Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one. I do not say this to condemn you; I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you. I have great confidence in you; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.
What is the promise that we have received? The promise is that we can become God's people and children, and also work together with Him. All of God's abundance in Christ is there at our disposal. Therefore, we must remove all the hindrance in our lives, and dash forward to receive the prize. The hindrance can be something physical, like our habits in life or temptation of lust; it can also be something in our soul, such as our thoughts or feelings. We can ask the Lord to cleanse these hindrances with His precious blood. The Lord's blood can not only cleanse our soul and wash away our sin, it can also cleanse the filthiness in our soul and renew our mind, so that we may please God.
The Corinthian church was unfriendly towards Paul in the beginning, and they even questioned his status as an apostle. They also didn't respect his teaching and they said that "he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing." I believe that Paul must have been hurt to a certain extent, but he didn't let the wound rule his life, but instead he invited Jesus to rule the wounds in his life. The precious blood of Jesus washed Paul's thoughts, mind and feelings clean, and that's why he could reciprocate the Corinthian church with love. Paul said, in verse two of this passage, that "we have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one." Paul could have rebuked them or defended himself with righteous and harsh words, but instead, in verse three he said "I do not say this to condemn you ", and also that "we would live or die with you ". This is such wonderful love! Only those who have been healed by God can unconditionally accept others.
In your life, have you been hurt by others? You may want to defend yourself or blame others and God, but the real problem is that you didn't bring your feelings before God, and let the Lord's precious blood remove all the filthy and vengeful thoughts from your heart and place the spirit of righteousness inside you. Are you willing to bring your feelings before God right now?
Pray with Pastor Tong
Lord, I thank you because you are happy to heal us. May your precious blood cleanse our mind, thoughts, feelings and desires. Let us be filled with your love again and accept all those who have hurt us. May your healing love flow into our hearts. I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!
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