I believe most of us today have a desire to live a clean life. I think we often have that desire, but at the same time there are so many things working against that in our lives today. The culture we live in often runs contrary to the basics of living a clean life.
Desiring to live a clean life is something that is not only challenging in the moral sense, but also in the literal sense. Applying that to our physical bodies is a challenge as well. But anything worth doing usually is a challenge, right? We usually want to eat right and exercise. But the prevalence of fast food restaurants, junk food, and the challenge of finding time for exercise all fly in the face of that. These are the challenges and problems we face in living the clean life.
So, what are the advantages of living a clean life? Well, let’s apply this in the area easiest to understand. When we think about the things we take into our bodies, we all know that those things have an effect on us, for good or for bad. The Haagen Dazs and burgers and fries are going to eventually take their toll when done on a consistent basis. These things eventually lead us to a host of all kinds of health problems. However, when we switch that around, getting a diet of consistent greens and fruits and vegetables bring us to a healthier state. Just like the saying goes, “Garbage In, Garbage Out”. So, the flip must be true—if we put good things in, we get good things out.
So, let’s take this a little further. Applying the same principle to the things with which we fill our minds, we know that those things have an effect on us as well. Some of the movies that are out there to watch are questionable, at best. Others—well, they’re not even questionable. And many times we may want to watch something because the topic is interesting to us. But the way in which the film makers chose to present it was less than kosher. That’s unfortunate. They had a choice to make in how they presented something. They could have just as easily presented it in a clean manner for everyone to enjoy. But instead, they chose to include vulgarities, crude humor, and other images that limit their viewing audience. But regardless of the choices they made, we can still make a choice of our own. We can make the choice not to subject ourselves to those things. We can choose a higher life.
The reality is, that those negative things we watch and listen to, have an effect on us. They impact our thoughts and hearts in ways we don’t even fully realize. When we continually lower our standard pretty soon we don’t know what our standard is anymore. We become normalized. We allow the culture to affect us in negative ways. So, if we really want a life producing good things, then we need to fill our hearts and minds with good things.
Of course, the Bible gives us much direction in the area of living a clean life. But what God is focused on is the condition of our hearts, and not just outward action. It should be a pure heart producing good results.
AV Hebrews 12:14: “Follow peace with all [men], and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” God’s concern is for us to pursue holiness. We often emphasize grace, but forget that we are called to live a holy life. And it’s true that God is gracious to forgive us. But once forgiven, we need to pursue ways of righteousness. And we need to pursue God’s ways of righteousness, and not our own.
AV Matthew 15:11: “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.” Jesus was making a statement here about our heart condition. Jesus was responding here to the Pharisees and their concern over keeping the commandments of men. They thought that an outward keeping of the law was enough. What Jesus explains for us here is that those things that we take in physically don’t affect the condition of our hearts. While they may negatively impact our bodies, they don’t have a spiritual significance. It’s those dark things that we keep hidden in our hearts that impact us in negative ways.
AV Romans 10:3: “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” There’s a way in which we can walk where we are living a truly righteous life. But we are not living in righteousness of ourselves, but through God. This way is done through the Holy Spirit. Once we are saved, we have all we need to live a righteous and clean life. God places in us a new heart. Now we go according to this and not our old ways.
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AV Galatians 5:16: “[This] I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” Walking in the Spirit first requires a consciousness and awareness of this new heart we have. And God will lead us by His Spirit through our heart now made alive to Him. This is how we are able to live a clean life. See, when we do this we will not fulfill our fleshly desires. We cannot. It’s impossible. God’s Spirit will not lead us to sin. It’s when we start allowing our flesh to take over that we get into trouble. But as we start to practice walking in the Spirit, it becomes easier, and we learn how to let this new way of walking to dominate our lives.
AV Romans 10:4: “For Christ [is] the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” What does this mean? Well, God doesn’t want us to just follow a bunch of rules anymore. He wants us to not just appear right, but to be right. That means because of what Jesus did on the Cross, we are now free to follow Him. It’s an acknowledgement that we can’t be righteous outside of Him. It’s Him and Him living inside of us that allows us to truly live the clean life.
AV Hebrews 12:14: “Follow peace with all [men], and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:”
AV Matthew 15:11: “Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.”
AV Romans 10:3: “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”
AV Galatians 5:16: “[This] I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”
AV Romans 10:4: “For Christ [is] the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”