Why Do They
INSIST ON CLEAN LIVING?
Lesson Text: Galatians 5:22,-25.
Devotional Reading-Subject: Works of the Flesh, Galatians 5:17-21.
AIM: That pupil will learn to live for God.
HOME READING
Walk in the Spirit, Gal. 5:16, 25, 26.
Bear Burdens, Gal. 6:1-5.
Modest Apparel, 1 Tim. 2:9, 10.
Seek Higher Things, Col. 3:1-4.
Please God, 1 Thess. 4:1-7.
Separation Demanded, 2 Cor. 6:11-18.
1. Because the Fruit of the Spirit Is Clean.
The devotional reading for this lesson presents the works of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21). Two things are clear in reading them. First, they are unclean. Second, they are not works which should characterize the lives of children of the kingdom of God.
On the other hand, the fruit of the Spirit is clean in every respect. Every believers who walk in the Spirit will manifest the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:25).
There are nine aspects to the fruit of the spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law” (Gal. 5:22, 23).
Love. God is Love, and His children should manifest His love in their lives (1 John 4:19).
Joy. There is a continuous joy for those who walk in the Spirit in fellowship with Christ (1 Thess. 5:16).
Peace. The believer’s peace passes all understanding, because he is at peace with God (Rom 5:1; Phil. 4:7).
Long-suffering. This is patient endurance, even under stress and mistreatment. It is a trait which God has, especially toward lost people (2 Peter 3:9).
Gentleness. This characteristic of Christ should be displayed by believers, especially toward other believers (Eph. 4:32).
Goodness. Moral worth is a vital part of the fruit of the Spirit (Rom. 15:14; Eph. 5:9).
Faith. This is confidence in, dependence on, and faithfulness to God and His cause (1 Cor. 15:58).
Meekness. A willingness to learn and to accept God’s will is always a good trait (Matt. 11:29).
Temperance. Self-control keeps a believer walking in the Spirit and denying the flesh its desires (1 Cor. 9:27).
2. Because Clean Living Glorifies the Lord.
1 Corinthians 10:31 is a good principle by which to live. “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” “Do all to the glory of God” should be a believer’s aim in life. That should govern what he eats, drinks, or whatever he does. There is nothing more important that “the glory of God”; consequently all saint should consider it constantly in everything they do.
The Bible doesn’t specifically deal with every problem confronted by God’s children today, but the principle of 1 Corinthians 10:31 does.
However, the Bible does deal with drinking and drunkenness (Prov. 20:1:31-35). No one can rightly claim to drink alcoholic beverages “to the glory of God.”
Some who profess to be believers frequent dance halls. Surely they would not claim such a base action is “to the glory of God.”
There is much said in the Scriptures about one’s speech. “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man” (Col. 4:6). Yet much impurity comes from the lips of those who should be doing “all to the glory of God.”
Besides, the Lord gave His apostle “power against unclean spirits, to cast them out” (Matt. 10:1), That is an indication satanic forces are unclean, and the Lord’s work is clean. That is reason enough for Missionary Baptist to insist on clean living.
For Discussion. Could people possible believe in uncleanness glorifies God?
3. Because a Church Can Exclude Unclean Members.
Admittedly, fearing of understanding one can be excluded is not the highest motive for clean living. By the same token, it is a fact one should think twice about how he lives because of the fact the church could withdraw, fellowship from him. The Lord’s church should be so important to a person for him to value his privilege of membership so highly he would never want to place it in jeopardy.
Regardless, a church can exclude members for unclean living. 1 Corinthians 5:6-13 teaches that. The leaven of malice and wickedness should be purged from the membership. Otherwise, the whole church will be contaminated.
4. Because the Lord’s Church Needs To Be Clean.
Missionary Baptist should insist on clean living, because a church needs to be clean. Paul’s admonition in Romans 12:1 is not possible to heed without clean living. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
The figure Paul used to portray the relationship a church has to Christ is figure of purity. “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2). That means a church should be clean.
Paul’s description of “a glorious church” in Ephesians 5:25-27 presents ample proof the Lord wants His churches to be clean.
Churches cannot be clean without members being clean; therefore members need to be clean. They need to “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called” (Eph. 4:1). They need to beware of walking “as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind” (Eph. 4:17). They need to “walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8). They need to be “holy in all manner of conversation” (1 Peter 1:15.)
After all believers should want to follow in the footsteps of their Savior. He is clean, Therefore, those believers who are members of His churches should put forth a special effort to live a clean life.
5. Because Believers Shall Answer to the Lord.
One big reason Missionary Baptist should insist on clean living is the fact each believer shall stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ. “… for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ” (Rom. 14:10). One feature of that judgment is to give a personal account of one’s self to God. “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12). The basis of the judgment will be what a person has done, depending on whether it was clean or unclean (good or bad). “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10). That is a good reason for insisting on clean living.
The Lord will call into account even the idle words believers have spoken. “But I say unto, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment” (Matt. 12:36). Certainly that is true of the lost at the final judgment, but it is also true of believers at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
When one considers the alternative to clean living, he should realize it is better to insist on clean living. Anything less will not please the Lord. It will not influence the world for God. It will not satisfy the leadership of the Holy Spirit in one’s life.
