Locked Into Purity
1 John 3:3 TPT
“And all who focus their hope on him will always be purifying themselves, just as Jesus is pure.”
This verse is not just a call to moral behavior. It is a revelation of the supernatural reality we are now invited into. This is not about striving. This is about being locked into something we did not build but are now sustained by. The man or woman who focuses their hope on Jesus is not trying harder to be holy. They are beholding the One who is holy. They are gazing upon purity itself, and purity has a name. Jesus is not just the model of purity. He is the substance of it. And when your eyes are fixed on Him, you are not just observing purity, you are being made one with it.
This is not by might. Not by power. Not by gritted teeth or white knuckled effort. It is entirely by the Spirit. The same Spirit who hovered over the waters in Genesis now hovers over your soul, drawing your gaze to the Son, anchoring your hope to the King, and locking your heart to the One who is altogether lovely. That is how you stay pure. By focusing your hope on what is already pure. Not what might be. Not what you hope to one day become. But what is. He is pure. And you are in Him. Which means your purification is not a goal, it is a grace. It is not a someday. It is a right now.
What the flesh cannot do, the Spirit has already made possible. The old covenant pointed to an external purification through washings and rituals. But under the blood of Jesus, there is an internal transformation that flows from union. The law could never produce what love did. Because love came and put purity in a body and walked among us. Then that body was broken so that our bodies could become the dwelling place of God. The pure One lives inside us. And now when I focus my hope on Him, I am not reaching toward a distant Savior. I am returning to the One who has already taken up residence within me. My purity is not a prize I earn. It is a person I yield to.
Jesus did not just wash us. He redefined us. You are not working toward purity. You are beholding it. And as you behold, you become. You are not a filthy sinner crawling toward righteousness. You are a beloved son being transformed by the gaze of Jesus. That is the difference between religion and resurrection. Religion says fix yourself. Resurrection says behold Him. Purity is not the reward of effort. It is the result of attention. What you behold, you become.
And look at what the verse says. All who focus their hope on Him will always be purifying themselves. That is not a burden. That is a rhythm. That is not saying try harder. It is saying stay focused. Let your eyes be single. Let your gaze be locked. Because the one you are locked onto is holy, and that holiness begins to flow through you. This is why worship is warfare. This is why prayer is power. Not because you are convincing God to help you. But because you are aligning your eyes to the One who has already secured the victory. And that changes you.
The lie is that purity is hard. That you have to fight your flesh every second to stay holy. No. That is not what John is saying. He is revealing a reality. If your hope is truly on Jesus, you will remain in a lifestyle of purification. Because you are not staring at your failure. You are staring at His perfection. You are not feeding your shame. You are feeding your spirit. And your spirit knows where home is. Your spirit knows what purity feels like because it was birthed in fire, not in fear. So the more you lean into the Spirit, the more you recognize that holiness is not the enemy of joy. It is the evidence of it.
Let me say it plainly. You do not purify yourself by working harder. You purify yourself by staying locked in on Jesus. Because to be locked on Him is to be locked into purity. And that will always change how you live.
Now let us deal with the other side of this. When your heart does not condemn you, there is bold freedom to speak face to face with Him. That is in the same letter. 1 John 3 verse 21 says, If our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God. This is massive. Because when you are living locked in on Jesus, you are not being dragged around by shame. You are not swinging between hope and despair. You are standing. Confident. Steady. Clean. And because you know you are clean, your conversations with God begin to change. You are not praying from guilt. You are praying from union.
This is what the enemy hates. He does not mind if you pray. He just does not want you to pray from righteousness. He does not mind if you worship. He just does not want you to believe you are clean. Because if he can keep your heart condemning you, he can keep you distant. But when you know you have been made pure by the blood of Jesus and you have locked your hope on Him, your heart stops condemning you and you walk into the throne room like a son who belongs there.
Confidence is the fruit of purity. Not manufactured boldness. Not churchy charisma. Real, raw, quiet confidence that comes from knowing I have nothing to hide. He sees it all, and He still calls me son. That is what purity does. It strips away the fog. It silences the voices. It kills the shame. And now I can see Him clearly. I can speak to Him face to face. Because my heart does not accuse me anymore.
Do you know why your heart does not accuse you? Because purity is no longer based on your performance. It is based on your position. If you are in Christ, then you are in purity. The old you is dead. The accusations are irrelevant. Your hope is not in how well you have behaved this week. Your hope is in the blood. Your eyes are on the Lamb. And that is the purest place you can live from.
This is what it means to live by the Spirit. It means your hope is anchored beyond the reach of your feelings. It means your gaze is fixed beyond the chaos of your circumstances. The Spirit has made it possible for us to do what we never could in the flesh. You can stay clean because you are locked in. Not locked out. You are not outside trying to earn your way in. You are inside, looking out at the One who brought you home.
So here is the real question. What are your eyes locked onto? Because your purity follows your focus. If you are gazing at culture, you will conform to it. If you are gazing at failure, you will drown in it. But if you are gazing at Jesus, you will rise. You will burn. You will be purified without even trying. Because purity flows from presence, not pressure.
Let this be a wake up call. Your life was not meant to be a tug of war between sin and self discipline. It was meant to be a yielded life anchored to the beauty of Jesus. Holiness is not optional. But it is not a burden either. It is the natural result of abiding. Jesus said, Abide in me and you will bear fruit. Not might. Will. Purity is a fruit. Holiness is a fruit. Not a chore. Not a chain. A fruit.
So focus your hope. Fix your eyes. Let the Spirit do what only He can do. Stop trying to purify yourself through dead works. Let the Living Water wash you. And stay locked in. Because the One you are locked into is pure. And what He is, you are becoming.
Let every voice of accusation fall silent. Let your heart come into agreement with the truth. You are not condemned. You are not filthy. You are not disqualified. You are purified. You are confident. You are clean. Because you are His. And when you focus your hope on Him, purity is not a pressure. It is a promise.
And it is yours.
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