Perfecting holiness

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. – 2 Corinthians 7v1

Holiness is a word much mentioned and talked about. It is a word which is used and misused. We all know that God is holy and that he calls us to holiness. Holiness is used in an interesting way here – Paul writes to the church at Corinth, and to all of us together, that we should be “perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord.”

We were all declared holy at our salvation. The holiness of Jesus Christ was imparted to each believer. Positionally we are as holy as we will ever be. One day, when we are in His presence our holiness will be complete. Our proclivity to sin will be done away with and our sin nature eradicated. What about in the meantime, here the here and now? What does holiness mean for us now?

Here Paul writes that we are to be in the process of perfecting our holiness in the fear of the Lord. Our present perfecting is a constant ongoing thing. Every single day we are to be moulding and shaping our present holiness. We are to becoming more holy practically as the years go by. A mature Christian should be more holy in his daily walk than a baby Christian. It is something that must keep going because we are not going to become totally holy until we see our Saviour face to face.

How do we do this? We cleanse ourselves from sins of the flesh and spirit. It is obvious that we have a part in this. It is only by His power and strength, but we are to do the cleansing. We need to ask ourselves what sins of the flesh and spirit are still active in our lives. We do pretty well with the sins of the flesh, which everyone can see, but what about the sins of the spirit, which no one else sees? What about those secret sins that we keep in our minds? What about sins like envy, covetousness, bitterness, lust, and unforgiveness?

If we are going to obey God and be perfecting our holiness we must deal with the sins of the flesh and those sins of the spirit. What do you and I want more – to obey God or hold on to those sins?