… but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure.
Summary: Pure water is rare. Any amount of anything that is not water makes it impure. Like impure water, we cannot makes ourselves pure nor do anything that is pure. Only through Jesus can we be cleansed.
Pure water contains only water. It has no chemicals, minerals, fluoride, or anything else. It consists of one part hydrogen and two parts oxygen. Nothing more, nothing less.
If we add a drop of arsenic to the water, it is no longer pure. It has become corrupted. Even a teaspoon of dust swept from the kitchen floor is enough to corrupt any amount of water. Which brings us to an interesting point: how much corruption is acceptable?
In any home’s water system, there is always a certain amount of something in the water that isn’t water. Even bottled water usually has minerals added to “improve taste.”
People are like water in this way: if there is no sin in their heart or mind, they are pure. Add one little teaspoon of sin, and an entire lifetime becomes corrupted.
Living in a sinful world, we have a choice. We can believe in Jesus, the source of purity, or not believe in him. Jesus can touch the unclean without becoming unclean himself (Matthew 8:3). What he touches, he makes pure. He makes the unclean, clean. Can impure water be used to clean something else and make it pure? No, of course not. Can an impure person do anything pure? No.
We live in an impure world. The believer, having been touched by Jesus, becomes more like Jesus. The unbeliever knows only impurity. Each day is a drink from a dirty well. Each day the unbeliever takes in more corruption.
A human being can adjust to anything. We get used to being what we are and where we are. To those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure, and at the same time, nothing seems impure. Everything is relative to the place, the person, and the moment. Only in Christ can we know what is pure. Only through the blood of Christ can we hope to become pure.
Application: Think about how the purity of Jesus has changed your life.
Food for Thought: How does a non-believer perceive a believer?
Wow! What a question.
The answer to this question is difficult, and different depending on if you are asking the question- How do potential believers, or those presently not believers perceive an individual believer with a positive life, testimony, and witness who truly cares about an unbeliever with whom he or she has a relationship, is actively listening to them, and seeking touchdowns, or common ground to share the good news or otherwise be helpful to them. The attitude a potential or possible pre-believer is approached with is quite significant. If they are loved and their worldview or individual struggles and problems are handled with loving grace, in a patient timely fashion, combined with constant prayer for the Holy Spirit to bring about a favorable soil or disposition of heart ❤, then perhaps the non-believer becomes a believer, which is greatly desirable and God’s will. He is not willing that any should perish but is patiently waiting for as many as will repent dose. so (2 Peter 3: 8-9).
If on the other hand you are referring to what non-believers in general think of believers I would say they do not usually have a very high opinion of them, generally find them people whom they would prefer not to be around to say the least.
Unbelievers in general likely find believers out of touch, judgemental, joy-killers. They may see them as weak, hypocrites, who do not merit their company. In some cases, the presence of a godly Christ follower produces feeling of discomfort and guilt as the unbeliever embraces much different priorities in their own life. The reactions can be quite varied, but as oil and water do not mix so neither do the natures, focus, goals, purposes, ideals, or worldviews usually have much in common or offer a basis for a common sharing of ultimate values and priorities. Christians and non-Christians are to be blunt, on different paths, and headed for opposite eternal destinies. Not many, if any non-Christians are interested in personal purity. In fact, the greatest number seem to be intensely occupied with mostly self-centered personal welfare concerns. Many or most do not not think of God at all, or rarely do so. A number of these individuals also seem obsessed with self-justification of their behavior, as well as ideas that their own sins are not a particularly serious matter. Many may feel or believe that God will grade on the curve and they have sufficient good deeds or at least they are not as bad as certain others.
These unbelievers are woefully ignorant of God’s requirements as well as actively resisting the testimony of their own consciences. They are hopelessly lost unless they repent, accept Christ, and trust Him and His finished work for their salvation. They truly have an essential need to embrace Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and entrust their soul and eternal well-being to Him.
There is a wide gulf in the practice of purity between unbelievers and true, committed, dedicated to righteous living, believers.
I welcome other thoughts, ideas and insights on Jeff Englunds’ question.
Thanks
Jeff,
Thank you for wrestling with today’s question! You have touched on something that is close to the heart of Paul’s letter to Titus: If some who claim to be believers do not “hold firmly to the trustworthy message” they leave the non-believer with a bad taste. Part of your description of that taste was “judgmental joy-killers.” Could anything be further from the truth?
Thank you for the devotion today. It is a great representation of the gospel and reminds us of our need for a Savior. The analogy you offer is very helpful. Thank you!
As for your question, I think it depends on the nonbelievers world view. Is it pantheistic, secular, etc.? What has been their previous experience with believers, etc.? I don’t think it is a one size fits all. But in each case they have a need for Christ and will not be in a relationship with God, for which they were created, without trusting in the work of Christ.
Amen, Rich.
We do have a need for God and we did before we were a believer. All that needs to happen is connecting the dots between the spiritual hunger felt by the non-believer and the spiritual answer which is God.
How does a non-believer perceive a believer?
I see non-believers as separate from unbelievers. Both are under conviction of the Holy Spirit John 16:8-11. The vast majority of non-believers need help taking the final step of submission in faith while the unbeliever has chosen to reject conviction and all we believe. To the non-believer we are eventually a blessing, to the unbeliever, the Word of God and all believers are a barrier to their goal of world control, and acceptance of their evil perversions.
NON-BELIEVING DOUBTERS: ‘“Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hands into his side, I will not believe it.” (John 20:25.) Like Thomas the doubting and questioning, non-believer wants evidence, they are looking for rational evidence to support his or her faith.
This person wants the facts, before they respond to the truth.
Our personal testimoney, or acts of kindness could be what they respond to. Jesus blessed questioners, that like his own disciple, Thomas, may have a hard time believing.
NON-BELIEVING SPIRITUALLY POOR: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” ( Matthew 5:3) Jesus interacted with a struggling father who was desperate for his son to be delivered from an evil spirit. . “Anything is possible if a person believes,” Jesus said to him and “The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!’” (Mark 9:19-29)
This poor of spirit includes those for whom belief is hard.
Let Jesus be real in our lives and respond to their questions as we interact with them. In time they will submit to the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
UNBELIEVERS: The unbelievers, have made their choice. They have placed their faith in some temporary, moving standards established by this world. They are proud of what they are, what they have achieved, their power as a group. They have refused the truth and chosen to live in a lie. Their deep commitment to evil refuses to accept contradicting beliefs no matter how well-substantiated and how certain. Jesus spoke of these people John 3:19, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” Examples during the time of Jesus were called Pharisees. In Matthew 22:15; Mark 3:6; 12 :13, To silence the truth, they plotted to kill Jesus. And in Matthew 23, Jesus condemned them as self-righteous, hypocrites who preyed upon the weak, appeared pure outside but were rotten inside, spiritually blind leaders full of lies, placed heavy burdens upon the people, violate the word of God by withholding justice and mercy, seeking to feed their unrestrained greed.
Ron,
Thank you! I like the distinction between the three categories. The doubter, the one who needs more faith, and the one who categorically rejects God. Well done!