Made Pure by His Righteousness

And we have to say it's not altogether easy - in a world where people do not believe and will not accept and live a life of self-denial. It is not altogether easy. However, it is possible. God has provided a way that His people can live a life that is sinless and that's what we are expected to do. To live a life that is sinless.

The very fact that Jesus died upon the cross to forgive our sins and to pay the debt is only half of the story. The other half of the story is that He changes our hearts to that extent that we are free from sin and do not sin. And we cannot say that we are a virgin in the Spirit and expect to be a Bride of Christ unless we are free from sin and the desire to sin. And therefore have been reborn.

And so, beloved ones, in baptism, we stand at the baptismal waters and make this promise to God that we will be faithful and true unto Him until death. What does that mean? It means we are engaged to Him - to take part of this wedding on Judgment Day. And He is not going to wed anyone that is not pure in heart. And so we are made pure by His righteousness in baptism and we should be thankful and glad unto God.

Again, I should say, that it is possible. We hear it sometimes said that people will say that it is impossible to go through this life and live a sinless life. I will agree that it is impossible for the unconverted person. We all experienced that. All of us have made that experience in the day of our ... when we were yet unconverted, we were not able to do those things which we knew we should. But it wasn't until we found this humility, it wasn't until we came to this knowledge of the Lord, that the Lord cleansed us of these things and then, by His grace, were we able.

But let us fear lest we still will come short of these things.
--Sermon Excerpt: Elder Bro. L.H.