The Point of Purity Podcast

Action is The Key

March 30, 2023 Steve Etner Season 3 Episode 120
The Point of Purity Podcast
Action is The Key
Show Notes Transcript

A person of integrity is a person of action. If we are going to be godly men and women, if we are going be Christians who live consistently in a way that truly honors God, then we must understand it’s not going to happen simply because we want it to. A person of integrity isn’t just talking a good faith, they are consistently living it.

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A person of integrity is a person of action. If we are going to be godly men (godly women), if we are going be Christians who live consistently in a way that truly honors God, then we must understand it’s not going to happen simply because we want it to. A person of integrity isn’t just talking a good faith, they are consistently living it. Your actions reveal your faith. To know what you really believe, look no further than your daily choices and behavior.

Welcome to The Point of Purity Podcast. A weekly study filled to the brim with the all the tools from Scripture you will ever need to build a lasting life of Biblical purity. Each episode is designed to help you discover how to skillfully handle the word of God as you choose to live in freedom! 

I’m your host, Steve Etner author, National speaker, and Purity Coach for the Pure Man Ministry ...  and this is episode #120 entitled “Action is the Key!”

“A plan-of-action is just a plan until you put it into action.” I know, profound, right? The best laid plans are totally worthless until you actually do something about it. No action? It’s just a plan. It may be a good plan, maybe even a great plan, but until you do something about it, it’s accomplishing nothing. 

If you wait till tomorrow to act, it’s just a plan. If you wait till you have an accountability partner to help you, it’s still just a plan. If you wait until you purchase that really awesome Bible study software or latest book, it’s nothing more than a plan. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that no matter what the reason, if you wait to do something about your pursuit of godliness, it’s a plan that has failed. Why? Because you’re not acting upon it. Let me say it again: a plan-of-action is just a plan until you put it into action.

If we are going to be godly men and women, if we are going be people of godly integrity who live consistently in a way that truly honors God, then we must understand it’s not going to happen simply because we want it to. 

“Just add the Holy Spirit and ‘poof’ you’re godly?” Nope, doesn’t work that way. Nor does godliness come easy. “Follow these 10 simple steps and you’ll be a Super Saint of God!” Unh-unh. Godliness is a process combining both faith and action. We must intentionally train ourselves to be godly.

Your actions speak. Your works are words. The question you must ask (and answer) is what are my words saying through my works? A person of integrity makes sure that their words and actions are saying the same thing. 

“Someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” (James 2:18)

“Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18)

A person of integrity isn’t just talking a good faith, they are consistently living it. David understood that which is why he prayed “May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.” (Psalm 25:21) 

Your actions reveal your faith. To know what you really believe, look no further than your daily choices and behavior. Consider your actions over the past week. What are they saying about your faith?

The words of your works speak clearly about the worship of your heart. What are your actions saying? What do you do when you are alone? How do you respond when you are under stress, or frustrated, or disappointed, or feeling anxious? These are the true litmus tests.

“May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.” (Psalm 25:21)

The concept of “uprightness” has nearly dropped completely out of our understanding and practice. No big surprise when you consider that “the godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind.” (Micah 7:2). Without Christ none are upright. Not even you, and definitely not me.

“I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness.” (1 Chronicles 29:17a)

“God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.” (Ecclesiastes 7:29)

Because of our crooked schemes we have become a sick and perverted mess–far from what God originally intended for us. 

Praise the Lord He has not given up on us! “Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.” (Psalm 25:8) That should give you encouragement and hope. David is pointing out here that God instructs “sinners” in the way. That’s you. That’s me. Sinners. He shows us what we’re doing wrong and how to do it right!

When you allow the Holy Spirit to teach you and guide you in His truth (see John 16:13), and you choose to be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only (see James 1:22-25), you will then and only then be able to walk before God “with integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that (He has) commanded you, keeping (His) statutes and (His) rules.” (1 Kings 9:4)

Being a person who is “blameless and upright” means being one “who fears God and turns away from evil.” (Job 1:1, 8; 2:3). Does that describe you?

“He who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord, but he who is devious in his ways despises him.” (Proverbs 14:2 NASB)

Just so we are clear, the Biblical concept of fearing God isn’t cowering in a corner somewhere, utterly terrified that you might do something wrong to invoke his wrath and punishment. Instead, the fear of the Lord is having an intimate understanding of who He is which in turn develops a deep respect, reverence, awe, and thus willful obedience to and for God. So, the person who is upright is the one who not only has a great respect for their Creator and Savior but chooses to consistently live unreservedly for Him in every aspect of his life.

The upright person “walks in integrity” and they “walk securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.” (Proverbs 10:9) The one who is upright is “blameless and innocent ... without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation.” (Philippians 2:15) “The highway of the upright turns aside from evil.” (Proverbs 16:17)

“The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them.” (Proverbs 11:3)

The upright person is compelled to always speak the truth, even to himself. “He who walks blamelessly and does what is right ... speaks truth in his heart.” (Psalm 15:2) The person of integrity is not a hypocrite saying one thing but doing another or doing one thing and saying another. Instead, with their whole being–both in word and action–they are living a life that praises God because “praise befits the upright.” (Psalm 33:1)

“Surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name; the upright shall dwell in your presence.” (Psalm 149:13)

“For the Lord is righteous, he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.” (Psalm 11:7)

“He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity.” (Proverbs 2:7)

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” (Psalm 84:11)

“May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.” (Psalm 25:21)

To be that person of integrity, that upright man or woman who defeats Lust, Porn, and Masturbation and lives victoriously for God you must “wait.” We saw when we discussed Psalm 25:3 a few episodes ago that “waiting on God” does not mean you are putting off, or deferring, or waiting as we commonly think of it (like waiting at a traffic light, or in a doctor’s office). Rather we are “waiting,” we are focusing all of our attention upon God, putting our hope in God, resting fully and completely on Him.

When I put God first in my life, when I choose to “seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously” (Matthew 6:33 NLT), that is when I will walk in integrity and uprightness. The challenge we face is living this out every day in practical terms. R.C. Sproul, in his book entitled “Pleasing God,” describes it this way:

“The world is a seducer. It seeks to attract our attention and our devotion. It remains so close at hand, so visible, so enticing. It eclipses our view of heaven. What is seen vies for our attention. It entices our eyes lest we look up for a better country whose builder and maker is God. It pleases us – much of the time, anyway – and, alas, we often live our lives to please it. And that is where conflict ensues, for pleasing the world so seldom overlaps with pleasing God.

“The divine call we receive is this: ‘Do not be conformed to this world” (Rom. 12:2). But the world wants us to be partners with it. We are urged to participate in the fullness of it. It presses upon us with the ultimate peer pressure.” ([Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1988], p. 59)

It has been said that the church has become so proficient at compromising with the world that it has forgotten how to be uncompromising in the world, how to be people of conviction, people of integrity, people of God. I submit that a major reason for this is due in large part because we have embraced the world’s values as our own!

1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.” (NLT)

Jesus “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” (Titus 2:14) This is integrity. This is God’s call upon your heart to be lived out in your life. “For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light! For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true. Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead expose them.” (Ephesians 5:8-11 NLT) In other words, BE men and women of integrity!

OK, we’re going to hit the pause button here until next week’s episode as we look forward to continuing this study on the importance of being a man / woman of integrity. 

If you would like to learn more about today’s study, or if you’re interested in learning more about The Pure Man Ministry, and more specifically how we can help you live in freedom from sexual sin, be sure to visit our website to see the multitude of resources we’ve made available to you – you can find our website at ThePurityCoach.com

Now before I close out this episode, I WANT TO (once again ) REMIND YOU OF SOME VERY, VERY EXCITING NEWS I shared with you in the last two episodes!

I am excited to announce the release of “The Point of Purity” Workbook! Available now on Amazon. This workbook is the accumulation and culmination of 11 years of coaching, mentoring, and counseling men in the area of sexual addiction and purity.

The Point of Purity” Workbook is a 12-week accountability study of God’s Word focused on equipping and training men and women on how to overcome an addiction to lust, porn and masturbation. Throughout this workbook you and your accountability partner or small group walk through Scripture together, sharing from God’s Word how you can be free. Each week you are equipped with powerful tools from Scripture that will help you not only BE free, but LIVE free. You will learn how to effectively change your thought process when faced with temptation (not just sexual temptation, but actually any and all temptation). You will discover how to submit yourself to God, standing firmly against the temptation and successfully resist it every time. 

The Point of Purity” Workbook is a twelve-week journey through Scripture to help you discover the point of purity. Why should I be pure? What's wrong with a little "forbidden pleasure" from time to time? You will also learn how to get to the point of purity - living daily in freedom and victory over temptation. 

You see, the real problem we struggle with is not sexual temptation. The real problem is a worship disorder. Who is sitting on the throne of your heart? Whom are you worshiping and why? “The Point of Purity” Workbook is a deep dive into Scripture to help answer this all-important question and discover how to dethrone King Me, allowing God to be Lord and leader of every part of your life.

So be sure to visit Amazon.com today and get your copy of “The Point of Purity!”

And if you have not yet subscribed to this podcast, let me encourage you to do so today so you won’t miss any of our upcoming episodes!

So, until next time this is Author, National Speaker, and Purity Coach Steve Etner reminding you that if you are going to glorify God in your everyday living, He must first be glorified in your every moment thinking.