The Way to Purity
Title: My Utmost for His Highest Author: Chambers, Oswald, 18741917
"Those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart … .For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man …" (Matthew 15:18–20).
Initially we trust in our ignorance, calling it innocence, and next we trust our innocence, calling it purity. Then when we hear these strong
statements from our Lord, we shrink back, saying, "But I never felt any of those awful things in my heart." We resent what He reveals. Either
Jesus Christ is the supreme authority on the human heart, or He is not worth paying any attention to. Am I prepared to trust the penetration of His
Word into my heart, or would I prefer to trust my own "innocent ignorance"? If I will take an honest look at myself, becoming fully aware of my
so-called innocence and putting it to the test, I am very likely to have a rude awakening that what Jesus Christ said is true, and I will be appalled
at the possibilities of the evil and the wrong within me.
But as long as I remain under the false security of my own "innocence," I am living in a fool’s paradise. If I have never been an openly rude and
abusive person, the only reason is my own cowardice coupled with the sense of protection I receive from living a civilized life. But when I am open
and completely exposed before God, I find that Jesus Christ is right in His diagnosis of me.
The only thing that truly provides protection is the redemption of Jesus Christ. If I will simply hand myself over to Him, I will never have to
experience the terrible possibilities that lie within my heart. Purity is something far too deep for me to arrive at naturally. But when the Holy
Spirit comes into me, He brings into the center of my personal life the very Spirit that was exhibited in the life of Jesus Christ, namely, the Holy
Spirit, which is absolute unblemished purity.
The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders.... because they did not receive the love
of the truth, that they might be saved." 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10
Christ said; "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6
Christ did not die to make bad men good; He died to make dead men live.
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