The wonderful prayer in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 gives confidence that God is faithfully working in our lives: “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” If God can preserve us, who then can disturb us?

Alongside God’s preserving care, though, the verses quoted above show that we are also instructed to keep ourselves. In Acts 15, new believers are told to shun false religions, respect the life-blood of creation, and reject immoral behavior. In 1 Timothy 5, we are warned against partnerships that link us with the sins of others; by avoiding them, we will keep ourselves pure.

Then, in James 1, we learn that practical righteousness includes keeping ourselves unspotted from the world. We might have thought it was God’s job to do this! Indeed, the Lord Jesus prayed that the Father would keep us from evil—or, “the evil one”—while we are in the world (Jn. 17:15). Yet James tells us to recognize the dirt of this world, being watchful so that we do not become stained by it (cf. Rev. 16:15). The words of 1 John 5:18 agree here: “He who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.”

Thus we are encouraged to remain attentive to our own testimony. However, lest we become weary of this watchfulness, there is another exhortation: “Keep yourselves in the love of God” (Jude 21). There is evil to shun, yes; but the warmth of God’s love is also the sunshine of the Christian pathway. As we keep ourselves in His love, we find power and purpose to keep ourselves pure.