Everyone who has made a commitment to come under the Lordship of Jesus Christ has a solemn duty while living on this earth: perfect holiness!

A few things stated in this verse are noteworthy. The verse begins: “Therefore, having these promises…”  What are the promises? The previous chapter provides them! 2 Cor.6:16 says: “For we are the temple of the living God...” and then it says that: “I will dwell in them and walk among them” and further: “and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”  Verse 17 says “And I will welcome you” with a precondition: “Come out from their midst and be separate” and “and do not touch what is unclean.”  Further Vs.18 promises: '“And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” says the Lord Almighty.’    What wonderful promises!! 

Almighty God wants to make a relationship with His people and the conditions for it? -that they need to be holy!!  Our sense of being holy should stem out from the realization that it defines our relationship with The Holy One. As we understand that we are the temples of the living God, where the Spirit of God dwells in, the admonition in our key verse makes perfect sense.

The key verse also suggests that we have an action to do: “..let us cleanse ourselves…”.  It is not just from some sin, but “…. from all defilement of flesh and spirit…” The cleansing has to come up from the “ ...the fear of God.”  This is something that is being lost in the lives of many believers – the fear of God. We respect God and therefore we want to keep our lives up to the standard of God. Joyfully rejecting all forms of sin (defilement) we must progress in holiness (perfecting holiness). Thus Holy life is a walk of life in devotion to the Holy God who promised to dwell in us and accept us as His son/daughter! This is a joyous process and never intended to be a monotonous burden.

The following are the various ways we can be cleansed:

Word of God:

• John15:3 “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”

• John17 :17: “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”
   

Holy Spirit:

• 2 Thes.2:13 “…because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth…”

• Titus 3:5,6: “…He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit…”
   

God: 

• 1 Thes.5:23: “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless…”

• 1 Thes.4:3: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification…”

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Christ:

• Heb.10:10 “…we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

• Heb.13:12 “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood…”

• Titus 2:14 “who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”

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Blood of Christ: 

• 1 John1:7-9: “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

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Being sanctified thus, we can wait with hope to His coming again to gather His saints!

 

Quote for the Day:

“The purpose of God is not only to cleanse a man, 

but being cleansed to empower him, infill him, indwell him.”

- John G. Lake