2 Timothy 2:21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

Prepared, fit for use, with the assertion that purity identifies the vessel fit for honor. The word purge indicates a need to rid ourselves of impurities. Let me add with all respect, if God had to wait for me to be pure before I can be used, He would not get any use out of me in this world.

Pure gold is not fit for use in jewelry, it is too soft. It must however be refined to rid it of substances which would not allow it to shine or make it brittle. Then alloys are added which make it perfectly fit for use, even though it is not pure gold.

Iron is the same. Pure iron rusts easily and is not as strong as it can be if the right alloys are added to give it the correct properties required for the correct application of use. Machining, wear, and tensile strength are all changed in iron according to the alloys forged into the making during refinement.

Since this is true of the nature of things, is it true of our nature also? The very next words penned in 2 Timothy 2:22 lead me to believe yes. “Flee also”. Examine the preceding text to narrow the long list of contaminates to one root causal effect. Ii is in verse 18 “who concerning the truth have erred”.

Christ has made provisions for failed execution of truth, i.e. confession and forgiveness. What good does confession do a man if it is not based in truth? Confessing to a lie is a false witness. Thou shalt not bare false witness. Our failures are rooted not in execution of the truth but in our understanding of the truth.

Now as we stand for Christ these two millennia later, the truth is much more important to understand since we exercise truth so long after its conception. Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life, needs us to know truth more intimately now than ever considering all the impurities that have been added over those years. Error must be refined from our hearts and minds so that we might be used of God according to His purpose.