2 Corinthians 7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
Paul addresses the Corinthians with a term of endearment and close relationship: “beloved.” They are loved by God, Paul and his companions, and one another. Love marks those who are in Christ. Here is the key issue of how we live: holiness unto the Lord. This verse shows the divine/human synergism (working together) required in our salvation. Paul began ch. 6 by calling the Corinthians to salvation. Now he calls them to holiness. The two concepts go together. Holiness confirms reconciliation. Reconciliation should lead to holiness.
This verse has three major parts that form a sequence. First comes the promises. The promises are given in the quotations from the Old Testament in 6:16-18. At the heart of these promises is that God will dwell among his people. The Holy One of Israel is in our midst and dwells among us and in us. We are the temples of the Holy Spirit.
To be worthy of this highest honor requires that we be holy. This leads to the second part of this verse: the call to cleanse ourselves from every defilement. The word “cleanse” has a strong ceremonial quality to it, harkening back to the Old Testament and how Israel was to set aside itself from its pagan neighbors and their lifestyles. Israel was to be different. God repeatedly called them to be holy (see Leviticus 19:2). This call is echoed in the New Testament in 1 Peter 1:15-16. Believers make up the new Israel and are commanded to follow the path of holiness. This will require the active decision to forsake the practices of the world. The world is corrupted by sin and driven by a fallen nature seeking to fulfill selfish or self-preserving desires. The flesh is distorted and deceived by this selfishness. This is the opposite of what God wants of us. We are to be loving and not selfish. There are many things that tempt us to compromise holiness. There are outward temptations upon the flesh (sarx in reference to the human body) and spirit (the inner essence of us). The verb “cleanse” is also in the active voice, which means this is a decision we have to make. The Holy Spirit will guide us but we must make the decision. This decision will be the sign of faith. We trust in God for God’s help, and God will help us if we seek him first. There is also no room for compromise because of the word “every” or “all” (pantos). We cannot choose some areas of our lives to be holy and leave out other areas that we like to hide. This is not a call to convenience.
Third, the result of this is sanctification. There are several key words in this last phrase. Epitelountes means the end result or ultimate goal of cleansing ourselves. This is the goal of our lives. This is our motivation to live in holiness. What is our final goal? To be in God’s presence. How will we reach this goal? Only through being sanctified. Hagiosynen is one of the most important words in the whole Bible. This is the goal: to be made holy. The syne ending implies some action, the way we are made holy. We are made holy by fearing God. This is also an Old Testament concept. It refers to honor and worship. If we say we believe in God, we must show this by worshipping God alone. There is also an element of fear in all of this because we see how small, imperfect, sinful, and in need of grace we are. The only response we can give in coming into the presence of God is like Isaiah, who cried, “Woe is me!” This fear will lead to humility and dependence. This is our call, goal, and the reason why we have been created. All of this is made possible because of what Christ has done for us.
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