| The Christian Life | September 1943 |
Accomplished by God’s Word
Soul Purification
“Seeing that ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth thru the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.”—I Peter 1:22
“The love of Christ constraineth us.”—II Corinthians 5:14
THE soul is the person, not something within the person. To purify our souls, then, means to purify ourselves by bringing our thoughts, words, and deeds as nearly as possible into alignment with the standards of righteousness set forth in the Bible. Sincere and fervent love for our brethren in Christ is the goal for which we should strive.
While the human race would be much more degraded than it is if no heed were paid by anyone to the “voice of conscience,” yet the slogan, “Let conscience be your guide,” is not a safe one for followers of Jesus. The standards set by human conscience vary according to heredity, environment, and education. But all these factors are set aside by the Christian, who, in turn, looks only to the inspired Word of God as his real guide in life “Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new.” (II Corinthians 5:17) The Christian still has a conscience, a very tender, responsive conscience, but it is enlightened—enlightened by the Word of God.
By giving heed to the Word of God one realizes that no matter how hard he tries he cannot hope to attain to the perfect standard of righteousness as God views it. He learns that he is a member of the fallen and sinful race, alienated from God through wicked works, and condemned to death. But the Word of God also reveals that there is a way of escape from this condemnation, namely, through faith in the shed blood of the Redeemer. Belief in Christ does not actually lift us out of imperfection, but secures a covering, a “robe of righteousness,” which, by wearing it, gives us a standing before God.
“Obeying the truth” involves much more, however, than the acceptance of Christ as our Redeemer. Full belief in Him implies the full surrender of our wills to do God’s will. God’s will is fully expressed in His Word, and as we faithfully endeavor to carry out the terms of our consecration, we will not only study the Word, but the will study it with the view of being guided by it in all that we say and do. Thus the purification of our souls will continue and from our lives will be eliminated all selfish thoughts of anger, malice, hatred, and strife, and we will find ourselves loving the brethren with a pure heart fervently.