purify and be purified

i continued reading in 2 Corinthians and i meditated on a verse that has impacted me off and on over the years.

2 Corinthians 7:1
Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverance for God.

my mind quickly jumped to another verse that included the notion of purification.

1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

one verse is forward-looking with the responsibility of purification seemingly falling on the person. the other is backward-looking with the responsibility of purification falling on God (the faithful and just God). the process includes a desire, based on God's promises, to be purified with the inevitable reality of sin. this sin, when confessed, leads to forgiveness and further purification.

there are two keys. the first is the desire for purification based on God's promises out of reverence for God. the other key is the willingness to confess sins when they occur. this speaks of a positive movement toward purification. this is encouraging to me, especially when i think about how frustrating life can be in our struggle against the flesh where the Spirit desires what is contrary to the flesh (Galatians 5:17) and we do what do not want to do (Romans 7:15). i oftentimes feel like i am moving backwards but these two verses show that God is working a movement toward purification. the reality of sin still leads to further purification.

am i saying that i should seek sin? absolutely not!

temptation will find me based on my evil desires (James 1:14). the proper response to this is to seek purification and then when i fail i should make to confess my sins and i will continue to be purified.

2 Corinthians 7:1
Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverance for God.