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Response
Purity holds significance for God because He is inherently pure. Purity entails being free from anything that taints, degrades, or contaminates. Believers are characterized by leading a pure life where sin no longer dictates their decisions. Instead, they have been cleansed from sin by God’s purity and strive to live according to His will. Through Christ, believers attain purity, and for those who are pure, everything else is also considered pure. This purity is not superficial but stems from genuine inner purity.
In his letter to Titus, Paul rebukes “rebellious individuals who engage in empty chatter and deceit, particularly those of the circumcision party” «For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: », (Titus 1:10). These individuals lacked “soundness in the faith” (verse 13) and promoted “merely human precepts of those who turn away from the truth” (verse 14). They emphasized their own regulations regarding purity. However, those who prioritize their own standards of purity over God’s are not truly pure; they are “defiled,” and “although they claim to know God, their actions deny Him” (verses 15–16). In the context of Paul’s admonishment of these false teachers, he states, “To the pure, all things are pure” (verse 15).
When Paul asserts that “to the pure, all things are pure” «Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. », (Titus 1:15), he is not suggesting that something sinful becomes acceptable to a pure-minded individual. Rather, a pure person possesses a sincere devotion to God and lives with an unwavering commitment to please Him in all aspects. Such a person is not concerned with external purity achieved through human regulations but seeks an internal purity that emanates fromKnowing and loving God. Such an individual can, with a clear conscience, partake of things that others, whose hearts have not been cleansed by faith, would disapprove.
When Paul penned this letter, the Jews stressed external purity. They had numerous rules and regulations, considering many things impure that were not inherently impure. By prioritizing their own laws over God’s, they were unable to live by the principle that to the pure, all things are pure because their hearts were actually impure. Their additional rules invalidated the Word of God for the sake of their traditions «and honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. », (Matthew 15:6). They seemed to honor God with their words and outward actions, but as Jesus exposed, “their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules” (Matthew 15:8-9). Their focus on their own laws indicated a lack of trust in God’s Word; they lived as if it were insufficient. Their hearts were impure.
In contrast to the concept of all things being pure for those with pure hearts, Paul states that “to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure” «Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. », (Titus 1:15). Unbelievers have corrupted consciences that cannot truly recognize or appreciate what is pure. In Ephesians, Paul taught that prior to salvation, our minds were “full of darkness” «For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: », (Ephesians 5:8). Our minWords were darkened in our understanding because we were far from Him «having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: », (Ephesians 4:18). The only hope for a darkened, impure mind is the blood of Christ, which alone can cleanse defiled consciences “from dead works to serve the living God” «how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? », (Hebrews 9:14).
Our consciences must be purified by the Word of God (Psalm 12:6;Psalm 119:9). The Christian’s entire way of life ought to be characterized by staying pure, “for he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” «according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: », (Ephesians 1:4). We must hide the purity of God’s Word securely in our hearts to keep from sinning against God «Thy word have I hid in mine heart, That I might not sin against thee. », (Psalm 119:11). When we do this, we can see and avoid impurity for what it is and live out the principle that to the pure all things are pure: disputable matters can be left to discernment and Christian freedom. We are free to pursue the things of God not merely externally but from the heart.
Some would say, “You can’t eat that! It will make you impure!” But to the pure all things are pure, and the believer, whoseThe conscience is purified by faith, may eat it knowing that “food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do” «But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse. », (1 Corinthians 8:8). And so it is with a myriad of other man-made rules.
To the pure, all things are pure in that believers who have been purified by Christ’s sacrifice can truly pursue that purity from the heart. When our hearts are not pure, no amount of external rule-following or self-righteousness will purify us. Jesus said it is what is on the inside that defiles us: “It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart” «there is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. », (Mark 7:15). May we cry out as the psalmist, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” «Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me. », (Psalm 51:10).
