Pure Religion and Undefiled

The Sapphire Review Vol. 1 | No. 25 • November 8, 2024

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

James 1:27

STORY OF A COW

A few weeks ago I burned boxes of old paperwork that I no longer needed. At the end of all the work, there remained a pile of white ashes in my fire pit. A couple of days later, when I was going on a walk, I noticed something peculiar about one of the cows that my uncle keeps in my pasture. Her face, which is typically solid black, was covered in white. I did not need to actually see her activities in order to know where she had been. The evidence spoke for itself. She was “spotted” with the ashes of the fire pit.

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PURE RELIGION AND UNDEFILED

Contrasted with a man in verse 26¹ who seems to be religious but is not,² this verse describes a man’s religion as genuine when he is “unspotted from the world.”

In considering a “pure religion and undefiled before God” we can see yet another verse depicting the two sides of the gospel coin:

• Christ Our Sacrifice,³ and Christ Our Righteousness⁴

• Faith in Christ, and Faith of Christ

• Atonement For Our Transgression Of The Law,⁵ and Grace To Uphold The Law⁶

• Wisdom,⁷  and Understanding⁸

• Cleansed/Purified From All Unrighteousness,⁹ and Walking Undefiled As He Walked - That We Should Not Sin¹⁰ 

Pure

It is Christ alone who purifies us. Our efforts can do nothing to atone for our sins.¹¹ Through Him we are cleansed. Through Him only can we receive of the new covenant promise to be forgiven of our sins.¹²

“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)

Undefiled

Who are the undefiled people in the world?

Scripture tells us that it relates to those who keep God’s law:

“Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.” (Psalm 119:1)

In the final moments before Jesus returns, they will be those who do not partake in the system of Babylon, her traditions, her false doctrines, and her mark:

“These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.” (Revelation 14:4)

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EVERYTHING THAT WE NEED

It is by the grace of God, through the faith of Jesus, that we live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world.¹³

God has made everything available to us that we need to have our characters prepared for the age to come.¹⁴ We have forgiveness of past sins¹⁵ through Christ our Passover Lamb, who was without spot or blemish.¹⁶ We have grace to overcome future sins through Christ our great high priest, who was tempted as we are and yet without sin.¹⁷

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CONDITIONS

However, there are conditions… God does not force Himself upon anyone. We must be willing participants. We must desire these blessed gifts and believe, in faith, that we may partake of them.

Our desire and our belief should also be evidenced in our works. Our works will be a reflection of the depth of our surrender. The depth of our surrender will correlate with how unspotted we keep ourselves from the world.

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REFLECTION

Dear reader, do you desire to have deliverance and freedom from all sin in your life? Believe that God has made this available to you through Jesus Christ!

Yet, one may say that they believe, but the works of overcoming are not evidenced. The works cannot be fully evidenced where there is a portion of the will that is not surrendered. Has such a person given everything, truly everything; all that they are, all that they have, and all that they will do to the supremacy of Jesus Christ?

Yes, they might say, there is surrender. Yet when God looks down from heaven and sees in the heart what no man can hide from from his sight,¹⁸ does He see a life that is covered with the spots of the world?

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1 John 2:15–16)

We must not stick our noses where they no longer belong. We must let go of everything that hinders us.¹⁹ What spiritual value do we gain by holding onto and seeking after the things of the world that will one day be destroyed?

No prize of this earth can compare to the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, being found in Him, and partaking of the righteousness of God through Him.

“Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:” (Philippians 3:8–9)

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PRAYER

Desiring to have a pure religion and being undefiled before God our Father, may He help us to turn from and to let go of everything that places the spots of the world upon our hearts. May every hindrance be removed from our lives that keeps us from growing spiritually and becoming more like His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

God Bless,

Charles

SCRIPTURE INDEX / REFERENCES

1. Jam 1:26

2. 2 Tim 3:5

3. 1 Cor 5:7

4. Rom 5:17

5. Rom 3:25; 2 Cor 5:18-19; Heb 2:17, 1 Jn 3:4

6. Rom 6:14-15, 3:31; Titus 2:11-12

7. Prov 8; 1 Cor 1:24

8. Psa 111:10; Prov 9:10

9. 1 Jn 1:7-9; Titus 2:14

10. Col 2:6; 1 Jn 2:1, 6; Jn 8:12; 1 Pet 2:21

11. Rom 10:3; Phil 3:8; Titus 3:5-6

12. Psa 32:1; Jer 31:31-33; Heb 10:17

13. Titus 2:11-12; Jn 1:16

14. Rom 8:28-29, 12:2

15. Rom 3:25

16. 1 Cor 5:7; 1 Pet 1:19

17. Heb 4:14-16

18. Psa 90:8; Heb 4:13

19. Heb 12:1