Purity And The Gospel Part 2
by Jennifer Moodie
The whole premise of what I just said in the previous post (which is just a sliver of the nasty pie), is often what is referred to as The Purity Culture. Very simply put, it is the idea that your identity is wrapped up in your virginity. It is the idea that improper sexuality (sex outside of the confines of marriage) is the sin of all sins. Besides the obvious slap in the face to the Gospel that that is, it incites a sense of pride and self focus. It keeps others comparing themselves among themselves and gives many a sense of pride in their own accomplishments. I know many who have held up the fact that they didn't even hold hands or kiss before their wedding day as a sort of trophy. Those women were immediately brought in to teach at the ladies conference. I wanted to do what they did to get the attention they got. Not out of a sense of honoring God, but to get the attention of those around me. This teaching kept me constantly focused on my image in the mirror, and scrutinizing others either in jealousy or disgust. It also didn't help that I had same-sex attraction from as far back as I could remember, and I was taught and encouraged to be constantly looking at women's bodies and treating them as sexual objects that men couldn't resist; all the while not knowing that all of that was feeding my desire for those same 'objects'. Lust is not exclusive to men nor is it a man's issue. It is, in fact, a sin issue. And sin is a universal human problem. And the only solution to sin is the Gospel.
The Bible says that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). This means that the virgin is no less deserving of His wrath than the prostitute in God's eyes. Our sin before regeneration separates us from God and we deserve His wrath. But the good news is that Jesus's blood which was shed on the Cross covers the sins of all who believe. "And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of you flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross." (Col. 2:12-14) This is a short and simple explanation of the Gospel. Then there is this. Watch it. It's not long, and you won't regret it.
Now, if you can still see through the tears, I want to explain that before salvation, we were under God's wrath. But after salvation, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Rom. 8:1) The Gospel is the power to save us, and it is the power to change us. We are made new. This doesn't mean we don't still sin, but it does mean that through the Holy Spirit Who dwells in us, we have the power to resist sin and seek God. The problem with the Purity Culture is that it puts fear as a motivator to do right and not love of God. It promises rewards that are not focused on Christ and His glory, but on us and our happiness. It says A (being a virgin) + B (marrying a man who wants a virgin)= C (a long and happy marriage. No mention of the fact that a good marriage comes from God, is made by God, not our formulas, and for His glory alone. It says that the power of the Gospel is not enough to keep us from sexual sin, but that we need to be doing all these other things to 'help it along'. The gospel isn't enough to keep us from seeking out and giving in to the desires of the flesh over the glory of God. The gospel isn't enough to keep men from lusting; we women have to do the work of the Holy Spirit for them. It places the responsibility of the Holy Spirit on man (or woman). Romans 8:7-9 says "For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God . You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him." Those who are "in the flesh" are not Christians who are just living how they want, but are unregenerate. They are not able to live a righteous life. Only by the power of Christ in us are we able to do righteous deeds. And the beauty of the Gospel is that after salvation, when we we sin we are not separated from God nor have we lost His favor. Now, does that mean that we continue in sin that grace may abound? In the words of Paul, "God forbid!" Having true regeneration means that our desire to sin as a slave of unrighteousness no longer has power over us and we have the desire to resist sin. Before salvation we are dead in our sins and happy to be there. We enjoy our sin. We don't desire not to sin. The sins we desire may not be the same as someone else's desire, but we still desire sin above God. But after regeneration, we have the desire to glorify God in all things, which includes our sexuality. We all know the illustration of the 'scarlet letter'-the red 'A' that is put on those who do not stay 'pure'. Isaiah 1:18 says "...though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool". We are conceived in sin, born sinners, and made pure in Him alone. Adam and Eve were the only people to start out pure.
Teaching that virginity is equal to purity is to call unsaved people pure, and pure people unclean. We are not born pure and then are able to keep ourselves pure by our actions. We are born sinners, and our righteousness (done of ourselves apart from Christ) are all as filthy rags (Isa. 64:6). Purity comes through the blood of Jesus at the foot of the cross, not through an unbroken hymen. Purity flows from a heart that has been made new, not as a result of our willpower to not do certain things. True purity is something that flows from the heart; a heart that belongs to God. A heart that desires to glorify God in all things. Defining purity as something that we have that can be lost is to deny the power of the cross and to call God a liar when He says that He casts our sins as far as the east is from the west, to be remembered no more. Psalm 32:1-2 says "Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit."
Purity, real, true purity, isn’t just physical. It isn’t just a matter of what you have not done. If you were to be completely honest, if you believed the Bible when it says that even lust is adultery, then even by the standards of the Purity Culture teaching, no one is "pure". But even more importantly, the Bible makes it clear that only the finished work of the cross makes a sinner pure when he has been regenerated. God’s standard is perfection, but we could never attain it, apart from His imputing it to us.
Don't get me wrong, the Bible is clear that we are to flee sexual immorality. But it is not because if we commit this heinous sin God will turn His face from us, because at the moment of salvation, Christ's blood covers us so that when God looks at us, He sees His Son. Sexual immorally is to be avoided because when Christ regenerates us, we become one with Him. Sexual immorality is not using our body to glorify the Lord. And we are commanded to do all things to the glory of God. Instead of focusing on anything else, such as how far is too far before you are 'impure', or measuring how much skin is showing, let us instead focus on doing all things to the praise of His glory; for the glory of God alone. Let us focus on knowing Him deeper so that we may serve Him and glorify Him in the way we were made to do. Let us not focus on ourselves or on our actions, but on seeking and understanding the One Who created us, sexual desires and all.
1 Cor. 10:31 "So, whether you eat or drink,
or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."
This is only an introductory post, and is not meant to be all inclusive of the teachings of or problems with what we know as the Purity Culture. I hope to elaborate more as the blog grows.
Until then...
Soli Deo Gloria
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