GraceTrax

A RECENT ARTICLE entitled Addicted to Adultescence read,

Meet Matt Swann. Matt is a 27-year-old American male who took six and a half years to graduate from college with a degree in cognitive science, and is just getting started figuring out what he wants to do with his life. Matt was asked if he was looking forward to marriage, family, and owning a home. His answer? "I don't ever want a lawn. I do not want to be a parent. I mean ... why would I? There's so much fun to be had while you're young."

Though Matt was being shockingly honest, his response is very revealing. Young people these days are resisting adulthood. They bounce around from job to job and relationship to relationship, never quite finding a steady place of growth. If they muster up the courage to move out of their parents’ house, they often return shortly. In fact, most young people resemble the destructive warm water current El Nino, cycling back around every few years to crash with Mom and Dad again.

What is the solution to extended adolescence? The apostle Paul gives us the answer in 2 Timothy 2:2: “Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”

His answer includes three prescriptions for young men:

1. Flee youthful lusts: Paul instructs Timothy that he must flee those temptations and lusts specifically enticing to young people. Instead of running headlong after the passions that spring from a youthful temperament, Paul instructs us that we should be sprinting away from them. When he encounters youthful lusts, the saint of God has two choices: either flee or fall.

2. Pursue godliness: Paul instructs Timothy to “pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace.” The word “pursue” does not simply mean to follow after, but is very strong and denotes striving after. Timothy is not simply running blindly from a childish disposition; he is running toward a goal. Pursuing is just as important as fleeing. Timothy is to pursue these four goals:

• Righteousness – The young man’s dash should culminate in conduct that glorifies God.
• Faith – Fickleness and unreliability aptly describe a youthful mindset; young men should pursue faithfulness, fidelity, trustworthiness and stability in all areas of life. 
• Love – The weeds of harshness and criticism flourish in the soil of immaturity, and thus the godly young man is continually to sow seeds of love.
• Peace – Since conflict comes naturally, the young man of God is to pursue peace with others. Self-assertion should be abandoned in favor of deference and humility, which promote harmony.

3. Pursue Fellowship: Finally, Timothy is to join himself in fellowship with “those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” He is not only to flee from youthful lusts, but also those who engage in them. There is a safeguard in engaging in the pursuit of godliness with other believers as Proverbs 27:17 reads, “Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”

¹ Written by Al Mohler, http://www.albertmohler.com/2005/06/28/extended-male-adolescence-the-british-version/. Accessed on 11-14-2011.

Sanctification:  The simplest form of the word means to be set apart. God sanctifies us by setting us apart. Peter says we have been individually set apart into a holy nation, a royal priesthood. Through sanctification we have been set apart into a peculiar people.

That’s what God did to us at the moment of our regeneration and justification. Theologians call it instantaneous sanctification, and view it as the passive side of sanctification. The other side is active, and consists of our living out—through the power of the Holy Spirit—the role we have as royal priests, holy citizens, and peculiar people. Theologians call that progressive sanctification.

Without paying much attention to the context of that passage, someone might immediately trust in the power of his own flesh. I’m reminded of a pre-game pep rally, where football players smash their helmets together and excite one another towards victory. Or maybe that form of spiritual self-achievement takes the form of a personal pep talk: “I think I can, I think I can...” That is not what the Holy Spirit is teaching us through the Apostle Paul.

Progressive Sanctification is not building up enough strength to deny the flesh. It’s not convincing your psyche that righteousness is the best thing for you. Those things—although we’ve all tried them—will eventually wear us down until we realize self-effort avails none in our spiritual sanctification.

No, what God wants us to do is think upon Christ. In fact, in the first four verses of Colossians 3 that’s exactly what Paul says. Put your mind on Christ and keep it where He is. The Bible says Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father and is interceding on our behalf. He is there preparing a place for us.

The Father longs to see His children in the kingdom, in a condition to fulfill their creative purpose. And He provides that condition. What an inheritance.  How did we obtain such a wonderful inheritance? We obtained it through the blood of Christ. We’ve been made right with God through the atoning work of Christ and His perfect righteousness.

What a glorious gospel we share as Christians. What a majestic inheritance God has promised us and guaranteed by the sealing of the Holy Spirit. What a turn of events has occurred through the justifying declaration of the Father through the work of His Son.

These are the things we must think upon. This glorious truth in Christ Jesus our Lord is the treasure worth selling everything to obtain. This is the truth that sets us free from sins of the flesh and turns our hearts towards righteousness.
How, you ask?

When we think on this glorious gospel and the secure position we have before a holy and just God it will stir our hearts to love and please Him. It will allow us to see the things of this world, the sins of the flesh, as they really are—offenses to our Savior. As Jeremiah says, we realize that drinking from the world instead of from Christ is like choosing to drink from a mud puddle and rejecting the endless supply of fresh springs.

As Christians, we must understand that the gospel is not a completed truth, an already read book meant for the library shelf. No, the gospel is a truth we continue to explore, glory in, rejoice over, and eternally rest in. Our sanctification does not come through our personal strength. It comes through adoration for the One who procured it—Jesus Christ!

For many people in our day, the appropriate title of this article could be "God or Government." Why? Because government often trumps God in their eyes.

Government is seen as the god who watches over us, feeds us, employs us, bails us out, rescues us and generally renders us unaccountable to anyone but ourselves. But for those who believe that God is the one who created us, equips us, watches over us and providentially guides us, the title should be "God over Government." Though such a concept is repulsive to many, it is precisely the case that God rules over the affairs of governments, men and angels, as well as the whole of His creation.

On the other hand, God's superintendence over all the affairs of government does not negate His decree to place delegated authority in the hands of government. This is explicitly stated in Romans 13. The practical application of the legitimacy of government's delegated authority is clearly indicated in Jesus' statement: Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's (Mark 12:7).

This does not imply that government is equal to the authority of God, but that government has been ordained by God to carry a designated measure of authority in matters that have been duly prescribed in God's Word. Thusly, it is incumbent upon all Christians to render to such delegated authority all that is due within the limitations or boundaries set forth by Divine revelation.

To render means to give what is due or appropriate to somebody who has authority or power. Therefore, to render to Caesar is to give to governing authorities what is due and to render to God is to give to God what is due. Consequently, seeing that God, who is the ultimate and infinite authority, supersedes all delegated authorities, our ultimate allegiance is to be given to Him. Therefore, when delegated authorities contradict the authority of God, the ultimate authority of God supersedes the commands of God's delegated authority.

For instance, if the government commands us not to preach the Word of God, a responsibility God did NOT prescribe to governing agencies, God's command to preach the Word must be heeded over the government's command. When any delegated authority (parents, schools, government, etc.) contradicts God's written instruction in the Holy Scripture, that authority is overstepping his God-ordained boundaries. All delegated authorities possess such authority as prescribed by God and are therefore limited by divine ordination to their particular domains.

To further illustrate, consider a husband and father of a family who has been given delegated authority in his home by God Himself according to Holy Scripture. If another delegated authority, such as the government, oversteps its ordained realm and interferes with the rights and privileges of a man's God given authority over his family, then the husband's authority supersedes the government's authority in that particular realm.

If the government seeks to disallow biblical principles, such as prescribed discipline in the home, the husband must disobey the overstepping of the governing authority's regulation in order to carry out the specific authority that God has assigned to the father alone. However, if a father is proven to be endangering his children, or his wife, through physical abuse, then the governing authorities have the God-ordained right to punish the father as an evildoer as prescribed in Romans 13. Of course, this can be, and often is, abused by governing authorities that overstep their God-given authority due to the ever-increasing godless disapproval of God's prescribed means of raising children in the love and admonition of Christ.

The concept of corporal punishment (spanking children) in the home, which is clearly set forth in Holy Scripture, is under tremendous attack by the secular world. Many governing authorities are following suit by increasingly seeking to mandate the dissolution of such practices in the home, even though God's Word commands it. This is often carried out under the guise of social work, which is typically driven by a philosophy diametrically opposed to most biblical principles.

Christians must understand that though we must obey God's commands which often directly conflict with the ever-increasing overstepping of delegated authority's commands, such as the government's regulations, there is going to be a price to pay. It may mean prison or perhaps death in the future. but Christians must not compromise the Truth for safety.

Conversely, Christians must not overstep their authority and disobey the God-granted authority of the government in those areas where God has prescribed obedience to governing authorities. When we are summoned to serve, for instance, on a jury, we should obey such a summons unless we are providentially hindered.

If we break laws which do not supersede God's biblical commands, we must duly pay according to the verdict the law prescribes. If taxes are prescribed by the governing authorities, we must render whatever is due. We must seek, to the best of our abilites, to be exemplary citizens and properly obey governing authorities. We must also pray for others to properly carry out their God-delegated duties.

But when delegated authorities such as the government overstep clear boundaries that oppose our allegiance to the Almighty, we must first appeal to the governing authorities. If necessary, we must suffer for the faith with a clear conscience before God. Our forbearers understood such allegiance to God. They were prepared to suffer at the hands of cruel governments due to their genuine and faithful allegiance to Holy Scripture above man-made laws that opposed God's Word.

As a republic, we enjoy certain rights in this country. Our Constitution formally gives U.S. citizens the right for redress against the government, as well as laws that are established which are unconstitutional or place undue burdens upon the citizenry. We also have the right to vote in this country, directly engaging to some extent in the course of the nation's vision and direction.

Of course, the spiritual influence of biblical proclamation, holiness of life and prayer is our greatest means of influencing our nation toward righteousness. The power of politics as it relates to Christian influence is usually overstated and often causes believers to divide their attention. Thus, they diminish their influence upon the hearts of people.

While some engagement in politics is commendable for Christians, too much is detrimental and distracting seeing that legislation impacts the outer man and behavior while the gospel searches the hearts and enlightens the inner man.

Our republic's present trend, which is drifting exponentially downward, is to strip our nation of every vestige of past and present godliness. Of course, the government cannot rob the true Christian or the church of everlasting hope. But it can, and is presently engaged in, systematically repudiating the Theo-centric foundations of our forefathers. Furthermore, it is becoming more apparent everyday in our nation that godliness is considered intolerant, if not openly unacceptable. If this trend continues—and barring a spiritual awakening, in my opinion, it will—the practice of experimental godliness, as such, may be practically forbidden.

How will preachers and churches respond when our proclamation against specific sins is outlawed as being "hate speech" by the government? Will we alter the message and excuse ourselves by saying that we're simply obeying the governing authorities as stated in Romans 13? Or will we be faithful to God's Word and continue to preach the Truth at any cost, seeing that God's authority supersedes all delegated authorities such as the governments?

We may be fined very soon for preaching what the Bible clearly commands us to preach. Will our preachers and churches be willing to go to jail, lose our buildings and have our lands confiscated? Will we be faithful enough to willingly lose our employment due to our stand concerning biblical principles? Will we, as the Second Coming of our Savior approaches, be willing to die for the faith, if necessary, while being increasingly mocked and ridiculed by the world?

Most tragic and surprising to many Christians will be that the greatest opposition to our uncompromising message of God's Word will be from other churches. Many churches have already capitulated and relegated the Word of God to the shelf and replaced it with contemporary concerns such as global warming and how to have your best life now. Admittedly, those who sit under such preaching are experiencing their best lives now, because in the afterlife it won't be so hot. Well, actually it will be so hot!

When it comes to God and government, let us properly and joyfully render to each their due. But know this: God is eternal and the government is only temporary. If they are in conflict with one another, God's law must take preeminence over man's law. You may die for that stand now, but you'll live in glory for eternity later.

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Dr. R.A. Hargrave, Executive Director of GraceWorx Ministries, also serves as Senior Pastor at Riverbend Community Church in Ormond Beach, Florida.

Inundation denotes an overwhelming accumulation, or more simply put, a flood. What seems more like an ever-increasing deluge is the incessant promulgation by secularists, as well as (sadly) evangelical Christians, of the impending doom that awaits us if we don’t buy into the green earth doctrine. 

With the threat of global warming and the ever-increasing religion of tree-hugging, we are being squeezed into submission through the use of shame. Shame on biblicists who buy into the theories of men who fundamentally deny the truthfulness of everything we believe as biblical Christians.  

Remember, many of these promoters of the soon-coming carbon apocalypse are the same people who tell us our ancestral cousins were monkeys. They are also the same group that promoted “global cooling” in the 1970s.

One of the biggest hypocritical progenitors of this foolishness supposedly invented the internet and actually won a Nobel Peace Prize for apparently convincing the western culture of the cataclysmic event that is just around the corner. That’s just grand for someone whose residence emits more carbon than most small rural towns in America. But don’t let the facts get in the way. 

What does the Bible teach us about these people?  It teaches they are false prophets. No surprise, the Word of God has sufficiently warned of the proliferation of such people as we approach the coming of Christ. Jesus warned His disciples that “many false prophets will rise up and deceive many” (Matthew 24:11). That includes preachers also. 

These men who claim to know the Word of God and yet carry the water for the neo-scientific community are, at best, falling for lies. They have failed to read the words of God to Noah after the flood-—words that the promoters of the green earth movement discount. God told Noah: “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22). Don’t let the words, “while the earth remains,” confuse you. The earth will remain until it ceases. But it will not be man’s carbon emissions that consume it. It will be Christ who does the burning up of the earth.  

Multitudes obviously still believe that the educators, who continue to cram these idols of earth down the throats of our children, must know more than God Himself.  This is not surprising, since our education system is filled with infidels a-plenty—though I must thank God for the few who stand firm in the Truth. What I don’t get is a man who claims to be called of God to preach the Word of God, yet he disseminates this nonsense. 

What say ye of God, dear sir, and what say ye of His promises, and what say ye of God’s proven faithfulness in the past, and what say ye, dear sir, of God’s faithfulness in the future? If a man can’t answer those questions correctly, he would greatly stimulate the progress of the gospel by resigning from the ministry. 

When God said that seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer will not cease while the earth remains, He effectively bludgeoned to death the free-thinking notions of the God-hating professors who partake in such folly. 

Why am I so convinced of this truth? It is simply this: natural religion (as revealed in Romans 1) and the Bible are so clear about it. Not only do we have the explicit promise to Noah, which in itself should be sufficient to convince all the redeemed, but God has given us more, much more. 

Why is it that the earth, in the minds of many, has replaced God as man’s sustainer? Who needs the Rock of Ages when you have Mother Earth to rock you in the cradle? This is not a scientific fact; it is a religion—the religion of the devil. It flows from what the Bible calls an exchange. If you are given a gift and you don’t like it, you can always exchange it for something you do like. 

This is exactly what fallen man has done regarding God. The Apostle Paul stated (Romans 1:24-25), Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 

For what did man exchange the most Glorious Being in the universe? Paul stated succinctly (Romans 1:23): images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. This, incidentally, explains why beating your dog will get you on the evening news while aborting your helpless, unborn child exonerates your love for the earth. 

But don’t these folks know what they’re talking about? After all, they have “Doctor” in front of their names and are highly regarded by those of the intelligentsia. The Bible has something to say about that, too. Paul said (Romans 1:22) that, Claiming to be wise, they became fools. Verse 23 explains that these “wise fools” are the very ones who exchange the True God for their pet cat, Bambi or the Giant Sequoias along the Pacific Coast of North America. Or, to amass their gods into one, the green earth god!

It would be one thing if this foolishness terminated at loving dogs more than people and God, but that is not the case. This religion that is contrived in the heart of human depravity finally engulfs every area of life. For that matter, the congregants of such a religion and their fruits would engulf the whole universe and dismount God from His throne if they could get away with it. 

Of course, they cannot get away with it because God only allows so much credulity. God finally gives them over to it completely so that the very weight of their transgression crashes down upon their own heads. Paul said (Romans 1:26-27): For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 

This tells us, among other things, that when people who claim to be Christians approve of something that God blatantly disapproves of (as stated in Romans 1:26-27), they are calling natural what God has called unnatural. The fruit of this is that what is naturally unnatural, according to God’s own words, becomes natural because we have approved of it. Up is now down, right is now left, and wrong is now right! 

Therefore, we are calling God a liar. God said through Paul (Romans 3:4) that we must, Let God be true but every man a liar. But according to the common religion of the masses, we are to let man be true and God a liar! This explains to some extent why there is a hell. Creatures calling their Creator a liar is one of the greatest absurdities in the universe, and God will address it on the Day of Judgment.

We see not only the worship of earth as our sustainer, but we see the deterioration of the very foundations that have helped hold civilizations intact. From a political perspective (which is not my first priority), it can rightfully be stated that the religion of self-worship leading to earth worship that Paul addresses in Romans 1 is the very thing that has led to the downfall of the Western culture. 

If you do not believe that false worship is the culprit in such a fall, ask the citizens of the Roman Empire when you enter the afterlife. Of course, all cultures will eventually fail because they are temporal in nature, as well as fundamentally flawed due to human depravity. 

Some may conclude from all of this biblical logic, “So what! Who cares? What does all this earth worship have to do with me?” 

It has everything to do with you because if you fall prey to it, and/or your children are entrapped by its enticements, there will be hell to pay, literally. For God has sufficiently revealed Himself through the things that He has made, even His eternal power and divine nature, so that all men are without excuse (Romans 1:20). 

If you do not warn your posterity about the dangers of demonic persuasion and godless professors who market their faulty merchandise, as well as the price that will be paid by those who fall for Satan’s religion, you are an imprudent parent, to say the least. You may have taught them well about sports, books, education and success in this life, but you failed to teach them how to die in such a state as to take them to heaven.

The most certain event in which our children will engage is death. But, of course, it is the least prepared for by unwary parents.

Pity the person who constantly hears the regurgitations of false prophets and falls headlong into their devious designs. But concerning men who claim to be men of God, men of the Word, God-called men who stand up before those that they claim the Lord has given them charge over to lead and care for, and yet they warn not of false religion, I am indignant. These men actually promote the propaganda of pagans who hate the God of the Bible and the people who honor His name; what a travesty. 

To these men, I say: Descend from your pulpits and worship your false gods without infecting those little ones. Wake up! You cannot worship the creation and Creator simultaneously.

Finally, I must reveal my conviction as to the doctrine of a green earth, global warming and their attendants. I have no doubt that the earth is eventually going to succumb to global warming. However, it will not be those ghastly emissions that bring it about. It will most certainly be the coming of the Lord, wherein, the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and works that are in it will be burned up (2 Peter 3:10).

Therefore, seek refuge in the only foundation that will be standing when the fire melts away the transitory. Repent of your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved from God’s wrathful judgment. Seek Him while He may be found. 

The day has almost ended and the night of eternal bliss or misery is rapidly approaching. Place yourself under biblical proclamation and take your family with you. Awaken, oh, sleeper!  Eternity with God is at stake, and the green earth will not suffice to save your soul. ONLY CHRIST!

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Dr. R.A. Hargrave is Senior Pastor at Riverbend Community Church in Ormond Beach, Florida. He is also the Executive Director and Bible-teacher for GraceWorx Ministries.

SOLOMON set forth the wisdom of purity’s value and fruit when he stated: He who loves purity of heart, and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend (Proverbs 22:11). 

Though humble in its deliberations, purity brings forth the fruit of the mighty and the noble. Might and nobility—of a godly sort—spring not from natural expressions of charm or giftedness but from a supernatural implantation of a principle of wholesomeness in the heart. It is this root that culminates in a life, which cascades into ever increasing revelations of overflowing joy and eternal pleasures. 

Unlike the hollow promises of carnal unions with uncleanness, which bestows temporal pleasures upon their clientele, purity promises chastening and discipline. This produces lasting delight and satisfaction forevermore. The path of such blessedness is narrow and strenuous for the weak flesh, but it is the way of safety and security for the wise.

While most press into the broad and popular way of the sinner, they ultimately find that destruction is their destination. Pleasures in sin “for a season” should remind us that it is too high a price to pay for its dividend of eternal misery. While many young people choose this well-traveled highway, they fail in their shortsightedness to see the distant desolation that lies in wait for their souls. Solomon also reminded us of this demise: 

Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity (Ecclesiastes 11:9-10).

Because of the somewhat limited platform of a condensed quarterly like GraceTrax and the vastness of the revealed will of God as it relates to Christian purity, my remarks are truncated to a few salient points. Please consider four foundational elements-—vital points of Scripture-—that encompass a broad spectrum of essential aspects of purity.

First, for us to grasp the infinite value of this communicated attribute, it has been commended to us as an indispensible quality of heavenward souls. Jesus stated plainly in Matthew 5:8: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Of course, it is not to be mistaken as a foundational cause of new birth but as a fruit of the “new creation.” It is hidden away in the newly created principle of regeneration in that it is, in a manner of speaking, tucked away in seed form. For within the boundaries of the new man in Christ, purity abounds. It is not fully known at its inception to the external senses, but it is contained in all of its fullness within the inner man. 

It is only through the process of the Spirit’s sanctifying work within the believer that the potential begins to be seen in the child of God. The visible exercise of the remaining flesh disturbs its full fruition until our glorification extracts its revealed beauty before God and the angelic host. Still, it grows from one degree of glory to another in the exercise of spiritual growth. 

Secondly, that seed of brilliant purity contained in the saint of God is to be jealously pursued on behalf of the saints by those who have been given charge over the souls of men. Paul was jealous for the Corinthian believers, (2 Corinthians 11:2) so that they might be presented before their Savior and Lord as “pure virgins.” It must thusly be the pursuit of every man of God to conform to the great apostles’ motives in watching and caring for the souls set to their charge by the Savior. Lack of vigilance in this matter is the ruination of many souls under wayward shepherds. Let us not bear this judgment when the Master renders it in the day of reckoning.

A third element of this Christian asset of purity of heart, mind and soul is the necessity of all believers to carefully guard their purity through the spiritual means of due diligence. Though our new birth is monergistic—in that God alone brought it forth—our sanctification contains a sublime synergism whereas God engaged the will of man in the exercise of it. This seems to be Paul’s intention when he stated in 2 Corinthians 11:3 that he was  . . . afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. Clearly, Paul’s theology, which is the Lord’s theology, demanded the responsible actions of the believer in caring for a sincere purity in devotion to Christ.  

It is important that Paul saw the battleground of these occasions to be in the mind and not in the actions of the believer. He said, your thoughts will be led astray, which ultimately entails a consequent action of sinful behavior. Purity is exercised in a faith that retains abiding thoughts (the renewing of the mind) of loving devotion to Christ, which burst forth into fruition through godly works of righteousness and a mortification of the flesh. 

This is set forth in a excellent fashion in Paul’s words to the Philippians: And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God (Philippians 1:9-11).

The fourth element that demands the attention of the sons of Adam is the prospect of divine judgment. No mortal will avoid it, though we seek many fleshly contrivances within our hearts to persuade the unknown deity to receive our rags of self-righteousness. 

Immortality is our lot as humans, and it must of necessity demand a final and eternal judgment and domain. God is the prosecutor of that judgment, and heaven or hell is the eternal domain of Adam’s posterity. According to God’s Word, most people will fall into the pit due to their impurity of heart and behavior that renders an offense before the offended Deity. 

Each of heaven’s entrants has also filled his lot of unrighteous thoughts and deeds before the Sacred Head. But it is the wholesome and infinite holiness of the Savior that remitted his debt through His meritorious act on the cross. Yet, it is true: we must all, according to the divine will and revelation of God, stand before Christ and give an account. The record of God’s unimpeachable and immutable Word communicates with unmistakable clarity the end of it all in the last book of the Bible:

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. ¹⁵Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood (Revelation 22:14-15). 

Purity matters! Purity is demanded! Therefore, take heed to your souls in this matter and look to Christ in all His limitless purity and be ye saved.

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Dr. R.A. Hargrave is the Senior Pastor at Riverbend Community Church in Ormond Beach, Florida. He also the Executive Director and Bible-teacher for GraceWorx Ministries.