We are not of this world. We have been bought at a price. Let us read from James 1:27, “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” We can see here that this verse has 2 parts. The first part is – to visit orphans and distress. We mustn’t ignore this part. We have to help those who are poor and needy. Notice the second part – keep oneself unstained by the world. In another translation we read this part as ‘keep oneself unpolluted by the world’ and ‘keep oneself unspotted from the world’.
Every day we all take a bath and clean ourselves before we go to work. But in the evening when we come back from work, if we wipe our face with a towel, we can see the dirt that is on our face. It may not be visible to the naked eye, but when we use a towel, we can understand the dust that was on our face. Even if we spend our day indoors in an AC room, there is dust and dirt on our face by the end of the day. When we come into God’s presence, in His light, God will reveal the various spots in our life. Many things in this world defile our spiritual body. Through our evil thoughts, fleshly desires, our wrong motives, when we use social media, when we mingle with unbelievers, in the way we use our tongue we may get defiled. In James we read that our tongue can defile our entire body. But the word of God reminds us to keep ourselves unstained by the world. In 1 John 5:18 we read, “We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.” It is our responsibility to take care of our spiritual body. Many times we forget that we are not our own. Once upon a time we used our body to say or do whatever we wanted. But now, God has purchased us with a precious blood and so we are not our own. In 1 Corinthians 6:13 we read, “Yet the body is not for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.” In verse 15 we read, “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?” and in verse 19 we read, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit”. Our body is for God alone and is a member of Christ and a temple of the Holy Spirit. We are to glorify God with our body. So we have to keep oneself unstained by the world. In Mathew 15:18-20 we read, “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.” We read here the list of things that can defile a man. In Proverbs 4:3 we read, “Watch over your heart with all diligence”. God wants us to guard our heart and body with all diligence. In 1 Corinthians 3:16,17 we read, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.”
Let us think of the word ‘unstained’. It means stain less. We use stainless steel in our houses. On the outer surface of the steel, there is a thin film called chromium. This film prevents the steel from any sort of rusting or corrosion. That is why even if we put the stainless steel in water, it won’t get rusted or corroded. When we are in the world also we need to be unstained by the things in the world. Just like how a fish living in salty water has no salt inside it’s body and is not affected by the salt in the water, while we live in this crooked and perverse generation, we should keep ourselves unstained. When we live in this world, let not our hearts be attached to this world. In Romans 12 we read that we shouldn’t be confirmed to this world.
In 2 Peter 2:7, 8 we read about Lot, “and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds).” In the midst of the impure people in Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot was unaffected by their sensual conduct and lawless deeds. That’s why God calls him righteous and saved him. Even though he went through a lot of temptation, Lot was unaffected. God will rescue us also when we stand for righteousness against the world. But what happened to Lot’s wife? In Genesis 19:26 we read, “But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” The things of this world greatly influenced Lot’s wife. Although she was instructed not to look back, she could not obey it. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire. When we live in this world, we have to remember that this earth is preserved for fire. In 2 Peter 3:7 we read, “But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the Day of Judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” In verse 9-14 we read of how God will destroy this world and how we should keep ourselves holy for the new heaven and new earth. Everything here will soon be gone tomorrow. In 2 Peter 2:20 we read, “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.” As we go along each day, let us take this verse as a warning to us.
In 2 Corinthians 7:1 we read, “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” In Exodus 3:5 God told Moses “Do not come near because the place you are standing is holy ground. Remove your sandals and then come and then you can see my glory.” When we come to God’s presence, God will show us what needs to be removed in order for us to see His glory. He will show us the stains in our heart that needs to be removed. Let us come with a needy heart and ask God to show us the stains in our live that need to be removed. Let us judge ourselves rightly.
May God bless us!
