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PURE AND UNDEFILED RELIGION IN
THE SIGHT OF OUR GOD AND FATHER IS THIS: TO VISIT
ORPHANS AND WIDOWS IN THEIR DISTRESS, AND TO KEEP ONESELF
UNSTAINED BY THE WORLD: threskeia kathara kai amiantos para to theo
kai patri aute estin, (3SPAI) episkeptesthai (PMN) orphanous kai
cheras en te thlipsei auton, aspilon heauton terein (PAN) apo tou
kosmou:
Pure (2513)
(katharos;
English = catharsis = purifying, cleansing, a term used in
psychology and counseling for a cleansing of the mind or emotions - a
"soul cleansing" if you will; cathartic = any substance used to
induce purging or to cleanse a wound or infected are in order to make
it pure; Cathar = member of a medieval sect which sought the
purging of all evil from its members) literally describes that which
is free of dirt and thus clean. It describes that which is free
from admixture or adulteration and thus is pure. From a
biblical standpoint the concept of cleansing is deeply rooted in both
the Old and the New Testaments. As discussed more below under the
Levitical laws heavy emphasis was placed on ceremonial cleansing and
thus contact with any unclean animal, substance, person, or place was
strictly forbidden. By the time Christ came this preoccupation with
ceremonial cleanness had unfortunately displaced true worship with
many of the Jews, most notably the Pharisees. It is not surprising
then that the New Testament focuses mainly on an inward cleanness
(heart, conscience), rather than on an external or ceremonial
cleanness.
It is also worth
noting that katharos is related to the Latin castus, from which
we get chaste. The related word chasten refers to discipline given in
order to cleanse from wrong behavior.
Katharos
is blameless, innocent, unstained with the guilt and is used to
describe that which is ceremonially or ritually pure or clean (in a
"Levitical sense"). For example Moses records...
Leviticus 6:11 'Then he
shall take off his garments and put on other garments, and carry the
ashes outside the camp to a clean (LXX
= katharos) place.
Exodus 25:11 "And you shall
overlay it (the Ark of the Covenant) with pure (LXX
= katharos) gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and you shall
make a gold molding around it.
Katharos
is an adjective that figuratively is used in both the OT and the NT to
describe the state of one's heart. When a person is
pure
in heart and mind, his or her perspective on all things is pure, and
that inner purity produces outer purity. As discussed above, true
purity lies not in adherence to external commandments of men but in
the inner purity of the redeemed, regenerated heart.
Undefiled
(283)
(amiantos
from
a = negates what follows +
miaino = to defile by staining, as with color) means without
contamination, unpolluted, untainted, unstained (stainless), unsoiled,
without uncleanness or impurity. The idea is free from that by which
the nature of a thing is deformed or debased, or its force or vigor is
impaired. In secular Greek writings amiantos was used to
describe things such as unstained hands, heart, flesh or body.
Aeschylus calls the sea simply "the undefiled".
The following
illustration serves to emphasize the great need all believers have to
keep their garments pure and undefiled...
After a violent storm one night, a
large tree, which over the years had become a stately giant, was found
lying across the pathway in a park. Nothing but a splintered stump was
left. Closer examination showed that is was rotten at the core because
thousands of tiny insects had eaten away at its heart. The weakness of
that tree was not brought on by the sudden storm; it began the very
moment the first insect nested within its bark. With the Holy Spirit's
help, let's be very careful to guard our hearts so that we remain pure
and undefiled, "oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD,
that He might be glorified." (Isaiah 61:3, cp commentary notes on
Psalm 1:3)
MacArthur
writes that...
katharos has two shades of
meaning. Some suggest that it also means unmixed or unalloyed or
unadulterated or sifted or cleansed of chaff. In other words, to be
pure means you have no added mixture of any foreign element. Thus,
what our Lord was really saying here is, “I desire a heart that is
unmixed in its devotion and motivation. Pure motives from a pure
heart.”Either way, it has to do with attitudes, integrity, and
singleness of heart as opposed to duplicity and double mindedness
(MacArthur, J. The Only Way to Happiness: The Beatitudes. Chicago:
Moody Press)
Religion
(2356)
(threskeia)
Martin Luther had it right
when he said that...
The world does not need a definition of
religion as much as it needs a demonstration.
John Calvin wrote that...
We must observe that the knowledge of
God which we are invited to cultivate is not that which, resting satisfied
with empty speculation, only flutters in the brain, but a knowledge which
will prove substantial and fruitful whenever it is duly perceived and
rooted in the heart.
In the sight
(literally beside) (3844)
(para)
Father (3962)
(pater)
Visit (1980)
(episkeptomai)
Orphans (3737)
(orphanos)
Widows (5503)
(chera)
Distress
(2347)
(thlipsis
from thlibo = to crush, press together, squash, hem in,
compress, squeeze in turn derived from thláo = to break)
originally expressed sheer, physical pressure on a man. Thlipsis is a
strong term which does not refer to minor inconveniences, but to real
hardships.
Medically
thlipsis
was used of the pulse (pressure). It is a pressing together as of
grapes. It conveys the idea of being squeezed or placed under pressure
or crushed beneath a weight. When, according to the ancient law of
England, those who willfully refused to plead guilty, had heavy
weights placed on their breasts, and were pressed and crushed to
death, this was literally thlipsis. The iron cage was
stenochoria.
Thlipsis thus refers not to
mild discomfort but to great difficulty.
Morris rightly notes that...
No one likes troubles of this kind,
but they may be seen as difficulties to be overcome, as ways of
opening up new possibilities. One who sees them in this light glories
in them (Ibid)
Martin Luther
wrote that...
Whatever virtues tribulation finds
us in, it develops more fully. If anyone is carnal, weak, blind,
wicked, irascible, haughty, and so forth, tribulation will make him
more carnal, weak, blind, wicked and irritable. On the other hand, if
one is spiritual, strong, wise, pious, gentle and humble, he will
become more spiritual, powerful, wise, pious, gentle and humble.
It was
C S Lewis
who said that...
God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but
shouts in our pains; it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.
To
keep (5083)
(tereo)
Oneself
(1438)
(heautou)
Unstained
(784)
(aspilos
a = without + spílos
= spot) means without blemish or defect (outward condition) and
figuratively in a moral sense, pure (inward character). James
is calling for those who practice Spirit empowered, Christ-like, God
glorifying religion to manifest a practice of flawless integrity and
uncompromising holiness.
Thayer writes
that metaphorically aspilos meant...
free from censure, irreproachable
(eg, see
1Ti 6:14), free from vice, unsullied
(see note
2 Peter 3:14).
Believers
are to be like the ermine...
In the forests of northern Europe
and Asia lives little animal called the ermine, known for his
snow-white fur in winter. He instinctively protects his white coat
against anything that would soil it. Fur hunters take advantage of
this unusual trait of the ermine. They don’t set a snare to catch
him, but instead they find his home, which is usually a cleft in a
rock or a hollow in an old tree. They smear the entrance and interior
with grime. Then the hunters set their dogs loose to find and chase
the ermine. The frightened animal flees toward home but doesn't enter
because of the filth. Rather than soil his white coat, he is trapped
by the dogs and captured while preserving his purity. For the ermine,
purity is more precious than life.
World (2889)
(kosmos)
Spurgeon
writes that...
This is not the secret part of
religion. Of that we read elsewhere. But this is the very dress that
true religion puts on; charitably caring for the most destitute of our
fellow-creatures, and holy walking, that we be not as the men of the
world are: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is
this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to
keep himself unspotted from the world.”
><>><>><>
Two theological students were
walking along a street in the Whitechapel district of London, a section
where old and used clothing is sold.
What a fitting illustration all this makes!” said one of the students as
he pointed to a suit of clothes hanging on a rack by a window.
A sign on it read:
SLIGHTLY
SOILED—GREATLY REDUCED IN PRICE.
“That’s it exactly,” he continued. “We get soiled by gazing at a vulgar
picture, reading a course book, or allowing ourselves a little indulgence
in dishonest or lustful thoughts; and so when the time comes for our
character to be appraised, we are greatly reduced in value. Our purity,
our strength is gone. We are just part and parcel of the general, shopworn
stock of the world.”
Yes, continual slight deviations
from the path of right may greatly reduce our usefulness to God and to our
fellowman (see notes on "vessel of honor... useful to the Master" -
2 Timothy 2:21;
22).
In fact, these little secret sins can weaken our character so that when we
face a moral crisis, we cannot stand the test. As a result, we go down in
spiritual defeat because we have been careless about little sins. (Source
unknown) (Ed: Secret sins reminds one of the verse in the Song of
Solomon in which the beloved says to her lover "Catch the foxes for us,
The little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, While our vineyards are
in blossom." - Song of Songs 2:15)
><>><>><>
In Our Daily Homily F B
Meyer has a devotional on this verse entitled Unspotted from the
world...
“The white flower of a blameless
life!”
The view of pure and undefiled religion presented in this definition was
characteristic of James, surnamed the Just, who was revered even by the
Jews for his austere piety, and whose vesture of simple white was
emblematic of his stainless character. Whatever may be our views about the
doctrines of Christianity, we must see to it that their outcome be in
pure and holy living.
Orthodoxy of view is utterly worthless
unless it be combined with orthodoxy of life.
This was the side of truth on which James insisted.
What a beautiful conception is here!
The unspotted life! No book is like the Bible in its conceptions of sin;
indeed, we owe to it the thought of sin, and its evil in the sight of God.
But there is no book with so lofty an ideal of what life may become when
it is yielded to the grace of Christ. A cleansed heart, and an unspotted
robe; no sin allowed and permitted in the soul, and no evil habit allowed
to dominate and enthrall the life.
But how is it to be ours?
(1) Put the grave of Christ between you and your former life, and so
reckon that you are dead to all solicitations that would induce you to
live according to the lusts and passions that dominate the rest of the
Gentiles,
(2) Seek by use to exercise your spiritual senses, that you may be quick
to discern the first and most distant approach of temptation, that so it
may find you hidden in the risen living Savior.
(3) Let the blood of Jesus be instantly applied, so that you may be
immediately cleansed from the least spot that may have defiled your dress.
(4) Keep away your eyes, and speech, and feet, from all scenes and society
that have a defiling influence. (Meyer, F. B. Our Daily Homily)
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