Holiness and Cleansing.
'Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us _cleanse_
ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting
_holiness_ in the fear of God.'--2 Cor. vii. 1.
That holiness is more than cleansing, and must be preceded by it, is
taught us in more than one passage of the New Testament. 'Christ loved
the Church, and gave Himself up for it, that He might _sanctify_ it,
having _cleansed_ it by the washing of water with the word.' 'If a man
_cleanse_ himself from these, he shall be a vessel _sanctified_.' The
cleansing is the negative side, the being separate and not touching the
unclean thing, the removal of impurity; the sanctifying is the positive
union and fellowship with God, and the participation of the graces of
the Divine life and holiness (2 Cor. vi. 17, 18). So we read too of the
altar, that God spake to Moses: 'Thou shalt _cleanse_ the altar, when
thou makest atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to _sanctify_
it' (Ex. xxix. 36). Cleansing must ever prepare the way, and ought
always to lead on to holiness.
Paul speaks of a twofold defilement, of flesh and spirit, from which we
must cleanse ourselves. The connection between the two is so close, that
in every sin both are partakers. The lowest and most carnal form of sin
will enter the spirit, and, dragging it down into partnership in crime,
will defile and degrade it. And so will all defilement of spirit in
course of time show its power in the flesh. Still we may speak of the
two classes of sins as they owe their origin more directly to the flesh
or the spirit.
'_Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh._' The functions
of our body may be classed under the three heads of the nourishment, the
propagation, and the protection of our life. Through the first the world
daily solicits our appetite with its food and drink. As the fruit good
for food was the temptation that overcame Eve, so the pleasures of
eating and drinking are among the earliest forms of defilement of the
flesh. Closely connected with this is what we named second, and which is
in Scripture specially connected with the word flesh. We know how in
Paradise the sinful eating was at once followed by the awakening of
sinful lust and of shame. In his First Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul
closely connects the two (1 Cor. vi. 13, 15), as he also links
drunkenness and impurity (1 Cor. vi. 9, 10). Then comes the third form
in which the vitality of the body displays itself: the instinct of
self-preservation, setting itself against everything that interferes
with our pleasures and comfort. What is called temper, with its fruits
of anger and strife, has its roots in the physical constitution, and is
one among the sins of the flesh. From all this, the Christian, who would
be holy, must most determinedly cleanse himself. He must yield himself
to the searching of God's Spirit, to be taught what there is in the
flesh that is not in harmony with the temperance and self-control
demanded both by the law of nature and the law of the Spirit. He must
believe, what Paul felt that the Corinthians so emphatically needed to
be taught, that the Holy Spirit dwells in the body, making its members
the members of Christ, and in this faith put off the works of the flesh;
he must cleanse himself from all defilement of flesh.
'_And of spirit._' As the source of all defilement of the flesh is
self-gratification, so self-seeking is at the root of all defilement of
the spirit. In relation to God, it manifests itself in idolatry, be it
in the worship of other gods after our own heart, the love of the world
more than God, or the doing our will rather than His. In relation to our
fellow-men it shows itself in envy, hatred, and want of love, cold
neglect or harsh judging of others. In relation to ourselves it is seen
as pride, ambition, or envy, the disposition that makes self the centre
round which all must move, and by which all must be judged.
For the discovery of such defilement of spirit, no less than of the sins
of the flesh, the believer needs the light of the Holy Spirit; that the
uncleanness may indeed be cleansed out and cast away for ever. Even
unconscious sin, if we are not earnestly willing to have it shown to us,
will most effectually prevent our progress in the path of holiness.
'_Beloved! let us cleanse ourselves._' The cleansing is sometimes spoken
of as the work of God (Acts xv. 9; 1 John i. 9); sometimes as that of
Christ (John xv. 3; Eph. v. 26; Tit. ii. 14). Here we are commanded to
cleanse ourselves. God does His work in us by the Holy Spirit; the Holy
Spirit does His work by stirring us up and enabling us to do. The Spirit
is the strength of the new life; in that strength we must set ourselves
determinedly to cast out whatever is unclean. 'Come out, and be ye
separate, and touch not the unclean thing.' It is not only the doing
what is sinful, it is not only the willing of it, that the Christian
must avoid, but even the touching it: the involuntary contact with it
must be so unbearable as to force the cry, O wretched man that I am! and
to lead on to the deliverance which the Spirit of the life of Christ
does bring.
And how is this cleansing to be done? When Hezekiah called the priests
to sanctify the temple that had been defiled, we read (2 Chron. xxix.),
'The priests went in unto the inner part of the house of the Lord to
cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found.' Only
then could the sin-offering of atonement and the burnt-offering of
consecration, with the thankofferings, be brought, and God's service be
restored. Even thus must all that is unclean be looked out, and brought
out, and utterly cast out. However deeply rooted the sin may appear,
rooted in constitution and habit, we must cleanse ourselves of it if we
would be holy. 'If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, the
blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.' As we bring out every sin
from the inner part of the house into the light of God and walk in the
light, the precious blood that justifies will work mightily to cleanse
too: the blood brings into living contact with the life and the love of
God. Let us come into the light with the sin: the blood will prove its
mighty power. Let us cleanse ourselves in yielding ourselves to the
light to reveal and condemn, to the blood to cleanse and sanctify.
'Let us cleanse ourselves, _perfecting holiness in the fear of the
Lord_.' We read in Hebrews (x. 14), 'Christ hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified.' As we have so often seen that what God has made
holy man must make holy too, as he accepts and appropriates the holiness
God has bestowed, so here with the perfection which the saints have in
Christ. We must perfect holiness: holiness must be carried out into the
whole of life, and carried on even to its end. As God's holy ones, we
must go on to perfection, perfecting holiness. Do not let us be afraid
of the word. Our Blessed Lord used it when He gave us the command, 'Be
ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.' A child striving
after the perfection in knowledge of his profession, which he hopes to
attain when he has finished school, is told by his teacher that the way
to the perfection he hopes for at the end of his course is to seek to be
perfect in the lessons of each day. To be perfect in the small portion
of the work that each hour brings, is the path to the perfection that
will crown the whole. The Master calls us to a perfection like that of
the Father: He hath already perfected us in Himself: He holds out the
prospect of perfection ever growing. His word calls us here day by day
to be perfecting holiness. Let us seek in each duty to be whole-hearted
and entire. Let us, as teachable scholars, in every act of worship or
obedience, in every temptation and trial, do the very best which God's
Spirit can enable us to do. 'Let patience have its perfect work, that ye
may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing.' 'The God of peace make
you perfect in every good work to do His will.'
'_Having therefore these promises_, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves
from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear
of God.' It is faith that gives the courage and the power to cleanse
from all defilement, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. It is as
the promises of the Divine love and indwelling (2 Cor. vi 16-18) are
made ours by the Holy spirit, that we shall share the victory which
overcometh the world, even our faith. In the path along which we have
already come, from the rest in Paradise down through Holy Scripture, we
have seen the wondrous revelation of these promises in ever-growing
splendour. That God the Holy One will make us holy; that God the Holy
One will dwell with the lowly; that God in His Holy One has come to be
our holiness; that God has planted us in Christ that He may be our
sanctification; that God, who chose us in sanctification of the Spirit,
has given us the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and now watches over us in
His love to work out through Him His purposes and to perfect our
holiness: such are the promises that have been set before us. 'Having
therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all
filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.'
Beloved brother! see here again God's way of holiness. Arise and step on
to it in the faith of the promise, fully persuaded that what He hath
promised He is mighty to perform. Bring out of the inner part of the
house all uncleanness; bring it into the light of God; confess it and
cast it at His feet, who takes it away, and cleanses you in His blood.
Yield yourself in faith to perfect, in Christ your Strength, the
Holiness to which you are called. As your Father in heaven is perfect,
give yourself to Him as a little child to be perfect too in your daily
lessons and your daily walk. Believe that your surrender is accepted:
that the charge committed to Him is undertaken. And give glory to Him
who is able to do above what you can ask or think.