Religious piety alone is not enough to measure sanctification. The Colossians must have thought that their ascetic lifestyle automatically translated to purified hearts. Paul took them head-on on this. Such posture could negate the very work that Christ accomplished on the cross. Living by rules such as touch not, taste not, does not contribute to our purification in any way. It could be a backdoor arrangement to bondage. In our text, Peter sums up the requirements for a life of purity with two cardinal points. The first is obeying the truth. We are not talking of relative truth as being advocated by liberal schools of thought today, but truth as presented in the Word of God. Jesus said the words He spoke to us are spirit and truth. We should use the word of God as umpire to determine what is true or false. When we obey the written word of God we demonstrate that our souls have been purified. This is not hard to explain: a soul that is yet to be purified has no interest in the word of God much less obeying it. Take note that being able to obey the word of God is also the outworking of God’s Spirit in believers.
The foregoing brings us to one conclusion: a man is no more purified than how yielded he is to the truth and love of the brethren.
The second thing that proves a soul is sanctified is sincere love of the brethren. It is not just any kind of love; it has to be sincere. Again, the love we are expected to show to the brethren must be from a pure heart. What does this mean? It is to love without any ulterior motive. This is the type of love God showed to us, and that is what He expects us to spread among the brethren. The foregoing brings us to one conclusion: a man is no more purified than how yielded he is to the truth and love of the brethren.