07/30/2023
Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.
2 Timothy 2:20-21 ESV
1. We are coworkers with God. God's work in us also depends on the level of our responsiveness to his truth. He cannot change us without our willingness and interest (1 Corinthians 3:9).
2. God cleanses us depending on the degree to which we cleanse ourselves. Or rather there are two kinds of cleansing (a) at the level of confession of sins - 1 John 1:9-10 (b) at the next higher level of ridding ourselves of what is dishonorable or fleshly desires - 1 Peter 2:1; 1 John 3:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:3
3. It is not so much God who determines how much we can be used mightily of Him but us. (See also John 14:12).
4. The degree to which we can do great works corresponds to the degree to which we cleanse ourselves from what is dishonorable
5. The fire of God will always consume any sacrifice that is presented as holy according to God's requirements for sacrifices. The fire of God will not be sustained in a body that is not presented in holiness. The glory will not rest on a man or woman who has not set his mind on living pure beginning with his body and then also purifying his speech, what he hears, sees, listens to and then his sense of mercy and justice as learned from the Spirit within.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Romans 12:1 ESV