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AN INCOMPREHENSIBLE GOD:

Grasping for an Understanding

 

The Purity of God

Lesson #4

Victor M. Eskew

 

INTRODUCTION

 

A.    The title of our lesson is:  “The Purity of God.”

1.      All would acknowledge that God is pure.

2.      However, the information specifically related to the purity of God is scarce.

3.      Part of the problem is that there is a lot of writing on the holiness of God which involves the purity of God.

 

B.      We will focus only on God’s purity.

 

I.                   REFERENCES AND DEFINTIONS

 

A.    There are only a few verses that directly reference the purity of God.

1.      Eliphaz, the friend of Job (Job 4:17)

 

Shall mortal man be more just than God?  shall a man be more pure than his maker?

 

2.      Habakkuk 1:13

 

Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity…

 

3.      John, the apostle (I John 3:3)

 

And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

 

B.      Definitions

1.      The Hebrew and Greek words translated “pure” in both testaments carry the same definition.  Very simply, pure means clean.

2.      Synonyms:  unadulterated, uncontaminated, morally innocent, chaste, free from carnality, free from fault, and free from defilement.

 

C.     We often speak of Christians as being pure, but we all know that we are tainted in some ways.  This is not so with God.  He is 100% pure.

1.      This is easy to say, but it is not easy to truly appreciate.

2.      To hold pure silver or pure gold in one’s hand is impressive.

3.      When we contemplate the complete purity of God, we should be impressed.  Isaiah was (Isa. 6:5).

a.      He saw a vision of God in the year that king Uzziah died.

b.      The seraphim were flying, and, saying:  “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.”

c.       To these words, Isaiah said:  “Woe is me!  for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips:  for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

 

D.    Other ways God’s purity is described in Scripture.

1.      God is holy.  If He were not pure, He could not be holy (Rev. 15:4).

 

Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name?  for thou only art holy…”

 

 

2.      God is light (I John 1:5).

 

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

 

3.      God is good (Mark 10:18).

 

And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good?  there is none good but one, that is, God.

 

4.      A final word that describes the purity of God is the word “perfect.”

 

II.                GOD’S PURITY MANIFESTED

 

A.    Because God is pure, everything that springs from Him is pure.

1.      His love is pure

a.      It is not tainted by partiality.

b.      It is not corrupted by prejudice.

c.       It is not stained with hypocrisy.

d.      His love is completely undefiled.

e.       John tells us:  “God is love” (I John 4:8, 16). 

1)      This cannot be said of man.

2)      Yes, we can love, but we are not love.

3)      God’s nature is love and that love is pure in every way.

2.      God’s wisdom is pure.

a.      James 3:17

 

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy, and good fruits, without partiality, and with hypocrisy.

 

b.      If God’s wisdom were not pure, it would be worthless.

1)      If it were polluted in any way, what good would it be to man?

2)      If it contained just one drop of corruption, how could it be trusted?

c.       Because God’s wisdom is pure, man is exhorted to get wisdom.

1)      Proverbs 4:5

 

Get wisdom…

 

2)      Proverbs 4:7

 

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom…

 

3)      Proverbs 16:16

 

How much better is it to get wisdom than gold!

 

3.      God’s words are pure.

a.      Psalm 12:6

 

The words of the Lord are pure words:  as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

 

1)      When gold and silver pass through the fire, they are purified.  All of the impurities are burned off.

2)      God’s word is described as silver tried in a furnace.  It is pure.

3)      In fact, it is perfectly pure.  It has been purified seven times.  Seven is the perfect number.

b.      Psalm 19:8

 

…the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

 

c.       Psalm 119:140

 

Thy word is very pure:  therefore doth thy servant love it.

                       

1)      It is truth with no errors.

2)      There are no mistakes therein.

3)      There are no contradictions.

4)      There are no disagreements with true science.

4.      God’s works are pure.

a.      There are no hidden agendas.

b.      There is no unfairness.

c.       There is no favoritism.

d.      In Genesis 18:25, Abraham asks:  “Shall not the Judge of the earth do right?”  The answer is:  “Yes!  He will always do right!”

e.       NOTE:  What God creates is pure.  Therefore the doctrine of Total Hereditary Depravity is false.  Man is not born with a soul, created by God, that is stained with sin.  God’s works are pure.

 

B.      A pure people

1.      When God finished creating on Day 6, He declared His creation to be “very good” (Gen. 1:31).

a.      Adam and Eve were sinless and innocent.

b.      Satan’s temptation and Eve’s sin ruined all of this (Gen. 3:6).

 

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that is was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

 

1)      Man was now at odds with His Creator.

2)      His sin separated him from God.

3)      “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity…” (Hab. 1:13).

2.      God had a choice to make when Adam and Eve sinned.  He could destroy them (Ezek. 18:20), or, He could find a way to purify them and reconcile them unto Himself.  Fortunately, He chose the latter.

a.      From the moment man sinned, God set a plan in motion that would enable Him to cleanse man from his transgressions.  This plan had been designed from before the foundation of the world.

b.      Genesis 3:15

 

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

 

1)      This is the first Messianic prophecy in the Bible.

2)      The seed of the woman was Jesus Christ.

3)      God would send Him into the world and Satan would bruise His heal.  He did this in the crucifixion.

4)      The seed of the woman, however, would bruise the head of Satan.  He would strike a crushing blow to Satan’s head.  He did this in the resurrection.

5)      The crucifixion and resurrection of Christ would enable God to purify man and restore him to fellowship with Himself, the pure God.

 

CONCLUSION

 

A.    The Bible teaches us that God is pure.

 

B.      All that flows from God is pure:  His love, His wisdom, His words, and His works.

 

C.     When God created man, he was pure also.  He sinned, but God loved him.  He set in motion a plan whereby He could purify sinful man.  That plan involved the death of Jesus on the cross of Calvary and the resurrection of Jesus from the grave.

 

D.    Man’s purification, however, can only be obtained by his complying with the conditions of salvation found in the New Testament.

1.      Jesus said man must “do” His will (Matt. 7:21).  The writer of Hebrews tells us that the Christ is the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey Him (Heb. 5:9).

2.      The initial conditions are five in number.  They are found in the Gospels, the book of Acts, and the Epistles.

 

Conditions                The Gospels                         The Book of Acts                 The Epistles

 

Hear                           Luke 8:18                               Acts 2:22                                James 1:19

Believe                       John 8:24                                Acts 16:31                              Romans 10:13-14

Repent                       Luke 13:3                               Acts 2:38                                2 Peter 3:9

Confess                      Matthew 10:32                      Acts 8:37                                Romans 10:9-10

Be baptized               Mark 16:16                             Acts 22:16                              1 Peter 3:21

 

3.      When a person truly believes, he completes the entire process of salvation.  It can then be said that God has purified the individual’s heart by faith (Acts 15:9).

4.      Man comes up out of the water of baptism a new creature (II Cor. 5:17).

5.      He purified his soul in obeying the truth through the Spirit (I Pet. 2:22-23).

6.      When the Lord comes again, He will be seeking those who have purified their souls (Eph. 5:25-27).

7.      “Blessed are the pure in heart:  for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AN INCOMPREHENSIBLE GOD:

Grasping for an Understanding

 

The Purity of God

Lesson #4

Homework

Victor M. Eskew

 

1.    When you hear that God is pure, what comes to mind?

 

2.    What is the distinction between God’s purity and God’s holiness?

 

3.    When something is impure, what picture comes to your mind?

 

4.    God is said to be holy, light, good, and perfect.  Which word best describes God’s purity to you?  Why do you say this?

 

5.    Have you ever held something in your hands that was 100% pure, that is, as close to pure as man can make it?

 

6.    What is the main thing that taints man’s love?  (NOTE:  God’s love is 100% pure).

 

7.    Why is it important to know that God’s wisdom and words are pure?

 

8.    The Bible says God’s works are pure.  We applied this to infants who are created by God.  Therefore, they cannot be created totally depraved.  What is another way to apply the purity of God’s works to man?

 

9.    Why did God choose to purify man instead of destroying him when he sinned?

 

10. Is the ability to be pure important to you?

 

11. Why was Jesus necessary to our purification?

 

12. T – F  God has the right to purify man in the manner He prescribes in His Word.

 

13. Why does man seek purification from sin in ways God has not authorized?

 

14. Why is it important to be pure when Jesus comes again?