The Pursuit of a Pure Heart (Part 2: How?)
- Posted by Julee Huy
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Picking up where we left off, we will now tackle what Paul’s prayer reveals about how love should drive us to pursue purity (refer back to Philippians 1:3-11).
THE COUNTERINTUITIVE METHOD
How Paul tells us to be pure and blameless is utterly staggering. He tells us that, in order to be pure and blameless, we must approve what is excellent! How counterintuitive to our nature! Conventional thinking would dictate that the road to purity is one of ridding impurity. Surely, it seems logical to reject the undesired to attain the desired. But be careful of your method in doing so, Church; too often, we neglect love by our method, which is the very thing that Paul prays would abound! It is a sinful habit amongst the saints to think that purity is achieved simply by disapproving of wrongdoing. We can become experts in exposing flaws or rejecting wrong, instead of experts in approving what is excellent. This merely vocal disapproval never fills one with the fruit of true righteousness but only self-righteousness. Immediately preceding the verse from Matthew quoted earlier (about the evil that comes out of our hearts), Jesus writes, “Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person” (Matthew 15:17-18). So what comes out of our mouths reveals the evil in our hearts. We must proceed cautiously when we strive to be pure. Reducing purity to a rejection of sin merely reveals that we neglect love by means of a self-righteous, judgmental heart and are therefore not pure in heart! What a horrifying irony: in pursuing purity, many of us will simply reveal our pharisaical impurity. Paul elsewhere says,
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4:29.
Let us not deceive ourselves into believing that we have somehow avoided participating in corrupting talk when we find ourselves constantly speaking of the wrongdoings of the church and the immorality of the world. Dwelling on these things can quickly become a socially acceptable form of what Christ clearly has disapproved of through the words of Paul. If all that we find ourselves talking with each other about is how inappropriate a movie or television show is, or how we (or our children) don’t participate in the activities that another brother or sister in Christ does, then perhaps we are simply moral people and not Christian people. While sin should be proclaimed as sin, it should be propelled by love for the person(s) involved and for the purpose of building up. Rightfully exposing sin is regularly accompanied by, and never to the exclusion of, approving what is excellent.
Immediately following this prayer, Paul tells of those who preach Christ through envy and rivalry (v.15) and selfish ambition (v.17), but then emphatically rejoices that Christ is proclaimed whether in pretense or in truth (v.18). What a difficult task! When wrongdoing is evident, the assumption stands that we should point the finger and proclaim the wrong, thereby holding fast to our own self-proclaimed purity. But this is not the case for Paul. It is by his love that he is able to rejoice in Christ despite the error in others. He remains pure in heart not only because he sees the sin, but because he can rejoice in what is excellent and worthy of praise (remember, “love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things,” 1 Corinthians 13:7).
Near the end of his letter, Paul says,
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9.
If our minds are on praiseworthy things, our tongues will follow suit in praising these things, for what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart. I encourage you, Church: keep your mind on what is excellent and keep your tongues acknowledging these excellencies. It is in this humility that our love will begin to abound more and more, purifying our hearts to the glory of God!
THE NECESSARY MEANS
But lest we stray from true love, let us remember the means we must take to approve what is excellent: knowledge and discernment (v.9). Paul tells us to rejoice in what is excellent (the evidences of the good work of Christ and its effects). But this is nearly impossible without knowledge and discernment of what is excellent! It is all too easy to fall into ignorance through laziness. We must take time and effort to carefully reflect on what we are approving in the name of ‘love’. It is not loving to deem excellent what God finds utterly sinful. Remember, Paul may have approved the excellencies of Christ being preached, but he still discerned and acknowledged the wickedness in how or why it was preached. To see praiseworthy or excellent actions, we must have a knowledge of God. It is prideful to assume that our sinful, fallen mind can and will determine what aligns with the will of God. We live in a culture that approves anything and everything for the sake of tolerance. Let us keep far from the ignorance of believing that this has not seeped into the church! We must intentionally read, purposefully meditate on, critically analyze, and carefully consider the scriptures. We must recognize this tendency to base our discernment off our own opinions rather than the opinions of God. Remember, Church,
…put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24.
We must take seriously our knowledge of the Gospel of Christ, and only approve what would glorify Him. Attending church events without searching for their biblical purpose, approving of how we spend our time and assuming it to bring glory to God (without ever asking God), or approving of what our own pastors say without searching the Scriptures, keep us ignorant as to whether or not these things actually bring glory to God. I urge you, if your prayer is to abound in love, as Paul’s was, to work diligently to obtain knowledge and discernment by prayerfully seeking the Lord in His Scriptures. It is only by this grace of renewing our minds, that we may put on the new self and approve what is excellent.
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