Holy Habits: To live a life that lasts, to gain rewards that survive the fire, and to receive and unfading crown, Paul says the key is a series of habits in holiness that are energized by grace.
Note again those penetrating words of II Corinthians 7:1:
āTherefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.ā
At the end of v.16 Paul says āGod has saidā and then he quotes from a blend of eight different Old Testament verses from four different books. Think for a moment what Paul does. To instruct and train New Testament believers, in a New Testament local church, Paul explains Godās expectations for New Testament believers living under the grace of the new covenant by using a blend of these Old Testament passages (Lev. 26:11-12; Jer. 24:7; 31:33; Ezek. 37:26-27; Hosea 2:2-3). This should cause all of us to want to catch from Paul how vital the revelation of God to all of us in the Old Testament truly should be.
In verse 17 Paul goes to Isaiah 52:11 and reminds us that Godās command to be spiritually separated is timeless and eternal. Once we get saved we are to start a life-long process of keeping detached from false doctrines, false religions, all sinful habits (as God’s Word repeatedly emphasizes in Eph. 5:6-12; 2 Tim. 2:20-23; and Rev. 18:4).
God desires us to ābe separateā, and this command is for us as New Testament believers to be just as Christ declares that He was (Heb. 7:26).