Spring Cleaning Pt. 3
Holiness is the desired result of our spring-cleaning—to be holy as He is holy.
Psalms 24:3-5 NKJV
3 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord ? Or who may stand in His holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. 5 He shall receive blessing from the Lord , And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
1. Legalism, or our attempt at righteousness
It could also be called self-righteousness. This approach neglects the need for a pure heart and relies solely on efforts to do good or to be righteous.
2. The “grace only” approach
This is the belief that, because God gave us a new heart and a new spirit, we don’t have to be concerned with doing right because we live under grace.
Not feeling bad about our sin is more important than our sin. God has already cleansed us of future sin. There is no place or room in our life for feeling convicted.
Both legalism and grace without concern for purity are wrong.
Purity of heart is simply acting like God.
His word tells us how to act. Impurity is acting like this world, or like the devil wants us to act. Purity is making the choice to act like God.
Matthew 5:8 NKJV
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.
Jesus is concerned about the heart—that which is on the inside of us, not what the world sees or even the church sees on the outside.
I Samuel 16:7 NKJV
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Matthew 23:25, Matthew 23:28 NKJV
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
What is your heart? The heart is a reflection of who you really are, the secrecy of your thoughts and feelings that no one knows but God.
Matthew 15:18-19 NKJV
18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
Luke 18:27 NKJV
27 But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.”
I Thessalonians 5:23 NKJV
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In this verse, the mention of “soul” is our heart, which is made up of our mind (intellect), our emotions (feelings), and our will.
I Thessalonians 5:22 NKJV
22 Abstain from every form of evil.
We are saints in our standing or position with God, but we don’t always act like saints unless we abstain from evil. God’s standard is what defines true righteousness; His power by His Holy Spirit is what enables it.
Self-righteousness makes us think we are more spiritual than others.
Galatians 5:16 NKJV
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
John 14:15 NKJV
15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
Let’s look at obeying His commandments as simply acting like Him because His Spirit within us will show us how to act likeHim. It will give us the power to act like Him.
John 14:1515 “If you love Me…”
This is the essence of having a pure heart.
My Beginning. My Forever. 