PURE AND BLAMELESS LIVES
So that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God. (Philippians 1:10b-11 NLT)
God has a plan for all people everywhere! First and foremost, He does not want anyone to perish! He never did and never will. Oh, how He loves you and me. Yes, you really matter! Because we really matter Jesus came and made the way for us to live pure and blameless lives until He comes, or we go.
We have been purified by His word and made blames by His sacrifice and blood! So, we have a position, a place on the podium so to speak; we just need to stand in our place. Everything we need has been provided. We can do all things through Christ, including the impossible, living pure and blameless lives.
True, it is impossible for us to do it on our own, but if we really want to, we can! Jesus said He would not leave us powerless, and He didn’t. He sent another helper. The Holy Spirit is always present and available. He guides us into all truth.
Jesus produces His life in ours. He truly leads us in the path of righteousness. How closely do we follow? How quickly do we return to Him when we get off the path? Do we recognize when we are falling apart? Do we run to Him with all our heart?
Don’t fall for the lie that it is too difficult, or the bigger lie, that God does not really expect or require that we be perfect. we have been made perfect in Christ. He said this is the way; walk in it. His intentions seem pretty clear to me.
He provides the strength and the wisdom; we are tasked with providing the desire. I want to be more like Jesus! To the natural mind, this is way out of our reach. To the Spirit, it is the most natural thing to do. If we have asked Jesus into our lives and asked the Holy Spirit to fill us, we should know He can complete the good work He has begun.
The truth is, with Christ in us, He will always remind us that it is best to stay. Don’t run away. Return to the sweet place. Return to peace, love, and joy. Return to hope, confidence, and assurance. Without Him we have no life.
We should never slack off or back off. We should never make excuses, or rationalizations for a failure to follow Him. Paul prayed they would always be filled with the fruit of their salvation. He assured them that Jesus was producing righteous character in their lives.
That righteous character is what makes us uncomfortable when We do, say, or think the way we did when it did not bother us. Something has changed on the inside that wants to affect the outside. When we let Him shine through us, it brings a great deal of praise and glory to God. Stand for what is right. Stand for what God wants. Don’t compromise. Be light in the darkness.