Originally published Saturday, October 31, 2009
When you take a decade-long study of the Bible, as I have since the year 2000, (only now getting to James) certain themes loom very large indeed. Those that have been reading since the beginning, may remember how the theme of taking care of widows and orphans is huge throughout the Old Testament!
But that is not the only big theme. Morality (let's face it) is a critical desire of God. There are behaviors, and values, that must be present in the Church. We are the Body of Christ! And he was pure beyond what is humanly possible! He kept the flesh at bay, for his thirty-three some years!
Yes, it is humanly impossible for us - but possible for us, in Christ! And the sins of the flesh are many, and manifest - the entire Scriptural record is a great narrative of the things we do wrong, how serious God views our sins, why they lead to death, and how He has made it possible for us to rise above them and live forever!
It is all about self-control: Self-control, people! Control from lying, cheating, swearing, stealing, gossiping, busybodying, dividing, harming, defiling ourselves and others, giving in to passions (all of our natural appetites, from what we eat, to what we think, what we do, what we wear, what we do to the beautiful bodies God has given us, to how we express love, etc.) Self-control!! This is what it means when we talk about the sins of the flesh.
Either we are serious about controlling ourselves, or not. We either accept God's provision and plan for our lives, or not. We either go in faith, or try to force God's hand by making ourselves into our own image, instead of His.
It comes down to saying "no" so that we can learn how to say "yes." It's about aligning our steps with those of Christ, and not wavering based on what the world is telling us to do. It's patience, faith, trust, acceptance. It's pointing people towards Christ and not drawing attention to ourselves and our problems.
This is morality and purity. There is nothing wrong with it. Nothing to be ashamed of. And it is something we need to urge one another to do, and thus celebrate those times when we and others have overcome the world, through Christ.
Religion is something pure and unblemished before God the Father: looking after orphans and widows in their suffering and keeping yourself unspotted by the world.
Unspotted . . . yes, that's it. In our hearts, on our bodies, in our behavior, and in our treatment of others - let our goal be to become spotless. And let us, in our actions, make it so that others want to become spotless, too.
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