Whatever is Pure

Engaging God with purity of heart is quintessential in this walk of faith in Christ as it is written in Matthew 5:8 that the pure in heart will see God and such ones are blessed. It is not only important but required of us as children of God to live lives worthy of the Lord; one that is pleasing to the Lord in every way, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God (cf. Colossians 1:10). But how can we do this if the mind, the channel through which the expressions of the core of every human being (i.e. the heart) is impure? In other words, how can the child of God engage in pure thoughts if the very source that is to be governed by the word of God, is contaminated? It is for this reason Paul the Apostle encourages the church in 2 Corinthians 7:1 to cleanse themselves from everything that contaminates soul and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God, all in lieu of God’s promises (His presence and fellowship) in the previous chapter.

In this article, we will look at how we can engage in purity of thought by addressing the root of it (i.e. the heart).

The Heart

The Bible says in Proverbs 4:23 NKJV, “Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life” and in Matthew 12:34 NKJV, “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”. Luke 6:45 NKJV has this to say: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks“. The Greek words translated “heart” originally mean: the heart, the feelings, the will, the intellect, centre.

The heart of man, representing the centre of our being is one that when gotten right, would effectively aid in the transformation of man, becoming more like Jesus Christ. The reason is because back in Genesis 3, sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and death spread to all men, because all sinned (cf. Romans 5:12). The highest and deadliest form of death which is separation from God, has been dealt with through the finished work of Jesus in His life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension. By virtue of this, we can have a restored relationship, an inverse of the separation that came through sin through the appropriation of the finished work of Jesus Christ. The implication of this is that the matter of the heart, which classically is the heart of the matter in our discourse can be dealt with by engaging our will – saying yes with an understanding of the implication of our decision to follow Jesus while having Him as Lord and personal saviour. So you see how crucial the heart of man, just like the Central Processing Unit of a computer, is. But this is step one to transformation.

The Mind

The heart, as powerful as it is, expresses itself through the mind. The mind does not work in isolation. It receives input from the will and emotions to effectively function. Imagine a sewage pipeline that is being unblocked by clean flowing water. I need you stay with me. The sewage pipe represents your mind and the impurities that had blocked this represents everything of the sinful nature (I will implore you to take time to read Romans 7:21-25 before continuing, to properly understand) and the water represents the workings of the Holy Spirit. Having understood this, you will understand that once a person is saved and has not pledged their allegiance to the Lord Jesus, they become a new creation in Christ and not in themselves (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:17, Romans 8:1). What happened? Titus 3:4-6 (NKJV) happened. It says, “But when the kindness and the love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, ⁵ not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour“.

The implication of this? Jesus Himself, in John 7:38 says, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water”.

Pure thinking

The new reality of the child of God as seen in John 7:38 is to have living water, flowing out of their heart however while we remain in this human body, the desires of the fleshly nature still tries to express itself (cf. Galatians 5:16,17) but the disposition of the believer and child of God must be to work out their salvation in the fear of the Lord, that holy reverence for the Lord of Hosts (cf. Philippians 2:12).

I need you to understand that for transformation to be effective, we as children of God must engage our will in partnership with the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. We are to think about what is pure and this must be our default disposition in view of our reality in Christ Jesus. This means intentionally doing away with things not aligned to the Word of God in scripture while embracing things that are in line with the Word (which is pure, without contaminants).

Practically, this will mean have a consciousness of the presence of God by His Spirit around you and governing your actions and inactions by His Word. So if you find yourself having thoughts as a believer, ask yourself if Jesus was physically present, you would allow that thought (although you need to know that the Holy Spirit is in you and is therefore present every moment. He desires fellowship and just like you wouldn’t do something to hurt your loved one, treat Him the same way and what’s more, remember He’s God so have that respect for Him). Do things that will draw the Lord close and not away. You will know these things by taking time to study the Word of God and actively praying while spending time in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, according to the will of the Spirit of God.

We must remember that transformation is a partnership between man and God, by the coming together of the will of man and the will of God, expressed through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to birth the purposes of God in a way that will bring only God the glory.

There is grace to engage in pure thinking. You just need to take the step of faith. Come on, do it, Child of God.

Shalom