Spiritual pollution refers to the contamination or defilement of one’s spiritual life and connection with God. It involves the introduction of impure influences or practices that hinder spiritual growth and fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
According to 2nd Corinthians 7:1; there is something called the “filthiness of the flesh and spirit;” which simply means there are things or pollutants that will pollute your body and spirit!
(2 Cor 7:1; “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” NKJV)
These filthiness of the flesh and spirit (spiritual pollutants) are seen in:
- Paul’s warning to us about the works of our flesh in Galatians 5:19-21;
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: [a]adultery, [b]fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, [c]murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. NKJV
- Jesus warning to us about the fallen nature of our heart that is inclined to evil in Mark 7:19-23
19 because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, [a]thus purifying all foods?” 20 And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” NKJV
The origin of spiritual pollution is the devil, who is the father of lies and all wickedness. The devil wants you to be polluted! but God is saying to His children (you and I) “be clean”. (Isaiah 52:11; “Depart! Depart! Go out from there, Touch no unclean thing; Go out from the midst of her, Be clean, You who bear the vessels of the Lord.” NKJV)
Because Ephraim (one of the tribes of Israel) had polluted themselves, God left them alone. And this is the ultimate impact of spiritual pollution, loss of God’s presence in one’s life or God departs from the person
Hosea 4:17; “Ephraim is joined to idols, Let him alone. NKJV
Ephraim lost the presence of God with them because they indulged in idolatry. An idol is anything you place above God. It is when you place the created over the creator. Good things like your job, ministry, money, family, cars, houses, TV are now being placed in value over God by many believers and pastors without them even knowing.
Everything we have comes from God. The house we live in, granted that it was the architect that built it but the raw materials like the sand and stones used to make the bricks of your house were made by God. Therefore the house you live in belongs to God. Even the money that you used to purchase the house comes from God, for scripture says it is He that gives you power to get wealth. So, it is senseless as a believer to place things above God.
So the question, I pose to you today, is there an idol in your life? One way to know is this, if the Holy-Spirit were to say give it up now, give it to Me, would you be able to? Or would bind and cast out that voice! And say get thee behind me satan.
In Hosea 4:18, God said this about Ephraim, “They commit harlotry continually.” The concept of spiritual harlotry is mentioned in the Bible refers to the act of being unfaithful to God. It is often used as a metaphor for idolatry or the worship of false gods
The question I want to ask you today is this, have you been faithful to God? This is why we need to examine ourselves. There are 3 levels of spiritual examination or evaluation we need to do as believers everyday
- Examine your faith.
2nd Corinthians 13:5; “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? —unless indeed you are disqualified.” NKJV.
We need to examine or test if we are still in the faith. For example the doctrines you stand-by are they sum-total of what God’s word expects from you?
For instance some believers say that drinking alcohol is ok as long as it’s a little like Paul advised Timothy (1 Timothy 5:23) whereas when you consider the historical perspective of this text; the verse suggests that Timothy was suffering from a stomach ailment, and the fermented wine of ancient times was often used as a remedy for such illnesses as the alcohol would prevent dysentery by destroying the bacteria and harmful pathogens of the water. Therefore, Paul’s instruction to Timothy was in no way an endorsement of the recreational and social conception of alcoholic beverages, but advised purely for medicinal purposes. Secondly other passages in scripture clearly such as Proverbs 31:4, show that God does not want His children (His kings on earth) to indulge in such a habit that has the potential to lead to diseases and other evil vices. (Proverbs 31:4; It is not for kings, O Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Nor for princes intoxicating drink. NKJV)
In addition to that, Paul said to test yourselves. Now, the Greek word used in the word test is “dokimazo”. It means to test as to metals. For blacksmiths, they need to test a metal through intense heat and reveal its true identity. A blacksmith who wants to know the real quality of a metal does not just sit down and examine it visually. But he actually dokimazo the metal. He would use fire to test it.
(the word of God is fire, and therefore we use the word of God to test ourselves as fire is used to test metal. The word of God will show us where our deficiencies are and areas we need spiritual development)
- Examine your works
Galatians 6: 3-5; 3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. 5 For each will have to bear his own load. (ESV)
From this scripture, we can see that we must examine our works. let everyone examine his own work. We need to ensure that our work, deeds, and actions are in agreement with our faith. It is not enough to learn God’s way. We must apply what we learn and employ them in our lives. Even if you memorize everything in the Bible, and quote bible verses at will, all of them will mean nothing if you don’t apply them in your life. Knowing God’s word but not obeying it or living by it is having the spirit of the pharisee whom Jesus condemned in Matthew 23:1-4, “for they say (know the word) but do not do (live by the word)”
Examine your works in life. Scrutinize whether or not you are living by God’s word. Some believers know that sexual immorality is bad, yet they watch pornographic videos. Some believers know that gossiping is sinful, yet they still slander people behind their backs! Remember it is not enough to only know God’s word but you must live by it
- Examine yourself through the perspective of God
Psalm 139:23-24; Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
We need to remember that we can’t properly examine ourselves without the help of the Holy-Spirit. We need to pray for God to show us our hidden sins and be ready to accept those faults, repent of them, and change our wicked ways.
Remember that the standard for all 3 types of examination mentioned above is still the word of God.
When examining ourselves, let us not use people (even ministers of God) as our standard. The Word (which is Jesus Christ) is our standard. Yes, men who have gone far in the things of God can encourage us to grow more in the things of God but they like you are still flesh and therefore the word of God remains the standard, for the word of God has absolutely no imperfection or darkness in it but the Word of God is Spirit and Life (John 6:63)
The word of God is like a mirror according to James 1:23-25. You don’t look in the mirror just to examine what it looks like and how elegant the mirror is. You look in the mirror to examine your appearance and correct anything that needs changing. In the same way, we don’t just look at the Bible and praise how insightful its content are. We need to read the Bible, identify our faults, and with the help of the Holy-Spirit change them.
God bless you.
Altar call: For anyone reading this article who is not saved and wants to be part of the family of God or you want to re-dedicate your life back to Jesus, please repeat this out loud. “Lord Jesus, I acknowledge that I have sinned against you. Lord Jesus forgive me of my sins. I repent of my sins. Lord Jesus come into my life and be my Lord now and forever in Jesus Name“
Prayer: Father release Your fire of purification into my life to sanctify me of every filthiness and impurity, in Jesus Mighty Name.
Feast of Light Word Ministry
