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2 Corinthians 6:17-18, 2 Corinthians 7:1, Apostle Paul, Corinth, Father, fear of God, filthiness, flesh, holiness, perfecting holiness, spirit
2 Corinthians 7:1
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
What promises do we have that are so great that we would cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit thereby perfecting holiness in the fear of God? It is the promises given to us in the immediately preceding passage of scripture. 2 Corinthians 6:17-18, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” The promises are that the Lord will receive us, He will be a Father to us, and we shall be His sons and daughters.
How then do we cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirt which will perfect holiness in the fear of God in our lives? We do that by coming out from among the idolaters, being separate and not touching the unclean thing.
Paul was telling the Corinthian church to come out from among the idolaters and don’t touch unclean things. Am I going to cleanse someone else’s spirit by not touching the unclean thing? Certainly not. The only person’s spirit I can cleanse is my own. The idolatry I must come out from among is my own. In Exodus 20 the first commandment given was, I am the LORD thy God. Yet how many times do we assume the judgment seat in our life and decide what is good and what is bad in our life and in other’s lives? We pass judgment and then sacrifice everything we have to the idol we have created. We then expect everyone around us to worship at the feet of the idol we have formed.
Let us come out from among our own idolatrous thoughts and not touch the unclean thing we have ourselves given birth to and the Lord will receive us and be a Father to us. We will be His sons and daughters.
This is perfecting holiness.