By Elisha Ann Wahlquist, November 2009
"…Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work." II Tim. 2:19c-21
Why are we supposed to purify our lives? Why does the Bible command us, again and again, to be holy?
Purifying our lives-driving out of our selves the sins and wrong ideas that have intrenched themselves-is no easy task. Satan, with his ally, our sinful self, will fight back. He will not easily let the conquest of years slip through his fingers. And many times, he has our culture on his side. How hard it is to "go against the flow!" And yet we are called to endure hardness-to be strong and ready soldiers for Christ in this battleground for eternity:
"Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." II Tim. 2:3
And that hits on the key of why we must be holy and purified. Let's go back to the verse at the beginning of this article:
"If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work." II Tim. 2:21
"Meet for the master's use," explains the book A.T Robertson's Word Pictures, means "useful or useable for the master." And "prepared" in "prepared unto every good work," means "in a state of readiness."
In light of that, what is this verse saying? When we purge ourselves and live holily, then we are useable for Christ and truly ready at any moment to be His hands and feet, doing good works.
"Sanctification in the heart is our preparation for every good work. The tree must be made good, and then the fruit will be good." Matthew Henry's Commentary, (bold mine)
"Now we should see to it that we be vessels of honor: we must purge ourselves from these corrupt opinions, that we may be sanctified for our Master's use." Matthew Henry's Commentary
Far too often, we are not ready to do good, and what comes out in our actions and words is not Christ-like. Instead of using the opportunity to be a peacemaker, or to speak words of love and kindness, selfish, proud, carelessness spills out of our lips or demeanor. We often shrug it off; "It caught me off guard," we say, excusing our unChrist-like actions or words. I love what C.S. Lewis had to say about this:
"Surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of man he is? …If there are rats in a cellar you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man: it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am."
That is why we must be always ready-we never know what will pop up. And the preparation we need is to pursue holiness.
Let's think of windows for a moment. They are made to let light shine through, not to obscure the light. The window that fulfills that function best is one that has recently been cleaned-that does not have smudges, dirt, or smears on it-right? Does Christ's light shine clearly through us-or is it blurred and blunted by our pride, selfishness, and sins? This is the reason for purifying ourselves:
"How should man live save as glass
To let the white light without flame, the Father, pass
Unstained." -C.S. Lewis
Lord, give us the grace we need to purify ourselves, so we can be ready every moment for Your use!
