Is there a case for Christian holiness and purity?
If so, what provisions are there for it?
Or is it a hit or miss affair?
What does the Bible have to say about purity and how to attain it?
What are the must-have tools for a virtual purity “toolbox”?

Before embarking on an examination of what tools to house in a virtual toolbox for purity, let’s remind ourselves of the call for sanctification and purity to followers of Christ.

The apostle Paul routinely draws his letters to the various churches he writes to in the New Testament to an end by addressing matters related to practical Christian living. As he draws his first letter to the Thessalonian Church to a close, he reminds and reiterates the instruction issued to them on how they are to conduct their lives.

1 Thessalonians 4:2-5
For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;

1 Thessalonians 4:7
For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness.

Clearly, the instructions Paul was reminding the Thessalonians of related to the express will of God. It was therefore not concealed or unknown to them. Neither was it a matter of personal opinion or minor significance but major and worthy of reiteration because it relates to God’s will. God’s will in this matter was clearly and authoritatively communicated to the Church, as Paul reminds them, “through Jesus Christ“.

Sanctification (i.e. complete separation from that which is unholy and total dedication to God) was (and still is) the express will of God for His people and consisted of the following:

• Abstinence from immoral sexual conduct
• Self control (“each one of you”) of one’s body in holiness and honour (as opposed to just following one’s passions and desires like the ungodly)
• Holiness and purity (vs 7)

Holiness and purity are achieved through abstinence and self control. Throughout the scriptures, inherent in God’s call to His own is a call to a standard of holiness (separation) equivalent to His. Writing to Christians living among unbelieving folk, Peter reminds them of this fundamental truth:

1 Peter 1:14-16
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

Those whom He calls, God always does so to His standard of holiness and purity and nothing less. This involves a turning away from former ways that Peter is calling them to actively pursue in order to perfect holiness in all their conduct. There’s a turning away from former things that’s an essential prerequisite if holiness is to be achieved.

Furthermore, God’s call to His people to abstain from conduct driven by raw passions – for the benefit of their soul and to honour God – is universal.

1 Peter 2:11-12
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

The call to holiness and purity here comes immediately after the declaration of their identity as God’s people indicating that what follows is natural to those called by God to be His people. There is first a reminder of the temporary nature of their residence in the current physical form and present environment (“sojourners and exiles”) before moving on to the exhortation. Peter urges abstinence from gratifying the desires of the body because they actively wage war against the soul. There is a real battle between the flesh and the soul that is fought out in the area of sexual desires – a constant struggle with each vying for the upper hand over the other. And abstinence is the key to winning this battle.

Total abstinence from all forms of sexual immorality is vital if the battle for sexual purity is to be won.

In fact, the apostle Paul goes one step further saying that no provision is to be made for the flesh to gratify its desires. It is not only about abstaining but proactively and routinely depriving and denying the flesh of opportunities for its gratification.

Romans 13:14
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

The flesh is not to be given even the slightest chance or opportunity for its gratification. These opportunities are to be choked to death and the flesh denied them. However, making no provision for the flesh is only viable where there is a conscious, daily effort of putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything is sure to fall apart without the building up of this new person which we are in Christ and is “being renewed (daily!) in knowledge after the image of its creator.” (Colossians 3:10)

In his letter to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 6:18, Paul was direct in his instruction to them to flee from sexual immorality emphasising its unique, self-destructive nature: “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.” Sexual immorality is unique among sins because it’s a sin committed against one’s body where God’s Holy Spirit dwells.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

There was a clear call and standard for Christian purity and holiness that the apostle was drawing the Thessalonian church’s attention to again. Paul was open and direct, not desiring for there to be any ambiguity in this matter.

These instructions were not issued casually or as opinions but in the authority of the Lord Jesus – “through the Lord Jesus”. Paul and his coworkers stood on the authority of the Lord Jesus when issuing these instructions. So much so that Paul reasserts the authority of the instructions again when in 1 Thessalonians 4:8 he says, “Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.” These instructions comply and are consistent with the instructions of The Lord Himself, relating to His standards and not human ones.

In fact, in the only other use of the Greek word (sanctification) in the same tense and case (hagiasmos | ἁγιασμός | nom sg masc) in 1 Cor 1:30, Jesus is presented as our sanctification from God implying that He now also represents the standard for our personal and progressive sanctification too.

1 Corinthians 1:30
And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,

The Lord Jesus is indeed our perfect sanctification by whom we are declared perfect and righteous before God and the standard of sanctification we are to aspire to and grow towards in our lives.

Our progressive sanctification towards the perfect standard set by Christ consists of practical measures some of which the apostle Paul reminded the Thessalonians of. For God not only calls but also empowers us to His standard of holiness. These provisions for our progressive sanctification (ie transformation) are all found in Christ. They are the essential and non-negotiable tools that ought to be found in each of our purity toolboxes and which we will look at in the next post.