"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT A PROMISE FROM GOD TO US"

"SHARING HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE ABOUT A PROMISE FROM GOD TO US"

2nd Corinthians 6:18 Will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.

2nd Corinthians 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Some explanatory thoughts, explanations, applications, questions and a prayer:

Paul spent the majority of this 2nd letter to the Corinthians trying to protect them from the influence of false teachers who had crept into the church and were polluting it and corrupting it. The teachers were not only false in their teaching, but they were also false accusers of Paul, undermining his authority by accusing him to the Corinthians of not being a legitimate apostle. Truth accepted and responded to produces changed lives, lives that are conformed into the image of Jesus Christ. Lies from Satan do not accomplish the goal of God.
In these two verses we have both a promise and what we ought to do with that promise and what God will do in our lives as a result.

1. Here's the promise from the Lord:
2nd Corinthians 6:18 Will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.

God was calling His own people back to Himself. The false teachers had effectively put a wedge between the people's potential growth and God by their lies and false doctrine. Thus God was calling the people to come back to Him.

And not only calling them to come back to love Him back, but affirming to them that He would be their father in real life. He wanted to be responsible for them, and to take care of them. Listen again to what He says to them.

2nd Corinthians 6:18 Will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.

The wonderful thing here is that this is a promise from God. Therefore it's true. It was true for the Corinthians and it's true for you today also. He wants to be in your Father, and He wants You to be His children. And this expression is from the LORD Almighty.

Praise God for His heart of love towards His people.

2. Here's what we ought to do with this promise from the Lord, and here's what will happen to us if we take it to heart and respond appropriately.

2nd Corinthians 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Now we have application. First we have a promise and now we have application. That is the normal sequence in the Bible. God tells us the truth, and than tells us what to do with the truth, and tells us what will happen to us if we apply His truth, or in this case His promise.
Let's look at this application in some detail.

(1) We have these promises.

You and I as believers are possessors of this promise and all the promises in the Bible. They are ours. They belong to us.
There is no question about that. It's not as if this may be ours, no, it is ours. You have this promise also. God has made this promise to you and He cannot lie.

Here's how this promise reads in the NLT:

2nd Cor 6:18 Therefore, come out from them and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you.

(2) Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and and spirit.
Not only are we to separate ourselves or come out and away from them, i.e the false teachers, but we are also not to touch their filthy things.
So our cleansing takes place by our separation from that which is not of God.
We just put it off, leave it, walk away from it, stop the behavior, etc.
We turn from our sins and turn to and trust in God.

(3) Perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

2nd Corinthians 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

As we respond to God's promise, here’s what we are doing and here's what will happen to us.

(1) We are perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
We are to work towards complete purity is the idea.
The false teachers had brought in much impurity to the church, telling them that certain practices were okay for them to participate in. But this is not true.
God wants us to not give ourselves over to our sinful nature, but to do all we can by His grace and power through faith to work to being as pure as we can be before Him.

(2) We are being transformed, or conformed, or growing in the Lord Jesus Christ as He would want us to, and intends for us to grow.

As we work towards living a life of purity something else happens in our lives. We will grow.We will be transformed into the image of Christ.
All of this takes place because we are walking in wisdom and wisdom starts with fearing God, respecting God, living a life of reverence towards God.

Some Questions:

1. Have you realized how real the spiritual battle is that we are in?

2. Do you see how that our enemy is a liar and cannot tell the truth?

3. Is it comforting to know that God loves You and gives You promises to help you march all the way to heaven in one piece?

4. Is there any area of your life right now that God is speaking to You about and calling you into the life He has for you?

5. Do you know what blessings await you as you obey Him?

A Prayer:

Father, You are the shepherd of Your people. You look over us. You watch over us. You know when the enemy is about trying to destroy Your work, and You give us Your Word to guide us into the truth and the right and protective path to live. Thank you for all of that, Lord, thank You.
In Jesus’ name

Pastor Bob Grenier
Calvary Chapel Visalia.