What Does Undefiled Mean? A Biblical Definition of Undefiled

How does the Bible define undefiled? What does undefiled mean within the context of Scripture?

What is Undefiled?

Something that is undefiled is understood to be something that is pure, wholesome, and without blemish. It is free from stain or blemish and is immaculate or pure and having no faults. It could be said of someone who is sinless that they are undefiled or blameless, however that seems to exclude the human race because every one of us fall far short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23) and not even one of us are good in the eyes of God because we’ve all gone out of the way of righteousness (Rom 3:10-12). All humans before God are seen as defiled at least until they repent and put their trust in Christ but how can a sinful human being ever become righteous or undefiled before God? We find the answer in 2nd Corinthians 5:21 “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” When we become the very righteousness of Christ, we are then seen by God as undefiled and only those who are seen as having Christ’s righteousness can enter the kingdom of heaven.

What is Defiled?

God sees prostitution as the defilement of a man or a woman and in Leviticus 21:7 it is written that the Levitical priests “shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God” and this includes “A widow, or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin of his own people” (Lev 21:14). Any sinful practices that are done also defile the land upon which these acts are done which explains God’s command “You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”

Religions that’s Undefiled

What kind of religion does God accept and is defined as undefiled? James gives us the exact answer in 1:27 “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” Where can we go to visit the fatherless and widows? The nursing home is a great place because almost every nursing home resident there is an orphan and the vast majority of them are widows or widowers. This is what religion is all about as we read in Matthew 25:35-26 where Jesus says when “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” The key point of this kind of undefiled religion is that “as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me” (Matt 25:40) says Christ. When we visit the orphans, the widows, the sick, help the poor, and visit those in prison, we are really doing it to Jesus. That is undefiled religion because it is backed up by works!

The Undefiled Marriage Bed

The author of Hebrews is highly concerned about believers living a life that is holy, pleasing, and acceptable to God and God highly esteems marriage as the Hebrew’s author writes “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous” (Heb 13:4). God ordained and created the institution of marriage (Gen 2:17-25) and intended it to be a pure, holy, physical union between a man and a woman that resembles the relationship between Christ and the church. He is the Bridegroom and the church is the bride of Christ. The author of Hebrews warns those who are married that He will judge all of the sexually immoral, including those who commit adultery as Revelation 21:8 says that “those who refuse to believe, those who do terrible things, those who kill, those who sin sexually, those who do evil magic, those who worship idols, and those who tell lies—they will all have a place in the lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” The marriage bed however is undefiled or pure in the eyes of God. Any sex outside of marriage is truly defiled and God will judge those who practice such things (Eph 5; Gal 5).

The Undefiled Crown of Life

Those who have been born again have at least one crown awaiting them in the kingdom which is why Peter rejoices by writing “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1st Pet 1:3). We have the security and joy of knowing that we have “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you” (1st Pet 1:4). That crown is undefiled because it cannot be touched by human hands. It is awaiting us in the kingdom. This crown is imperishable (lasts for eternity), unfading (will not be affected or diminished by time), and it is undefiled because it was purchased for us by the blood of the Lamb of God.

Conclusion

If you have never trusted in Christ then you presently have the wrath of God abiding on you (John 3:36b) and stand condemned (John 3:18) and that judgment will either come at Christ’s return or after you die (Heb 9:27) so trust in the Savior today or you will be seen as undefiled before God and that doesn’t end well at all (Rev 20:12-15).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon.