Purging Solution

In my previous post, I had posed the question on how we can purge the evil from our nation.

Tuesday morning, I was challenged and corrected.  Even though we are citizens of America, we are still ambassadors of Christ.  Our focus isn't on purging the evil of our nation, but purging the evil of our Church.

I will admit, that this was very hard for me to hear...and my heart still isn't fully set on this.  My friends, I know the following sounds harsh...but God is just and loving, and everything he does it for our good. Our definition of "Just" and "Fair" is far from His, and we need to trust that because God knows everything, He knows how the hurt and pain now can change us and others later for the better...God needs to break us before He can really fix us, and we need to trust God with this. 

As I read through Deuteronomy, I saw so many harsh things He commanded the Israelites to do, which made me question my role in purging evil in the first place...but as my study went on and my friends told me more with New Testament references, I found myself at a hard place...

I have friends that are caught in sin, and they know Jesus...so what am I commanded to do?  I love them dearly, and I know they still love Jesus...but they refuse to turn from this sin in their life.  I want to love them.  I want to encourage them.  I want to stay their friend.  Maybe I can...but what am I seeing here?  


Deuteronomy 22:13-21 explains about a marriage situation in which the woman was accused of not being a virgin...now when there is no proof of her virginity...here is what is required of the people back at this time:

If, however, the charge is true and no proof of the young woman’s virginity can be found, she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house and there the men of her town shall stone her to death. She has done an outrageous thing in Israel by being promiscuous while still in her father’s house. You must purge the evil from among you. (Deuteronomy 22:20-21)  

If a man lies with a male as with a women, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed; they have forfeited their lives. (Leviticus 20:13 NAB)

If a man commits adultery with another man's wife, both the man and the woman must be put to death. (Leviticus 20:10 NLT)  

If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife, or your intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nations, near at hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare or shield him, but kill him. (Deuteronomy 13:7-12 NAB)

This was harsh!!  God did not show any slack with Israel...He knew that if people were "lax" on these sins, that it would get out of control and spread quickly throughout the nation.  God had to nip it in the butt. 

Even when Jesus came down to earth, he did an amazing job of bringing reality to our nature. 

Matthew 5, one of many passages, is Jesus talking about how impossible it is for us to be without sin in our lives.  He takes the Law, and says "Oh, you were able to do this?  What about this??"   Of course, we crawl into our holes more and realize...

We cannot live the righteous life by our own power, nor do we have the ability to purge the evil within ourselves.


So friends, what's our solution?  How do we purge?  How can we purge?  If we have so much crap in our own lives and cannot get rid of it on our own, what can we do?


We rededicate our lives and tell Jesus "I promise, next time, I will do this better."  And according to Jesus here in Matthew 5, it is impossible for us to do it.  We need to be purified...and it had to be done like this:


Physical punishment cleanses away evil; such discipline purifies the heart. (Proverbs 20:3)

Feeling discouraged?  There is good news...such good news...

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.  (Isaiah 53:5)

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.  (1 Peter 2:24)
Through Jesus Christ, the ultimate sacrifice, we are CLEAN.  We are healed, purified, purged!!  Our hearts undergo a further purging process that Jesus does inside of us daily!  Amen!! 

But now, to paraphrase a lesson given by Louis Giglio, "We should not just sit back in our Grace EZ Chair."  Through Jesus, God fulfilled that physical punishment to cleanse away evil, but we have a choice still.  We can choose to throw off everything that hinders, or we can continue to live in our sins because we don't want to give up our pleasures...or we feel we cannot overcome those sins, so we give in. 

Here's the thing...you cannot overcome.  Jesus made this very clear in Matthew 5.  You cannot over come, but in John 16:33 we are told that Jesus has overcome!!  And in Colosians 1:27, Jesus lives IN us...so...through the power of Christ in us nothing can hold us back!  On our own we are slaves to sin...but because of Jesus IN us we are slaves to righteousness. 

This is good news...but the hard part comes next...

Let me point out another phrase in I Peter 2:24.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

It is only by Christ we can possibly have the opportunity to die to our sins, but we need to want to die to our sins....not live in them.  We need to truly give it to Jesus to overcome the sins, because we can't...and too many people in our Church give in or refuse to give it up.

Sometimes your good believing friends.

“If your brother or sister sins^, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector."   (Matthew 18:15-17)

Jesus still makes it harsh...but not because we don't love them.  In fact, I do believe in tough love as a solution, because anything other than tough love enables the person in their wrong more, and if you don't rip the bandaid off and it will always be there.  

"Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses."  (Proverbs 27:6)

Also, the deeper reason isn't because Jesus didn't want us to have friends...but he was more concerned about purging the heart from our earthly desires and creating heavenly desires so that they may see greater joy.

“Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."  (Matthew 18:18) 
My heart hates to bring pain to people...especially close friends...I love you all so dearly, and I really hope and pray that my brothers and sisters who refuse to give up their sins or try to overcome it themselves will see the Grace and Power in the Name of Jesus and allow Him to overcome it instead.  I don't want to give up friends...but if I have to in order to let God purge that sin from their lives, I understand that it will create a greater opportunity for them to see God more clearly, and love Him more. 

Pray for me friends, and our Church.  We need to purge again...even if it hurts us now.  The reward is greater that is to come. 

I love you all.