Gary Gleans

                                                                             2 Corinthians 7:1-4 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.  Make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no one.  I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together.  I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy. The promise of God dwelling among us as our Father should have some clear implications on our lives.  It is impossible to live in the presence of God and be unaffected.  God’s primary attributes are holiness and love.  So those who dwell in His presence will naturally demonstrate those characteristics as well.   GOD’S PRESENCE PODUCES PURITY:  We are defile

                                                                                       2 Corinthians 6:11-18 We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections.  In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also.  Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?  What accord has Christ with Belial?  Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?  What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then 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.”

                                                                                  2 Corinthians 6:1-10 Working together with him, then,   we appeal to you   not to receive the grace of God in vain.    For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you,   and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”  Behold,   now is the   favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.    We   put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry,   but   as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way:   by great endurance,   in afflictions,   hardships, calamities,   beatings, imprisonments,   riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger;   by purity,   knowledge, patience, kindness,   the Holy Spirit,   genuine love;   by   truthful speech, and   the power of God; with   the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;   through honor and dishonor,   through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true;   as unknown, and   y

                                                                                  2 Corinthians 5:16-21 From now on, therefore,   we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is   in Christ, he is   a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.    All this is from God,   who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us   the ministry of reconciliation;   that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself,   not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us   the message of reconciliation.    Therefore,   we are ambassadors for Christ,   God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.    For our sake he made him to be sin   who knew no sin, so that in him we might become   the righteousness of God.   Our identity in Christ is a very important thing.  Who we are in Christ determines wha

                                                                        2 Corinthians 5:11-15 Therefore, knowing   the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But   what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.    We are not commending ourselves to you again but   giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart.    For if we   are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.    For the love of Christ   controls us, because we have concluded this: that   one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all,   that those who live might no longer live for themselves but   for him who for their sake died and was raised.   Fear and love are not always seen as synonymous.  However, in this passage, they are used in this way.  Our fear of the Lord and His love for us as demonstrated on the cross are both at work in our liv

                                                                             2 Corinthians 5:6-10 So we are always of good courage. We know that   while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,   for   we walk by faith, not   by sight.  Yes, we are of good courage, and we   would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.    So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to   please him.    For   we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,   so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.   We often think that eschatology, the study of future events, is impractical and has little impact on our lives in the present.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  It is our convictions about what God has promised in the future that motivates us to live a life of obedience in the present.  Faith, hope, and love are the three qualities that Paul constantly places together as essential to the Christian w

                                                                            2 Corinthians 5:1-5 For we know that if   the tent that is   our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God,   a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.    For in this tent   we groan, longing to   put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked.    For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal   may be swallowed up by life.    He who has prepared us for this very thing is God,   who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.   Our lives on earth are not easy.  We have good days and difficult days.  All the joys of this earth are tainted by sin and all the sorrows of this earth are magnified by sin.  This is not how we were created to live, and it is not how God has planned for us to live throughout eternity.  Paul was one of the most productive men

                                                                                  2 Corinthians 4:13-18 Since we have   the same spirit of faith according to what has been written,   “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak,   knowing that   he who raised the Lord Jesus   will raise us also with Jesus and   bring us with you into his presence.    For   it is all for your sake, so that as   grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving,   to the glory of God.    So we do not lose heart.   Though our outer self is wasting away,   our inner self   is being renewed day by day.    For   this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,   as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. The Gospel is such a hope filled message because it gives us meaning for life in the present