t, to be taught what there is in the
flesh that is not in harmony with the temperance and self-control
demanded both by the law of nature and the law of the Spirit. He must
believe, what Paul felt that the Corinthians so emphatically needed to
be taught, that the Holy Spirit dwells in the body, making its members
the members of Christ, and in this faith put off the works of the flesh;
he must cleanse himself from all defilement of flesh.

'_And of spirit._' As the source of all defilement of the flesh is
self-gratification, so self-seeking is at the root of all defilement of
the spirit. In relation to God, it manifests itself in idolatry, be it
in the worship of other gods after our own heart, the love of the world
more than God, or the doing our will rather than His. In relation to our
fellow-men it shows itself in envy, hatred, and want of love, cold
neglect or harsh judging of others. In relation to ourselves it is seen
as pride, ambition, or envy, the disposition that makes self the centre
round which all must move, and by which all must be judged.

For the discovery of such defilement of spirit, no less than of the sins
of the flesh, the believer needs the light of the Holy Spirit; that the
uncleanness may indeed be cleansed out and cast away for ever. Even
unconscious sin, if we are not earnestly willing to have it shown to us,
will most effectually prevent our progress in the path of holiness.

'_Beloved! let us cleanse ourselves._' The cleansing is sometimes spoken
of as the work of God (Acts xv. 9; 1 John i. 9); sometimes as that of
Christ (John xv. 3; Eph. v. 26; Tit. ii. 14). Here we are commanded to
cleanse ourselves. God does His work in us by the Holy Spirit; the Holy
Spirit does His work by stirring us up and enabling us to do. The Spirit
is the strength of the new life; in that strength we must set ourselves
determinedly to cast out whatever is unclean. 'Come out, and be ye
separate, and touch not the unclean thing.' It is not only the doing
what is sinful, it is not only the willing of it, that the Christian
must avoid, but even the touching it: the involuntary contact with it
must be so unbearable as to force the cry, O wretched man that I am! and
to lead on to the deliverance which the Spirit of the life of Christ
does bring.

And how is this cleansing to be done? When Hezekiah called the priests
to sanctify the temple that had been defiled, we read (2 Chron. xxix.),
'The priests went in unto the i