Keeping Yourself Pure

Q: 2 Timothy 2:20-21 talks about gold and silver pots used for `special occasions,` while wood and clay pots are for `everyday use.` Of course, I want to keep myself pure so God can use me for `special occasions,` but I also want to be used `every day.` So, here are my questions: What`s wrong with the wood and clay utensils if they`re used every day? Don`t we ALL want to be used every day by God; not ONLY on special occasions?

A: I understand, and admire, your concern for wanting to be used by God. However, the premise of your question is off base. God has made you a "new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17)." And because you are a new creation you are already pure in His eyes. Jesus Christ "gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good (Titus 2:14)." When you say that you want to "keep yourself pure" so God can use you, you must then identify those things that you must do and avoid in order to meet your goal. The only way you can attempt this is to put yourself under some form of law. As a Christian you are to be led from within by the indwelling Holy Spirit not outwardly through laws designed to modify your behavior.

Instead of looking at yourself as gold, silver, wood or clay, look at yourself as what you are, a child of God. As a child of God we are to make ourselves "living sacrifices (Romans 12:1)." A sacrifice can be described as a selfless good deed for others or a short term loss in return for greater gain. Making yourself a living sacrifice to God is a way of allowing God, through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, to lead you and guide you through life. In this way He is able to use you for "special occasions" and "everyday use" depending on the situation. Keep in mind that that any fruit we bear is not our own, it is the fruit of the Spirit. We bear what God produces through us. The "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)" we display for others is a direct reflection of how God has treated us in Christ. We cannot produce these fruits on our own. And that is exactly what we try and do when we attempt to make ourselves pure. The Christian life is not an exercise in behavioral modification attempting to gain through human effort that which can only be received by faith in Jesus Christ.

By attempting to make yourself pure in order to be used by God you are cursing yourself to a lifetime of bondage and frustration. You will never reach your goal. The Bible plainly tells us that "the power of sin is the law (1 Corinthians 15:56)." As you attempt to purify yourself you will only reveal your inability to do so and you will discover that the only way to try and accomplish your task is through engaging in some form of sin. The Apostle Paul said, "what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do (Romans 7:15)" Nobody would question God's use of Paul. After all, he wrote two thirds of the New Testament with the knowledge that he could not make himself pure. But, what he did discover is that God used him despite his imperfections because, in Christ, he was already pure in God's eyes. God does not need your ability He only wants your availability. Time spent focusing on purifying yourself to be used by God will only limit the opportunities God has to use to perform the tasks He created in advance for you.

If what you desire to accomplish were possible then there would not have been a need for Jesus Christ to come to this world. Keep in mind one thing when believing you have to keep yourself pure: "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God (1 Peter 3:18)." The sins that so many people believe keep them from being used by God are no longer an issue that separates us from God. The sacrifice of Jesus took away our sins from the eyes of God for eternity. While it is a fact that we still sin we must remember being a Christian is not about learning to stop sinning, but trusting God in the midst of our sins. Normally, the desire to be "pure" is tied to our sins. We feel we need to rid ourselves of sin in order to be used by God. God knew we could not do this, therefore, He send Jesus do for us what we could not do for ourselves. Now, raised from the dead He can live the life, only He could live, in and through us now. God purified us through the sacrifice of Christ so He could use us as He sees fit. Knowing we are already pure, in Christ, God can now begin the work of conforming us to the image of who we already are as His children.