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Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

You may have heard the saying, ‘I’m not what I want to be, and I’m not what I’m going to be, but praise God, I’m not what I was.’

‘I’m not what I’m going to be.’

‘Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.’ 1 John 3:2.

In our 2 Corinthians text there is the hope that we will one day be what we’re going to be. When Jesus returns we will be like Him, and when we are perfectly in His image this will be holiness completed.

‘Sanctification’ is the name for the process all believers enter into at conversion. It is one of gradual change into the likeness of Christ. Although this process may not be fully completed in our lifetime, by the power of the Holy Spirit we can make great strides towards it.

How much holiness do you want? To a large degree, I think it is true to say that in this Christian life you get what you go in for.

‘You cannot study the Bible diligently and earnestly without being struck by an obvious fact—the whole matter of personal holiness is highly important to God!

I cannot think of even one lonely passage in the New Testament which speaks of Christ’s revelation, manifestation, appearing or coming that is not directly linked with moral conduct, faith and spiritual holiness.’ A.W. Tower.

However far we may have travelled on the Christian pilgrimage, this we can safely say: there’s more! There are higher heights and deeper depths.

Prayer: Lord, lead me on where you are going. Take me deeper into you.

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

His name was Raphael, and I will never forget him. I knew him a little at Bible College, but he was a few years my senior, both in age and as a student. He was impressive, and I was a little in awe of him and his fierce intelligence, academic brilliance and almost tangible godliness.

One day, he was preaching at a student service, and he referred to the story of Daniel and his friends, being taken to Babylon and given a daily portion of the king’s meat and wine (Dn.1:5). However ( and this was one of Raphael’s points), ‘Daniel discerned a defilement’ (Dn.1:8). He ‘resolved’ not to defile himself in this way.

Many ‘defilements’ are obvious. They are things clearly outlawed in the Bible. But at other times it isn’t like this. We have to ‘discern’ what is not going to be good for us, and avoid it. These things can be subtle rather than blatant, and we need eyes to see what is going to do us harm; we require ‘noses’ that can detect corruption

The extent of the exhortation is this: we are to ‘cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit’.

The life of discipleship calls for an all out war against sin (Matt.5:29,30). There has to be a radical and ruthless approach to it.

Are you aware of anything in your life that is defiling you at the moment, or has the potential to do so? What are you going to do about it?

Remember God’s grace is always available and always sufficient.

‘ With these promises ringing in our ears, dear friends, let us keep clear of anything that smirches body or soul.’ J.B.Phillips

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. ESVUK

We have spent several days looking at a key New Testament ‘holiness’ passage. It begins at 2 Cor 6:14 and concludes with today’s verse (7:1). We will take four more days to look at this verse in which everything that has been stated earlier will be pressed home in a great exhortation. We are going to consider:

• The ground of the exhortation
• The extent of the exhortation
• The hope in the exhortation
• The motive for the exhortation

Here is the ground of the exhortation: ”we have these promises”. In quoting 6:14-18 below, I highlight in bold what I believe are the ”promises” Paul is referring to:

¹⁴ Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? ¹⁵ What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
    and I will be their God,
    and they shall be my people.
¹⁷ Therefore go out from their midst,
    and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
    then I will welcome you,
¹⁸ and I will be a father to you,
    and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”

In essence, these promises relate to enjoying an intimate relationship with God as ”sons and daughters” of the Father. We may still be God’s children and play in the mud, but while we do so we cannot expect to enjoy the fullness of relationship with a Holy God that is open to us. We can’t anticipate intimate table fellowship without ‘washing our hands’ (see James 4:8-10).

Notice, though, that all Paul writes here is from a heart of love. He calls his readers ”beloved”. It is not ‘telly-offy’ in tone. It comes from the pastoral heart of one who wants what is best for them. He knows that holiness is health. It is for our ultimate good that we should separate from our favourite sins.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to see through all of sin’s deceptions, and not be seduced by its allurements. Give me, please, both the desire and the power to pursue holiness

 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? ¹⁵ What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
    and I will be their God,
    and they shall be my people.
¹⁷ Therefore go out from their midst,
    and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
    then I will welcome you,
¹⁸ and I will be a father to you,
    and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”

 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. ESVUK

There was a time, not too many years ago, when it was not uncommon for preachers to spell out in detail, for their congregations, what it would mean to ”be separate”. By and large the message was negative: ‘You are not permitted to do this, that or the other.’ However sincere the intentions may have been, it resulted in legalism: adding man-made rules to the law of God – a kind of modern day Pharisaism maybe.

To be clear, there are injunctions and prohibitions in the New Testament (as well as the old). Christians are definitely exhorted to do certain things and not to do others. So, in order to bring ”holiness to completion in the fear of God” we do need to be immersed in the Scriptures. But it seems to me that, for those who are soaked in the Word of God, there will be an on-going task of Spirit-filled discernment to try to understand what will defile ”body and spirit”. What are the ”unclean” things we are not to ”touch”? From what do we need to ”be separate”?

I believe need to understand that because there are ‘secondary’ and ‘tertiary’ matters, as well as those of primary importance, different Christians may hold differing opinions on certain subjects. In ‘disputable matters’ we must charitably allow fellow-believers to hold viewpoints other than our own. “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity,” is an aphorism variously attributed to St. Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430), John Wesley (1703 – 1791), and to a number of theologians in between them. It remains an important principle for us to observe.

What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
    and I will be their God,
    and they shall be my people.
¹⁷ Therefore go out from their midst,
    and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
    then I will welcome you,
¹⁸ and I will be a father to you,
    and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.” ESVUK

In a previous note we have considered Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 5:13-17, and we have seen that we have to balance what Paul says here in 2 Corinthians 6 with what we read there. However, in the church we do seem to find it difficult to maintain a balance, and there is a suggestion that some of the Corinthians, reading 5:13-17 in letter number 1, may have overreacted and moved too far in the opposite direction. I repeat that the constant challenge we face is to be in the world, but not of it.

Paul’s exhortation has at its heart an understanding of the church’s identity. We are ”the temple of the living God”. So we must ”separate” ourselves from those things that are incompatible with our true identity. (See how Paul describes the local church as God’s temple in 1 Corinthians 3:16,17, and he uses the same image regarding the individual Christian’s body in 1 Corinthians 6:19,20).

In John Stott’s magnificent commentary on Paul’s epistle to the Romans, at the end of a chapter dealing with 5:1-6:23, he says: ‘So, in practice, we should be constantly reminding ourselves who we are…On 28 May 1972 the Duke of Windsor, the uncrowned King Edward VIII, died in Paris. The same evening a television programme rehearsed the main events of his life. Extracts from earlier films were shown, in which he answered questions about his upbringing, brief reign and abdication. Recalling his boyhood as Prince of Wales, he said: ‘My father (King George V) was a strict disciplinarian. Sometimes when I had done something wrong, he would admonish me saying, ”My dear boy, you must always remember who you are.” ‘ It is my conviction that our heavenly Father says the same to us every day: ‘My dear child, you must always remember who you are.’

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? ¹⁵ What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ What agreement has the temple of God with idols? ESVUK

The truth is that Christians and non-Christians belong to different worlds, cultures, kingdoms. They are citizens of differing countries and speak ‘foreign’ languages. This is the principle established in these verses, and it is the reason given for why believers should ”not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.” (Notice the ”For” which follows on from the opening sentence). Christians should not enter into permanent relationships with those who do not share their faith. Two examples often cited relate to marriage and business partnerships. Many a believer has, often against the advice of spiritual leaders, family and friends, married an unbeliever, telling themselves, (more frequently deluding themselves), that they will ‘win them over.’ In the grace of God this may well happen – occasionally. But in my experience it’s rare. It’s usually the Christian who ends up having to compromise in order to keep partnership going. Once the initial attraction fades, and the romance loses its lustre, the cracks begin to show, the fissures open up, and you see evidence of deep fault lines. The ‘continental plates’ diverge and a valley-like rift appears.

‘The basic command, in 6.14, could refer to any sort of partnership, such as in business. But its most obvious reference is to marriage. In 1 Corinthians 7:12-16 Paul addresses the question of people who become Christians when their spouse does not, and tells them not to separate unless the unbelieving spouse wants to. But in verse 39 of that same chapter he makes it clear that when contracting a fresh marriage it is important that this be only ‘in the Lord’, in other words, to a fellow-Christian. That is the thrust of this passage as well.

Paul had no doubt witnessed the tensions and problems that arose when one partner came to belong to the Lord, with all that that meant, and the other one remained unbelieving. Anyone who thinks this doesn’t matter very much, Paul would say, has simply not realised how serious belonging to the Messiah really is. If you have received privileges such as the ones he lists here, you mustn’t trample on them as though they were worthless. That would be like the Prodigal Son spurning his father’s welcome and going back to feed the pigs.’ Tom Wright

 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? ¹⁵ What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,

“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
    and I will be their God,
    and they shall be my people.
¹⁷ Therefore go out from their midst,
    and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
    then I will welcome you,
¹⁸ and I will be a father to you,
    and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”

 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. ESVUK

We will spend a few days on this important passage dealing with the pursuit of holiness. But first of all, today, let’s clear the decks. Some of us may have been raised in churches where ‘separation’ was taught, explicitly or implicitly, as a call to have no contact with unbelievers whatsoever (or, at least, as little as possible). Such teaching, if fully observed, is likely to lead to churches that are like monastic communities on the edge of society. ‘Christian ghettos’ is how somebody described them. It also tends to produce, even if unwittingly, professing believers who are cold, harsh, judgmental, quite miserable even, and unattractive.

But Paul could not have had this in mind. Not unless he intended to contradict himself. Here is the reason why I say this. Look at his words in 1 Corinthians 5: 9-13:

” I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— ¹⁰ not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. ¹¹ But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. ¹² For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? ¹³ God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” ESVUK.

Paul did not intend withdrawal from the world.

Here is a balancing act for every congregation to face, and I don’t deny it is a challenge. It’s a tightrope walk. How do we live out our calling in the world as those who are not of the world?

In a sermon I heard many years ago, the great preacher, David Pawson, put it like this: the lifeboat is meant to go into the sea; but if the sea gets into the lifeboat we are in trouble.

We live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry. ⁴ In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God. We patiently endure troubles and hardships and calamities of every kind. ⁵ We have been beaten, been put in prison, faced angry mobs, worked to exhaustion, endured sleepless nights, and gone without food. ⁶ We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. ⁷ We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defence. ⁸ We serve God whether people honour us or despise us, whether they slander us or praise us. We are honest, but they call us impostors. ⁹ We are ignored, even though we are well known. We live close to death, but we are still alive. We have been beaten, but we have not been killed. ¹⁰ Our hearts ache, but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing, and yet we have everything.

¹¹ Oh, dear Corinthian friends! We have spoken honestly with you, and our hearts are open to you. ¹² There is no lack of love on our part, but you have withheld your love from us. ¹³ I am asking you to respond as if you were my own children. Open your hearts to us! NLT

Christian leaders should aspire to blamelessness (3). We surely don’t want to do anything to cause anyone to ”stumble”. This, of course, does not equate with perfection. ‘The best of men are men at best.’ The finest leaders have flaws and faults and these will show through. Nevertheless, verse three represents a noble and proper aspiration.

The subsequent verses in this passage show that what commends a person’s ministry to others is their character: who they are, especially in the face of adversity. We may not have to face anything like the amount and intensity of suffering that Paul did. But if we remain faithful to the Lord, and to our calling, in the culture, and in the circumstances in which God places us, this will speak volumes, and it is likely to gain us a hearing.

Regarding Paul’s list in today’s passage, Tom Wright comments: ‘And off he goes on the splendid catalogue of what he’s had to do and face over his years of relentless travel and proclamation. He wants them to do the same: to open their hearts to him in affection, to tell him what is really happening, not to put up smoke-screens, and to welcome him with equal vulnerability to that which he is showing in this passage.’

Wright goes on to say, ‘The list is full of paradox, putting together things that clash like two musical notes crying out for resolution. These are the points at which the new creation of the gospel grinds against the old world like upper and lower millstones, with the apostle caught in the middle and feeling as if he’s being crushed to powder.’

Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. ² For he says,

“In a favourable time I listened to you,
    and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, now is the favourable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. ESVUK

‘The new world has a new king, and the king has ambassadors. Paul is not offering a new philosophy, though his message makes robust philosophical sense in its own way. He is not inviting people to try out a new religious experience, though anyone who believes his gospel will have experiences they never imagined. He is going into all the world with a message from its newly enthroned sovereign, a message inviting anyone and everyone to be reconciled to the God who made them, loves them, and has provided the means of reconciliation for them to come back to know and love him in return.’ Tom Wright.

In the light of these great new creation realities, Paul now urges them to make the most of this era of grace. God is saying ‘Yes!’ to all His prophecies and promises (1:20). The day of salvation is here. So, make the most of it. There is a challenge here for all Christians. As we ‘work together with God’ what might not be possible as we draw upon the infinite reservoir of grace in Christ? But above all, we can see it is vital to preach the gospel to the church. In any local congregation there may well be those who have not personally accepted Christ for themselves. They hear the good news over and over without becoming true believers. As Tasker points out, to harbour any belief that we can save ourselves is to receive the grace of God in vain.

”So, as we work together with God, we appeal to you in particular; when you accept God’s grace, don’t let it go to waste.” Tom Wright translation.

”As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it. ² For God says,

“At just the right time, I heard you.
    On the day of salvation, I helped you.”

Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation. NLT.

Those who know they ought to be ‘saved’,but keep postponing the decision to some vague and indefinite later, need to face the challenge, ‘If not now, when? As the song says, ‘For all we know, tomorrow May never come. ‘’Now’’ is all we can be sure of.