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I heard an interesting line while watching a crime show recently.  As the rich, young criminal was being hauled away in cuffs, he arrogantly said that he would not be going to jail because:

The Best Defense is Lots of Money

The response to that was:

No, The Best Defense is a Pure Life

Does this line of thinking apply to me? To you?  Are we getting ready for a trial?

It applies to all of us!  God warns that all of us will face judgment in Hebrews 9:27

"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment"

What will our charge be?

Something we all have in common. The charge is Sin, as we are told in Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God"

Is it true? I haven't done something "terrible"!  I'm a good person!

I may be, yet I am not perfect, especially when even the "little things" are taken into account.  In Matthew 12:36 God says, "That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment."

So, our lives are not pure!  Then how can we offer the best defense of a pure life?

Only through Jesus can we overcome the sin in our lives and regain our purity in God's eyes!  We started in Hebrews 9:27, now go to verse 28, "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

I John 3:2-3 tells us that as Christians, the hope we have in Jesus makes us as pure as he is.

"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."

Our defense can't be our own purity, as we have corrupted ourselves with sin.
The only defense possible is the purity of Jesus.

Does the defense I have prepared come from the salvation in Christ, by hearing, believing and obeying God's Word in repentance, confession of Jesus and baptism into Him?

If so, we each must also ask, have I been guarding my mind and thinking on pure and lovely and good things as we are instructed in Philippians 4:8?, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."

We are all going to face the same trial and have to give an account.  If you need help in preparing you defense, please contact us.

-- Zachary Van Tassel, October 2003 --