Welcome to the In Touch podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, July 31st. 2 Corinthians chapter 6 explains how believers in Jesus can live pure and holy lives regardless of what goes on in the world. Listen closely for three tips for living clean in a dirty world.
Now the question is how Do we live clean in a dirty world?
Well, Paul gives us, I believe, three steps here, three principles, three things that are so very, very important. And I want you to jot them down. I'm going to ask you about them in a few moments. But the first one is this. When we ask the question, how do we live clean in a dirty world?
The basic foundation truth is this: and that is that we as believers must recognize that our true nature. is different from that of the world. Our true nature is different from that of the world. We don't have the same nature that the world has, that is, the society in which we live. It's different.
When you're not trusted, Jesus Christ is their personal Savior. Christ came into our life to live. And the Bible says he gave us a new nature. Therefore, we are expected to act differently, talk differently than we did before we became a Christian. And so, therefore, if we have a new nature, We can expect to live differently than the world is.
And so, what Paul is saying here is. He says, don't be bound. Don't be a part of. Don't get intimately involved in these situations and circumstances and things and organizations because they don't fit who we are, and as the children of God. As the children of God, we ought to separate ourselves from them.
Now that's number one. Number two, listen to what he says. He says, develop personal relationships wisely. That's what he's implying. Look, if you will, in the 17th verse.
He says, Therefore. Come out from among their midst, and be separate, says the Lord, and do not touch what is unclean. And I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.
Now, he's made a very strong statement here when he says, do not be bound together. Don't link yourself up with those things that would cause you to begin to drift. and to begin to act like you are no longer a child of God.
Now, when he says, and when I say here, develop personal relationships wisely. For the simple reason, all of us have relationships, and we'll have relationships all of our life. But the question is, what kind of relationships do we develop? And what Paul is giving us here is a principle. and that is our intimate relationships.
should be with those who know our Master. who follow the principles of the Word of God because that's who we are. And to act otherwise or to link up otherwise with someone intimate in some fashion who is not a believer is to do what? Is to bring a whole different philosophy of life into your life and try to mix darkness and light. Trying to mix the principles of Satan with the principles of Christ, trying to mix things that don't mix and make them mix and they don't mix and they won't mix and therefore they won't work.
You saw, I've got friends who are lost, and I just can't walk away from their friends. I haven't finished. But listen to what he says. You see, he knows us so well. This is why he said this.
Verse 17, Therefore come out from among the midst of them and separate yourself and don't touch unclean things. He said the most powerful thing he could say, the most needed thing God could possibly have said. He said it right then. He said, and I will welcome you and I will be a father to you. And you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord God.
Now, here's what he's saying. If you walk faithfully before me and you live a clean life, you may have to walk away from some friends. You may have to walk away from some people who want you to indulge in. who want you to go with them so-and-so. And if you don't, what do they do?
They turn away. That's why he said this. Since this is so precious, listen, he said, I'll welcome you.
So remember this: whoever turns away from you, listen. You're walking one direction and you have to turn away from them. When you turn around, you know what you're going to do? You're going to walk right into the arms of Jesus. He's the best friend you'll ever have.
He'll meet every single need you'll ever possibly have. He's that kind of God.
So Sometimes it means you have to walk away. What he's stating here is this. Here's the general principle. The general principle is this, because we have a new nature, because we're sons and daughters of God, and because we're walking in one direction, the world's going in another, and because what we believe doesn't match what they believe, because our whole perspective on life is different, we're thinking in terms of eternal values, not temporal values, and because we have an entirely different master to whom we have offered ourselves and yielded ourselves as Lord. He says, we have to be very, very wise.
And what he's doing, he's stating this principle. And that is, don't get involved in a situation or circumstance or relationship with unbelievers. in a fashion that causes you to to contradict. by your behavior and by your attitudes, the very things that you stand for and the things that you live by.
Now, let me tell you what Paul's not saying. He is not saying don't have any contact with unbelievers.
Now, some of you may walk out of here, or you may say, Well, you know, I heard Stanley the other day, and he said that you're not to have any relationship with unbelievers. I didn't say that.
Now, I'm going to show you why I didn't say it in a moment. I didn't say that.
Nowhere does the Bible say, don't have anything to do with unbelievers. It doesn't say that. How in the world would Jesus say, go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creatures, if He didn't mean for us to have relationships with lost people? Because oftentimes it's developing a relationship with the lost person whereby they understand what we believe and who we are and why we act the way we act that brings them to the point of wanting Christ.
So we're not talking about cutting off all relationships. We're not talking about cutting out all contact.
Now, what is he saying to us? He's not saying that you and I should not have any relationship with people who are lost. I mean, wicked and as vile as the devil. Why? Because listen, you and I may be the only hope that person has for Christ.
It is a matter of not being contaminated with them, not having contact. And so that's why we have to work diligently at keeping clean in a dirty world. And these folks who say, well, you've got to join them to win them, the Bible nowhere says that.
Somebody says, well, but Paul says, I must be all things to all people in order to win some. Being all things to all people does not mean indulging in what they indulge in and acting like I believe what I don't believe. But rather understanding where they are. Keeping clean in a dirty world says sometimes I have to walk away. And walking away is: listen, not for the purpose of priding myself that I'm better than.
But for the purpose of separating myself so that I can. Be the kind of godly witness. That my separation from this does not mean that I don't care about you. It must be done wisely, in love, concerned always about the other person. The very purpose of coming to church is to do what is to worship the living God, to learn His ways, to understand the truths of God, to let Him convict us and persuade us and to encourage our hearts, to remind us that the power of the Holy Spirit is available within us.
So that we leave this building, we go out in the world like salt and like light, making a difference in a world of darkness. And when you walk into a room that is full of people who are lost in sin, when you walk in, that room brightens up. It doesn't make any difference what they think, what they say. When you walk in, it brightens up. We're to be wise about our relationships when we walk into darkened rooms.
Darkened business, darkened organizations, whatever it may be, we are to shine. We are to shine for the kingdom of God. But there's some things He will say to us: not that relationship, don't touch that thing, don't be a part of that. And if we're going to live clean in a dirty world, we just have to make some hard decisions. And the problem today is this.
There's so many Christians and so many churches teaching things. Listen, just make it easy. There's not one single verse in the Word of God that says living the Christian life is easy. And the dirtier this world becomes and the more evil it becomes, the more difficult it is going to be for us to walk holy before Almighty God. But listen, the more difficult it becomes, the more valuable every single child of God becomes to God himself.
We are His lights. We are the walking witness. Christ is living on the inside of us. If Christ is living on the inside of you and they want you to shut up from your witness, what they're trying to do is to shut God up. They don't want to hear God coming out of you, they don't want to hear God in your life.
But my friends, you just keep on talking. Keep on telling the truth. Keep on sharing the faith. And keep on living godly before them no matter what. And you know what?
Ultimately, you will conquer or they will pay a horrible price for eternity. And that's why it's worth all of our time, all of our effort, all of our energy, all of the criticism, everything it takes in all of us to bear witness to the glory of God.
So you see, we're not talking about isolation. There's not a single verse in the scripture that says we are to be isolationist. He says, Go into all the world and preach the gospel of every creature. That means the missionaries we're sending out there to other countries who have all kinds of idols. Suppose they said, they walked into some person's home.
I am a Christian. I hate all idolatry. I hate all other religions. All of the religions are anathema. We want you to receive Jesus.
What a joke. They meet him across their backyards and they begin to talk. And that person sees something in this person they've never seen before. They hear something they've never heard before. And what happens?
Before long, that saint of God begins to draw that person who is lost into the light. And when they get them into the light, and the Spirit of God works in their heart and brings about conviction of sin and the reality, the truth of who the one true God is, they've won them to Christ, not because they became like them, but because they shined before them, clean in the eyes of God, and clean before that person. We all get dirty. And therefore, that's why he said: in order to live clean in a dirty world, this is what's necessary. You have to remember.
Who you are, that you have a different nature, and secondly, that you develop wise relationships. The third thing: look at this. And the third thing is all wrapped up in the first verse of the seventh chapter. He says, Having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Now what in the world is he saying? Don't be bound. Look at all the contrast he mentions here. God says, I'm going to be with you. I'm going to be waiting when your friends turn you away.
He says, I'm going to be your father. He said, on the basis of all this, now notice what he says. He didn't say, you all, he said, let us cleanse ourselves. Paul never puts himself above other people as being sinless. There's no such thing as a sinless person.
We're talking about all of us living in a dirty world and attempting to keep clean.
Now, he says this is the third way, not only to develop and realize who I am with a new nature, but secondly, developing wise relationships. But thirdly, he says, here's something that's very important. And that is assuming personal responsibility. for dealing with sin in our life. That's the third step.
If I don't assume personal responsibility for sin in my life, I'm going to blame it on somebody else or blame it on God.
Now, How does this happen?
Well, notice what he says. He says, cleanse. Let us cleanse ourselves.
Somebody says, Well, wait a minute. Doesn't 1 John 1:7 say, We're to walk in the light as He is in the light, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin? Correct. That is, all cleansing and forgiveness is from God. That is, that's the cleansing that has made us holy.
But I also, and you also have a responsibility on a daily basis for dealing with those actions and those attitudes that are ungodly.
Now let's explain something. We're talking about sanctification. Sanctification is not just some biblical theological word that we should ignore. Sanctification means this, a very important word in the Bible. Sanctification means this: that God When he sanctifies something of someone, sets that person apart.
unto himself for himself. Every single one of us who was saved by the grace of God, we were sanctified in that moment. God did what? He set us apart as His own. We had bought with a price.
We become the children of God. He's our Heavenly Father, so we are sanctified. Sanctification is a position. It is the position of being owned by God. It is the position of being made holy by God.
That is our position. We are saints in the eyes of God.
Now, On a day-to-day basis, I have a responsibility. What is that responsibility? He says, cleanse yourselves.
Now, what does he mean by that?
Well, what's involved in cleansing? Two things, confession and repentance. Confession simply means that I agree with God about what He says about what I did or what I thought or what I felt. Repentance is not only confessing and understanding that. But repentance says, on the basis that I understand what he believes about this, I'm going to have a change of mind.
I don't want that in my life because it doesn't fit me. Therefore, repentance is a change of mind, a change of heart, and a change of conduct on the basis of the fact that we agree with God that this does not fit who we are.
So now listen carefully. Confession is what we usually put the emphasis on. But the truth is, just telling God about it is not enough. Because you see, if you keep on doing the same old thing over and over and over again, you're just telling God, telling God, telling God, telling God. I'm sure he must get tired of having us tell him the same thing over and over again.
Repentance means. That not only do I tell him about it, but repentance says, that doesn't fit, and because it doesn't fit, I'm going to do something about it. That is my responsibility to walk away from what is not of God. It isn't enough just to tell him, if I'm going to keep clean in a dirty world, I have my responsibility. His responsibility is forgiveness and cleansing.
My responsibility? Dealing with sin by confession and genuine repentance before God.
Now, let me ask you a question. How often should you cleanse yourselves spiritually? When you sin against God, the Spirit of God, if you're a believer, That quickly, you know, that wasn't right. What you said, what you thought. wasn't right.
So, the conviction comes instantly.
So, think about this. If you say, well, I deal with sin every night before I go to bed. Let me ask you a question. Is the Holy Spirit only. Convict you of sin before you go to bed?
Does he wait till the night time to say, okay, let's look at your account for the day? This morning at 7 o'clock, you blew your lid bad. Or At your business today, here's what happened. He convicts us immediately. When should repentance and confession be exercised?
immediately. Listen, when I'm dirty, I need to deal with the dirt. Not wait at nighttime because you know what? Isn't it amazing how we can forget some things? It's real convenient to forget the dirt.
Or brushing on the rug. And I can remember when I was a kid growing up, my mom on one occasion had me cleaning up, and I was pretty small, and she said, into the dust pan that's over here.
So when you finish, you just... Take it and take it outside.
So my mom was gone.
So I had linodium rugs and I thought, well, I just lifted up that rug. Shoved that stuff right under there and I thought that takes care of that.
Well, it was up there next to the refrigerator, and so When my mom came back of all the places, She walked right across that spot. She said, hmm. What's that? She raised it up. And that was my dirt.
You know I never did that again? Because somehow I thought my mom had this real evil eye that she could look right through that rug and see all the places I dirtied up. What does God want us to do? He wants us to deal with it. He says, cleanse yourself.
Don't try to forget it. Don't try to act like it's not there. He says, cleanse yourselves of these things.
Now, watch this. He says, of the flesh and of the spirit.
Now, watch this. Usually On almost every occasion, Paul uses the term flesh to speak about our naturalness. That is all of us who are saved, we still have the capacity to sin. and we can still be tempted. And so when we yield to temptation, what are we doing?
We are yielding to that naturalness about us. We still have those five senses. And so that's what he's referring to. But on this occasion, what he's referring to are sins of the body, shall we say, physically, outwardly, and inwardly. He's talking about the total personality.
Cleanse yourselves of flesh and spirit.
So when you think in terms of, say, flesh, like drunkenness, or murder, or fornication, or whatever it might be, or spirit, pride and arrogance, and rebellion and jealousy, whatever it might be, he says, cleanse yourselves of those things. And so, while God is in the process of always cleansing us through His blood, we have a responsibility in this dirty world in which we live to deal with those things that don't fit who we are. We're not talking about good conduct. and doing the right thing in order to become holy. but because that is our position, that's because of who we are.
What he's saying here is, cleanse yourselves of these things so that He who is within you, Christ. He will be more evident. He will be more exhibited. He will be more clear to those who are watching and looking at your life.
So we're not cleansing ourselves in order to get forgiven. We're not cleansing ourselves in order to get holy. We are cleansing ourselves and we are taking a spiritual bath continually in order to so remain so clean in the eyes of God that the very person of Jesus Christ who indwells us will be evident and seen by those people around us. How do we live clean in a dirty world? Here's how we live it.
We recognize and acknowledge. We have a whole different nature in the world in which we live. Our environment's different. Secondly, We choose godly relationships. We are wise in our relationships.
The persons, businesses, things, whatever. And thirdly, We assume personal responsibility for our sins. And we deal with them on a daily basis. And we deal with them when they happen. in order that, not to be saved, but because we are.
Not to become children of God, but because we are. Not to become a saint, but because we are one. We deal with those things. It would hinder. our relationship, our enjoyment of God.
And our relationship. And our influence upon people who do not join Jesus Christ as their Savior. How do you keep clean a dirty world? The Spirit of God. convicting, revealing, enabling us.
Always there to forgive. Always there. to make it a reality. Uh Thank you for listening to part two of Living Clean in a Dirty World. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online 24-7 station.
And if you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.
