I Ths. 4:7 ... "For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification (or, 'unto holiness,' KJV)."
A major part of the Christian religion, which is "pure ... undefiled," is the effort to "keep oneself unstained by the world," (Jas. 1:27). And a primary objective in our relationship with God is to imitate His perfect holiness (I Pet. 1:15-16). Moral pollution and holiness are opposites, and both lie within the scope of human experience. Moral pollution is a product of the world, but holiness comes only from God. Living in absolute purity, God allows only those who purify themselves to come unto Him. His kingdom on earth is the church, which is also described as the bride of Christ. Those who enter this kingdom must develop lives characterized by purity in mind, purity in speech, and purity in behavior. In Eph. 5:25b-27 it states that "Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her (make her holy), having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless." It is the never-ending task of those who would be members of this church to examine their lives daily to detect any defilement that might creep into them and to purge it from them.
The world is full of corrupting influences, and God through His word is diligent to alert us to their presence and destructive influence. In Gal. 5:19-21, for example, a list of them is arranged into three categories. In the first are sensual impurities: immorality, impurity, sensuality, drunkenness and carousings. In the second are religious impurities: idolatry and sorcery. And in the third are attitudinal impurities: enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions and envyings. A similar list is given in Rom. 1:29-31, where the course of Gentile degeneration into moral perversion is traced. An amplification of some of the specific pollutants is provided in vs. 21-28, including especially the sin of homosexuality. Anyone who bothers to survey the current human scene can easily find these contaminations prevalent. They are real and imminent dangers to anyone who hopes to be a son of God who will be permitted to live in His presence. After listing these defilements, the text in Galatians 5 concludes with this statement in v.21b, "Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." Equally specific is the statement of Rev. 21:27 where, in describing heaven as a perfect city, it says that "nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it."
To live in the world is also to be brought into contact daily with one or more of the impurities that permeate society. Paul comments on this situation in I Cor. 5:9-10, "I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world." There is no possibility of "go[ing] out of the world" to escape the moral pollution that surrounds us, except by death, and that is not our choice to make. Instead, we must continue to live among the immoral without allowing them to defile us. And that is a very difficult task, because many moral pollutions are very popular and offer the appearance of pleasure, advancement, and success. These rewards, however, are only apparent and fleeting. They do in the beginning bring pleasure and desired elevation in worldly position, but they eventually plunge those who embrace them into destruction. Therefore, throughout Holy Scripture the Lord calls us away from their ruinous deception. He warns us, e.g., in I Jno. 2:17 that "the world is passing away, and also its lusts." Then He promises that "the one who does the will of God abides forever." The blood which Jesus shed on the cross will cleanse us of every impurity, if we will submit our lives to Him. With loving care He calls us patiently and incessantly unto His holiness and thence unto eternal security in His glory.
