I recently wrote on my Facebook timeline that I think I am becoming a Puritan. I don't mean that in sense that I am becoming like the Puritan's of the past, that once settled in Massachusetts. I am writing about becoming a pure Christian based purely on the Bible and only the Bible. It is my goal to have faith that is based solely on Scripture and nothing else. Isn't that what we should be if we call ourselves "Christian"?

Psalm 24:3-5

3 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.
5 He shall receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

2 Timothy 2:22

22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

1 John 3:3

3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Proverbs 30.5 states that "Every word of God is pure..."

We find in Scripture that God pretty much demands purity of His people. That was the purpose of the law. It was to keep His people pure. And, why was that important? Because these were the people that God chose to send His Son through. When His Son arrived, the purpose of those people was fulfilled.

Today, and since the cross of Christ, purity no longer comes by being obedient to the law, but by being in Christ. It is purity in Christ that leads to pure Christianity.

But, what is purity in Christ? Let's consider the word "pure." What does it mean?
From the Oxford Dictionaries, "not mixed or adulterated with any other substance or material, without any extraneous and unnecessary elements, free of any contamination, wholesome and untainted by immorality, esp. that of a sexual nature..." I think you get the idea. By the way, Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words has similar definitions.

Pure gold is gold that is not mixed with any other metal. In other words, unalloyed. And so, our worship to God and His Christ is not to be mixed or contaminated by the worship of any other god, or idol. And that is purity in Christ that leads to pure Christianity.

Question, is this supported by Scripture? Indeed it is.

2 Corinthians 6:14-18

14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

“I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.”
17 Therefore

“Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.”
18 “I will be a Father to you,
And you shall be My sons and daughters,
Says the Lord Almighty.”
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Worshipping God must be pure as dictated by God Himself. It is impure to mix, or contaminate Christianity with unbelief, or idols. And yet many who call themselves "Christian" supports mixtures and contaminations like this. And this impurity trickles down, and indeed, gushes down into our behavior as well. Fornication is tolerated, adultery is tolerated, divorce and remarriage is tolerated. Greed is tolerated. And that's just among those that call themselves "Christians." Some feel it's okay for believers to marry unbelievers.

You might wonder what all that has to do with worship. See Ephesians 5.15-21. Living wisely or circumspectly is part of our worship to God. So, instead of impure worship, we can have pure worship. And all in Christ.

You can also go to Romans 12. 1-2 to see what is your reasonable service, or reasonable worship is.

Worship is more than going to a building on Sunday morning, sitting for an hour. singing a few songs, and often listening to someone preach about something they know nothing about. It is how we live and conduct our entire lives.

But there's a problem, no one can be perfectly pure. The flesh is corrupt. That's true. But Christ is perfectly pure. And if we are in Christ, and we yield our will to the will of Christ, we will be purified through Christ. And as we mature in Christ, we will become more pure, that by the time we reach 70, we should be almost there. But, only if you are in Christ. But, if you are not in Christ, you will be just as far away when you are 70 as you were when you were 17. If you spent all your life apart from Christ, you will spend eternity apart from Christ as well.

There is no impurity in Christ. And if you are attempting to worship God impurely, you are not worshiping God at all. Attempting to worship God impurely is no different than idolatry, as the people of Israel found out as they were coming out of Egypt bound for the promised land when they made a golden calf. That principle is still effective today. We may only worship God in the way dictated by God. Anythings else is impure.

All Scripture quotes in this article are from the New King James Version / and most are from biblegateway.com