Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
James 1:27 (KJV)
In the book of Numbers chapters 28 and 29, there are at least five different references regarding the requirements of an offering. They were to be “without spot” as God was looking for them to bring the finest and best offerings.
Christ was unspotted.
The other references being “without spot” are found in the New Testament. Several of them refer to the Lord Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 9:14, 1 Peter 1:19) This means that Jesus was without sin. He was perfect in every way, He was a God manifested in the flesh, and He was the God-man. He did not have sin, and it is a fact that He could not sin because He is God. So, we see that Christ is the perfect, ultimate sacrifice because He is unspotted.
The Church will one day be unspotted.
The church is the bride of Christ and in Solomon 4:7, it mentions the bride as having no spot. When we get to heaven where there’s no more sin, there’s no more temptation, and there’s no more flesh, then we can be unspotted, indeed. But while we are yet on earth, we must strive to live a life that is unspotted.
The Christian should strive to be unspotted.
The word “spot” in the Scriptures is a reference to sin or flaws, some sort of blemishes or some sort of imperfections. In other words, the stain of sin. The book of James is filled with references to being unspotted, the concept of practical sanctification. (James 1:21, 26) Remember that true Christianity is not a religion but a relationship.
James gives two separate things that defines pure religion:
- Compassion
Our hearts ought to be longing to help those that have legitimate needs. We ought to have compassion and charity. We ought to have a burden in supporting our missionaries all around the world. - Consecration
The only type of sanctification or holiness that God’s interested in is the righteousness imputed in us through Christ. By this, we can live a life that is unrebukable and unspotted by keeping Christ’s commands.
Spots Distract
A spot is distracting. Nobody notices what is right in a garment that has a spot, which typically focuses on the part that is wrong.
Some Biblical illustrations:
- Samson
Samson was a judge for 20 years, the strongest man that ever lived. He picked up the gates of the city and carried them all the way. He ran a line and a half with his bare hands. He killed thousands of men with just only the jaw of an ass. We got all these great stories of Samson but when you hear Samson, we always think about his spot, Delilah! - King David
The man who killed Goliath and wrote the book Psalms, 150 chapters of it. But to think about David, we think probably think of Bathsheba as well. We think about his adultery and murder of Uriah to cover up his sin. - Peter
Peter holds the world record for only the man walking on water. When Peter preached in book of Acts, thousands of people got saved. But when we think about Peter, we also remember him denying the Lord Jesus Christ thrice.
Sin in a Christian’s life is distracting because it takes the focus away from Christ and His work.
Spots Disappoint
The first and universal reaction to discovering a spot on a garment is disappointment, especially if it’s a favoured piece of clothing. In the same manner, the spots, the stains and the blemishes of sin should be a disappointment to us, not something we get used to! (Jeremiah 6:15)
Spots Diminish
Most of the time, if a garment has a noticeable stain that cannot be removed, we would simply give it away. Paul realized that sin in his life would cause him to become a castaway. (1 Corinthians 9:27)
Spots Define
False teachers are called spots in the Bible. It did not say that they have spots, it says that they are the spots!
Spots have a way of defining you:
- People that lie are called liars.
- People that steal are called thieves.
- People that are unfaithful to their spouse are called adulterers and adulteresses.
- People that are immoral before marriage are called fornicators.
- People that are hooked on alcohol, drugs, tobacco, gambling, etc are called addicts.
And the list goes on and on and on…
If you allow it, sin will define your life. We shouldn’t be proud of it. We shouldn’t defend it. We shouldn’t make excuse for it. We shouldn’t blame it on everybody else. We shouldn’t deny it. We shouldn’t try to hide it. We shouldn’t just accept it. We shouldn’t get upset when someone notices it. We shouldn’t get angry when someone tries to help us with it. What we must do is to deal with it!
Don’t allow the spots and stains of sin to ruin your life. It is God’s will for you and me to remain “unspotted” from the world. We need to strive to keep our life free of spots.