2 Corinthians 7:10-11. “Restoration” is when something is returned to either its original condition or even improved. Everyone has experienced brokenness in some way. All you have to do is keep living and you’ll experience some more. Sometimes what is broken is our purity. That happens because of sin. Sin causes impurity. Sometimes the problem is ongoing sin that causes the brokenness. Sometimes things have gotten so bad people wonder if anything can be repaired. If there’s any chance of fixing anything. The good news is that God is in the restoration business. That’s what he specializes in because God “is love”, the Bible says. And God is able to restore purity. To help us put the pieces back together. You can overcome sin and get rid of sin. You can be forgiven of sin and have your purity restored in Christ Jesus.

James 3:13-18. "Motivation” is a word we use when we’re talking about accomplishing something. We generally think of motivation in a positive way. But that’s not the whole story about motivation, is it? There are times when people do things to get ahead and they have wrong motivations. There are times when people to bad things to others because they have sinful motivations. Christ followers are to be pure in their motives. James shows us that even the motivation behind what a Christian does matters. The “why” matters.

Hebrews 13:4. Hebrews 13 lists several moral instructions for the Christian that the author wants to leave with us as he concludes this letter. One of those instructions is about marriage. Laws and social norms may change and say it’s okay to do whatever you want, but that doesn’t mean God changes his plan for marriage. Maybe you’re not married, and maybe you will be one day. But live today the way you’re to live in marriage. The same standards of purity apply to all. What about the person or the marriage that has already experienced this defilement of sin? As we will see, there is repentance and restoration. But you have to want it. You have to change and turn from sin and to God.

2 Corinthians 11:1-3. We live in a culture filled with all kinds of elements. Many good, but not all. Many elements in our culture are spiritually toxic. I don’t want to be doom and gloom about culture, because, as I said, there are many great things to enjoy in life. But if we’re going to be followers of Jesus, we’ve got to see that there are spiritual pollutants we need to keep from. We need to remain pure in a polluted culture. Paul expresses both his deep love and concern for the Corinthians who were being led astray. Paul wanted them to hold on to their sincere and pure devotion to Christ so the bride (the church) would be ready to meet Jesus (the husband) when he returns to go and live with him forever.

Matthew 5:8. How pure is your private life? What percentage would you give yourself? Your private life includes your home life around those closest to you, and who you are and what you do when no one is around. Followers of Jesus are called to be pure in every way, in every part of their lives, including pure in their private lives. In fact, Jesus said that only the pure in heart would see God. We're all guilty of impurity in our hearts, so how is it possible that anyone could ever get to see God?

Proverbs 20:11. This Sunday morning was our Senior Sunday and our Youth Minister, Kenley Dover preached on our example being pure. What you do matters, how you do it matters, and who you hang out with matters.

1 John 3:1-3. Moms like things clean. And we’re glad they do. That’s really good. In this new series, we’re kind of talking about that. We’re going to be talking about “Passionate Purity” and looking at purity from different angles. Today we’re looking at purity for our future. Moms are also concerned about our future, aren’t they? But more important than our future on this earth is our eternal future. And cleanliness, or rather, “purity”, spiritual purity, is important to our eternity. It is because of the hope the Christian has in Christ that we purify ourselves, as he is pure. Because we have this great hope in Jesus and will be like him in heaven, we’re to become like him on earth. We purify ourselves now because of the future we have as a child of God. Hope is a powerful motivator. And Jesus should be what motivates us to live pure lives.

Galatians 5&6. In this lesson, we look at the last two chapters of Galatians where Paul says the Christian has true freedom. But what kind of freedom? Political freedom? No. Freedom from morality? No. Jesus came to give a freedom of far greater value than any kind of freedom on this earth. Then Paul illustrates for us what a person's life looks like who is free in Christ.

Galatians 4. In the letter Paul wrote to the Christians in Galatia, he is straining to communicate to them that being a Christian is the best thing possible. He wants them to know that there’s nothing better than being a Christian. And the pure gospel is all they need. They don’t need to add anything or take anything away. Remember, the false teachers had been telling these Christians that to truly be right with God they had to observe the ceremonial laws of the law of Moses. They wanted to add to the gospel. They taught that you can’t just be a Christian, but you have to add something to that. That’s what denominationalism is. It’s adding to and taking away instead of just being a Christian – and Paul is pleading with the Galatians to just be Christians.

Galatians 3. Paul is the one who taught the Galatians about Jesus, and he can’t believe they’ve been so easily led astray by these false teachers that came through teaching Gentile Christians that to be truly right with God they have to follow some parts of the old law in addition to putting their faith in Jesus. He asked a series of questions to get them to think back about when they became Christians. Paul shows the Galatians that living by faith does not include following the law of Moses by going further back in time to Abraham. God's people are to live by faith in Jesus. Let's consider what that looks like in our lives.