Paul wrote in Colossians:
1:21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight—
First of all, we were all vessels of dishonor doing evil deeds by the wickedness in our minds. None of us started out righteous but all of us were in sin. Those yet to be reconciled are still in that condition. This world’s systems are being sustained by the masses of carnal men and women. The current economic system is based on carnality and fraud. The current legal system is controlled by the unrighteous to insure others who are lawless outside the norm of carnality are kept in line. Will the truly righteous person in the courtroom please stand up!
What does it mean to be above reproach? We must be blameless, unaccused, unreproveable, in other words our words and actions must conform to the standard of truth in Love. If we endorse or participate in anything else we are guilty of the same carnality. How is it possible to maintain such a state of being above reproach? It occurs when you are led by the Spirit of Our Heavenly Father.
The serpent is the most subtle of all the animals. Our carnal nature or ego is equally subtle. It would draw us to philosophy of man over the wisdom of Our Heavenly Father. It would place its reliance on legalism rather than truth in Love. We must set our minds on things above, not on things on the earth. Paul wrote:
Colossians 3:
5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
Each of us is accountable to “put off” and put to death actions and thoughts of the old man. We must put on the new man and renew ourselves by the cleansing of the Word of Our Heavenly Father.
My goal is to be above reproach in all areas of my life. My flesh has to die for this to come to pass. The old man would tempt me to give into the path that leads to destruction. As I dwell with Father, my interests move away from the priorities of the old man. When you are presented with a fork in the path you are on- stop! See which path Our Heavenly Father wants you to take. The other option may be very subtle and appear okay yet there is something slightly off about it. Internally, there is something tugging at you. The serpent would have you slightly alter your focus just enough to lead you astray. The more mature in Christ you are, the more subtle these alternate paths tend to be. You may passively rely on other mature saints to check the path for you. That’s a mistake. There is no assurance of their witness or decision. Instead, each of us should individually rely on the witness of the Holy Spirit. As we do, we will be above reproach.
As you become sensitive and walk according to the standard of truth in Love, your fruit will abound. Paul notes this as he writes:
3:12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
Those who conform to this standard are called “the elect”. These are the ones being perfected and are being raised up to minister life to those who are trapped in the world’s systems. The elect are being perfected at this very hour and as you might imagine, the bonding agent is Love:
14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.
Ultimately in order to be above approach, you must walk in Love.