Live Holy and Keep Yourself Pure

QUESTION: Why Should YOU Hide God's Word In Your Heart

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

● The devil, who is trying to deceive us into sin, can be resisted successfully. If he is resisted he will flee from the one resisting him. Jesus was tempted by the devil, resisted him and never sinned. How did the Lord resist the devil victoriously? He did it by giving the devil the word of God and not mentally entertaining his temptations. See Luke 4:1-13. Similarly, a righteous person doesn't have to yield to the devil's temptations and sin. He can resist the devil and remain submitted to God. Hence, you do not have to sin. You can be victorious over sexual temptation and all others!

2. Walk or live by the Spirit and you will not gratify your sinful nature (or flesh):

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. (Gal. 5:16)

● The sinful nature must be dealt with and put to death. You can successfully put to death the sinful nature with the help of the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:13b). If you walk (or live) in the Spirit you will not fulfill the desires of the sinful nature. Hence, you do not have to sin. You can live holy and keep yourself pure.

3a. Before a righteous person can sin and die spiritually, he is first tempted:

But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. (James 1:14-16)

That process is first the temptation, then the sin, then spiritual death. If we can eliminate or even reduce temptation, we will also lessen the possibility of sinning. The Lord commanded the disciples to pray for such:

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. (Matt. 6:13)

●We should pray daily to be led away from temptation. See also Mt. 26:41 and Luke 22:40,46. Dear reader, if you aren't doing this, change immediately. We are in a serious all-out-fight against sin. It is a fight to the death:

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (Heb. 12:4)

We are in a life-or-death struggle against sin and must overcome. We have been told how to overcome and given the ability, through God, to do this. It is now our choice to act and do the right (wise) things to live holy and obey. Remember, we can resist the devil! We, as Christians, have also been told what not to do regarding sin:

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. (Rom. 6:12)

Why should we not allow sin to reign in our mortal bodies, which is a possibility? Among other reasons, you can become its slave again:

Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey— whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Rom. 6:16)

It is possible to conform to evil desires again just like we did before we were born again:

As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; (1 Pet. 1:14,15)

How serious is conforming to evil desires?

If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.” (2 Pet.2:20-22)

What Is Holiness Preaching

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. (1 Cor. 10:13)

● Those who have been deceived into thinking Christians must sin all the time are really denying the faithfulness of God, among other precious truths. God is a faithful God, which includes the above sure promise that never will a temptation come to a Christian that he can't stand up to and successfully resist.Hence, you do not have to sin.

Find Out Now What Is FINAL AUTHORITY

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psa. 119:11)

● The Godly writer of that verse was serious about not sinning and therefore aggressively hid God's word in his heart to prevent such. Reading, rereading, pondering, meditating in and memorizing God's word (the Bible) will prevent sinning. This is a fact, spiritual safeguard and also related to the following Scripture:

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. (Rom. 8:5)

To have your mind set on what the Spirit desires is to have your mind thinking about the message of the Bible. This in turn will affect your behavior in a good way. According to Psalm 1:2,3, a person who meditates in Scripture day and night will always be spiritually fruitful and prosperous. Hence, you do not have to sin.

5. We can keep ourselves spiritually pure and from sinful defilements as others have successfully done. Paul did this:

The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (1 Tim. 1:5)

Paul had a pure heart, a good conscience and sincere faith, unlike how the eternal security teachers slander him (and the normal Christian life) as doing evil all the time.

Paul also believed Timothy had a pure heart:

Do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. (1 Tim. 5:22)

Paul knew Timothy could keep himself pure and not share in the sins of others. It was his responsibility to do so. God wasn't going to do it automatically for him.

Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (2 Tim. 2:22)

Others besides Timothy and Paul had a pure heart and the same were also pursuing righteousness, faith, love and peace.

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. (1 John 3:2, 3)

Keep the above hope in yourself. Such will help you to walk pure.

These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. (Rev. 14:4)

These also kept themselves pure. Hence, you do not have to sin.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:27)

● Hence, we do not have to be spiritually polluted by the world. This is also necessary to have the religion (Christianity) which God accepts. Hence, you do not have to sin.

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. (Col. 4:12)

We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is for your perfection. (2 Cor. 13:9)

Pray also for yourself, as the Psalmist did for himself:

Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me. (Psa. 119:133)

At this point, David was spiritually clean:

Though you probe my heart and examine me at night, though you test me, you will find nothing; I have resolved that my mouth will not sin. (Psa. 17:3)

You can also be like Paul and beat your body and make it your slave (1 Cor. 9:27) and the minority of Christians at Sardis whom Jesus described as follows:

Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (Rev. 3:4-6)

To be worthy to walk with Jesus means you will have to keep your spiritual clothes from getting soiled by sin. You can do it, with God's help and by applying the above vital spiritual truths. Hence, you do not have to sin. You can live holy. You can obey God now in this lifetime. Don't let anyone deceive you—righteous people (Christians) do what is right and such are distinguished from the sinful (the non-Christians):

Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil (1 John 3:7,8)

Sin can defile, contaminate, soil and bring a Christian to his spiritual death. Therefore, sin is spiritual poison to one's soul. It is a must to keep away from such as it would be to avoid eating and drinking poison in your food. Jesus clearly identified the Christians with these words:

He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice.” (Luke 8:21)

To put God's word into practice is not to sin—it is to obey. Christians obey, while the non-Christians sin. Don't be deceived:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 7:21)

Those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. (John 5:29)

Paul taught the same in these words:

To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. (Rom. 2:7,8)

The heretical eternal security teachers want us to believe Christians sin the same way as the non-Christians (adultery, theft, murder, hate, swindling, lying, drunkenness, etc.) but their sins can't bring them to their spiritual death or negate their salvation. In other words, disobedience to God's commands won't bring spiritual death—the same message the devil taught Eve in Eden. See Gen. 3:4. When Christians oppose the eternal security teachers the essence of their message is the same as God's to Adam:

“You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Gen. 2:17)

Scripture identifies all eternal security proponents who think they know God in a salvation way yet are sinning as liars:

We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (1 John 2:3,4)

Jesus spoke of the vital importance of heart purity:

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (Matt. 5:8)

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Gal. 6:7-9)

You must continue and not give up doing good to reap eternal life, according to true grace teaching. If you give up and start to please the sinful nature you will not reap eternal life—you will go to hell. Do not be deceived. Do not let the heresy of eternal security drag you and your loved ones down to hell. Resist the devil and his lies. This is all part of Christian beliefs though too little known.

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “ No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, (Titus 2:11,12)

That is not the grace taught by the dangerous eternal security teachers. Their counterfeit grace message is the same as the devil's lie in Gen. 3:4. Again, you can keep yourself pure! The eternal security teachers and their message are both described in Jude 4:

For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

For much more information on salvation, the Christian life, how to live holy and Biblical evidence against once saved always saved doctrine, please consult our books: The Believer's Conditional Security and The Myth of Eternal Security will both give you more information on how to live holy.