Purity as expressed in the Christian faith brings forth love, joy, peace, mercy, and humility.
'Purity', as it is expressed in many American Christian circles, brings depression, despair, suicide, and apostasy from Christianity.
Why?
Because the concept of purity presented by American Christianity has nothing to do with Christ, or His Body, the Church. It has to do, rather, with witchcraft.
Witchcraft, in this sense, is not the practice of modern “paganism” or “wicca” or any such thing. Witchcraft has been, historically, a Judeo-Christian term used to frame a particular belief, and the practice following from that belief: The belief that the Lord God is not really God over all things; rather, there are processes, movements, actions, powers, functioning outside of his dominion...
...therefore, one can act outside of his dominion, and control powers, energies, agents beyond God. Perhaps even those capable of gaining control over God Himself.
A practitioner of witchcraft says this: “The Holy Spirit, Christ, yes, they are out there. But here is something else...”
This is precisely what many American Sectarian Christians say, as well. Consider:
What counsel does the American Christian give to, say, the young woman, in particular?
“Oh, sure, God ‘saved’ you. But if you have premarital sex, if you change a little flesh, wire a few neurons, affect a few people, that’s something you’ve stolen from your husband and from God which will never be recovered. You can never get it back. You’ve ruined it all. Yes, you can be ‘forgiven’ by God, but now your future will be contaminated by what you did, you will always regret, it will always be there...”
What sort of worthless, impotent, dead god is this false counsellor referring to? A god easily subverted by the powers of human sexuality, powers which evidently eclipse his own. Surely this god is like the contemptible idol mocked by the prophet Elijah:
“Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
By contrast, the Lord God, the Most High Lord of Hosts, the thrice-holy One whose purpose cannot be thwarted, who accepts no partiality and takes no bribe, God of gods and Lord of lords, of whom it was sung through Hannah:
“The Lord puts to death, and keeps alive, He brings down to Sheol, and brings up.”
Of whom it was declared through Isaiah:
“From the rising of the sun, and from the west, there is none besides Me, I am the Lord, and there is none else; forming light, and preparing darkness, making peace, and preparing evil, I am the Lord, doing all these things.”
He has power and dominion over all human failings. There is nothing past, present, or future beyond His kingship.
If the former offenses of the contemporary warlock were not enough, the American Sectarian often adds to their blasphemy by continuing: “Don’t you see, you’ve been unfaithful. You will never have a ‘white marriage’, you will always have that barrier between your husband and yourself...”
Have they no knowledge of the Scriptures? Have they no fear of God? The Lord Jesus Christ taught us in the Gospel, through his encounter with the Paralytic:
Who has not committed whoredom against God and His Christ, defiled His image, and broken His union?
Which is greater, to whore against man or to whore against God?
According to the Law, no man or woman possesses virginity towards God.
According to Christ, all may enter as the virgin bride.
We confess the Resurrection of the Dead and the Life of the Coming Age. If you offer vain service to a god who is powerless over the workings of a fallen creature, who trembles at the premise of restoring a little flesh, of untangling a few neurons, then what good will he be when you are sown corruptible into the earth? How will he knit bone to flesh and sinew to bone so that you may stand again in glory?
Finally, the wicked deceiver sinks the last hook of despair into the sufferer: “You may have walked rightly so far, but be afraid. When you became a Christian, you received everything; from here, you can only fall. You can only lose your salvation, grace, holiness. Take care not to do anything, lest you lose anything...”
Here they abominate God’s creation, his divine plan, and his image. For mankind was not created to receive a static “perfection” which can only be darkened. Rather, he was created to move from Glory to Glory, ever increasing, ever receiving greater and greater portions of his inheritance through Christ, which is to be high priest of creation, offering glory and thanksgiving to God through the Son and in the Holy Spirit, in diverse, majestic and glorious ways as of yet beyond our comprehension.
Where American witchcraft threatens us with loss of a static burden, Christ tells us to hold onto an ever-increasing, ever-sanctifying inheritance against the trials of this age. With witchcraft comes slavery to adverse powers, to death. Let us embrace instead that Inheritance unto life everlasting as sons of God, to whom is the might, the kingship, the power, and the glory, together with the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and to the ages of ages.
'Purity', as it is expressed in many American Christian circles, brings depression, despair, suicide, and apostasy from Christianity.
Why?
Because the concept of purity presented by American Christianity has nothing to do with Christ, or His Body, the Church. It has to do, rather, with witchcraft.
Witchcraft, in this sense, is not the practice of modern “paganism” or “wicca” or any such thing. Witchcraft has been, historically, a Judeo-Christian term used to frame a particular belief, and the practice following from that belief: The belief that the Lord God is not really God over all things; rather, there are processes, movements, actions, powers, functioning outside of his dominion...
...therefore, one can act outside of his dominion, and control powers, energies, agents beyond God. Perhaps even those capable of gaining control over God Himself.
A practitioner of witchcraft says this: “The Holy Spirit, Christ, yes, they are out there. But here is something else...”
This is precisely what many American Sectarian Christians say, as well. Consider:
What counsel does the American Christian give to, say, the young woman, in particular?
“Oh, sure, God ‘saved’ you. But if you have premarital sex, if you change a little flesh, wire a few neurons, affect a few people, that’s something you’ve stolen from your husband and from God which will never be recovered. You can never get it back. You’ve ruined it all. Yes, you can be ‘forgiven’ by God, but now your future will be contaminated by what you did, you will always regret, it will always be there...”
What sort of worthless, impotent, dead god is this false counsellor referring to? A god easily subverted by the powers of human sexuality, powers which evidently eclipse his own. Surely this god is like the contemptible idol mocked by the prophet Elijah:
“Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
By contrast, the Lord God, the Most High Lord of Hosts, the thrice-holy One whose purpose cannot be thwarted, who accepts no partiality and takes no bribe, God of gods and Lord of lords, of whom it was sung through Hannah:
“The Lord puts to death, and keeps alive, He brings down to Sheol, and brings up.”
Of whom it was declared through Isaiah:
“From the rising of the sun, and from the west, there is none besides Me, I am the Lord, and there is none else; forming light, and preparing darkness, making peace, and preparing evil, I am the Lord, doing all these things.”
He has power and dominion over all human failings. There is nothing past, present, or future beyond His kingship.
If the former offenses of the contemporary warlock were not enough, the American Sectarian often adds to their blasphemy by continuing: “Don’t you see, you’ve been unfaithful. You will never have a ‘white marriage’, you will always have that barrier between your husband and yourself...”
Have they no knowledge of the Scriptures? Have they no fear of God? The Lord Jesus Christ taught us in the Gospel, through his encounter with the Paralytic:
“Four men came, carrying a paralytic to him. Since they could not come near Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof where he was. When they had broken it up, they let down the mat which the paralytic was lying on.
Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins have been forgiven you.’
But there were some of the scribes sitting there, and they reasoned in their hearts, ‘Why does this man speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins except God alone?’
Immediately, Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were reasoning within themselves in this way. He asked them, ‘Why do you reason these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to tell the paralytic, ‘Your sins have been forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed, and walk?’ But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins’—he said to the paralytic—’I tell you, arise and take up your mat, and go to your house!”
Who has not committed whoredom against God and His Christ, defiled His image, and broken His union?
Which is greater, to whore against man or to whore against God?
According to the Law, no man or woman possesses virginity towards God.
According to Christ, all may enter as the virgin bride.
We confess the Resurrection of the Dead and the Life of the Coming Age. If you offer vain service to a god who is powerless over the workings of a fallen creature, who trembles at the premise of restoring a little flesh, of untangling a few neurons, then what good will he be when you are sown corruptible into the earth? How will he knit bone to flesh and sinew to bone so that you may stand again in glory?
Finally, the wicked deceiver sinks the last hook of despair into the sufferer: “You may have walked rightly so far, but be afraid. When you became a Christian, you received everything; from here, you can only fall. You can only lose your salvation, grace, holiness. Take care not to do anything, lest you lose anything...”
Here they abominate God’s creation, his divine plan, and his image. For mankind was not created to receive a static “perfection” which can only be darkened. Rather, he was created to move from Glory to Glory, ever increasing, ever receiving greater and greater portions of his inheritance through Christ, which is to be high priest of creation, offering glory and thanksgiving to God through the Son and in the Holy Spirit, in diverse, majestic and glorious ways as of yet beyond our comprehension.
Where American witchcraft threatens us with loss of a static burden, Christ tells us to hold onto an ever-increasing, ever-sanctifying inheritance against the trials of this age. With witchcraft comes slavery to adverse powers, to death. Let us embrace instead that Inheritance unto life everlasting as sons of God, to whom is the might, the kingship, the power, and the glory, together with the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and to the ages of ages.
