Cleansing

 Cleansing 

"Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." - 2Corinthians 7:1 

What are these promises?

"… I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." - 2Corinthians 6:17b-18.

If we turn our back on sin, separating ourselves from it, Jesus will receive us. We will become sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty! 

When we hate the sin we committed, sorry that we did it, committing ourselves to not do it again, this is repentance.

Jesus paid the price of our sins when He suffered and died on a cross, giving His life for us.

We claim what He did for us when we are baptized by immersion in His name, “Jesus.” When we are baptized in the name of Jesus, His blood washes away all of our sins. Our old sinful life is buried with Him in baptism.

Because we have repented of our sins,  and  have been baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of our sins, Jesus promises the gift of His Spirit, the Holy Ghost. 

When we allow God to completely fill us with His Spirit, He will change our words of praise and thanksgiving into another language which we have not learned. The Bible calls this speaking in tongues.

When we are full of the Holy Ghost, we have power to overcome temptation. The Spirit of God leads us in the path we should go. With temptations, He makes a way of escape from it that we can choose to take.

If we stumble and sin, we can ask Jesus for forgiveness, applying His blood to our sin from our baptism in His name Jesus and purposing to be more careful, wise, and determined next time so that we can keep from stumbling.

When we are faithful to “assemble ourselves together” (going to church), we can hear the anointed preaching of the Word of God by a preacher that is called, baptized in the name of Jesus, and filled with the Holy Ghost.

The preaching of the Word of God is to perfect (mature) us, getting us ready to meet Jesus when He calls for His Bride. 

As we hear the Word of God, we apply it to our life, cleansing ourselves by committing to make changes that will be pleasing to God, making us more like Him, day by day.

(2Corinthians 6:17-18, 2Corinthians 7:10 [NLT], Matthew 26:28, Revelation 1:5, Romans 6:4, Acts 2:38-39, Acts 2:4, 11, Acts 1:8, 1Corinthians 10:13, Hebrews 10:25 [NLT], Romans 10:15, Ephesians 4:11-13, Ephesians 5:27, Acts 22:16).