the promptings and urgings that will certainly come. They should find no answer or response from you.
For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Eph. 3:14-19)
God is able and willing to do more than you can imagine through the power that works in you. (v.20-21)
LW