“Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” II Corinthians 7:1 NKJV
When my siblings and I were growing up, our dad taught us to maintain very high standards. He would always repeat, “Don’t halfway do anything.” He never wanted us to cut corners to get a certain task done. He was of the old school, where you either do something right or you don’t do it at all. To this day we all still work that way.
Paul was of the old school too, albeit the much older school. In the passage above, he’s emphasizing the Christian’s continual work towards perfect holiness. Often we get complacent because we get better. It’s the “at least I’m not where I was” mentality. But God doesn’t want us to settle. He doesn’t say to be kinda holy. He says “be holy” (I Peter 1:16).
Growth is great, but it’s not done until you reach perfection. Reflect on where you are, and where you still need to go. As my dad would say, don’t halfway do your holiness. Keep working to cleanse yourself of ALL filthiness of the flesh. Only then will you reach perfect holiness.