Purity vs Corruption

Titus 1:15-16 (NIV)
To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

The word “corrupt” or “corruption” may be one of the most disgusting words in our language to describe something or someone. The word means to pollute, soil, contaminate. The Greek word literally means “to dye with another color, to stain”. Anyone who has been a victim of a corrupt person, business, or government knows how ugly this word is and how awful are its results.

Purity means to be free from contamination. In my professional life of developing and manufacturing medicines, purity means freedom from chemical impurities and microorganisms that, if present, can hurt or kill those taking these medicines.  Headline news these days are the tragic deaths of many people who were injected with fungal contaminated vials of a steroid.  Is there any human being who is free from contamination/corruption?  No, not in a natural sense. The only person who was completely pure while walking on this earth was Jesus Christ (II Cor 5:21, I Peter 2:22, I John 3:2-3). The only way you can approach the level of purity of the Lord Jesus Christ is to have His Spirit completely filling your heart and mind. 

What is the meaning of “to the pure, all things are pure”? A pure life includes purity in all areas of life—your relationships (e.g. no lying or deceit), your schoolwork (e.g. no cheating), your occupation (e.g. no lying, deceit, laziness), your physical life (e.g. no bad eating/drinking habits, no sexual immorality), and your spiritual life (e.g. no impure thoughts, no selfish behaviors). Now, no human being can be pure on his/her own (I John 1:8-10), but can be made pure by the grace of God, such grace available to every person who, through faith alone, accepts the fact that Jesus Christ shed His blood to die for your sin nature to be washed away forever. You will still sin from time to time, but your sin nature is replaced by the grace of God (Eph 1:7, Col 1:27).

The corrupt do not believe in Jesus Christ. Without such belief, nothing is pure because there is no standard, no role model, no sense of accountability to a higher authority. The mind and conscience of the unbeliever is corrupt. The corrupt person is a hypocrite since his/her actions do not back up whatever they might claim about themselves. The person who says he believes in God, yet shows nothing in his life that reflects such belief is a hypocrite. A hypocrite, according to this passage, is detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. What an awful description of a person’s life.

Pastor Don Fortner wrote: “The believer’s prayers are a sweet savor to God. The unbeliever’s prayers are an abomination. The believer’s sacrifices are a delight to God. The unbeliever’s sacrifices are repugnant. The believer’s service to God is acceptable, sweet, and honoring to God. The unbeliever’s services to God are abominable and reprobate."

How you want your life to be described---one of purity or one of corruption? God always gives you the choice.