Purity Is Possible Through Grace and Struggle With St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) Day by Day
Some claim that a person cannot be freed from slavery to the flesh, much less from lustful thoughts and feelings, and that such freedom would be unnatural. But it is God who gives the commandments, and He knows far better than we do what we are capable of and what we are not. Therefore, we are indeed capable of attaining purity of both body and heart.
The commandments are given by God, the Creator of human nature. Purity of heart, therefore, is not contrary to human nature. It is contrary only to fallen nature. It was natural to man at the time of creation, and through renewal in Christ it can become natural once again.
Purity can be cultivated and acquired. Grain, vegetables, and fruit trees do not grow by themselves on the land. But when the soil is properly prepared, and useful plants are sown and cultivated, they grow abundantly for man's nourishment and delight. Uncultivated land produces only weeds and grass—food for animals, not for human beings.
Spiritual labor is necessary. The goal of that labor is worthy of every strict and difficult effort undertaken by those who have chosen it. In Scripture, purity is called holiness:
For this is the will of God, your sanctification... that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the passion of lust (1 Thess. 4:3-5).
Purity is not an impossible ideal. It is the restoration of human nature through grace, vigilance, and faithful struggle according to the will of God.
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