Living Clean in a Dirty World - Part 2

Dr. Charles Stanley: Our intimate relationships should be with those who know our Master, who follow the principles of the Word of God because that's who we are. To act otherwise or to link up otherwise with someone intimately in some fashion who is not a believer is to bring a whole different philosophy of life into your life and try to mix darkness and light, trying to mix the principles of Satan with the principles of Christ. They won't work.
Guest (Male): Our world is corrupted by sin, and the believer who isn't careful can quickly become contaminated. Today on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley, you'll see how 2 Corinthians chapter 6 explains how we can live pure and holy lives regardless of our surroundings. Stay with us to hear three tips for living clean in a dirty world.
Dr. Charles Stanley: Now, the question is how do we live clean in a dirty world? Well, Paul gives us, I believe, three steps here, three principles, three things that are so very, very important. I want you to jot them down. I'm going to ask you about them in a few moments, but the first one is this. When we ask the question how do we live clean in a dirty world, the basic foundation truth is this, and that is that we as believers must recognize that our true nature is different from that of the world. Our true nature is different from that of the world. We don't have the same nature that the world has, that is the society in which we live. It's different. When you and I trusted Jesus Christ as our personal savior, Christ came into our life to live. And the Bible says He gave us a new nature. Therefore, we are expected to act differently, talk differently than we did before we became a Christian. And so, therefore, if we have a new nature, we can expect to live differently than the world lives. And so what Paul is saying here is he says don't be bound, don't be a part of, don't get intimately involved in these situations and circumstances and things and organizations because they don't fit who we are. As the children of God, we are to separate ourselves from them. Now, that's number one. Number two, listen to what he says. He says develop personal relationships wisely. That's what he's implying. Look if you will in the 17th verse. He says, "Therefore, come out from among their midst and be separate," says the Lord, "and do not touch what is unclean, and I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me," says the Lord Almighty. Now, he's made a very strong statement here when he says do not be bound together. Don't link yourself up with those things that would cause you to begin to drift and to begin to act like you are no longer a child of God. When I say here develop personal relationships wisely, for the simple reason all of us have relationships and we'll have relationships all of our life. But the question is what kind of relationships do we develop? And what Paul is giving us here is a principle, and that is our intimate relationships should be with those who know our Master, who follow the principles of the Word of God because that's who we are. To act otherwise, or to link up otherwise with someone intimately in some fashion who is not a believer, is to bring a whole different philosophy of life into your life and try to mix darkness and light, trying to mix the principles of Satan with the principles of Christ, trying to mix things that don't mix and make them mix. They won't mix and they won't work. You say, "I've got friends who are lost and I just can't walk away from those friends." I haven't finished. But listen to what he says. He knows us so well. This is why he said this. Verse 17: "Therefore, come out from among the midst of them and separate yourself, and don't touch unclean things." He said the most powerful thing he could say, the most needed thing God could possibly have said, he said it right then. He said, "And I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me," says the Lord God. Now, here's what he's saying. If you walk faithfully before me and you live a clean life, you may have to walk away from some friends. You may have to walk away from some people who want you to indulge in, who want you to go with them, and if you don't, they turn away. That's why he said this and this is so precious. Listen, he said, "I'll welcome you." So remember this. Whoever turns away from you, listen. You're walking in one direction and you have to turn away from them. When you turn around, you're going to walk right into the arms of Jesus. He's the best friend you'll ever have. He'll meet every single need you'll ever possibly have. He's that kind of guy. So sometimes it means you have to walk away. What he's stating here is this. Here's a general principle. Because we have a new nature, because we are sons and daughters of God and because we are walking in one direction and the world's going in another, and because what we believe doesn't match what they believe, because our whole perspective on life is different—we're thinking in terms of eternal values, not temporal values. Because we have an entirely different Master to whom we have offered ourselves and yielded ourselves as Lord, he says we have to be very wise. What he's doing, he's stating this principle, and that is don't get involved in a situation or circumstance or relationship with unbelievers in a fashion that causes you to contradict by your behavior and by your attitudes the very things that you stand for and the things that you live by. Now, let me tell you what Paul's not saying. He is not saying don't have any contact with unbelievers. Now, some of you may walk out of here or you may say, "I heard Stanley the other day and he said that you're not to have any relationship with unbelievers." I didn't say that. I'm going to show you why I didn't say it in a moment. I didn't say that. Nowhere does the Bible say don't have anything to do with unbelievers. It doesn't say that. How in the world would Jesus say go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creatures if He didn't mean for us to have relationships with lost people? Oftentimes it's developing a relationship with a lost person whereby they understand what we believe and who we are and why we act the way we act that brings them to the point of wanting Christ. So we're not talking about cutting off all relationships. We're not talking about cutting out all contact. What is he saying to us? He's not saying that you and I should not have an interrelationship with people who are lost, I mean wicked and as vile as the devil. Why? Because you and I may be the only hope that person has for Christ. It is a matter of not being contaminated with them, not having contact. And so that's why we have to work diligently at keeping clean in a dirty world. And these folks who say, "You've got to join them to win them," the Bible nowhere says that. Somebody says, "Well, but Paul says I must be all things to all people in order to win some." Being all things to all people does not mean indulging in what they indulge in and acting like I believe what I don't believe, but rather understanding where they are. Keeping clean in a dirty world says sometimes I have to walk away. And walking away is not for the purpose of priding myself that I am better than, but for the purpose of separating myself so that I can be the kind of godly witness that my separation from this does not mean that I don't care about you. It must be done wisely, in love, concerned always about the other person. The very purpose of coming to church is to worship the living God, to learn His ways, to understand the truths of God, to let Him convict us and persuade us and to encourage our hearts, to remind us that the power of the Holy Spirit is available within us. So that when we leave this building, we go out in the world like salt and light, making a difference in a world of darkness. When you walk into a room that is full of people who are lost in sin, that room brightens up. It doesn't make any difference what they think or what they say. When you walk in, it brightens up. We are to be wise about our relationships. When we walk into darkened rooms, darkened business, darkened organizations, whatever it may be, we are to shine. We are to shine for the kingdom of God. But there's some things He will say to us: "Not that relationship, don't touch that thing, don't be a part of that." If we're going to live clean in a dirty world, we just have to make some hard decisions. The problem today is there are so many Christians in so many churches teaching things just to make it easy. There's not one single verse in the Word of God that says living the Christian life is easy. The dirtier this world becomes and the more evil it becomes, the more difficult it is going to be for us to walk holy before Almighty God. The more difficult it becomes, the more valuable every single child of God becomes to God Himself. We are His lights. We are the walking witness. Christ is living on the inside of us. If Christ is living on the inside of you and they want you to shut up from your witness, what they're trying to do is to shut God up. They don't want to hear God coming out of you. They don't want to hear God in your life. But my friend, you just keep on talking, keep on telling the truth, keep on sharing the faith, and keep on living godly before them no matter what. Ultimately, you will conquer or they will pay a horrible price for eternity. That's why it's worth all of our time, all of our effort, all of our energy, all the criticism, everything it takes in order for us to bear witness to the glory of God. You see, we're not talking about isolation. There's not a single verse in the Scripture that says we are to be isolationists. He says go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. That means missionaries we're sending out to other countries who have all kinds of idols. Suppose they walked into some person's home and said, "I am a Christian, I hate all idolatry, I hate all other religions, all other religions are anathema, we want you to receive Jesus." What a joke. They meet them across their backyards and they begin to talk, and that person sees something in this person they've never seen before. They hear something they've never heard before. Before long, that saint of God begins to draw that person who is lost into the light. When they get them into the light and the Spirit of God works in their heart and brings about conviction of sin and the reality of the truth of who the one true God is, they've won them to Christ, not because they became like them, but because they shined before them clean in the eyes of God and clean before that person. We all get dirty and therefore that's why he said in order to live clean in a dirty world, this is what's necessary. You have to remember who you are, that you have a different nature, and secondly, that you develop wise relationships. The third thing is all wrapped up in the first verse of the seventh chapter. He says, "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Now, what in the world is he saying? Don't be bound. Look at all the contrast he mentions here. God says I'm going to be with you. I'm going to be waiting when your friends turn you away. He says I'm going to be your father. On the basis of all this, notice what he says. He didn't say you all. He said, "Let us cleanse ourselves." Paul never puts himself above other people as being sinless. There's no such thing as a sinless person. We're talking about all of us living in a dirty world and attempting to keep clean. Now, he says this is the third way. Not only to realize who I am with a new nature, and developing wise relationships, but thirdly, assuming personal responsibility for dealing with sin in our life. That's the third step. If I don't assume personal responsibility for sin in my life, I'm going to blame it on somebody else or blame it on God. How does this happen? Well, notice what he says. He says, "Let us cleanse ourselves." Somebody says, "Wait a minute. Doesn't 1 John 1:7 say we're to walk in the light as He is in the light, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin?" Correct. All cleansing and forgiveness is from God. That's the cleansing that has made us holy. But I also and you also have a responsibility on a daily basis for dealing with those actions and those attitudes that are ungodly. We're talking about sanctification. Sanctification is not just some biblical theological word that we should ignore. Sanctification is a very important word in the Bible. Sanctification means this: that God, when He sanctifies something or someone, sets that person apart unto Himself for Himself. Every single one of us who is saved by the grace of God, we were sanctified in that moment. God set us apart as His own. We are bought with a price. We've become the children of God. He's our heavenly Father. So we're sanctified. Sanctification is a position. It is the position of being owned by God. It is the position of being made holy by God. That is our position. We are saints in the eyes of God. On a day-to-day basis, I have responsibility. What is that responsibility? He says cleanse yourselves. Now, what's involved in cleansing? Two things: confession and repentance. Confession simply means that I agree with God about what He says about what I did or what I thought or what I felt. Repentance is not only confessing and understanding that, but repentance says on the basis that I understand what He believes about this, I'm going to have a change of mind. I don't want that in my life because it doesn't fit me. Therefore repentance is a change of mind, a change of heart, and a change of conduct on the basis of the fact that we agree with God that this does not fit who we are. Confession is what we usually put the emphasis on. But the truth is just telling God about it is not enough. If you keep on doing the same old thing over and over and over again, you're just telling God, telling God, telling God, telling God. I'm sure He must get tired of having us tell the same thing over and over again. Repentance means that not only do I tell Him about it, but repentance says that doesn't fit, and because it doesn't fit, I'm going to do something about it. That is my responsibility to walk away from what is not of God. It isn't enough just to tell Him. If I'm going to keep clean in a dirty world, I have my responsibility. His responsibility: forgiveness and cleansing. My responsibility: dealing with sin by confession and genuine repentance before God. How often should you cleanse yourselves spiritually? When you sin against God, the Spirit of God, if you're a believer, that quickly you know that wasn't right. What you said or what you thought wasn't right. The conviction comes instantly. If you say, "I'll deal with sin every night before I go to bed," let me ask you a question. Does the Holy Spirit only convict you of sin before you go to bed? Does He wait until the nighttime to say, "Okay, let's look at your account for the day. This morning at 7:00, you blew your lid bad, or at your business, today here's what happened"? He convicts us immediately. When should repentance and confession be exercised? Immediately. When I'm dirty, I need to deal with the dirt, not wait at nighttime. Isn't it amazing how we can forget some things? It's real convenient to forget the dirt or brush it under the rug. I can remember when I was a kid growing up, my mom on one occasion had me cleaning up, and I was pretty small, and she said, "The dustpan is over here. So when you finish, you just take it and take it outside." So my mom was gone. We had linoleum rugs and I thought, "I'll just lift up that rug, shove that stuff right under there, and that takes care of that." It was over next to the refrigerator. When my mom came back, of all the places, she walked right across that spot. She said, "Hmm, what's that?" She raised it up and there was my dirt. You know I never did that again? Somehow I thought my mom had this real evil eye that she could look right through that rug and see all the places I dirtied up. What does God want us to do? He wants us to deal with it. He says cleanse yourself. Don't try to forget it. Don't try to act like it's not there. He says cleanse yourselves of these things. Now watch this. He says of the flesh and of the spirit. Usually, on almost every occasion, Paul uses the term flesh to speak about our naturalness. That is all of us who are saved, we still have the capacity to sin and we can still be tempted. When we yield to temptation, what are we doing? We're yielding to that naturalness about us. We still have those five senses. That's what he's referring to. But on this occasion, what he's referring to are sins of the body, physically, outwardly and inwardly. He's talking about the total personality. Cleanse yourselves of flesh and spirit. When you think in terms of flesh like drunkenness or murder or fornication, or spirit: pride, arrogance, rebellion, and jealousy, he says cleanse yourselves of those things. While God is in the process of always cleansing us through His blood, we have a responsibility in this dirty world in which we live to deal with those things that don't fit who we are. We're not talking about good conduct and doing the right thing in order to become holy, but because that is our position, that's because of who we are. What he's saying here is cleanse yourselves of these things so that He who is within you, Christ, will be more evident. He will be more exhibited. He will be more clear to those who're watching and looking at your life. We're not cleansing ourselves in order to get forgiven. We're not cleansing ourselves in order to get holy. We are cleansing ourselves and we are taking a spiritual bath continually in order to so remain, so clean in the eyes of God, that the very person of Jesus Christ who indwells us will be evident and seen by those people around us. How do we live clean in a dirty world? We recognize and acknowledge we have a whole different nature than the world in which we live. Our environment's different. Secondly, we choose godly relationships. We are wise in our relationships: the persons, businesses, things, whatever. And thirdly, we assume personal responsibility for our sins. We deal with them on a daily basis. We deal with them when they happen. In order that, not to be saved, but because we are. Not to become children of God, but because we are. Not to become a saint, but because we are one. We deal with those things that would hinder our relationship, our enjoyment of God, and our relationship and our influence upon people who do not know Jesus Christ as their savior. How do you keep clean in a dirty world? The Spirit of God convicting, revealing, enabling us, always there to forgive, always there to make it a reality.
Guest (Male): Thanks for listening to In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. God requires obedience from believers, not in order to be accepted by Him, but because we've been adopted by Him. When you understand the true nature of God's gift of salvation, your natural response is to love and obey your perfect heavenly Father. Log on to intouch.org to find resources that direct you to biblical truths and guide you in practical application. And to go over what you just heard, click on today on radio. Connect to our online bookstore to order a copy of Dr. Stanley's complete message, Living Clean in a Dirty World. Again, that's intouch.org or call 1-800-INTOUCH. If you prefer to write, our address is In Touch, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia 30357.
Guest (Female): The state of the world can be upsetting. You'll hear practical advice for building endurance, coming up in today's Moment with Charles Stanley.
Dr. Charles Stanley: At times, life can be stormy, and each one of us will face many trials. Questions are asked and doubt may set in. The answers are found through faith in Jesus. He is within every believer, always ready to offer us comfort, hope, and peace in times of great trial. So you can trust Him with any circumstance.
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Guest (Male): You're listening to In Touch. The worst thing we can do in a crisis is panic. Thankfully, believers have the means to keep calm in stressful situations. Here's a moment with Charles Stanley.
Dr. Charles Stanley: I think the primary way we can do that is simply this: to keep our focus on God. Sometime that's very, very difficult when you're hurting, if there's emotional pain or physical pain. But there's something about keeping your focus on Him, and what happens is it's like God keeps reminding us of His promises: I'm with you in this. I'm going to take you through this. For me, that's how I make it through. I just have to keep my focus on Him saying, "God, here's what You said. Here's what You've done in the past. Here's what You've done for Your servants in the past. I'm trusting You. I don't feel like it. I don't like it. I'd like to walk away, I'd like to escape. I'm going to trust You." Wherever you are and whoever you are, and whatever's going on in your life, let me just remind you of this. He is there. Sometime He's only there, and that is there's not anyone else. But God knows how to make Himself so real and so intimate and so absolutely present that sometime we don't need anybody else. We just need to be aware of His presence. That's why it's so important that you and I live a godly life, learn to walk in His presence every day. So when these times come, when it looks like the world has lost us totally, we still know that He's there and that He's there to bring us through the difficulty and hardship and trial no matter what it is. And that's my prayer for you.
Guest (Male): If you've lost sight of God, visit us at intouch.org for resources to help you bring Him back into your focus. If you've found encouragement to live for Jesus through this program, please tell us your story. Coming up on In Touch, with so much AI-generated information, it's hard to know who to trust and who to steer clear of. But the answer isn't to withdraw. When we return, we'll begin a series that gives help in building wise relationships. Join us again for In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia, and remains on this station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.