February 19, 2015 PERFECTING HOLINESS
2 Corinthians 7:1 “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
I thank God for His grace! If it were not for God’s grace, we would never come to know Him and eternal separation from Him would be our destiny. We are saved by grace; not by our works. However, a misunderstanding of grace can result in thinking, perhaps in a subtle way, that what we do or don’t do (works) is not the issue-because after all, we are saved by grace and not works. This misunderstanding can also cause one to not to be accountable to other believers nor to the body of Christ-the church. With this view of grace, one places emphasis on his or her “freedom” to do as they see fit. I think that this misunderstanding of grace has had monumental negative effects on individual believers and on the church as a whole. I realize that what I present in this article could be construed as legalism, but an accurate understanding of grace leads to the ultimate freedom, and that is, to be the person God designed us to be. There is in fact, a “growing in the faith” that should be taking place in us; or as Paul puts it, we should be “perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” One result of misunderstanding of grace is that it causes one to lose a healthy fear of God. Dennis Peacock makes the point that a healthy fear of God is a “safety net” for us in that the “fear” of God should prevent us from turning from God, etc. In our verse for today, Paul states that we are to “cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit.” We are not to wait for God to “zap” us and make us pure or clean-that is something we do and we can do this because the Spirit of God enables us to do so. The Holy Spirit in us will make us aware of any areas in our life in which we need to “cleanse ourselves.” God says that we are holy because He lives in us; but He also says that we must be “perfecting holiness”. In other words, we are to be becoming more and more like Him in our thinking, in our beliefs, and in our action. Growing in the Lord, perfecting holiness, becoming more like Him, should be our ambition for the remainder of our days. Paul said in Philippians 3:14: “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” We don’t have to earn God’s love and acceptance because that is a done deal. But as the apostle Paul said in Ephesians 5:10, he was “trying to learn what was pleasing to the Lord”. In the verse above, we are told to “cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh.” We are to live by the Spirit and not according to the flesh. When we find areas of our life that are “according to the flesh”, we are to “cleanse” these areas. It may sound over-simplified, but we simply stop doing whatever it is that is according to the flesh-that’s cleansing ourselves. It’s right to pray and confess areas of the flesh and to ask for God’s help; but we still have to make the choice to eliminate areas of the flesh as the Holy Spirit points them out. If the Holy Spirit points something out in our life, then He also will enable us to deal with it. God has wonderful promises for us and by His grace we can become more and more like Him in every aspect of our lives. Let us be about “perfecting holiness if the fear of God.” In my next blog, we will look at what holiness looks like in “flesh and bones.”
2 Timothy 2:21: “Therefore, if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.” 1 Peter 1:14-15 “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lust which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FORM I AM HOLY.’
Blessings,
Buddy
2 Corinthians 7:1 “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
I thank God for His grace! If it were not for God’s grace, we would never come to know Him and eternal separation from Him would be our destiny. We are saved by grace; not by our works. However, a misunderstanding of grace can result in thinking, perhaps in a subtle way, that what we do or don’t do (works) is not the issue-because after all, we are saved by grace and not works. This misunderstanding can also cause one to not to be accountable to other believers nor to the body of Christ-the church. With this view of grace, one places emphasis on his or her “freedom” to do as they see fit. I think that this misunderstanding of grace has had monumental negative effects on individual believers and on the church as a whole. I realize that what I present in this article could be construed as legalism, but an accurate understanding of grace leads to the ultimate freedom, and that is, to be the person God designed us to be. There is in fact, a “growing in the faith” that should be taking place in us; or as Paul puts it, we should be “perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” One result of misunderstanding of grace is that it causes one to lose a healthy fear of God. Dennis Peacock makes the point that a healthy fear of God is a “safety net” for us in that the “fear” of God should prevent us from turning from God, etc. In our verse for today, Paul states that we are to “cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit.” We are not to wait for God to “zap” us and make us pure or clean-that is something we do and we can do this because the Spirit of God enables us to do so. The Holy Spirit in us will make us aware of any areas in our life in which we need to “cleanse ourselves.” God says that we are holy because He lives in us; but He also says that we must be “perfecting holiness”. In other words, we are to be becoming more and more like Him in our thinking, in our beliefs, and in our action. Growing in the Lord, perfecting holiness, becoming more like Him, should be our ambition for the remainder of our days. Paul said in Philippians 3:14: “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” We don’t have to earn God’s love and acceptance because that is a done deal. But as the apostle Paul said in Ephesians 5:10, he was “trying to learn what was pleasing to the Lord”. In the verse above, we are told to “cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh.” We are to live by the Spirit and not according to the flesh. When we find areas of our life that are “according to the flesh”, we are to “cleanse” these areas. It may sound over-simplified, but we simply stop doing whatever it is that is according to the flesh-that’s cleansing ourselves. It’s right to pray and confess areas of the flesh and to ask for God’s help; but we still have to make the choice to eliminate areas of the flesh as the Holy Spirit points them out. If the Holy Spirit points something out in our life, then He also will enable us to deal with it. God has wonderful promises for us and by His grace we can become more and more like Him in every aspect of our lives. Let us be about “perfecting holiness if the fear of God.” In my next blog, we will look at what holiness looks like in “flesh and bones.”
2 Timothy 2:21: “Therefore, if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.” 1 Peter 1:14-15 “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lust which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FORM I AM HOLY.’
Blessings,
Buddy
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