A Presentation of Perfection - Media Sabda Org

1984
As in 1982 the holiness articles were not so numerous, since there were only two writings for that
year. They were authored by W. T. Purkiser and John May.
An article by Purkiser was reprinted from the Herald of Holiness. It was entitled "What It Means
to Have a Pure Heart." He made this observation at the beginning of his writing:
The scope of redemption does not stop with the impartation of life to a dead soul.
Over and over, God calls His people to that grace the scripture calls "a pure heart"
or "a clean heart." [104]
What does it mean to have a pure heart? Purkiser made a good point when he said,
This question has an urgency for us it did not have for our fathers. We who live in the
post-Freudian age have been told about the subconscious depths of personality in
which are said to lurk motives and maladjustments we are never fully aware. We
have been warned, in view of this, not to witness to a cleansing of which we cannot
be sure. The warning has its point. But some things need to be said. [105]
He made three main points in dealing with this matter of a pure heart:
First, the Bible is not talking about a purity that would possibly satisfy the definitions
of a depth psychologist. It is talking about a purity that satisfied the demands of a
holy God.... Second, the words of scripture do not depend for their validation on our
powers of introspection. We cannot affirm that our hearts are pure in a scriptural
sense because we do not detect defilement within ... Third, both in the scripture and
in experience it is clear that a pure heart does not mean that all emotional tangles are
straightened out, all maladjustments of personality or quirks of temperament are
corrected, or all need for discipline and growth ended. [106]
In May a piece was published by John May called "Glorious Freedom." He stated that sanctified
people should enjoy freedom, but within the perimeters that God has given for Christians to follow.
This one paragraph sums up succinctly what May endeavored to write:
The truly sanctified do not constantly feel their spiritual pulse to check whether they
are alive, but mind the checks of the Holy Spirit and live robust, happy, and
satisfying lives. Their license to do good and their liberty to abstain from wrong
guard against looseness in work, ethics, and standards. This results in well-rounded
Christian living and glorious freedom. [107]
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