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Turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 
chapter 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 6. Last week we considered the fear 
of the Lord in the book of Proverbs and I thought this would be a 
good message to follow up that particular topic or that particular 
theme in 2 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 1 which goes with the 
preceding context. He says, therefore, having these 
promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness 
of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. So we're looking at this same 
theme, but in this letter of Paul to the Corinthians. And 
I just will pick up reading in chapter 6 at verse 11. He says, 
O Corinthians, we have spoken openly to you. Our heart is wide 
open. You are not restricted by us, 
but you are restricted by your own affections. Now in return 
for the same, I speak as to children, you also be open. Do not be unequally 
yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness 
with lawlessness? And what communion has light 
with darkness? And what accord has Christ with 
Belial? Or what part has a believer with 
an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple 
of God with idols? For you are the temple of the 
living God. As God has said, I will dwell 
in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they 
shall be my people. Therefore, come out from among 
them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean 
and I will receive you. I will be a father to you, and 
you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Therefore, 
having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from 
all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in 
the fear of God. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
we just pray now for your spirit to be at work in our hearts and 
lives. We pray again for a fresh application of the blood of Christ. 
God, as we read a passage like this, I suspect we're all found 
out. I suspect we're all convicted. And Father, we just look to you 
to forgive us and to enable us to go from this place, resolve 
to serve you, resolve to put passages like these into effect 
in our daily lives. And we would just pray now that 
in all of this, you would be glorified. And we pray through 
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, we see there very 
specifically the command or a duty given in chapter seven, verse 
one. But before we look at that particular 
duty, we need to consider what he says at the very beginning. He says, therefore, having these 
promises, beloved, he doesn't just give this naked command 
or he doesn't just come out of the chute and say, this is the 
way I want you to live. Christianity isn't simply behavior 
modification. Christianity isn't simply not 
doing bad things. Now, that's certainly a part 
of it. But we seek to not do bad things based on what God 
the Lord has done in us. There's a dynamic involved in 
Christianity. The idea is very simple. We come 
by God's grace to the Lord Jesus Christ. He forgives us of our 
sins and he gives us a perfect righteousness that avails with 
God. That doctrine, as we hopefully 
know now, is called justification. And then after we're justified 
freely by his grace, he calls us to live. the Christian life, 
which we might call sanctification. That means to grow in the grace 
and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. It means to live in light 
of 2 Corinthians chapter 7, to cleanse ourselves from all the 
filthiness of the flesh and spirit, to perfect holiness in the sight 
or in the fear of God. But brethren, what we often fall 
into is trying to do the duty without having first come to 
the Savior, trying to live the Christian life without having 
first believed the Christian gospel. We try to be better people. We try to be not as bad, but 
we try and do it in our own power and in our own strength. And 
thus, when we make some success, we take all the credit. If we 
fail miserably, then we stand condemned. But it's the virtue 
of Christ that needs to be remembered. That's why He says, therefore, 
having these promises, beloved, consider the Gospel. Consider 
the truth. Consider the fact that God made 
Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become 
the righteousness of God in Him. Consider that reality as you 
live your daily lives. In other words, live a cross-centered 
life. Never stray. Never go away from. Never try to undertake in your 
own strength. Never try to kill a particular 
sin or to put on a particular virtue by the fact of your own 
ability. No, everything we have, everything 
we are is connected to the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, in the 
vineyard, Jesus said to his disciples, apart from me, you can do nothing. You can't justify yourself. You 
can't save yourself. But as well, you can't make yourself 
holy. You can't sanctify yourself. 
In another place, Paul tells us we're to work out our own 
salvation with fear and trembling. Don't miss the particulars there. He says, work it out. We can 
only work out what God has placed in there graciously. He doesn't 
say work for your salvation. He says rather, work it out. 
And then he says, for it is God who is at work in you. both to 
will and to do according to his good pleasure. So before we look 
at the necessary pursuit of verse one in chapter seven, we should 
look at these foundational promises. Again, God is gracious. He calls 
us to consider his mercy. He calls us to consider his goodness. He calls us to consider what 
he has done for us in the person and work of our Lord Jesus. It's 
on that foundation, that gospel foundation, that we then live 
the Christian life. So notice these promises. It 
comes in the context where the apostle is charging the Corinthians 
to be godly. I mean, Corinth was one of those 
cities in the ancient world that was pretty messed up. They made 
a verb out of Corinth. They called it to Corinthianize. 
And what they engaged in was sexual immorality. In fact, you 
can get a bit of the backdrop of what this church looked like 
in 1 Corinthians chapter 6. 1 Corinthians 6 at verse 9. He says, Do you not know that 
the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be 
deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, 
nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor 
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the 
kingdom of God. What he says, what he goes on 
to say, and such were some of you. That's what the church in 
Corinth was made up of. Remember a few weeks ago, I said 
the thing that binds us together is the fact that we're sinners. 
That's our commonality. That's how we roll. That's how 
we are united together. By virtue of the fact that in 
Adam all died, by God's grace in Christ we shall be made alive. This church was, to use the vernacular, 
jacked up. They were made up of wicked people. saved by the powerful blood of 
the Lord Jesus. He says, but are such were some 
of you, but you were washed, you were justified, you were 
sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit 
of God. So when he comes to second Corinthians, 
he has to continually encourage them not to go back to their 
wickedness. He asks a series of questions 
in verses 14 to 16. He makes a statement, verse 14, 
do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. He's not saying 
get out of the world. He's not saying don't ever mix 
with sinners. He's not saying don't be like 
Jesus, because Jesus received sinners and ate with them. He's 
saying don't be unequally yoked. Don't enter into an intimate 
association. Don't be one with them. Don't 
think for a moment that it won't affect you. Don't be unequally 
yoked when it comes to marriage. Don't be unequally yoked when 
it comes to other pursuits. Don't be unequally yoked because 
most of the time it's the evil that pulls you down. And you're 
not that godly, you're not that holy, you're not that upright, 
and you need to watch your soul. He says, for what fellowship 
is righteousness with lawlessness? What communion has light with 
darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Probably a name for Satan there. 
And then he says, or what part is a believer with an unbeliever? 
And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are 
the temple of the living God, as God has said. And then he 
sets forth three foundational principles that we need to keep 
in our minds as we seek to apply Second Corinthians seven, verse 
one. He highlights first that we have 
communion with God. Notice the argument, how can 
you engage in lawlessness? How can you engage in darkness? 
How can you engage in Satanism? How can you engage in idolatry 
when God, the Lord, has promised, I will dwell with them? This 
is a promise that comes all the way back from Exodus 25, verse 
8. You want a good overview of the 
book of Exodus? Three D's, courtesy of Ralph 
Davis. God delivers, God demands, and 
God dwells. That's the book of Exodus. God 
delivers in the exodus, God demands in the law 19 to 24 and then 
God dwells according to chapters 25 to 40. God is carving out 
a people for himself so that he can be with them, so that 
he can dwell in their midst. so that he can be a part of their 
lives, so that they'll live always in the conscious presence of 
God Most High. You see, you're supposed to keep 
that in mind when you pursue holiness. You're supposed to 
keep that in mind when you're cleansing yourself from all filthiness 
of the flesh and spirit. You're not supposed to do it 
in your own strength and for your own glory. You're to do 
it in the strength of God and for the glory of God. I will 
dwell in them and I will walk among them. I will be their God 
and they shall be my people. One man calls this the Immanuel 
principle. You know, that name Immanuel 
that the angel says would be true of Jesus. His name will 
be Immanuel, which is translated God with us. It's beautiful in 
Matthew's gospel. That's how it begins. Introducing 
God with us. And then Matthew's gospel ends 
on the same note. Remember when Jesus said, all 
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, 
and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the 
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He 
says, and, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the 
age. Immanuel in Matthew 1, Immanuel 
in Matthew 28, Immanuel by virtue of the fact that he shed his 
blood on our behalf. That's how God dwells with us. 
That's how we know him. It's because of what Jesus has 
accomplished on our behalf. So you see the apostles argument. 
He says, therefore, having this promise. Knowing this reality. That God is dwelling with you, 
that you are the very temple of God itself. It's moved from 
that temporary tabernacle. It's moved from the glory of 
Solomon's temple to the very person of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
And by virtue of the fact that we're in him, we are called the 
very temple of God Most High. It's an amazing reality. That's 
not it. He goes on. He speaks of the 
favor of God. Verse 17. Come out from among 
them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean. That fits the context. Cleanse 
yourself from all filthiness of the spirit and of the flesh, 
perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Well, what's the last 
statement that he cites there from the prophet Isaiah? And 
I will receive you. Is that amazing? You come away 
from the lawlessness. You come away from the darkness. 
You come away from Belial. You come away from the idol. 
And what do you find but a God who will receive you? Isn't that 
amazing? Just be honest, brethren. In 
your mind, you think of God this way. Or maybe you don't because 
you have been freed from this reality. We have this idea. That while we're in the lawlessness, 
and while we're in the depravity, and while we're with Satan, and 
while we're in the darkness, and while we're wallowing in 
the hog pen, while we're engaged in idolatry, we are thinking 
that if I go back to God, there is no way He'll receive me. Why? Because I wouldn't receive me. I wouldn't take me back. I'd 
say go back to your lawlessness. Go back to Belial. You want to 
worship and serve idols? Go to your idols. That's not 
the way God is. God says, come out from among 
them, my people, and I will receive you. I will welcome you to myself. One of the best illustrations 
of this is the parable of the prodigal son. Remember, the young 
man comes to his father and says, give me my share of the inheritance. 
I know you know this story. When do you usually get an inheritance? 
When your father dies. So this young man is saying, 
Father, you're better to me dead than alive. That's horrible. I've got to tell you, I'm not 
as gracious as that father. If one of my sons said that, 
I'd probably want to rear back and let him have it. I'm just 
being honest, brethren. Everybody that he told that parable 
to would be thinking the exact same thing. This shameful young 
man throwing dirt on the name of his father. Give me my share 
of the inheritance. I'm tired of being under your 
rule. I'm tired of being under your reign. I'm tired of living 
the way you call me to. I'm tired of this arrangement. 
I'm tired of this situation. I want to go be like everybody 
else. Give me my share of the inheritance. What's the father do? He obliges 
him. He gives it to him. So what does the young man do? 
He goes out, he engages in sex, drugs, and rock and roll, basically. 
He wastes his money. He blows everything. He's at 
the point where he needs a job, so he gets hired on as a servant. 
And he is coveting the food that pigs are eating. Ever seen pig slop? Can't ever 
say it's made me hungry. Can't ever say that it's something 
that I've desired. But of course, I've never been 
that hungry. He is longing to eat what pigs 
are eating. And it says he came to himself. 
He says, I know what I'll do. I'll go back to my father's house 
because my father's servants, his day laborers, have it a whole 
lot better than I do. They're not coveting pig food. 
They're at least getting an honest day's wage for an honest day's 
labor. I'll just go back and cast myself 
upon His mercy, begging and imploring Him that He takes me on as a 
hired servant. That's what I'll do. You know 
the text, brethren. You know the Scripture. You know 
Luke 15. It says when the son was a long 
way off, the father ran to him. That's this God. I will receive 
you. The father ran to him. I picture 
it in my head. An older man in the ancient Near 
Eastern world probably had to lift up his robe so that he could 
run without tripping. Didn't care how dirty he got. 
Didn't care how undignified he looked. Because of course he 
would have. Any one of those townspeople 
would have said, you are making a huge mistake. That boy took 
the share of the inheritance. He went out and he wasted it. 
And you actually are going to run out there and meet him? Now, 
if it's to beat him up and to castigate him and to throw him 
out, then go for it. That's not what the father does. 
He runs to him and he falls on him and he kisses him and he's 
rejoicing over him. He's delighted in him. He doesn't 
care that he smells like pig. He doesn't care that he reeks. 
He doesn't care that he's filthy. He's just happy that the son 
that was lost is now found. The son that was dead is now 
alive. And he brings him back to the 
house and he says to his servants, slay the fatted calf. Let's eat, 
let's party, let's rejoice. Take a ring and put it on his 
finger. Get the pig smell off of him and put a robe on him. 
Let's rejoice because my son was lost and is now found. Brethren, the same point is being 
made here. I will receive you. God has received 
us by Jesus Christ. God has washed us from the smell 
of pig. God has washed us from our filth. 
God has washed us from our sinfulness. God has undertaken on his own 
behalf to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And then notice 
the third promise. He says, the fatherhood of God. 
I will be a father to you, he says in verse 18, and you shall 
be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Why is he 
spending all this time on this subject? Because I'm going to 
tell you, when you go out and try to perfect holiness in the 
fear of God without thinking about these things, you're going 
to fail miserably. Or you're going to end up a legalist. You're going to have some degree 
of external success, and you're going to pat yourself on the 
back. You're going to say, look how 
holy I am. You'll stand out on the street 
corner, and you'll say, look at how holy I am. Look at how 
godly I am. When you seek to live like Christ 
apart from the gospel, the inevitability is failure or legalism. There's no in-between. You're 
either going to come to the place of utter despair or you're going 
to be too satisfied with self and accomplishment and you're 
not going to be looking to Christ. You're not going to say with 
Paul, in the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by 
faith in the Son of God who loved me and who gave himself for me. 
You're going to think, you know, I got this stuff mastered. I 
know where not to go. I know what to do. I know how 
to perform it. No. You need to live in light 
of the cross. You need to live in light of 
the father of the prodigal. You need to live in light of 
that whole passage in Luke 15. You know why Jesus told that 
story concerning the prodigal son? It was the third of an answer 
or a response to certain religious people in his day. See, the tax 
collectors and the sinners all gathered to hear Jesus. Do you 
love that? We meet people who say, I'm so 
sinful, I shouldn't go to church. You're so sinful, you must go 
to church. You're so sinful, you need to go where the scripture 
is spoken. You need to be under the word. All the tax collectors 
and the sinners drew near to hear him. Kids, young people, 
children, I want you to hear this. I want you to understand 
Luke 15. You get Luke 15 down, you've got a lot of good theology 
in your head and hopefully in your heart. It starts off with 
all these people coming to hear him. Tax collectors and sinners. Now, we don't like tax collectors 
in our own day. They're not our favorite people. 
I doubt that when you send your tax return in, you send a nice 
little note to the person who's going to review your documents 
and say, thank you very much for the grand service that you 
provide here in Canada. But tax collectors in Jesus' 
day were even lower. Because usually they were Jews. working for the Roman government, 
exacting more from other Jews. So, I mean, they had two strikes 
against them, right? So the Scripture says, all these 
tax collectors and sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And 
the scribes and the Pharisees, you know what they said? They 
said, this man receives sinners and eats with them. They didn't 
say it in a good way, like, wow, he's such a good man. He receives 
sinners and eats with them. They weren't extolling his virtue. They weren't parading his nobility. They were speaking evil against 
him in their mind. This man receives sinners and 
eats with them. You know what happened to the 
ears of all the tax collectors and the sinners? They were like 
big radar dishes. They focused on Jesus. What's 
he going to say? How's he going to respond? What's 
going to be his answer to this charge that this man receives 
sinners and eats with them? What does Jesus say? He says, 
you bet I do. You better believe I do. I receive 
them. I cleanse them. I wash them. I purify them. And then I set 
them on a path of conformity to me. I'm like a man who has 
a hundred sheep. And if one of those sheep leaves, 
He doesn't just count his losses. He leaves the 99, and he seeks 
that one sheep. And he grabs that sheep, and 
he puts it upon his shoulders, and he goes home rejoicing. He 
says, I'm like a woman who loses one of her 10 coins. Again, she 
doesn't count her losses. She moves the furniture. She 
gets the broom. She searches for it. When she 
finds that coin, she rejoices and calls her friends to rejoice 
with her. And unlike the father of the 
prodigal, who when he took the share of the inheritance and 
went and blew it, he runs to him and he falls on him and he 
kisses him and he puts a ring on his finger. This man receives 
sinners and eats with them. Praise God. The psalmist said, 
even the wrath of man shall praise you. These guys are complaining. This man receives sinners and 
eats with them. And they're confessing the Gospel. 
They're professing the truth. When we come to these promises, 
brethren, when we see that God dwells with us, when we see that 
He receives us, when we see that He's our Father, we know it is 
connected to the cross. The long and the short of it 
is, you cannot perfect holiness in the fear of God if you've 
not first believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. I think the church 
today is filled with a bunch of people trying to be good, 
when they've never realized how bad they are and how much they 
desperately stand in need of the blood of Jesus Christ. The 
church today is filled with people who all for all external accounts 
seem to have their act together, but they've never come to Calvary. 
They have never acknowledged their waywardness before a holy 
God. They have never bowed before 
the Lord of glory. They have never confessed their 
sin. They have never believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Hear 
me today. You cannot live the Christian 
life apart from the gospel. You cannot engage in Second Corinthians 
7.1 without first having these promises. without first knowing 
God as your God. Without knowing that He has received 
you through Jesus Christ. Without knowing that He is a 
Father to you. How do we know this is the case? 
The rest of Paul's writings talks about adoption. How did we come 
into the family of God? It wasn't by our own ingenuity. 
It wasn't by our own wisdom. It wasn't by our own perfection. 
One of the most humbling passages in all of Holy Scripture is Ephesians 
1, 3-14. It's one long sentence, and Paul begins it this way. 
He says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly 
places in Christ. And then he says, first of all, 
just as He, the Father, chose us in Him before the foundation 
of the world, that we should be holy and blameless, in love, 
having predestinated us unto adoption as sons. We've come 
into the family of God again, not by our law keeping, not by 
our merit, not because we cleaned up our act. That thought is out 
there, I got to get right and then I'll go to the Lord Jesus. 
You can't. It's Jesus that makes man right. It's a beautiful passage in Jeremiah 
3, where God, through the prophet, is calling Israel, yet return 
to me, says the Lord. Yet return to me, says the Lord. 
Yet return to me, says the Lord. He keeps saying that. And then 
he says, return, and I will heal your backsliding. See, the common 
and devilish logic is, I've got to clean myself up before I go 
to Jesus. That's not the scripture. That's 
not the gospel. Gospel logic is go to Jesus and 
he'll clean you up. That's his job. That's what he's about. You shall 
call his name Jesus. Jesus means Jehovah is salvation. You shall call his name Jesus, 
for it is he and he alone that will save his people from their 
sins. He doesn't save you because you 
cleaned up. He doesn't save you because you 
did something. He doesn't save you because you 
performed well. He doesn't save you because you've 
gone out in the spirit of 2 Corinthians 7.1 and you've cleansed yourself. 
He doesn't save you as a result of those things. He saves you 
by grace alone, in order to those things, for those things. So the gospel of Christ is crucial. That is verse one of chapter 
seven. Therefore, having these promises. You need to know Jesus as Lord 
and Savior before you can engage in a pursuit of holiness. I mean, 
it just makes sense, doesn't it? Luther says we don't have an 
apple and then get a tree. You don't have a bunch of apples 
and then a tree pops up. It's completely backward. You have a tree that grows apples. How do we get an apple tree? 
By coming to the Lord Jesus, by believing the gospel. by believing 
that God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we 
might become the righteousness of God in him. Believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ. And now, as a result of God's 
grace, as a result of gospel blessing, as a result of these 
promises, now you can produce fruit. Now you can go out and 
live like a Christian. Now you can pursue holiness. 
And that brings us to consider verse one. He says, let us cleanse 
ourselves. And again, the idea there is 
not atonement. It's not by doing this we are 
making ourselves fit for heaven. I think the idea in this cleansing 
ourselves from all filthiness is the idea of putting off sin. putting off on righteousness, 
not engaging in the very things he's already condemned, lawlessness, 
darkness, Satan and idolatry. Now, we might desire those things 
to be filled in with more detail, but lawlessness is pretty easy 
to understand. What's the law of God? The Ten 
Commandments. Lawlessness means we disobey. We reject. We rebel against those 
things. So the apostle is saying, based 
on the gospel truth, based on the reality that you've been 
saved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh, 
which includes lawlessness. Don't break the commandments. 
Don't sin against God. Don't commit adultery. Don't 
steal. Don't lie. Don't cheat. Don't blaspheme God. Don't dishonor 
your father and your mother. Cling yourself from all filthiness 
of the flesh. It's talking about the outward 
man. It should be very peculiar and very particular for this 
group in Corinth. Remember back in 1 Corinthians 
chapter 5, he says, there's a morality existing among you that isn't 
even true of the pagan. It's actually reported among 
you that one of you has your father's wife. See, that's bad, but the worst 
part of it is the church was arrogant about it. The church 
knew about it. Maybe they thought this was their 
freedom in Jesus. No, he says, cleanse yourself 
from all filthiness of the flesh. Put off sin. Remember, Jesus 
used the language of plucking out eyes and cutting off hands. 
Origen, the church father, took that seriously. He had himself 
castrated. He said he wouldn't offend. Clock out eyes and cut off hands. Because it's better to enter 
into life maimed, it's better to enter into life lame, than 
having your whole body entering into hell. You see, God is calling 
us to pursue holiness externally. At the outer man, we are to avoid 
lawlessness, darkness, Satan and idolatry. But he doesn't 
stop there because we can fall into an externalism. We can get 
into this idea that I didn't go there and I didn't do that 
and I didn't do that. But you wanted to. You desired it. Sure, you haven't actually visited 
a prostitute, but if you are mentally engaged in that activity, 
Jesus says you're guilty. Whoever looks upon a woman, the 
lost has already broken the commandment in his heart. That's what Paul 
says. Let us cleanse ourselves from 
all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. It's talking about the 
whole man. You see, it's not enough just 
to say, yes, God, but in your heart be opposed. How many of 
you parents accept that sort of obedience at all? Your kid 
picks up what you tell him to pick up and he's got this face. Wait a minute there, camper. 
We need to talk. That's not obedience. Just because 
you're externally going through the motions does not mean that 
you are obeying. That doesn't mean they've got 
to do a backflip and sing while they're picking up whatever it 
is they're picking up. Of course, it would be nice, 
children, to show us you mean business. You see, Paul is concerned 
with the whole man. It's not enough that you come 
to church. It's not enough that you read 
your Bible. It's not enough that sermonaudio.com is your favorite 
link. We need to take every thought 
captive to the obedience of Christ. We need to be about the things 
of God externally and internally. It's not enough not to just go 
out and take a gun and shoot somebody. We need to guard our 
hearts against unrighteous anger. It's not enough, brethren, just 
to go through the motions. Paul says, based on the reality 
that Jesus has redeemed you, having these promises, you need 
to pursue holiness, body and soul. This is his argument back 
in 1 Corinthians. Remember, the people there are 
prone to lie with prostitutes. I'm making this up. It's right 
there in 1 Corinthians. What does Paul say to them? He 
says that you sin against Christ in doing this. You are joining 
her with Him. And that's vile. And then he 
summarizes or ends it by saying, therefore, glorify God in your 
body and soul because Jesus has redeemed you. So having these 
promises, they need to flesh themselves out in our daily lives, 
externally and internally. It's not going to be perfect. 
We will sin. We do sin. We're not preaching Wesleyan 
perfectionism here. Well, just be perfect. You can't. This side of glory. We will never 
be without sin. 1 John encourages us, though, 
when we see Him, we will be like Him. Not deity, but sinless. Entering into the presence of 
God. Have you ever seen that scene in Revelation 7? Where 
the people of God stand before the throne of God, crying out, 
salvation is of the Lord. day and night. It's hard for 
some of us to keep our eyes open for an hour and a half worship 
service on this side of glory. But rest assured, when God brings 
us into that consummate glory which is heaven, He will work 
in us such a way, fill us with the Spirit in such a way that 
we will worship nonstop. But on this side of glory, brethren, 
there will always be sin. We need to confess it, forsake 
it, and by God's grace, persevere. And this is what he says, cleanse 
ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. We need to do this with recognition 
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to do this independence 
upon God, the spirit. We need to understand that even 
in this, our best attempts are oftentimes going to be marred 
by iniquity. So we confess it and forsake 
it and seek God's help and seek God's mercy. So he gives the 
duty, the command, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness 
of the flesh and spirit. And then he says perfecting holiness 
in the fear of God. I think the perfecting holiness 
there summarizes this whole idea of cleansing ourselves from filthiness 
of the flesh and spirit. Again, the perfecting there does 
not mean we'll be perfect. You cannot get that from the 
Bible. Men have tried, but you cannot. I'm not trying to dissuade 
anybody. I'm not trying to say don't pursue 
holiness, but just realize on this side of glory we stand in 
constant need of God the Spirit. We are to perfect holiness in 
the fear of God. Reverence toward God. Remember 
we defined this last week. Maybe we should just have a moment 
for everybody to think in their head again. What did we say the 
fear of God was? Reverence before God as we acknowledge 
his infinite worth and dignity. This is how we're supposed to 
pursue holiness, to realize the God of Isaiah 40 is over us. Remember the God of Isaiah 40 
who measures all of the waters of the earth in the hollow of 
his hand? The God of Isaiah 40 who measures the very heavens 
itself with the span of his hand? The God of heaven who holds all 
nations before him like a drop in the bucket? The God of heaven 
who names each and every star in the hundred and billion galaxies 
which each have a hundred billion stars. God knows them and calls 
them all by name. We're to perfect holiness in 
the fear of that God. We're to perfect holiness in 
the fear of the God that we admire in his attributes. The Westminster 
Shorter Catechism asks the question, what is God, or who is God? And 
it says, God is spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. In 
His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. 
We admire those things. We think on those things. We 
are conscious of those realities. We understand that He abominates 
unjust things. So we're going to seek to be 
just in our dealings. We're not going to cheat people. That should never be named in 
the Christian church. You ever met somebody who said, 
oh, the church is filled with hypocrites. I had business dealings 
with that guy and he ripped me off. That's wrong, man. You'd be more like that man in 
Psalm 15. He swears to his own hurt and 
he doesn't change. I mentioned a book by Jerry Bridges 
that I'm reading, The Joy of Fearing God. He mentions an instance 
in his own work career. He used to work for the Navigators, 
which is a Christian ministry. One day his superior called him 
in and said, hey, Jerry, we've got a bit of an issue. They had 
a deal where people could give property to this particular Christian 
ministry. I'm not getting into all the 
particulars, whether that's right or wrong or whatnot. But the 
deal was they could give the property to this ministry, and 
then the ministry would basically pay them a stipend or a salary 
of some sort for the period of time that they were alive. So 
this guy calls Jerry Bridges, and he says, hey, look, one of 
our other associates made a deal that we would accept this property 
and pay this person a salary. But the only problem is the property 
is a real dog. It was a bad deal. So the idea 
was, let's figure out a way to get out of this deal. Bridget 
said, Psalm 15 came into his mind. The godly man swears to 
his owner and does not change. Thankfully, his superior said, 
well, we got our answer. Even though it's going to hurt, 
we got our answer. Brethren. Cleansing ourselves 
from the filthiness of the flesh and the spirit, perfecting holiness 
and the fear of God at times will hurt. At times will affect, 
at times will pinch the flesh, at times will offend people, 
at times will cause people to go, what is with you? Are you 
crazy? This is what it means to fear 
God. We stand in reverence before his infinite worth and dignity. 
We admire his glorious attributes and we are amazed at his infinite 
love for us. You see, Paul says perfect holiness 
in that disposition. Seek and pursue holiness in that 
frame of reference. Not in your own strength, not 
in your own ability, not because you're strong, not because you're 
good, but because God is and you need to fear him and you 
need to pursue holiness based on that reality. In Paul's thought, 
Murray Harris says, the Christian life is in essence an advance 
in holiness, a bringing to maturation of our consecration to God. This 
process of sanctification involves first and foremost a sense of 
awe and dread before the omnipotent Lord. Not dread again that we 
run from him, but dread that we run to him. Adam and Eve ran 
from him, they should have ran to him. Harris goes on to say, but also 
a repudiation of evil in every form, especially the avoidance 
of close, permanent alliances with unbelievers. That's the 
particular point going on in this section. These close personal 
alliances via marriage, via whatever, eating with unbelievers when 
it's stuff that's offered up to idols. Brethren, we need to 
guard our hearts against lawlessness, against darkness, against Satanism, 
and against the idolatry that is rampant in this world. Again, 
he's not calling for total withdrawal. The answer is not Protestant 
monkery. The answer is not to withdraw 
yourself from all association. First Corinthians 5, Paul says, 
I told you not to associate with the ungodly. He says, I didn't 
mean the ungodly of this world, because then you'd have to leave 
the world. But I meant those who named the name of Christ, 
those who call themselves brethren, and yet engage in these things. 
Warfield says, we see then, the apostles' urgency here is against 
not association with the world, but compromise with the worldly. 
You're not going to fly to the moon. You're not going to live 
on Mount Sham just so you can be holy. You know what happens 
if you go to the moon or you go to Mount Sham? You've got 
you. This is why monkery doesn't work. 
You take a whole bunch of sinners and put them in a cage together. Wherever you go, you're with 
sinners. You. Paul doesn't tell us to go and 
leave. He tells us to be godly in the 
midst of, not compromise with the worldly. That's the essence. That's the point. Don't make 
these close associations that will corrupt your soul, that 
will keep you from pursuing Jesus, that will keep you in a position 
of disadvantage, that will bring you into its lawlessness or its 
darkness or its Satanism or idolatry. These things are alive and well, 
brethren, in our generation. I'm not going to sit here and 
name everything. I think Galatians 5 is a wonderful description 
of the sort of lusts of the flesh that we have to deal with. He 
says the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, 
fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, 
jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, 
heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like, of which 
I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, 
that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom 
of God. But, he says, conversely, this 
is what we are to pursue. We're to put off those things 
of the flesh and we're to pursue those things of the spirit. Love, 
joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, 
self-control. Against such there is no law. And so the Corinthians are being 
urged to walk in a spirit of holiness, but not in their own 
strength, Concentrating always on the Gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. That is the dynamic that the 
Bible sets before us. That's what Paul highlights in 
Romans 6. Even so, consider yourselves 
dead to sin and alive to God through Jesus Christ. That's 
where it begins. It's right here. Repentance. The root of repentance means 
a change of mind. Sinners say, what do I do? Change 
your mind. Why? Because God knows that when 
the mind is changed, hopefully the body will follow. That's 
the whole point in Romans 6. He opens up justification by 
faith alone in chapters 3 and 4. He gives us the theology of 
this blessed arrangement in chapter 5, the imputation of Adam's sin, 
the imputation of Christ's righteousness. He gets to chapter 6. He recalls 
what has happened to us in that imagery used in baptism. We were 
dead. We were buried. We've been raised 
again, the newness of life in Jesus. Therefore, consider yourselves 
dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Then 
he says, therefore. That's the gospel. What Jesus 
has done for you, now go do this. Every false religion, every system 
out there, every other competitor to Christianity inverts that. 
It says, go do and then you'll get. The scripture teaches Jesus 
has done. Believe on that and then go do. It's not worth righteousness. 
And then what does he say in Romans 6? Therefore, do not let 
sin reign in your body. Don't obey it to lusts. Don't 
bow down to the idol of self. Don't feed it. Don't gratify 
it. You've died with Christ. You've been raised in newness 
of life. You've been bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God with your 
body. It says, do not present your 
members as instruments of unrighteousness, but rather take those hands, 
take those feet, take that mouth and use it for the glory of God. That's the dynamic we need to 
get. Having these promises, go live like a Christian, not go 
live like a Christian and hopefully God will save you. Secondly, we need to recall these 
promises. We need to think in terms of 
communion with God. The fact that God has received 
us, the fact that we've been adopted by God. Now, Luke 15 
does not continue on and tell us what the conduct of that young 
man looks like. But I suspect it was a lot better 
than before he left. So God received him, the father 
received him, the father cleansed him, the father washed him, the 
father put a ring on his finger. No doubt, so whenever he looked 
at that, he would just recall the great love that God had for 
him. But he lived a lot differently 
from that point on. He didn't go back to the hog 
pan. He didn't go back to the prostitutes. 
He didn't go back to all the garbage. The Father received 
him out of that. And we need to consider that 
adoption that we have. Adoption. A blessed, blessed 
term. What does Paul tell us in Romans 
chapter 8? We are joint heirs with Christ. It means everything 
that Jesus is entitled to by God's grace and the fact that 
we are in union with him, we are joint heirs. We receive those 
blessings. As individuals, this verse 1 
of chapter 7 is a call to action. We need to cleanse ourselves 
from the filth of the flesh. We need to cleanse ourselves 
from the filth of the spirit. We need to perfect holiness in 
the fear of God. It needs to be true of us. It 
needs to be something that we're engaged in. Not something that 
we lord over everybody else and say, wow, look at how good I 
am. Look at how I perfect holiness in the fear of God. Proverbs 
4 is instructive. It says, keep your own heart 
with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. 
Keep your own heart. Don't keep everybody else's heart. 
Keep a list of how everybody else is doing. You worry about 
yourself. There's enough in each day concerning you that will 
keep you occupied. Find that in the church very 
often we want to get up in each other's business, get up in everybody's 
grill, not saying we shouldn't be accountable, not saying we 
shouldn't love each other and encourage one another. Rather, 
we need to keep our own heart with all diligence. And then 
I think there's a corporate application with reference to this verse. 
Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and 
spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. It's what our 
churches should look like. Not entertainment, not just some 
feel-good religion, not just a shot in the arm so that you 
can go back out and be a better you. Martin Lloyd-Jones ministered 
in London in the 20th century, and probably about the mid-20th 
century. He said this, our Christianity has the appearance of being an 
adjunct or an appendix to the rest of our lives instead of 
being the main theme and moving force in our existence. We seem 
to have a real horror of being different. The church is organized 
with drives. I'm sure our British brethren 
could fill us in on what a west drive is fates. I happen to know 
that. I was in Britain. A fete is like 
a fair. An F-E-T-E. Maybe they say that in Canada. 
I don't know. But a fete is sort of like a fair. He's saying the 
church organizes whisk drives and feints and dramas and bazaars 
and things of that sort to attract people. I wonder what the good 
doctor would think about churchianity today. We've far exceeded fates 
and dramas and bazaars and things of that sort to attract people. 
He says we are becoming almost as wily as the devil himself, 
but are really very bad at it. All our attempts are hopeless 
failures and the world laughs at us. Now when the world persecutes 
the church, she is performing her real mission. But when the 
world laughs at her, she has lost her soul. And the world 
today is laughing at the church. laughing at our attempts to be 
nice and to make people feel at home. My friends, if you feel 
at home in any church without believing in Christ as your personal 
savior, then that church is no church at all, but a place of 
entertainment or a social club. For the truth of Christianity 
and the preaching of the gospel should make a church intolerable 
and uncomfortable to all except those who believe. And even they 
should go away feeling chastened and humbled. Let us cleanse ourselves 
from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness 
in the fear of God. Not as those who are seeking 
to attain with God, but as those who, by God's grace, have been 
conquered by amazing love. Those who, by God's grace, have 
come to the cross, who have had the blood of Jesus shed abroad 
in their hearts and lives. who have been cleansed, washed, 
justified, and sanctified. And if you don't know that experience 
today, if you don't know what it is to be born again, believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe the gospel of free and 
sovereign grace. Believe on the one who said, 
the one who comes to me, I will certainly not pass out. Believe 
on him who receives sinners and eats with them. Believe on him 
who has been preached through the ages as the only savior for 
sinners. Well, let us pray. God in heaven, 
we thank you for your holy scripture, and I pray that we would consider 
these promises, that we would consider that you commune with 
us, that you have received us, that you are our father, and 
that all of these blessings were purchased by Christ at Calvary. 
and our Father having these promises, I pray that you would grant us 
the grace to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh 
and of the spirit, that we would perfect holiness in the fear 
of God as individuals and as a church, that we would always 
do so in dependence of God, that we would always cry out for the 
ministry and aid of your Holy Spirit, and that we would seek 
by your Spirit to know more of the truth of Holy Writ, because 
we know that we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. 
I ask now that you would go with us, that you would watch over 
us in the remainder of this day and help us, God, to glorify 
and honor you. And we pray through Christ the 
Lord. Amen.