Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
All Commentaries on 2 Corinthians 7:1 Go To 2 Corinthians 7
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
Having therefore these promises. The promises that, Christians should be the temples of God, should be His sons and daughters, and should have God dwelling in them and walking in them.
Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. From this passage theologians draw the division of sin into that which is fleshly and that which is spiritual. The first has to do with a carnal object, and makes man like a beast, as, e.g, gluttony, lust, and drunkenness. The second has to do with a spiritual object, and makes man like a devil, as e.g, anger, pride, envy.
S. Basil (Reg53) says appropriately that "filthiness of the flesh denotes carnal actions, and filthiness of the spirit is having intercourse with them that do such things, as, e.g, the Corinthians had with the fornicator whom the Apostle bade them wholly to avoid."
Perfecting holiness. So that the mind, purged from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, may be perfectly holy and pure, given in the fear of God to good works. The fear of God is both the beginning and perfecting of true wisdom and holiness ( Sirach 1:16-19 , and Sirach 5:18). The more the fear of God increases, the more does holiness increase, and so the perfect fear of God is perfect holiness. S. Basil (Reg53) says beautifully: "Holiness consists in being dedicated to God, and thenceforward wholly clinging to Him, in eagerly seeking after and earnestly maintaining such things as are pleasing to Him. Even in things offered to God as gifts those are rejected as unpleasing to Him which are maimed or defective; and to resume for human uses what has been once dedicated as a gift to God is infamous and accursed."
