God's Purpose.

     From sin, then, in every sense and aspect, God is calling us. As exceeding sinful, the abominable thing which He hates and will avenge, He warns us against it. He speaks to us as "shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin," carrying evil about with us, nay, filled with it and steeped in it; not merely as diseased and requiring medicine, or unfortunate and requiring pity, but as guilty, under law, under sentence, dead in trespasses and sins, with inevitable judgment before us. He neither palliates nor aggravates our case, but calmly tells us the worst; showing us what we are, before calling us to be what He has purposed to make us. From all unholiness, from all uncleanness, from all unrighteousness, from all corruption, from all crooked ways, from all disobedience, from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, He is calling us, in Christ Jesus His Son.

Horatius Bonar (2010-04-14). God's Way of Holiness (Kindle Locations 231-237).  . Kindle Edition. 

     The Bible tells us that it is God's purpose for us to be holy, blameless, and irreproachable before Him. (Eph 1:4, 5:26-27; Col 1:22-23). Holiness is separation. As sinful humanity, we are filled with wickedness. Evil dwells within our hearts, and we act upon it. Jesus tells us that it is out of the heart that evil actions proceed (Mark 7:21-23). As stated above, this sin is an abomination to God, and instead of being poor unfortunate sinners deserving pity, we are vile guilty offenders of God's law, and deserve His wrath. Harsh words indeed, but it is the painful truth that we need to know if we are ever to be delivered from ourselves. As stated, God's ideal for us is to be holy, separated out of evil, and dedicated to the service of God. He calls on us to "Come out and be separate." (2 Cor 6:17). This is the call of God to renounce sin and self, to give it all up; to make a clean break, and to offer ourselves up into the service of God. We are called to follow Christ; to walk as Jesus walked, in holiness, love, and compassion. This is only made possible to us through Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us that we might be forgiven our sins, and set free to walk in the purity He has called us to.  He is able to keep us from stumbling, and to make us stand in the presence of His glory,blameless, with great joy (Jude 1:24).
     
     

Noah, Blameless in His Time.

     The bible records that in the days prior to the flood, mankind was exceedingly wicked.

     Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
                                           Genesis 6:5 NASB

     The life of Noah stands in sharp contrast to the wickedness of the world around him. We read that Noah found favor in God's sight.

     But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.
                                       Genesis 6:8-9 NASB

     The bible holds up individuals as examples of God's standard for our lives. Noah was such an example for us to look at. Consider that he was a righteous individual. The definition of righteousness is one who is rightly related to God, they are justified in His sight by faith. Righteousness however, also means to live rightly. That is to do what is morally right. This is not an old testament concept of works based salvation. God has always desired mankind, and still desires mankind, to live righteously. His desire is that we would do what is morally upright in His eyes.
     We read in the first epistle of John that the one who practices righteousness is righteous (1 John 3:8). There is no separating of the two. An individual who has experienced the grace of God, who has been justified, and is now rightly related to God, will in fact live in a manner consistent with that fact. Such an individual will now do what is right in the eyes of God. Like Noah, they will stand in contrast to the world around them, going against the grain of the world's sinful beliefs and practices.
     The bible also records that Noah was blameless. This speaks of a moral wholeness, integrity, a purity of intention to live for God. While the world lives for selfish ends, a blameless individual desires with all of his heart to live for Christ. Such an individual might have times of weakness, may stumble, may have things in his or her life that God desires to purify, but the cry of their heart is to live in a manner that is pleasing to God. They get up when they fall down, and continue on with God. Just as it says that Noah walked with God, an upright and blameless individual also walks with God, ordering their life and conduct by the standard of God's word. An individual who claims to walk with God, but lives out their life for their own selfish pursuits, is a deceived individual. They are no different than those whose intentions were only evil continually, as in the days of Noah.
     How does your life line up with the standard that God has put before you? Would you look at your life and find that you fit in with the world and its sinful ways? Or, does your life look like Noah's? Do you seek to please God in all your ways? Do you do what is right? Are you rightly related to God, and walking in relationship with Him, ordering your conduct by His standards?
     God regretted that He had made man, and determined to destroy mankind from the face of the earth (Genesis 6:6-7), but Noah found favor with God. We too, will someday face God, to be judged for the things that we have done. Will you be destroyed with all of the wicked, or will you, like Noah, find favor with God?
     You must be born again!
    

    

    

Purified like Christ.

     Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed upon Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
                        1 John 3:2-3 NASB

     As those whose citizenship is not of this world, Christians eagerly await the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20; 2 Timothy 4:8). This is a mark of one who is truly born again. The love that one has for Jesus expresses itself in a longing for His return, just as we long to be united with loved ones who we are separated from in this life.
     The true Child of God knows and understands that God is pure. They understand that He is without spot or wrinkle and they also desire to be pure in their conduct as well. As they await His return they are careful to live a life that is pleasing to Him.
     They understand that to keep oneself pure, it is important to go to His word, and allow it to shape and mold our lives (Psalm 119:8). Keeping oneself pure in this way is not advocating a works based salvation, on the contrary, we are saved from our sins, and called to live holy lives. We are instructed to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12-13). We are to cooperate with God by yielding to His word, by submitting ourselves to the Lordship of Christ. In this way we purify our lives.
     This is how a Christian lives. He lives to please Christ. He desires to be like his heavenly Father (Eph 5:1). Christ gave Himself to wash us clean, without spot or wrinkle (Eph 5:25-27), and this is the desire of the believers heart, to be clean in his conduct before God, to live a life beyond reproach.
     Someone who claims salvation, but carelessly lives in this world, trusting that God will pass over his sinful conduct, while really not desiring to be clean and pure in God's eyes, is lacking the life of God within his heart.