Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7:1 "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." These words of Paul's are not in the Bible to be merely 'Stepped' over. Today, as Believers we do have 'Promises' from God that lead unto salvation. God has, and always will do 'His part.' The crazy thing is that we forget we have our part as well to do.
Let us slow down a bit and really look at this scripture. Paul does not anywhere in his writings (nore the other writers) claim that just because one has come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, that they are now Holy in their future state. All of the writers warn us of falling away, turning from Jesus, and being engulfed by the world again.
Yes, we do have promises from God as believers. The greatest of all promises is that we can have eternal life with Jesus one day. Unfortunately many take that 'IF' word out of the equation. The New testament would never had to be written if salvation had nothing to do with our actions and obedience to Christ. God is going to keep His promises and this is the first step of belief we need to understand. There is another thing we must also believe that all of the writers of the Scirpture share with us "That IF we persist in filling our lives with the world, and IF we do not turn from sin, and that IF we do not walk in obedience, God's wrath will come upon us." This He also promises.
"We must purify ourselves from everything that contaminates our body and Spirit. Is there anything in our lives that contaminate our bodies? Smoking, cussing, drinking, and gluttony are just a few things that come to my mind immediately (trust me there are many more). Is there anything in our lives that is contaminating our Spirit? What we watch on TV, what we watch at the movies, what we read, what music we listen to, etc, (and the list goes on). Are we willing to 'Purify' ourselves from these things? To purify anything is a continous thing. If anything is is unpure, then it needs to be made pure. This is our part in the equation. God is not going to 'make' us do this, but out of love and reverence for Him "We will."
'Perfecting Holiness' is our goal in order to show God and others that we are reverant to the Lord. Many believe today that we cannot be Holy, and this is because they do not want to give up things in their lives that are unholy. This is why the alot 'Bad' teaching today has caused a serious evolution of apathetic, sin enduced, self seeking believers today. They have been taught that when you accept Christ that you are now Holy forever and that he will always be in you. According to the scripture in Hebrews 12 "Without Holiness, no one will see the Lord." The ture hope is that "We can be Holy." If we purify ourselves from the world and the thing sof the world, then and only then will we be able to perfect Holiness. Paul would not write these things if he himself was not doing them.
'Reverence.....' I am not really sure that people know what true 'reverence' is today. True 'reverence' will be seen by others because it will be flowing through our actions. We cannot by in to the lie that we are reverent on Sunday mornings alone, and when we walk out the doors that reverence is left at the door. Being rverent is a daily, hourly and minute by minute thing for a true believer. One cannot be 'Reverent' lusting and living for secular things.....Can they.
Okay, enough chattering and truth sharing. What will we do with what we just read. Will we believe the Word of God and start 'Purifying' our lives of the things that contaminate our bodies and Spirits? Will we sieze the truth and begin 'Perfecting Holiness' in our lives? Last but not least "Will we begin living lives of true 'Reverence' to God? We must do our part in order to receive His promise~
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