The Demands of Purity
There is not a day that goes by when a Christian can forget about the requirement for personal holiness. This couldn't be more true than it is today. Our age is one which celebrates sexual freedom from almost every establshed moral code. The societal changes this has created has placed a whole new burden upon us as we attempt to privately and publically attempt live out the Biblical responsibilities for purity.
In many ways, American culture reflects the moral relativism of the ancient city of Corinth, one of the most popular seaport locations of Macedonia in Asia. Corinth was so sinful in its celebrations of sexual corruption that the name Corinthian became a synonym for promiscuity. It's no wonder then that Paul admonished this particular congregation of believers to rid themselves of sexual sin, impurity, and the destructive results which that lifestyle produced. In 2 Cor 7:1 Paul said,
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.
The Corinthian believers understood very well what Paul was talking about in their culture. They had been admonished in Paul's first letter to stop their ignorance in regard to the practice of spiritual gifts in I Cor 12:1. They had evidently exported some of the corrupted practices from the local temple of Aphrodites directly into their own practice of spiritual gifts. There can be no compromise when it comes to sexual purity, marital fidelity, and the Biblical roles that God forged for man and woman from creation.
There are two unmistakable commands in this passage which Paul set forth here for every Christian in the battle for Biblical purity. But we first have to identify God's promise to the Corinthians, and all Christians for that matter, which He gave them to motivate their desire for purity. In the previous chapter God promised His presence and blessing to those of His children who refused to be defiled by the world, unbelievers, and the religious idols which corrupted them both. First notice Paul said,
Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit.
It is up to each of us to identify what is defiling both our bodies and our spirits. God is interested not only in what injures our physical bodies but also what injures our spirits. The only way that we can do this is to know what grieves the indwelling Spirit of God and what does not. Since the Spirit of God indwells each of us as believers this is easily discerned. I shared a few weeks ago about the day I became a believer in 1975 at age nineteen. That particular night I went out to a bar as normal to drink to excess and live an unbrideled sexual life. Before that night was over I had to leave the bar, walk home, and recognize the internal change the Lord had brought into my life previously that day. It was literally the beginning of my own battle for purity and holiness in my Christian walk.
Probably many Christians have either been taught or have inferred the idea from their local church life that purity was a Christian virtue derived from the things you did not do, or in things in which you did not participate. They equated holiness as a trade-off from the act of separating from certain behaviors and practices which were considered to be worldly or sinful. Unfortunately, this kind of separation does not necessarily produce holiness or a godly mind. In fact, in many cases it can actually have just the opposite effect. Paul's point is not simply to stop certain behaviors which can produce a faux righteousness but to also cultivate the desire to obey God's Spirit inside of us which always produces godly character. God's Spirit will always lead us to obey God's Word, live authentically in Christ, and serve Jesus from a heart of love for what He has done for us and continues to do in us....each day.
In many ways, American culture reflects the moral relativism of the ancient city of Corinth, one of the most popular seaport locations of Macedonia in Asia. Corinth was so sinful in its celebrations of sexual corruption that the name Corinthian became a synonym for promiscuity. It's no wonder then that Paul admonished this particular congregation of believers to rid themselves of sexual sin, impurity, and the destructive results which that lifestyle produced. In 2 Cor 7:1 Paul said,
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.
The Corinthian believers understood very well what Paul was talking about in their culture. They had been admonished in Paul's first letter to stop their ignorance in regard to the practice of spiritual gifts in I Cor 12:1. They had evidently exported some of the corrupted practices from the local temple of Aphrodites directly into their own practice of spiritual gifts. There can be no compromise when it comes to sexual purity, marital fidelity, and the Biblical roles that God forged for man and woman from creation.
There are two unmistakable commands in this passage which Paul set forth here for every Christian in the battle for Biblical purity. But we first have to identify God's promise to the Corinthians, and all Christians for that matter, which He gave them to motivate their desire for purity. In the previous chapter God promised His presence and blessing to those of His children who refused to be defiled by the world, unbelievers, and the religious idols which corrupted them both. First notice Paul said,
Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit.
It is up to each of us to identify what is defiling both our bodies and our spirits. God is interested not only in what injures our physical bodies but also what injures our spirits. The only way that we can do this is to know what grieves the indwelling Spirit of God and what does not. Since the Spirit of God indwells each of us as believers this is easily discerned. I shared a few weeks ago about the day I became a believer in 1975 at age nineteen. That particular night I went out to a bar as normal to drink to excess and live an unbrideled sexual life. Before that night was over I had to leave the bar, walk home, and recognize the internal change the Lord had brought into my life previously that day. It was literally the beginning of my own battle for purity and holiness in my Christian walk.
Probably many Christians have either been taught or have inferred the idea from their local church life that purity was a Christian virtue derived from the things you did not do, or in things in which you did not participate. They equated holiness as a trade-off from the act of separating from certain behaviors and practices which were considered to be worldly or sinful. Unfortunately, this kind of separation does not necessarily produce holiness or a godly mind. In fact, in many cases it can actually have just the opposite effect. Paul's point is not simply to stop certain behaviors which can produce a faux righteousness but to also cultivate the desire to obey God's Spirit inside of us which always produces godly character. God's Spirit will always lead us to obey God's Word, live authentically in Christ, and serve Jesus from a heart of love for what He has done for us and continues to do in us....each day.
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