July 7, 2025 • 26 mins
A single verse in the Bible holds the power to completely reset your spiritual life. In this deeply reflective episode, Pastors Jim and Lee unpack the transformative message of 2 Corinthians 7:1, revealing a three-step approach to spiritual renewal that can change everything about how you walk with God.
What does it truly mean to "cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit"? The pastors address this challenging question with refreshing honesty and practical wisdom. Rather than offering quick fixes or surface-level solutions, they dig into the heart of what motivates lasting spiritual change - God's unwavering promises to us.
"You don't need a better you; you simply need a new you." This powerful distinction cuts through the self-improvement mentality that plagues many Christians. The conversation tackles common misconceptions about spiritual growth, particularly the idea that we must clean ourselves up before coming to God. As Pastor Lee emphasizes, "We don't clean up first and then get saved. We clean up because we are saved."
One of the most illuminating segments explores what it means to fear God with reverence rather than terror. Using the analogy of a parent-child relationship, the pastors paint a picture of healthy spiritual reverence that motivates us not out of dread of punishment, but from a deep desire not to disappoint the One who loves us perfectly.
Whether you're struggling with setting boundaries in relationships that pull you away from God, battling habitual sin, or simply seeking a deeper connection with your Heavenly Father, this episode offers a blueprint for spiritual renewal grounded in God's promises. Take the first step today toward bringing "holiness to completion in the fear of God."
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the podcast that takes
you deeper into the Word of Godthroughout your week with your
hosts, Pastors Lee and Jim.
It's time to inspire, upliftand dig deeper.
Beyond Sunday starts now.
Welcome back to Beyond Sunday.
(00:25):
It's Pastor Jim.
I'm here with Pastor Lee andtoday we're going to be getting
into a sort of a spiritual resetbutton for our lives.
2 Corinthians, chapter 7, verse1.
We're going to be in 2Corinthians, chapter 7, verse 1.
I'm here today with Pastor Lee,as always.
How you doing, brother?
What's going on, Pastor Jim?
How are you Doing?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
well, doing very, very well.
Yeah, man, I'm excited aboutthis topic.
Paul is writing to the churchit's not just for the Church of
Corinth, but it's also for thechurch today and really looking
forward to digging in and seeinghow we can apply this text to
our lives.
Right now, as you mentioned, itis a spiritual reset and I know
(01:05):
you're about to get into ithere with the intro this morning
to kind of preset what allwe're going to get into.
So I'm not going to steal anythunder there, but it is
definitely something to tune in.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Listen to the entire episode and you'll be glad you
did, absolutely and it's goingto be a little bit different
because usually I think this isgoing to be the first episode
where we're really looking at asfar as the main text, being
just one verse 2 Corinthians 7,verse 1 says this Since we have
these promises beloved, let uscleanse ourselves from every
(01:37):
defilement of the body andspirit, bringing holiness to
completion in the fear of God.
This is powerful because thismessage right here is a call for
us to clean up our lives, andwe don't do that out of guilt,
but we do it because of God'samazing promises and a reverence
that we have for Him.
(01:57):
I love where it says since wehave these promises, we're going
to get into what those promisesare.
But before we get into that, Ido want to just say, while I
agree that it is a powerful callto clean up our lives, this is
speaking to the Christian.
This is not to the person whohas yet to experience Christ in
their life.
This is not to the person who'syet to secure their salvation
(02:21):
right, because we do not have todo anything to clean up our
lives prior to accepting Christto transform our lives.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yeah, because we can never do it on our own.
The only way we can clean up iswith Christ in our life.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Yeah, and I think you allude to it a lot when you
talk about this on Sundays, whenyou say it's like taking a
shower or getting cleaned upbefore you get in the shower.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah, yeah, it doesn't make sense.
No one cleans off and then getsinto the shower.
We get into the shower tobecome clean.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
I just want to break down three specific steps that
we can kind of live this verseout in our life as we go through
the rest of this podcast.
And that's going to be thesethree things and we'll get into
them moving forward.
But the first thing is this weneed to root ourselves in God's
promises.
Again, we're going to get intowhat those promises are in just
a minute, but we need to rootourselves in God's promises.
That's got to be step one.
(03:11):
We have to identify what isdefiling us, what is bad or
sinful in our life.
We have to be sure that dailywe're identifying the things
that are wrong inside of us.
And then the second thing, orthe third thing we need to do is
we need to pursue holiness withreverence.
Yeah, all right.
That last part of the text sayswe need to be bringing holiness
(03:34):
to completion in the fear ofGod.
So those are the three thingsthat I want to look at as we
move forward in the text.
What do you got going on,pastor Lee?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Yeah, I think if the listeners are taking notes the
three words they can write down,which are the three steps
promises, cleansing and holiness.
And, pastor Jim, if we can, I'dlike to begin with the
cleansing and holiness piecefirst and just to throw this
reference out there 2Corinthians 6, verses 14 through
half of the 16th verse.
So 2 Corinthians 6, 14 through16, says this Paul writes so 2
(04:03):
Corinthians 6, 14 through 16,says this Paul writes Do not be
unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what partnership has
righteousness with lawlessness?
Or what fellowship has lightwith darkness?
What accord has Christ withBelial?
Or what portion does a believershare with an unbeliever?
What agreement has the templeof God with idols?
For we are the temple of theliving God.
(04:27):
So we begin with the main text,pastor Jim, being 2 Corinthians
7.1, but it pretty much is acontinuation of what I just
referenced in 2 Corinthians6.14-16.
So this could be a really hardthing for some people to kind of
get a hold of and digest.
It could be a really hard thingfor some people to kind of get
a hold of and digest.
It could be a really hard thingfor some people to do the
(04:49):
actual tearing away and theseparating from people who pull
you down, who lead you back intoyour old lifestyle that can be
really difficult to tear awayfrom those people.
Why?
Because those are the peoplethat you've done life with for
so long prior to being saved,prior to saying, hey, I'm going
to go to church, I'm going tolive for Christ, I'm going to
walk in the righteousness thatGod has for me to walk in
(05:10):
through Christ.
Those are the people that havebeen there through the ups,
through the downs, through thethick through the thin.
Those are the people that maybehad addiction along with your
addiction.
You walk through addictionstogether and you feel like you
just cannot give up on them.
So what does this text in 2Corinthians 7-1 mean when it's
calling me to separate, whenit's calling me to walk in
(05:32):
righteousness?
What does it mean when it'scalling me to do these three
steps?
Can I just say that pullingaway from the people that have
torn you down or held you downfor so long from receiving
victory in Christ?
Can I say that tearing away, ifthat's what you want to call it
, it doesn't mean that you'regiving up on them.
You just choose to not do whatthey're doing or hang out around
(05:54):
them as they're acting out intheir foolishness and their sin
as well, as you now have themission to present to them Jesus
Christ that has saved your soul, and let them know that Jesus
can change their lives, justlike he changed ours.
So once we get saved and we'rewalking with Jesus as Lord and
Savior, we have to remember thatthe power of sin has been
(06:16):
broken and we no longer have toobey any temptation.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
And sometimes I think that if we don't do that daily,
it could creep up on us.
So that's why I think that it'simportant for us every single
day to identify the things thatwe have going on in our life and
we ask the Holy Spirit tocleanse us of these things.
Right, Paul talks about everydefilement of body and spirit,
and I'm glad that you brought up1 Corinthians, chapter 6,
(06:43):
because Paul goes prettyin-depth with this.
For the body, that could meanthings like sexual sin,
unhealthy habits or anythingthat dishonors your body as
God's temple.
So you can think spirit, thinkpride, envy, bitterness,
anything that's clogging up ourhearts.
(07:03):
Right, I can confess, and I'mwilling to confess in front of
you and all of the peoplelistening, man, I've wrestled
with frustration or patience,lack of patience, getting short
with my family, sometimes whenI'm stressed out or when things
are just bombarding me fromevery direction.
But that is a defilement that Ineed to consecrate myself to
every single day.
(07:23):
I got to deal with that.
I got to deal with beingcynical at times.
I have to deal with being angryat times.
The truth is as Paul defines it,that is, defilement of the
Spirit.
Psalms 139, 23, and 24 is anamazing prayer that helps me
daily.
Search me, O God, and know myheart, Try me and know my
thoughts.
(07:43):
And I think that if we trypraying like that every single
day and being cognizant of thesethings you know, maybe you're
doing it with a journal or atrusted friend, or your wife or
your spouse, your husband spotwhat's tripping you up every
single day.
And it's really like checkingyour car's engine light, you
know, like if that thing comeson, we see the problem.
We have to fix it.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Yeah, let's talk about the piece about our
friends and family that wecannot be equally yoked with.
Let's talk about that for aminute, because again it doesn't
.
Man, I've had people say, well,I don't want to give up on
so-and-so, you know, we've beenbest friends forever.
Or hey, that's my family.
(08:30):
How do I just walk out on them?
And again, the Word of God isnot calling us to do that.
It changes our mission.
So, rather than beingdestructive with them, we, now
that we're saved in Christ, aretrying to lead them out of
destruction themselves on theroad that they're heading down.
So our mission changes.
Right, we go from beingfailures to victors as we come
to Christ, and we have totestify, we have to share
(08:50):
testimony on what Christ hasdone with us.
So it's not that we give up onthese people.
Again the mission changes andnow we're trying to lead these
people to Christ like someonehas led us to Christ.
So this is a big deal, becausea believer's new pursuit in life
, after being saved, it shouldbe a life of holiness.
This is why Jesus says that wemust be born again.
(09:11):
If we want to get to glory, ifwe want to spend eternity with
God, we've got to be born again.
So a life of holiness.
This is all about making theright choices.
Pastor Jim and I read somethingthe other day and it said this
it just it blew me away.
It was so good.
You don't need a better you,you simply need a new you.
So many times we try to do lifeby our own personal strengths.
(09:33):
Right, I'm going to get up, I'mgoing to be better today, right
, even as Christians we canstruggle with this as well.
But in my own strength, if I'mnot careful, I can get caught up
in the flow of the day and tryto be a better dad, try to be a
better husband, try to be abetter friend, a better brother
in Christ.
But I just want to say thatnone of that is going to be
(09:55):
accomplished fully to the degreethat it needs to as long as I'm
doing it out of my own personalstrength.
Sooner or later I'm going tofail at every one of those
positions because I'm set outand determined to do it my own
way, my own plan, my ownstrength.
So if you're out there todayand you're thinking that you
need a better you, we've allbeen there before, myself
(10:17):
included.
No, we don't need a better us.
We need a new us.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Yeah, and it kind of goes back to the beginning of
the text when the Word sayssince we have these promises and
speaking of what those promisesare, we said we were going to
get into it.
Paul says since we have thesepromises, and speaking of what
those promises are, we said wewere going to get into it.
Paul says since we have thesepromises and he was pointing to
where you brought up, chapter 6of 2 Corinthians, where God says
I'm going to be their God,they're going to be my people,
all right, and I will be afather to you.
That's the game changer.
That is at what point we say,okay, well, since we have that
(10:48):
promise, the promise that Godsays I'm going to be with you,
he's adopted us as his kids.
We now have eternal lifethrough Jesus.
We're not the same, we arecompletely different.
And if we try to rely on theold us with this new promise in
mind, it doesn't work.
The math don't math.
We have to realize andsurrender who we were,
understand that our identity isnow new and because it's new,
(11:10):
our source of strength is Him.
And once we identify that man,all of what you just said just
like Paul says, since then wehave those promises becomes
easier and easier for us to do 2Corinthians 7.1 says let us
cleanse ourselves.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Listen closely to what I'm about to say.
Let us cleanse ourselves.
Listen closely to what I'mabout to say, friends, because
this is huge.
We don't clean up, as wereferenced in the very beginning
.
We don't clean up first andthen get saved.
We clean up because we aresaved.
Amen, pastor Jim Amen, that's agood word.
We clean up because we aresaved.
(11:51):
So many times I've heard peoplesay I'll start coming to church
when I get better, when I stopdoing the bad things I'm doing,
as if they feel they need to getright in order to come to God.
And, my friends, it's like wereferenced earlier that way of
thanking is like thanking youneed to clean up first before
getting into the shower.
It's crazy thoughts.
It is your walk with JesusChrist that cleanses you and we
have to make decision every daythat keeps us clean.
(12:14):
We've got to make that decision.
I'm going to walk with Jesustoday and that's going to make
me clean.
You know and this is thecommand you know, 2 Corinthians
7, 1, let us cleanse ourselves.
I got something to do with thatNow.
Yes, I cannot get clean withoutJesus, but I have to choose.
I have to choose to let Jesusand the Holy Spirit of God in me
(12:37):
do a work in me.
The temple of God is what ourbody is, is what Paul tells us.
I've got to choose to wantChrist to do a work in me, and
then I also have personalresponsibility that I want to
remain clean.
So no, I'm not going to godabble with those people while
they're doing that.
I'm not going to go dabble inmy old sin.
I'm not going to go stand infront of temptation and just
(13:00):
gawk at it with my eyes.
I'm choosing to remain clean.
Colossians 3, 12 through 14 saysput on, then, as God's chosen
ones.
And I want to remind you todayif you're a child of God, you're
a chosen one, and those whohaven't come to Christ that may
be listening.
God wants you to come to Christand be part of the flock of God
(13:22):
, and you too are a chosen one.
So again, colossians 3, 12through 14 says put on, then, as
God's chosen ones, holy andbeloved.
Put on compassionate hearts,kindness, humility, meekness and
patience, bearing with oneanother and, if one has a
complaint against another,forgiving each other.
(13:42):
As the Lord has forgiven you,so you also must forgive.
And above all these put on lovewhich binds everything together
in perfect harmony.
Pastor Jim, before I throw itover to you, man, I just want to
reference the fact that thereare a lot of Christians that
simply do not understand thatthey are God's chosen ones.
(14:05):
They fall in the mud hole ofsin, they fall in the mud hole
of temptation, simply becausethey don't feel good enough,
they don't feel worthy enough.
And the truth is without Christwe're not.
We're not, but we have too manyChristians out there, and even
if it was just one, that's toomany.
We've got too many Christiansout there that don't understand
(14:26):
that they are chosen by God.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Yeah, and if that's you listening right now and
you're saying, pastor, it's hard.
It's hard to remember that I'mchosen by God, it's hard to
remember that I've beentransformed, because it's very
easy to go back into what we'reused to, what that just tells me
I need to get used to somethingdifferent.
Yeah, and these promises fromGod, they should be our anchor
(14:50):
to do that.
It should give us theconfidence, because when you say
, man, it's really hard to dothat all that tells me is that
you're lacking the confidence totrust in the anchor which is
God's promise.
And so the anchor of God'spromise to you is that it should
give you confidence, pursuingto pursue the holiness, because
God's already told us he'scommitted to us, he's going to
(15:11):
told us he's committed to us,he's going to strengthen us,
he's going to finish what hestarted in us.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
How beautiful is it what you just said?
Like God is already committedto us.
Yeah, I mean, he didn't sendhis son down here to die on the
cross for no reason.
Right, you talk about theultimate commitment factor.
Man, like I think Christiansneed to remember who they are,
(15:38):
who they are and where they are,and what victory we have when
we realize the God of heaven.
And earth.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
He's committed to us.
That's huge, yeah.
And I don't look at the Bibleas like it's about me, because
it's absolutely not about me oranybody else.
It's about God, period.
But I look at the Bible like aletter from God, as a promise to
stand by us no matter what, andit's that kind of assurance
that the Word of God offers methat makes me want to, and it
(16:01):
should make everybody want to,live up to what God's promises
are God's promises, or Godpromises to do the same things,
and they should motivate us toclean up our house spiritually.
They should motivate us not toearn His love—we already have
it—but it should motivate us towant to live and strive for
(16:21):
righteousness, for holiness.
So the third thing I want totalk about is this pursuit of
holiness with reverence for God.
Right, the verse that we arediscussing ends with bringing
holiness to completion in thefear of God.
That phrase, fear of God, it'snot about being scared.
You know, when I first cameinto my walk, I always thought,
(16:45):
man, why do I have to be scaredof God?
I didn't get that.
But it's not being scared likefearful.
It's this awe, this reverencefor His holiness and for His
love.
And holiness means growing to bemore like Jesus day by day, and
it happens through spiritualhabits.
We have to begin to do thingsthat work towards that goal.
(17:08):
Prayer, philippians 4, teachesus right Prayer brings peace.
Studying Scripture, psalms 119,says to keep sin at bay.
And community, like Hebrewssays we encourage one another.
So it's when we take the Wordof God and we begin to apply it
to our life that it helps us tomove towards holiness, this
(17:29):
day-by-day process of gettingmore and more righteous, not by
our own strength, but onlythrough the mercy and the grace
of the blood of Jesus.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
I think, man, if there were two words that I
would want the listeners towrite down in their notes today,
it would be new mission,because everything that you're
saying is referencing to thatterm that I mentioned earlier on
in this episode new mission.
We've got a new mission,because everything that you're
saying is referencing to thatterm that I mentioned earlier on
in this episode new mission,we've got a new mission.
Every day I wake up, which iswhat you were just referencing,
right there.
This is so good, right, I wantto look more like God today than
(18:02):
I did yesterday.
Absolutely, I want to drawcloser, and the closer we draw
to God, the more we're going tolook like God.
You know, the more time youspend with someone, the more
habits of those of that personthat you can pick up right, the
more you'll start sounding likethem and maybe acting like them,
talking like them.
So, the more time we spend withGod, the more we're going to
look like God.
I'd like to move on, if it'sgood with you, pastor Jim, to
(18:25):
the promises.
Yeah, um, if you're takingnotes, reference this one down.
It's 2 Corinthians 1, verse 20.
Pastor Jim was just talkingabout promises, so I really want
to push into this.
2 Corinthians 1, verse 20 saysFor all the promises of God find
their yes in him.
That is why it is through himthat we utter our amen to God
(18:50):
for his glory.
All the promises of God findtheir yes in him, amen.
And that's why it's soimportant to get into the word
of God, so that we can see whatthe promises of God are for our
lives.
So, pastor Jim, as we get intothe promises that 2 Corinthians
7-1 is referencing, thosepromises are actually found the
reference is to just before thatin the text in 2 Corinthians 6,
(19:13):
16 through 18.
And this is what Paul writesregarding those promises.
God said I will make mydwelling among them and walk
among them, and I will be theirGod, and they should be my
people.
Therefore, go out from theirmidst and be separate from them,
says the Lord, and touch nounclean thing.
Then I will welcome you and Iwill be a father to you and you
(19:34):
shall be sons and daughters.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
That sounds a whole lot like setting boundaries.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Yeah, so that's another thing that we could
write down, along with newmission, is new boundaries, new
habits.
New habits Because, as we cometo Christ and we are choosing to
do what he wants us to do,there are new parameters, there
are new boundaries set, thereare new instructions given to us
(20:03):
through the word that we usedto not follow and adhere to
prior to coming to Christ.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Because we have this reverence for God now.
You know, 1 Peter says be holy,for I am holy.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Yeah, it's a reverence, it's a fear, a fear
of God.
Someone just reached out to meyesterday true story and they
had a great question.
They were like look, I'm reallystruggling with what the fear
of God is in my own personallife.
And this individual said he wasso honest.
He says am I just fearful ofGod because I don't want to go
(20:34):
to hell, or am I fearful for Godthe way that I truly should be
fearful for God?
He said I'm strugglingunderstanding the difference
between the two.
And I said well, look at itlike this Now that I'm saved, I
know I'm saved.
I know I'm going to spendeternity with my father, so I do
not not sin simply because I'mfearful that if I sin I'm going
(20:57):
to hell.
I know I'm not going to hellbecause I'm saved through grace
and the finished work of Christdid on the cross for me.
Fear of God for me, pastor Jim,is because I'm saved.
Fear of God for me is I'm notgoing to sin because I don't
want to fall short of the gloryof God.
Now, I know we all sin and fallshort of the glory of God, but
that fear is a healthy fear forme.
(21:18):
It's a reverent fear for me,because I don't want to miss the
mark.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
So I don't fear the consequence, right, I fear
letting down, letting God down.
That's where I'm at.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Because when I sin, that's me being disobedient.
When I sin, that's me doingopposite of what my Father tells
me to do.
So for the fear there for me isyou're exactly right.
I don't want to end up doingsomething that my Father said do
not do.
I have a fear, a healthy fear,a reverent fear with my Heavenly
(21:49):
Father of this point.
I don't want to do somethingthat my Heavenly Father has told
me not to do.
And yes, there can beconsequences to sin.
You know there can beconsequences.
We see that all throughoutScripture.
There can be consequences tosin, but praise God that we have
an opportunity to repent and bythe blood of Jesus we are
forgiven.
But what we cannot do is getinto this habitual sin, because
(22:12):
habitual sin, according to theWord of God, there is no
sacrifice left for that.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Yeah, I think about my son.
You know, as you were talkingabout, what it looks like to
fear God in a healthy, reverentway.
You know my son, if he—I don'tever want him to disobey me.
I don't ever want him to dosomething that's wrong that I
will have to correct.
Obviously that's not somethingthat I want, but I also think
(22:40):
about it like this If he does dosomething that is disobedient,
or if he does fall short in whatI've asked him to do, the last
response I want from him is toshake in the corner, scared of
what I may do, what I wouldrather see.
And again I'll repeat this Idon't want him to fail.
Obviously I don't want him tobe disobedient, but a healthy
fear of who I am as his dadshould be slumped shoulders in a
(23:02):
way that says man, I've let mydad down, I know I wasn't
supposed to do that and I did itright.
And there's a differencebetween letting me down and
there's a difference betweencowering in the corner because
I'm going to crack the whip.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Yeah yeah, the promise is mentioned in 2
Corinthians, chapter 6, 6through 18.
What I see in these promises isGod saying to his people I will
be your God, but remember youshall be my people, and there's
a major responsibility there.
Are we living life like God?
(23:35):
Is our God and we are hispeople?
Are we setting ourselves apartor are we still looking like the
world?
Have we died to self and sin,or do we still dip our toes into
those old waters every once ina while because we've not yet
separated ourselves from thoseold habits?
Speaker 1 (23:52):
He's already made us his children.
So now what we need to do islive in a way that reflects him.
When I mess up and trust me, Ido I lean on the word where he
says he saved us by the washingof regeneration and the renewal
of the Holy Spirit.
God's grace is what keeps usmoving forward, and because we
have that, we should lookdifferent.
(24:12):
So this week, take one step tocleanse your life.
Pray just a little bit longerand pray like this God what is
defiling my heart, Confess whatcomes up, Because confessing
what James says, confessing to afriend, can bring healing right
.
We can replace one negativeinfluence.
(24:32):
Maybe we don't do some mindlessscrolling.
We'd be intentional aboutchanging things in our life.
Maybe we do something uplifting.
Maybe it's listening to worship, Maybe listening to a solid
Christian podcast I've heard ofone, Beyond Sunday.
You know, maybe you listen tothat a few episodes of that.
We need to hold on to God'spromises, because that's your
(24:55):
strength, that's your anchor,and remember that you're not
alone and the Holy Spirit isworking in and through you.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Yeah, I want to remind you all of what Paul
wrote at the end of 2Corinthians 7.
That's been our theme verse fortoday, but towards the end of
it, I just want to remind youthat by doing these things, it
brings holiness to completion inour lives.
Think about that.
The holiness of God can becompleted in your life because
(25:24):
of what Jesus Christ has donefor you and what the Holy Spirit
of God living in you is tryingto do every moment of every day.
Let's pray, father.
I thank you for these listeners.
I thank you for your word, god.
I thank you that your HolySpirit gives us the ability to
walk in your word with power,might, strength.
We thank you for the knowledgeand the wisdom that you give us,
(25:45):
father.
So, lord, we just proclaim thisday, we just proclaim it for
you, we proclaim the name andthe blood of Jesus over our
lives and our ministries, and weask all this in Jesus Christ's
name and blood.
Everybody said together Amen.
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the podcast that takes
you deeper into the Word of Godthroughout your week with your
hosts, Pastors Lee and Jim.
It's time to inspire, upliftand dig deeper.
Beyond Sunday starts now.
Welcome back to Beyond Sunday.
(00:25):
It's Pastor Jim.
I'm here with Pastor Lee andtoday we're going to be getting
into a sort of a spiritual resetbutton for our lives.
2 Corinthians, chapter 7, verse1.
We're going to be in 2Corinthians, chapter 7, verse 1.
I'm here today with Pastor Lee,as always.
How you doing, brother?
What's going on, Pastor Jim?
How are you Doing?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
well, doing very, very well.
Yeah, man, I'm excited aboutthis topic.
Paul is writing to the churchit's not just for the Church of
Corinth, but it's also for thechurch today and really looking
forward to digging in and seeinghow we can apply this text to
our lives.
Right now, as you mentioned, itis a spiritual reset and I know
(01:05):
you're about to get into ithere with the intro this morning
to kind of preset what allwe're going to get into.
So I'm not going to steal anythunder there, but it is
definitely something to tune in.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Listen to the entire episode and you'll be glad you
did, absolutely and it's goingto be a little bit different
because usually I think this isgoing to be the first episode
where we're really looking at asfar as the main text, being
just one verse 2 Corinthians 7,verse 1 says this Since we have
these promises beloved, let uscleanse ourselves from every
(01:37):
defilement of the body andspirit, bringing holiness to
completion in the fear of God.
This is powerful because thismessage right here is a call for
us to clean up our lives, andwe don't do that out of guilt,
but we do it because of God'samazing promises and a reverence
that we have for Him.
(01:57):
I love where it says since wehave these promises, we're going
to get into what those promisesare.
But before we get into that, Ido want to just say, while I
agree that it is a powerful callto clean up our lives, this is
speaking to the Christian.
This is not to the person whohas yet to experience Christ in
their life.
This is not to the person who'syet to secure their salvation
(02:21):
right, because we do not have todo anything to clean up our
lives prior to accepting Christto transform our lives.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yeah, because we can never do it on our own.
The only way we can clean up iswith Christ in our life.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Yeah, and I think you allude to it a lot when you
talk about this on Sundays, whenyou say it's like taking a
shower or getting cleaned upbefore you get in the shower.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Yeah, yeah, it doesn't make sense.
No one cleans off and then getsinto the shower.
We get into the shower tobecome clean.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
I just want to break down three specific steps that
we can kind of live this verseout in our life as we go through
the rest of this podcast.
And that's going to be thesethree things and we'll get into
them moving forward.
But the first thing is this weneed to root ourselves in God's
promises.
Again, we're going to get intowhat those promises are in just
a minute, but we need to rootourselves in God's promises.
That's got to be step one.
(03:11):
We have to identify what isdefiling us, what is bad or
sinful in our life.
We have to be sure that dailywe're identifying the things
that are wrong inside of us.
And then the second thing, orthe third thing we need to do is
we need to pursue holiness withreverence.
Yeah, all right.
That last part of the text sayswe need to be bringing holiness
(03:34):
to completion in the fear ofGod.
So those are the three thingsthat I want to look at as we
move forward in the text.
What do you got going on,pastor Lee?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Yeah, I think if the listeners are taking notes the
three words they can write down,which are the three steps
promises, cleansing and holiness.
And, pastor Jim, if we can, I'dlike to begin with the
cleansing and holiness piecefirst and just to throw this
reference out there 2Corinthians 6, verses 14 through
half of the 16th verse.
So 2 Corinthians 6, 14 through16, says this Paul writes so 2
(04:03):
Corinthians 6, 14 through 16,says this Paul writes Do not be
unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what partnership has
righteousness with lawlessness?
Or what fellowship has lightwith darkness?
What accord has Christ withBelial?
Or what portion does a believershare with an unbeliever?
What agreement has the templeof God with idols?
For we are the temple of theliving God.
(04:27):
So we begin with the main text,pastor Jim, being 2 Corinthians
7.1, but it pretty much is acontinuation of what I just
referenced in 2 Corinthians6.14-16.
So this could be a really hardthing for some people to kind of
get a hold of and digest.
It could be a really hard thingfor some people to kind of get
a hold of and digest.
It could be a really hard thingfor some people to do the
(04:49):
actual tearing away and theseparating from people who pull
you down, who lead you back intoyour old lifestyle that can be
really difficult to tear awayfrom those people.
Why?
Because those are the peoplethat you've done life with for
so long prior to being saved,prior to saying, hey, I'm going
to go to church, I'm going tolive for Christ, I'm going to
walk in the righteousness thatGod has for me to walk in
(05:10):
through Christ.
Those are the people that havebeen there through the ups,
through the downs, through thethick through the thin.
Those are the people that maybehad addiction along with your
addiction.
You walk through addictionstogether and you feel like you
just cannot give up on them.
So what does this text in 2Corinthians 7-1 mean when it's
calling me to separate, whenit's calling me to walk in
(05:32):
righteousness?
What does it mean when it'scalling me to do these three
steps?
Can I just say that pullingaway from the people that have
torn you down or held you downfor so long from receiving
victory in Christ?
Can I say that tearing away, ifthat's what you want to call it
, it doesn't mean that you'regiving up on them.
You just choose to not do whatthey're doing or hang out around
(05:54):
them as they're acting out intheir foolishness and their sin
as well, as you now have themission to present to them Jesus
Christ that has saved your soul, and let them know that Jesus
can change their lives, justlike he changed ours.
So once we get saved and we'rewalking with Jesus as Lord and
Savior, we have to remember thatthe power of sin has been
(06:16):
broken and we no longer have toobey any temptation.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
And sometimes I think that if we don't do that daily,
it could creep up on us.
So that's why I think that it'simportant for us every single
day to identify the things thatwe have going on in our life and
we ask the Holy Spirit tocleanse us of these things.
Right, Paul talks about everydefilement of body and spirit,
and I'm glad that you brought up1 Corinthians, chapter 6,
(06:43):
because Paul goes prettyin-depth with this.
For the body, that could meanthings like sexual sin,
unhealthy habits or anythingthat dishonors your body as
God's temple.
So you can think spirit, thinkpride, envy, bitterness,
anything that's clogging up ourhearts.
(07:03):
Right, I can confess, and I'mwilling to confess in front of
you and all of the peoplelistening, man, I've wrestled
with frustration or patience,lack of patience, getting short
with my family, sometimes whenI'm stressed out or when things
are just bombarding me fromevery direction.
But that is a defilement that Ineed to consecrate myself to
every single day.
(07:23):
I got to deal with that.
I got to deal with beingcynical at times.
I have to deal with being angryat times.
The truth is as Paul defines it,that is, defilement of the
Spirit.
Psalms 139, 23, and 24 is anamazing prayer that helps me
daily.
Search me, O God, and know myheart, Try me and know my
thoughts.
(07:43):
And I think that if we trypraying like that every single
day and being cognizant of thesethings you know, maybe you're
doing it with a journal or atrusted friend, or your wife or
your spouse, your husband spotwhat's tripping you up every
single day.
And it's really like checkingyour car's engine light, you
know, like if that thing comeson, we see the problem.
We have to fix it.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Yeah, let's talk about the piece about our
friends and family that wecannot be equally yoked with.
Let's talk about that for aminute, because again it doesn't
.
Man, I've had people say, well,I don't want to give up on
so-and-so, you know, we've beenbest friends forever.
Or hey, that's my family.
(08:30):
How do I just walk out on them?
And again, the Word of God isnot calling us to do that.
It changes our mission.
So, rather than beingdestructive with them, we, now
that we're saved in Christ, aretrying to lead them out of
destruction themselves on theroad that they're heading down.
So our mission changes.
Right, we go from beingfailures to victors as we come
to Christ, and we have totestify, we have to share
(08:50):
testimony on what Christ hasdone with us.
So it's not that we give up onthese people.
Again the mission changes andnow we're trying to lead these
people to Christ like someonehas led us to Christ.
So this is a big deal, becausea believer's new pursuit in life
, after being saved, it shouldbe a life of holiness.
This is why Jesus says that wemust be born again.
(09:11):
If we want to get to glory, ifwe want to spend eternity with
God, we've got to be born again.
So a life of holiness.
This is all about making theright choices.
Pastor Jim and I read somethingthe other day and it said this
it just it blew me away.
It was so good.
You don't need a better you,you simply need a new you.
So many times we try to do lifeby our own personal strengths.
(09:33):
Right, I'm going to get up, I'mgoing to be better today, right
, even as Christians we canstruggle with this as well.
But in my own strength, if I'mnot careful, I can get caught up
in the flow of the day and tryto be a better dad, try to be a
better husband, try to be abetter friend, a better brother
in Christ.
But I just want to say thatnone of that is going to be
(09:55):
accomplished fully to the degreethat it needs to as long as I'm
doing it out of my own personalstrength.
Sooner or later I'm going tofail at every one of those
positions because I'm set outand determined to do it my own
way, my own plan, my ownstrength.
So if you're out there todayand you're thinking that you
need a better you, we've allbeen there before, myself
(10:17):
included.
No, we don't need a better us.
We need a new us.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Yeah, and it kind of goes back to the beginning of
the text when the Word sayssince we have these promises and
speaking of what those promisesare, we said we were going to
get into it.
Paul says since we have thesepromises, and speaking of what
those promises are, we said wewere going to get into it.
Paul says since we have thesepromises and he was pointing to
where you brought up, chapter 6of 2 Corinthians, where God says
I'm going to be their God,they're going to be my people,
all right, and I will be afather to you.
That's the game changer.
That is at what point we say,okay, well, since we have that
(10:48):
promise, the promise that Godsays I'm going to be with you,
he's adopted us as his kids.
We now have eternal lifethrough Jesus.
We're not the same, we arecompletely different.
And if we try to rely on theold us with this new promise in
mind, it doesn't work.
The math don't math.
We have to realize andsurrender who we were,
understand that our identity isnow new and because it's new,
(11:10):
our source of strength is Him.
And once we identify that man,all of what you just said just
like Paul says, since then wehave those promises becomes
easier and easier for us to do 2Corinthians 7.1 says let us
cleanse ourselves.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Listen closely to what I'm about to say.
Let us cleanse ourselves.
Listen closely to what I'mabout to say, friends, because
this is huge.
We don't clean up, as wereferenced in the very beginning
.
We don't clean up first andthen get saved.
We clean up because we aresaved.
Amen, pastor Jim Amen, that's agood word.
We clean up because we aresaved.
(11:51):
So many times I've heard peoplesay I'll start coming to church
when I get better, when I stopdoing the bad things I'm doing,
as if they feel they need to getright in order to come to God.
And, my friends, it's like wereferenced earlier that way of
thanking is like thanking youneed to clean up first before
getting into the shower.
It's crazy thoughts.
It is your walk with JesusChrist that cleanses you and we
have to make decision every daythat keeps us clean.
(12:14):
We've got to make that decision.
I'm going to walk with Jesustoday and that's going to make
me clean.
You know and this is thecommand you know, 2 Corinthians
7, 1, let us cleanse ourselves.
I got something to do with thatNow.
Yes, I cannot get clean withoutJesus, but I have to choose.
I have to choose to let Jesusand the Holy Spirit of God in me
(12:37):
do a work in me.
The temple of God is what ourbody is, is what Paul tells us.
I've got to choose to wantChrist to do a work in me, and
then I also have personalresponsibility that I want to
remain clean.
So no, I'm not going to godabble with those people while
they're doing that.
I'm not going to go dabble inmy old sin.
I'm not going to go stand infront of temptation and just
(13:00):
gawk at it with my eyes.
I'm choosing to remain clean.
Colossians 3, 12 through 14 saysput on, then, as God's chosen
ones.
And I want to remind you todayif you're a child of God, you're
a chosen one, and those whohaven't come to Christ that may
be listening.
God wants you to come to Christand be part of the flock of God
(13:22):
, and you too are a chosen one.
So again, colossians 3, 12through 14 says put on, then, as
God's chosen ones, holy andbeloved.
Put on compassionate hearts,kindness, humility, meekness and
patience, bearing with oneanother and, if one has a
complaint against another,forgiving each other.
(13:42):
As the Lord has forgiven you,so you also must forgive.
And above all these put on lovewhich binds everything together
in perfect harmony.
Pastor Jim, before I throw itover to you, man, I just want to
reference the fact that thereare a lot of Christians that
simply do not understand thatthey are God's chosen ones.
(14:05):
They fall in the mud hole ofsin, they fall in the mud hole
of temptation, simply becausethey don't feel good enough,
they don't feel worthy enough.
And the truth is without Christwe're not.
We're not, but we have too manyChristians out there, and even
if it was just one, that's toomany.
We've got too many Christiansout there that don't understand
(14:26):
that they are chosen by God.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Yeah, and if that's you listening right now and
you're saying, pastor, it's hard.
It's hard to remember that I'mchosen by God, it's hard to
remember that I've beentransformed, because it's very
easy to go back into what we'reused to, what that just tells me
I need to get used to somethingdifferent.
Yeah, and these promises fromGod, they should be our anchor
(14:50):
to do that.
It should give us theconfidence, because when you say
, man, it's really hard to dothat all that tells me is that
you're lacking the confidence totrust in the anchor which is
God's promise.
And so the anchor of God'spromise to you is that it should
give you confidence, pursuingto pursue the holiness, because
God's already told us he'scommitted to us, he's going to
(15:11):
told us he's committed to us,he's going to strengthen us,
he's going to finish what hestarted in us.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
How beautiful is it what you just said?
Like God is already committedto us.
Yeah, I mean, he didn't sendhis son down here to die on the
cross for no reason.
Right, you talk about theultimate commitment factor.
Man, like I think Christiansneed to remember who they are,
(15:38):
who they are and where they are,and what victory we have when
we realize the God of heaven.
And earth.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
He's committed to us.
That's huge, yeah.
And I don't look at the Bibleas like it's about me, because
it's absolutely not about me oranybody else.
It's about God, period.
But I look at the Bible like aletter from God, as a promise to
stand by us no matter what, andit's that kind of assurance
that the Word of God offers methat makes me want to, and it
(16:01):
should make everybody want to,live up to what God's promises
are God's promises, or Godpromises to do the same things,
and they should motivate us toclean up our house spiritually.
They should motivate us not toearn His love—we already have
it—but it should motivate us towant to live and strive for
(16:21):
righteousness, for holiness.
So the third thing I want totalk about is this pursuit of
holiness with reverence for God.
Right, the verse that we arediscussing ends with bringing
holiness to completion in thefear of God.
That phrase, fear of God, it'snot about being scared.
You know, when I first cameinto my walk, I always thought,
(16:45):
man, why do I have to be scaredof God?
I didn't get that.
But it's not being scared likefearful.
It's this awe, this reverencefor His holiness and for His
love.
And holiness means growing to bemore like Jesus day by day, and
it happens through spiritualhabits.
We have to begin to do thingsthat work towards that goal.
(17:08):
Prayer, philippians 4, teachesus right Prayer brings peace.
Studying Scripture, psalms 119,says to keep sin at bay.
And community, like Hebrewssays we encourage one another.
So it's when we take the Wordof God and we begin to apply it
to our life that it helps us tomove towards holiness, this
(17:29):
day-by-day process of gettingmore and more righteous, not by
our own strength, but onlythrough the mercy and the grace
of the blood of Jesus.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
I think, man, if there were two words that I
would want the listeners towrite down in their notes today,
it would be new mission,because everything that you're
saying is referencing to thatterm that I mentioned earlier on
in this episode new mission.
We've got a new mission,because everything that you're
saying is referencing to thatterm that I mentioned earlier on
in this episode new mission,we've got a new mission.
Every day I wake up, which iswhat you were just referencing,
right there.
This is so good, right, I wantto look more like God today than
(18:02):
I did yesterday.
Absolutely, I want to drawcloser, and the closer we draw
to God, the more we're going tolook like God.
You know, the more time youspend with someone, the more
habits of those of that personthat you can pick up right, the
more you'll start sounding likethem and maybe acting like them,
talking like them.
So, the more time we spend withGod, the more we're going to
look like God.
I'd like to move on, if it'sgood with you, pastor Jim, to
(18:25):
the promises.
Yeah, um, if you're takingnotes, reference this one down.
It's 2 Corinthians 1, verse 20.
Pastor Jim was just talkingabout promises, so I really want
to push into this.
2 Corinthians 1, verse 20 saysFor all the promises of God find
their yes in him.
That is why it is through himthat we utter our amen to God
(18:50):
for his glory.
All the promises of God findtheir yes in him, amen.
And that's why it's soimportant to get into the word
of God, so that we can see whatthe promises of God are for our
lives.
So, pastor Jim, as we get intothe promises that 2 Corinthians
7-1 is referencing, thosepromises are actually found the
reference is to just before thatin the text in 2 Corinthians 6,
(19:13):
16 through 18.
And this is what Paul writesregarding those promises.
God said I will make mydwelling among them and walk
among them, and I will be theirGod, and they should be my
people.
Therefore, go out from theirmidst and be separate from them,
says the Lord, and touch nounclean thing.
Then I will welcome you and Iwill be a father to you and you
(19:34):
shall be sons and daughters.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
That sounds a whole lot like setting boundaries.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
Yeah, so that's another thing that we could
write down, along with newmission, is new boundaries, new
habits.
New habits Because, as we cometo Christ and we are choosing to
do what he wants us to do,there are new parameters, there
are new boundaries set, thereare new instructions given to us
(20:03):
through the word that we usedto not follow and adhere to
prior to coming to Christ.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Because we have this reverence for God now.
You know, 1 Peter says be holy,for I am holy.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Yeah, it's a reverence, it's a fear, a fear
of God.
Someone just reached out to meyesterday true story and they
had a great question.
They were like look, I'm reallystruggling with what the fear
of God is in my own personallife.
And this individual said he wasso honest.
He says am I just fearful ofGod because I don't want to go
(20:34):
to hell, or am I fearful for Godthe way that I truly should be
fearful for God?
He said I'm strugglingunderstanding the difference
between the two.
And I said well, look at itlike this Now that I'm saved, I
know I'm saved.
I know I'm going to spendeternity with my father, so I do
not not sin simply because I'mfearful that if I sin I'm going
(20:57):
to hell.
I know I'm not going to hellbecause I'm saved through grace
and the finished work of Christdid on the cross for me.
Fear of God for me, pastor Jim,is because I'm saved.
Fear of God for me is I'm notgoing to sin because I don't
want to fall short of the gloryof God.
Now, I know we all sin and fallshort of the glory of God, but
that fear is a healthy fear forme.
(21:18):
It's a reverent fear for me,because I don't want to miss the
mark.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
So I don't fear the consequence, right, I fear
letting down, letting God down.
That's where I'm at.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Because when I sin, that's me being disobedient.
When I sin, that's me doingopposite of what my Father tells
me to do.
So for the fear there for me isyou're exactly right.
I don't want to end up doingsomething that my Father said do
not do.
I have a fear, a healthy fear,a reverent fear with my Heavenly
(21:49):
Father of this point.
I don't want to do somethingthat my Heavenly Father has told
me not to do.
And yes, there can beconsequences to sin.
You know there can beconsequences.
We see that all throughoutScripture.
There can be consequences tosin, but praise God that we have
an opportunity to repent and bythe blood of Jesus we are
forgiven.
But what we cannot do is getinto this habitual sin, because
(22:12):
habitual sin, according to theWord of God, there is no
sacrifice left for that.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
Yeah, I think about my son.
You know, as you were talkingabout, what it looks like to
fear God in a healthy, reverentway.
You know my son, if he—I don'tever want him to disobey me.
I don't ever want him to dosomething that's wrong that I
will have to correct.
Obviously that's not somethingthat I want, but I also think
(22:40):
about it like this If he does dosomething that is disobedient,
or if he does fall short in whatI've asked him to do, the last
response I want from him is toshake in the corner, scared of
what I may do, what I wouldrather see.
And again I'll repeat this Idon't want him to fail.
Obviously I don't want him tobe disobedient, but a healthy
fear of who I am as his dadshould be slumped shoulders in a
(23:02):
way that says man, I've let mydad down, I know I wasn't
supposed to do that and I did itright.
And there's a differencebetween letting me down and
there's a difference betweencowering in the corner because
I'm going to crack the whip.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
Yeah yeah, the promise is mentioned in 2
Corinthians, chapter 6, 6through 18.
What I see in these promises isGod saying to his people I will
be your God, but remember youshall be my people, and there's
a major responsibility there.
Are we living life like God?
(23:35):
Is our God and we are hispeople?
Are we setting ourselves apartor are we still looking like the
world?
Have we died to self and sin,or do we still dip our toes into
those old waters every once ina while because we've not yet
separated ourselves from thoseold habits?
Speaker 1 (23:52):
He's already made us his children.
So now what we need to do islive in a way that reflects him.
When I mess up and trust me, Ido I lean on the word where he
says he saved us by the washingof regeneration and the renewal
of the Holy Spirit.
God's grace is what keeps usmoving forward, and because we
have that, we should lookdifferent.
(24:12):
So this week, take one step tocleanse your life.
Pray just a little bit longerand pray like this God what is
defiling my heart, Confess whatcomes up, Because confessing
what James says, confessing to afriend, can bring healing right
.
We can replace one negativeinfluence.
(24:32):
Maybe we don't do some mindlessscrolling.
We'd be intentional aboutchanging things in our life.
Maybe we do something uplifting.
Maybe it's listening to worship, Maybe listening to a solid
Christian podcast I've heard ofone, Beyond Sunday.
You know, maybe you listen tothat a few episodes of that.
We need to hold on to God'spromises, because that's your
(24:55):
strength, that's your anchor,and remember that you're not
alone and the Holy Spirit isworking in and through you.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Yeah, I want to remind you all of what Paul
wrote at the end of 2Corinthians 7.
That's been our theme verse fortoday, but towards the end of
it, I just want to remind youthat by doing these things, it
brings holiness to completion inour lives.
Think about that.
The holiness of God can becompleted in your life because
(25:24):
of what Jesus Christ has donefor you and what the Holy Spirit
of God living in you is tryingto do every moment of every day.
Let's pray, father.
I thank you for these listeners.
I thank you for your word, god.
I thank you that your HolySpirit gives us the ability to
walk in your word with power,might, strength.
We thank you for the knowledgeand the wisdom that you give us,
(25:45):
father.
So, lord, we just proclaim thisday, we just proclaim it for
you, we proclaim the name andthe blood of Jesus over our
lives and our ministries, and weask all this in Jesus Christ's
name and blood.
Everybody said together Amen.
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.