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2 Corinthians 6:18  (King James Version)
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<< 2 Corinthians 6:17   2 Corinthians 7:1 >>


2 Corinthians 6:14-18

Idolatry has an impact on later generations, and so it matters a great deal if we associate closely with idolaters. Children learn by example, and if their parents set the example that physical objects have excessive importance, then their children will pass down the same values. When we socialize with idolaters, we share in their ways. If we are not careful, we may also begin to share their idols.

Martin G. Collins
The Second Commandment



2 Corinthians 6:16-18

This principle clearly covers the care of our bodies. In an overall sense, our stewardship is not merely to labor not to destroy the established relationship but to improve it. Good health is extremely valuable. Even though one can overcome poor health in one's vanity, of greater importance is that good health promotes the strengthening of the relationship. This is so because it is bound within the sanctification process. It is tied directly to growing, overcoming, purifying one's life, avoiding the pitfalls of life, living the abundant life, as well as to our witness before the world in glorifying God.

We can undertake a great deal of serious effort in keeping ourselves from committing sins like idolatry, fornication, adultery, lying, or stealing, while virtually ignoring the physical care of the body itself. Oftentimes, we do this by being ignorant of the responsibility or foolishly thinking that maintaining or improving our health is of little concern. The younger among us may find it helpful to ask someone older—one whose health is deteriorating or who has had to deal with poor health much of his life—how important having good health throughout life is. In no way should this reduce our efforts to overcome spiritual weaknesses, but it should encourage us to add another area of overcoming that will glorify God.

Genesis 2:15 says, "Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend [dress, KJV] and keep it." Dressing and keeping is an overall responsibility for everyone in what we are to do with life. It applies to life's spiritual and physical aspects. We are to begin where we are and cultivate, embellish, and encourage growth, while at the same time preserving, guarding, and protecting through maintenance from decay and deterioration.

A direct line connects this concept and Jesus' instruction in the Parable of the Unjust Steward. The spiritual level is more important, but God wants faithfulness in the physical level also because both are inextricably bound in yielding to Him in the building of character. Both require study, meditation, and setting goals, as well as consistent, faithful application. We do both to glorify Him.

Unfortunately, some will not do what is necessary for success, perhaps because of ignorance of their responsibility. Others know but lack the character or the sense of responsibility. Some spend their time rationalizing and justifying the way they are or proclaim to themselves and others that they are victims of the system and have no way out. Nevertheless, God is in heaven, and He is the way out.

Eating is a major part of life, as substantiated by the Bible's 700 references to it. The abundant life that Jesus proclaims He wants all to lead hinges upon what we eat spiritually and physically. We must make a major effort to feed our minds and bodies with the best nutrition available, if we desire good spiritual and physical health.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Eating: How Good It Is! (Part One)



2 Corinthians 6:16-18

As the spiritual temple of God, as God's sons and daughters, we have a duty to make ourselves as "clean," "pure," or "holy" as possible. This "perfecting holiness" includes all areas of life, not just the spiritual. Paul makes an unmistakable distinction between flesh and spirit (II Corinthians 7:1) only two verses after he paraphrases Isaiah 52:11: "Do not touch what is unclean."

Staff
Clean and Unclean Meats



2 Corinthians 6:14-18

Spiritually, this passage is every bit as stringent as Deuteronomy 7:1-5, and the reasons are the same: We are holy. Our holiness must be protected from contamination, perfected through the relationship with God (not with this world), and growing in living God's way of life. Paul's words are a stern warning not to get close to the world.

Paul asks five rhetorical questions in these verses to show that God's way has nothing in common with the world. Nothing! In verse 17, Paul quotes Isaiah 52:11, showing that our acceptance by God depends upon obedience, which is loyalty to Him. His statement about cleansing ourselves shows a continuous action. It is not written in Greek as it appears here in English. If it would have been translated as Paul wrote it, the verse would show that cleansing ourselves is a responsibility that must be carried out every day!

Two of God's festivals are devoted to reminding us of this responsibility, one in the spring and one in the fall. At Passover, in the spring, we partake of footwashing; we are to have our feet washed once a year because we become symbolically dirty as we walk through life. We do not always walk as we should, so we must be cleansed. How long do you think it would take for us to begin forgetting such things if we no longer kept Passover and its ritual of washing one another's feet?

Every fall, before we keep the Feast of Tabernacles, we experience another cleansing on the Day of Atonement, the internal cleansing of a fast, which is what a fast does to a body physically. It begins to dump its garbage through the bowels and the urinary tract. Every cell in the body begins to work in reverse and cast off the garbage within them.

It is interesting that at Passover, the symbol is external, but on Atonement the symbol is internal. Keeping ourselves clean is important to God; He gives us reminders to do so twice a year! He wants us clean on the outside and on the inside. He wants us clean in what we believe, and He wants us clean in our external conduct. Our hearts must be cleansed as does our behavior.

Thus, II Corinthians 7:1 indicates a daily cleansing, a daily repentance. Paul writes in I Corinthians 15:31, "I die daily." This daily dying to sin—cleaning up his act, as we say—is what he meant.

John W. Ritenbaugh
New Covenant Priesthood (Part Two)




Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing 2 Corinthians 6:18:

Proverbs 8:13
Isaiah 57:15
Mark 1:23
Luke 4:33
John 9:2-3
Colossians 1:12-13
James 1:6-8

 

<< 2 Corinthians 6:17   2 Corinthians 7:1 >>



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