Pure + Spotless
PURE + SPOTLESS
SPOTLIGHT
We’re shining a light each month this year on ideas and truths to help bring a new perspective to what “Pure + Spotless” means to us.
Spots. They’re marks. Blemishes. Unsightly and eye-catching. This is why people clean. To get rid of the spots. To present a spotless house, car, outfit, or appearance. This is why the whole idea of Jesus coming back for a “pure + spotless” bride can be intimidating. It can actually be downright misleading. Reading it and hearing it, one thinks they have to be perfect as a Christ follower. There are teachings out there that push the idea we must be perfect and that somehow we can make ourselves spotless. Nope! That’s something we’ve gotten all wrong down the line.
We will ONLY be spotless when we are ONE with Jesus. So, the idea of “pure + spotless” is actually a process of becoming. There is no such thing as achieving perfection here on this earth. Jesus was the only perfect person and simply because we follow Him doesn’t make us more perfect than another. However, being a follower certainly makes us closer to Jesus with the possibility of becoming more like Him.
LOOK IT UP
“Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness.”
Ephesians 5:25-28 (MSG)
“You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered ALL their sins.”
Psalms 85:2 (NIV)
“This is how we know we’re living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He’s given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. Also, we’ve seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.”
1 John 4:13-15 (MSG)
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”
Romans 12:1-2 (MSG)
KEYWORDS
atonement, grace, relationship, sin, self-righteous, redemption, bride, sanctification, whole, perseverance, process, perfection
A few of our keywords defined:
- Atonement: An eternal principle. The process of BECOMING one with God, literally meaning “at-one-ment.” It is the process of reconciliation between God and human beings with the goal of righting wrong, injury or sin.
- Sanctification: The theology of the process of being freed from sin—gradual and uncompleted.
- Salvation: Deliverance from sin and its consequences by faith in Christ.
- Redemption: The action of saving or being saved.
- Self-righteous: When one believes they are better than another because of their beliefs, morals or actions. They are convinced they are right within themselves, by themselves.
- Restoration: The action of returning to a previous owner—a reinstatement. In the Bible restoration is always in abundance. When something is restored, it is always better than it was to begin with. God’s promise to us is always better.
BLINDSPOTS
Let’s reprogram our minds from some distorted perspectives we’ve latched onto over the years.
- Going to church or calling yourself a Christian does NOT make you better than anyone else (or a person who has less spots)—nothing you do makes you better than somebody else, period. Only God can make you a better you. But only to show how good HE is.
- Our thoughts on “sin” and “spots” are flawed. How do you know? Because when we think of spots we think of things like adultery, addiction, or violence. But selfishness is a spot... Pride is a spot.... Anger is a spot. And guess what? We all have them, even when we act like we don’t. This creates judgmental and self-righteous people. SPOTS! What are some ways we can unlearn these ideas about ourselves and others?
PUT IT INTO ACTION
BODY
Actions create habits. Habits form lifestyles. So, stop looking for OTHER PEOPLE’S spots! That’s not your job. Let God work that out. The enemy would love to keep you distracted your whole life on the wrong things. But with all this new found time on your hands, you might actually find that you can focus on the relationship with the person right in front of you. That’s what God put us here for, right? To be in relationship with Him and with one another.
MIND
Challenge your thinking. Visually imagine your own spots. Being mindful of the things God is working on in you, encourages personal growth. Celebrate that! Because that means progress, which is better than pretending to be perfect.
SPIRIT
Pray that the Holy Spirit would help you embrace the refining process. One day you might look like you have your inner self all clean and tidy, but the next day it looks like a tornado went through it! News flash... that’s ok! This is not a one-and-done exercise in life. This is an everyday wash, rinse, and repeat pattern that leads to eternal life.
PRAYER FOR THE YEAR
Through salvation, we are made one with Him in spirit. Our flesh is another story. It’s an ongoing process of purifying daily.
Thank you Jesus for loving me and accepting me just as I am. Unfinished but changing and becoming more like you.
Closer to you. Living for the day I am made whole, one with you, pure + spotless.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DARLA SKILES
She Tribe Founder
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