II Corinthians 7: 1-4
Therefore, having these promises,
These are God's plans for us to do for us what He has done, to make us His own family, that we spoke of yesterday.
beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit,
Because he loves them so much, he's urging them to be all God wants them to be, in being cleansed from all the filth of the World physically and from their minds to think pure thoughts.
perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
"Practice makes perfect," so we are to work on practicing in our lives and thoughts the pureness of His thoughts for us, and living a lifestyle different from our neighbors who are of the World.
The ways of the World are diametrically opposed to the ways of Heaven and God. We are God's family, living here as aliens, visiting this Earthly realm as Christ's ambassadors. To represent Him, we are to show the World His ways.
Make room for us in your hearts; we wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one.
Yesterday we saw how they were holding back their affections. Now Paul is asking them again to relax and reconsider their feelings toward him. He hasn't injured or defrauded any of them in any way, even though he did write that "sorrowful letter" that has been lost to antiquity, that we discussed on September 21, 2019.
I do not speak to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together.
Paul really loves these Corinthians, and doesn't want to criticize them, so he's trying to build them up by revealing the oneness of spirit he feels with them, to both live together and die together.
Great is my confidence in you; great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort;
He is encouraging them because he has seen how they have followed the path of "tough love" with the erring brother (which brought him back into their fellowship, September 21, 2019), so he's been sharing with other churches their obedience and subsequent growth from this process. And he takes solace in that when he faces problems.
I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction.
When he undergoes tribulation in his travels, he can still be joyful knowing how his Corinthian brothers and sisters love the Lord.
We'll look at some of these afflictions tomorrow.
So Paul loves these believers deeply, and he wants them to love him back. Not for his own sake, but because he doesn't want them to carry grudges or hold back on account of past unpleasantries that have now been resolved. He wants all the residual negative feelings to dissipate and to resume an open relationship with him. This will reduce stress all around, and be for the benefit of all.
We need to remember this. The past doesn't rule the future. God's power in us is changing us fundamentally, and we need to recognize this when we find that we have unfavorable attitudes toward those who have hurt us in the past.
We need to pay attention to see if the Lord is working in them to renew their thinking processes, and act accordingly. If they have asked forgiveness, and we have granted it, then the relationship should change, if they really are following the Lord, as they say they are.
This requires discernment. We need to watch to see if their attitudes have really turned around, or if they're just using words.
Paul had to deal with a very thorny situation there in Corinth, and he told them to do something that was really hard for them to do to resolve it.
And these believers obeyed him, and did what what was needed, what was right to do for the situation, and everything was resolved. But feelings sometimes take time to settle down, and Paul gave them time to get everything straightened out (see September 20, 2019). Now he's expecting for them to continue in this path, and for their affections for him to return.
When we have to do something that's really hard for us to do, but we know that it's the right thing to do, our feelings can feel like they're on a roller coaster. And when we obey the Lord and do that hard thing, we can still feel really bad about it, and it will take time for our feelings to settle down and resolve back into the peace of God about it.
When we trust God to love us that much, and look to Him to heal our attitudes that haven't yet caught up with our obedience; then He will graciously pour His peace into our heart, to also be free to love our brothers and sisters in the Lord, forgetting the hurts of the past, the wounds that are now healed.
O my Father, thank You so much for having Paul write these things down, so that we can read them today, and follow Your course for getting along with one another as we obey Your ways in our daily lives and close relationships.
Father, we all have rough edges that can hurt as we rub up against one another. Help us all to remember this, and exemplify Your character in Your graciousness and forgiveness and forbearing one anothers' weaknesses.
Teach us to open our hearts to one another, loving each other as You have Loved us: unconditionally, lavishly, unbounded. Help us to respect that love that we receive from one another, not taking advantage of any brother or sister who appears vulnerable.
Show us how to protect the vulnerable from unscrupulous predators in sheep's clothing, and to have the moral fortitude to deal righteously with anyone who would do harm to Your children.
Father, continue to grow us up as Your children, teaching us Your ways in all the details of our living every day in this fallen World. Make us to stand tall among our human brethren, to show forth Your power and might and glory to the World, that they will see and know that You have sent Your Son for their benefit, but will also Judge.
Use us, Father, to bring all of Your lost and wayward lambs back from their entanglements in the brambles and briars of the World's ways. Send out Your workers into Your missionary fields, to harvest all who are searching, to gather all of Your chosen into Your One Fold with One Shepherd.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue will proclaim in every voice and language, that Christ Jesus is Lord God Almighty, to the glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever, Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
