Purity

                When I tried to share my brief thoughts on "purity," I remembered the book “The Passion and Purity” written by Elizabeth Elliot.  If you read that book, you might be surprised to see there are such couples like Jim Elliot and Elizabeth Elliot when there were dating.  When I saw glimpse of their devotion to keep their purity before God before their marriage, I wondered how many such couples are there in these days.  Nowadays, pre-marital sex seems to be a trend (?).  There are many cases where young dating couples are living together and have sex before their marriage.  It seems like even Christians think that premarital sex is okay.  In this worldly trend where the unbiblical and sinful is flowing, it is very hard to go against the flow and follow the biblical principle of keeping the purity even before marriage.  That’s why the Christian singles must pray and struggle seriously about how to deal with it.  When we look at many seminar articles about dating, many young couples ask the question about how far they can go in terms of physical contact when they are dating.  I see a lot of answers about that question in the articles but my personal thought is that there are so many things to be careful about when a single man and a woman with a vigorous youthful blood meet and love each other.  For example, I think it is not good that a single man and a woman who are dating stay in a same room or in the car for too long late at night.  The reason is because there is a lot of temptation to have sex.  Especially when the single man suggests to his girlfriend to stay together in the room or in the car late at night, I think she should cope wisely not only for her purity but also for his purity as well.  I think it’s better to avoid spending time in the room or in the car late at night.  Although I think the man’s responsibility is bigger in keep the purity, but both man and woman have to work hard.

                I am sure some couple may ask what if they are already engaged, can they have sex before marriage.  But there is something we should keep in mind.  It is said that there are so many cases where a boyfriend is raping his girlfriend.  And many single women who are raped by their boyfriends because they put off their guard.  It is because they think they know their boyfriends well so they meet their boyfriends with an easy mind.  I think the nearer they are, the young single men and women should be more polite and more be careful to keep their purity.  But this will not be easy for both men and women.  They may ask back what’s wrong with having sex since they have already been engaged to get married.  But if they are a genuinely loving fiancé, then they will be able to wait until they get married.

                A long time ago, one of the Hollywood famous movie stars Tom Cruise was on TV often, and his wife was pregnant and gave birth to a baby but they didn’t have wedding ceremony.  At that time, he said that because he had to film the movie "Mission Impossible III" and had to move around some countries, he had to delay his wedding ceremony because he didn’t have time.  In addition to Tom Cruise, some of the famous actors and actresses in Hollywood give the impression that having a baby before marriage is very natural.  So now it may seem foolish to keep purity before marriage.  The people in the world may consider those who keep their purity before marriage a fool.  Nowadays due to marriage, divorce, remarriage, and divorce cycles, it seems like it’s hard to tell who is whose child.  I think that this Hollywood spirit is now planting the wrong idea of ​​purity about marriage to all of us.  But we Christians who live in this kind of world must ask ourselves, 'How should I keep my purity?'  The Bible says that fearing God is the foundation of wisdom (Prov. 1:7).  If Christian young single brothers and sisters in Christ fear God, they will keep their purity.  And they will be ready to devote their purity to only one man, or one woman, whom God has prepared for their marriage.  But the single brothers and sisters who pursue this noble love are without popularity in this world.  Nevertheless, those who live a life of faith before God must keep their purity according to the God’s absolute truth.

Then what if the single men and women already had sexual relation with their opposite sex before they met their fiancé?  In my opinion, if they repented and have assurance of forgiveness, then they should confess it to their fiancé before the get marry.   Of course they want to hide it because they are afraid, but I think they should confess it and ask their fiancé for forgiveness.  It is not enough to receive forgiveness from God.  If they truly have assurance of forgiveness after they repented their sin to God, then they are already forgiven and free so there is no reason not to confess to their fiancé.  Rather, if they love their fiancé sincerely with His love, then they will have courage to ask for forgiveness.

                We are now living in a world where the word "purity" is no longer can be seen by the worldly people.  Now the word "purity" is not an important topic of conversation to the single men and women who are dating in the church.  It seems that there are a lot of people who think that they can have premarital sex because everyone has it.  Therefore, the Christian single men and women need to be more alert, self-controlled, praying and cleansing their thoughts with the Word of God.  And they must keep their own purity as we fear God.  The church must keep its purity until Jesus’ second coming so that we can participate in the wedding of the Lamb.

“Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart” (1 Pet. 1:22).