September 02, 2019

BIBLE READING: II CORINTHIANS 7

1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Can we really do that? Can we cleanse ourselves? I mean, aren’t we the problem? It’s my flesh that always gets me in trouble, so how can I cleanse myself? Can I really be “perfect” in the fear of God?

These are questions that hopefully you can answer, but we must remember that to an individual who doesn’t understand many things about the Bible, these are exactly the questions they would come up with from a passage like this. So what is Paul saying here?

The word “cleanse” in this passage is a Greek word where get our English word “catheter”. Obviously this is describing the process of trying to read our spiritual life of the filthiness that our flesh would love to hold onto. While it is true that we cannot “forgive” ourselves, or “forgive” our own sin, we can work hard to “cleanse” our self from fleshly practices. Yes we need God‘s strength, help, and direction from His Word, but we must also put forth the effort. Remember, the Bible teaches:

* Psalm 119:9 Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

We cannot just sit back, make no effort, and expect God to do what we should do ourselves. Let’s work hard to “cleanse” our life today. We must take heed to the Word of God. And to take heed to the Word of God, we must read the word of God so we know what to take heed to. Remember, read, and heed.