LET US RID OURSELVES OF EVERYTHING THAT CONTAMINATES US

PROCLAMATION

“Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”  2 Corinthians 7:1 (NIV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words were written by the apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in the church at Corinth.  The promises which Paul is referring to are: 1. that God will receive us if we obey Him; 2. that He will be a Father to us; and 3. we will be His sons and daughters. (2 Corinthians 6:17-18)  Paul says that since we have these promises from God, we should purify our body and spirit of everything that contaminates us, out of reverence to Him.

 

APPLICATION

We should encourage one another to engage in holiness of heart and life and not in the sinfulness of the flesh or evilness of spirit.  We need to lead a clean life if we want God to treat us as His children.  We have been cleansed by the blood of Christ, but we contaminate our heart and mind daily with our sinful thoughts, words, and actions.  That is why we need to pray, confess, and ask to be forgiven daily in order to be cleansed from our sins and unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)  We also need to turn from our sinful ways. (2 Chronicles 7:14)  We cannot clean up our heart, mind, or spirit, by ourselves.  Only God can do that for us. (Psalm 51:10) However, He will only do it if we pray and ask Him.

 

LET US RID OURSELVES OF EVERYTHING THAT CONTAMINATES US

Proclamation:

“Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”  2 Corinthians 7:1 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written by the apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in the church at Corinth.  The promises which Paul is referring to are: 1. that God will receive us if we obey Him, 2. that He will be a Father to us, and 3. we will be His sons and daughters. (2 Corinthians 6:17-18)  Paul says that since we have these promises from God, we should purify our body and spirit of everything that contaminates us, out of reverence to Him.

Application:

We should encourage one another to engage in holiness of heart and life and not in the sinfulness of the flesh or evilness of spirit.  We need to lead a clean life if we want God to treat us as His children.  We have been cleansed by the blood of Christ, but we contaminate our heart and mind daily with our sinful thoughts, words, and actions.  That is why we need to pray, confess, and ask to be forgiven daily in order to be cleansed from our unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)  We also need to turn from our sinful ways. (2 Chronicles 7:14)  We cannot clean ourselves up, our heart, mind, or spirit, only God can do that for us. (Psalm 51:10)

GOD SEARCHES OUR HEART AND EXAMINES OUR MIND

Proclamation:

"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?  'I, The Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.' " Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NIV)

Explanation:

The Prophet Jeremiah wrote these words under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Jeremiah was primarily concerned with the judgement of Judah.  He told the people that God would judge each of them by examining their hearts and thoughts to determine their motives.  They would then be rewarded or punished by God based upon what they deserved according to their thoughts, words, and deeds.

Application:

This same truth applies to us today.  Man can only evaluate the words, actions and outward appearance of a person.  The Lord God can search the heart and mind of a person and judge their true inner nature.  God sees each of us like no one else can see us, twenty-four hours of each day for seven days of each week.  He sees all of our actions, hears all of our spoken words, and He knows all of our thoughts.  When we say 'God knows my heart,' He really does.  We tend to use those words as an excuse when our behavior and our words are inconsistent, as if to say that we should be judged by our intentions which only God knows.  What we do not realize is that our heart is much more deceitful than we want to admit.  Our thoughts, motives, and intentions are not always honorable or Christ-like.  We should remember this when we pray and ask our Heavenly Father to forgive us of our sins.  We should also ask Him to create within us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us. (Psalm 51:10)

SEEK HOLINESS NOT HAPPINESS

Proclamation:

"Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God."  2 Corinthians 7:1 (NIV)

Explanations:

These words were written by the Apostle Paul, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in Corinth.  Paul was encouraging the believers not to adopt the sinful practices of the non-believers in the city around them. (2 Corinthians 6:17)  He wanted them to rid themselves of everything that contaminated their mind and body so that they could receive the promises of God. (2 Corinthians 6:16 and 18)  He also said that they should seek and do only that which is righteous and holy, out of reverence and respect for God.

Application:

As believers, we have the same promises of God, that if we separate ourselves from the non-believers, and obey His Word, then He will live with us, and walk with us, and be a Father to us, and we will be His sons and daughters. (2 Corinthians 6:16-18)  These promises of God are conditional.  In order to receive them we must cleanse ourselves of all sinful filthiness.  We are to be set apart from the world and we are to behave differently than non-believers. (Psalms 4:3)  We must separate ourselves from things which defile our mind and our bodies.  That includes not following false teaching, in addition to not pandering to greed, the lusts of the flesh, and the selfish pursuit of happiness.  When we accept Christ we are to die to all selfish wants. (Romans 6:1-2 and 6:11)  We are to seek Christ and do that which gives God glory. (Philippians 2:21 and Colossians 3:1)  Our goal should be to seek Godly holiness, as opposed to worldly happiness.  We are to be holy because we are His, and He is holy. (1 Peter 1:16)  If we seek Him above all else, He will give us other things that we need. (Matthew 6:33)   When we seek Christ and His holiness, He will grant us His unspeakable joy. (1 Peter 1:8)