Therefore, beloved, having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
—2 Corinthians 7:1, SV

Based upon 1 Thessalonians 5:23 and Hebrews 4:12, many Bible teachers today strongly affirm that man is a three-part being, “spirit and soul and body,” with the soul and the spirit being two distinct parts of his being. But, if that is the case, why does 2 Corinthians 7:1, quoted above, only refer to the flesh and the spirit, and not to the soul? Some have used this verse as a proof-text to say man is after all a two-part being, with the spirit and the soul being the same thing. (See “From All Defilement of Flesh and Spirit”• Part 1)

In fact, while this verse does not explicitly mention our soul, it does refer to it in an indirect way when it says “let us.” According to the Bible, we are “souls,” who outwardly have a body for contacting the world and who inwardly have a spirit for contacting God. So, Paul here is saying we need to exercise our soul to deal with the things that may defile us either from without or from within. In brief, you do see all three parts of our being involved in what Paul is telling us to do here.

And what is that? To deal with the defilement we encounter in the world around us. What he does not say is that we must deal with the “corruption” within us. That is because we simply are corrupt in our soul, and we can’t change that ourselves; to the extent that work can take place in this age, it must be the work of the Holy Spirit within us (cf. Titus 3:3-5). Any attempt to do that on our own will lead to a works righteousness and, ultimately, complete discouragement.

But what we can indeed do is

…cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (cf. 2 Pet. 1:4).

Outwardly, there are so many worldly influences that seek to act upon us to defile our flesh; this is perhaps more true today than ever before in human history. And in the religious realm there is so much idolatry, atheism, and even direct rebellion against God, that would seek to defile our spirit.

This defilement is what we can and must deal with, according to this verse, if we are to follow the Lord in a healthy way; if we fail to do so, it will end up turning us away from the Lord and corrupting us inwardly even further.

So, we must not be passive in this regard, expecting the Lord to save us from such defilement. Yes, only the Lord Himself can deal with the corruption in our being; that is His responsibility. But, to cleanse ourselves from the defilement we experience as we live our lives day by day in this fallen world is our responsibility, not God’s, and He will not do it for us. Thus, if we truly desire to follow Christ, we ourselves must indeed “cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

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—  16 November 2024 —