"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." II Cor. 7:1
The zenith of true Christian experience is fellowship with God. Most of us who have trusted Christ as savior did not come ot Him for that reason. The majority of converts are motivated more by fear of judgment than by a longing for communion with God, but in due time that higher motive should arise in our hearts. That is the factor which stimulated Paul's impassioned plea for practical holiness in today's text. "Having therefore these promises…" refers back to the closing verses of the previous chapter; "Wherefore come out from among them…and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty [II Cor. 6:17-18]."
Separation from sin is the basis for fellowship with God, and fellowship with Him is the ultimate motive for separation from sin. The scripture says of God, "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look upon iniquity [Hab. 1:13a]." If, then, we would enjoy present fellowship with God we must deal with sin in our lives. On the positive side He calls to us, "Be ye holy; for I am holy." (Cf. I pet. 1:15-16) Thus the Holy Spirit's exhortation, "Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit."
Observe, first, that this cleansing demands personal initiative. "Let us cleanse ourselves…" No one will ever be cleansed who does not purpose to do so. To be sure, we cannot ourselves remove the stain of sin; it requires the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son to do that. But, having come to Christ for forgiveness of sins, we can discover through the Word of God the things that are contrary to His character and His will for us, and then prevail upon the Holy Spirit for the power to remove them from our lives, and stay clean. The redeemed will is empowered to make choices and implement them, hence the scriptures consistently make their appeal to the will.
The second thing worthy of note here is what I like to call the "divine universal." It is the little, but potent word, "all." "let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness…" The failure many an otherwise earnest Christian experiences comes from our tendency to compromise with certain sins in our lives; to make exceptions and rationalize away the severity of God's assessment of some cherished area of fleshly desire or disposition. Perhaps it is best illustrated in the behavior of king Saul who, when commanded by Samuel prior to his campaign against Amalek (a type of the flesh, by the way) to "utterly destroy all that they have and spare them not," finally "spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly." (Cf. I Sam. 15:3,7) The end result was that Saul could no longer reign as a divinely anointed King. Samuel said, "because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king [I Sam. 15:23]." This principle applies here. When we compromise the word of the Lord, for whatever reason, we lose the privilege of His fellowship.
There is yet a third point of emphasis to be noted in this call to "perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Our text exhorts cleansing from all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit. While the implication here is variously interpreted, my judgment is this: it is an appeal to pursue both external and internal purity. The hand, in the end, is but an extension of the heart. It the heart is not right, the hand will soon return to mischief, however restrained it may be for a season. The scripture says, "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he [Prov. 23:7]," and in the same chapter the Lord pleads, " "My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe My ways [v. 2]." Holiness is more an affair of the heart than it is of mere externals.
You may have heard the story of the stubborn little girl who, sharply commanded by her mother to sit down, finally did so. Her mother said, "I'm glad that you finally obeyed me," to which the child retorted, "But I'm still standing up inside!" Reluctant obedience is not holiness. The goal of obedience to God in the interest of a truly benevolent relationship with Him will never be fully achieved until we have pursued both outward and inward purity in conformity to His will.
These are sobering things, but they are crucial to "perfecting holiness," the stimulus for which is "the fear of God." The fear of God involves at least two things: respect for His authority and power, and reverence for His person. If we fear Him and love Him, we will aspire to holiness. It will take His power to accomplish it, but he will hasten to reinforce the efforts of all who "will to do His will," and be to them a Father, and they shall be His sons and daughters. (Cf. II Cor. 6:17-18)
Yours for HIS glory,
"Pastor" Frasier
The zenith of true Christian experience is fellowship with God. Most of us who have trusted Christ as savior did not come ot Him for that reason. The majority of converts are motivated more by fear of judgment than by a longing for communion with God, but in due time that higher motive should arise in our hearts. That is the factor which stimulated Paul's impassioned plea for practical holiness in today's text. "Having therefore these promises…" refers back to the closing verses of the previous chapter; "Wherefore come out from among them…and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty [II Cor. 6:17-18]."
Separation from sin is the basis for fellowship with God, and fellowship with Him is the ultimate motive for separation from sin. The scripture says of God, "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look upon iniquity [Hab. 1:13a]." If, then, we would enjoy present fellowship with God we must deal with sin in our lives. On the positive side He calls to us, "Be ye holy; for I am holy." (Cf. I pet. 1:15-16) Thus the Holy Spirit's exhortation, "Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit."
Observe, first, that this cleansing demands personal initiative. "Let us cleanse ourselves…" No one will ever be cleansed who does not purpose to do so. To be sure, we cannot ourselves remove the stain of sin; it requires the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son to do that. But, having come to Christ for forgiveness of sins, we can discover through the Word of God the things that are contrary to His character and His will for us, and then prevail upon the Holy Spirit for the power to remove them from our lives, and stay clean. The redeemed will is empowered to make choices and implement them, hence the scriptures consistently make their appeal to the will.
The second thing worthy of note here is what I like to call the "divine universal." It is the little, but potent word, "all." "let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness…" The failure many an otherwise earnest Christian experiences comes from our tendency to compromise with certain sins in our lives; to make exceptions and rationalize away the severity of God's assessment of some cherished area of fleshly desire or disposition. Perhaps it is best illustrated in the behavior of king Saul who, when commanded by Samuel prior to his campaign against Amalek (a type of the flesh, by the way) to "utterly destroy all that they have and spare them not," finally "spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly." (Cf. I Sam. 15:3,7) The end result was that Saul could no longer reign as a divinely anointed King. Samuel said, "because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king [I Sam. 15:23]." This principle applies here. When we compromise the word of the Lord, for whatever reason, we lose the privilege of His fellowship.
There is yet a third point of emphasis to be noted in this call to "perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Our text exhorts cleansing from all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit. While the implication here is variously interpreted, my judgment is this: it is an appeal to pursue both external and internal purity. The hand, in the end, is but an extension of the heart. It the heart is not right, the hand will soon return to mischief, however restrained it may be for a season. The scripture says, "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he [Prov. 23:7]," and in the same chapter the Lord pleads, " "My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe My ways [v. 2]." Holiness is more an affair of the heart than it is of mere externals.
You may have heard the story of the stubborn little girl who, sharply commanded by her mother to sit down, finally did so. Her mother said, "I'm glad that you finally obeyed me," to which the child retorted, "But I'm still standing up inside!" Reluctant obedience is not holiness. The goal of obedience to God in the interest of a truly benevolent relationship with Him will never be fully achieved until we have pursued both outward and inward purity in conformity to His will.
These are sobering things, but they are crucial to "perfecting holiness," the stimulus for which is "the fear of God." The fear of God involves at least two things: respect for His authority and power, and reverence for His person. If we fear Him and love Him, we will aspire to holiness. It will take His power to accomplish it, but he will hasten to reinforce the efforts of all who "will to do His will," and be to them a Father, and they shall be His sons and daughters. (Cf. II Cor. 6:17-18)
Yours for HIS glory,
"Pastor" Frasier
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