How can my body be pure? I’ve done some pretty impure things to my body. - Body - TouchPoints

2 Corinthians 5:17Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

Forgiveness in Christ is real, and it affects everything—including our bodies, no matter where they have been. This is not to say that our sins will never have ongoing consequences that affect our bodies; we may have to live with those aftereffects for the rest of our lives. But our sins have been forgiven, and we have been infused with eternal life. We are now pure in God’s eyes because of what Jesus did for us. We are now new people.

1 Corinthians 6:13, 15You can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. . . . Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ?

If we think of our bodies as nothing more than meaningless biological systems, it’s easy to make decisions that destroy our bodies and the bodies of others. Those who discover that Jesus died for them and indwells their bodies through his Spirit receive a new outlook on all of life. Being part of Christ’s body carries with it both privileges and responsibilities.

Ephesians 4:32–5:1, 3[Christ] loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people.

The forgiveness God extends to you through Christ’s sacrifice should motivate everything you do in life. When you are tempted to return to your previous sinful behavior, remember that forgiveness came at a great cost.

Psalm 51:2, 7Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. . . . Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Attempting to purify ourselves leads to delusion, frustration, and despair. We are unable to clean ourselves to the point of anything resembling purity. But God can do what we know is impossible for us to accomplish. David speaks for all of us out of the depths of his repentance: We can’t hope for purity unless God washes us in ways no one else can.

Hebrews 10:22Let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

When Jesus forgives you, no matter what you have done, God sees you as pure and fully worthy to enter into his presence. Now, forgiven and restored, strive as much as possible to avoid sin that violates God’s intended plan for your body—sexual immorality, drunkenness, substance abuse, self-inflicted violence, and gluttony are among some of these sins.