Daily Radio Program with Charles Stanley - In Touch Ministries - Living Clean in a Dirty World - Part 2

Episode Date: July 31, 2026

Dr. Stanley explains three key principles to help you live clean in a dirty world.Donate: https://store.intouch.org/donate/generalSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the In Touch podcast with Charles Stanley for Friday, July 31st. Second Corinthians chapter 6 explains how believers in Jesus can live pure and holy lives regardless of what goes on in the world. Listen closely for three tips for living clean in a dirty world. Now the question is how do we live clean in a dirty world? Well, Paul gives us, I believe, three steps here, three principles, three things that is so very, very important. important. And I want you to jot them down. I'm going to ask you about them in a few moments. But the first one is this. When we ask the question, how do we live, clean in a dirty world, the basic foundation truth is this. And that is that we as believers must recognize that our true

nature is different from that of the world. Our true nature is different from that of the world. We don't have the same nature that the world has. That is the society in which we live. It's different. when you're not trusted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, Christ came into our life to live. And the Bible says he gave us a new nature. Therefore, we are expected to act differently, talk differently than we did before we became a Christian. And so therefore, if we have a new nature, we can expect to live differently than the world lives. And so what Paul is saying here is, he says, don't be bound, don't be a part of, don't get intimately involved. than these situations and circumstances and things and organizations because they don't fit who we are

and as the children of God, as the children of God, we are to separate ourselves from them. Now that's number one, number two, listen to what he says. He says, develop personal relationships wisely. That's what he's implying. Look if you will in the 17th verse. He says, therefore, come out from among their midst and be separate, says the Lord, and do not touch what is unclean. And 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. Now, he's made a very strong

statement here when he says, do not be bound together. Don't link yourself up with those things that would cause you to begin to drift and to begin to act like you are no longer a child of God. Now, when he says, and when I say here, develop personal relationships wisely, for the simple reason, all of us have relationships, and we'll have relationships all of our life. but the question is what kind of relationships do we develop. And what Paul is giving us here is a principle. And that is, our intimate relationships should be with those who know our master, who follow the principles of the Word of God, because that's who we are. And to act otherwise, or to link up otherwise with someone intimately in some fashion, who is not a believer, is to do what? is to bring a whole different philosophy of life into your life

and try to mix darkness and light, trying to mix the principles of Satan with the principles of Christ, trying to mix things that don't mix and make them mix and they don't mix and they won't mix and therefore they won't work. You so, I've got friends who are lost and I just can't walk away from their friends. I haven't finished. But listen to what he says. You see, he knows us so well.

This is why he said this. verse 17 therefore come out from among the midst of them and separate yourself and don't touch unclean things he said the most powerful thing he could say the most needed thing god could possibly have said he said it right and then he said and i will welcome you and i will be a father to you and you should be sons and daughters to me says the lord god now here's what he's saying if you walk faithfully before me and you live a clean life you may have to walk away from some friends you may have to walk away from some people who want you to indulge in, who want you to go with them so-and-so, and if you don't, what do they do?

They turn away. That's why he said this. This is so precious. Listen, he said, I'll welcome you. So remember this. Whoever turns away from you, listen, you're walking in one direction and you have to turn away from them. When you turn around, you know what you're going to do.

You're going to walk right into the arms of Jesus. He's the best friend you'll ever have. He'll meet every single needs you'll ever possibly have. He's that kind of God. So sometimes it means. you have to walk away. What he's stating here is this. Here's the general principle. The general principle is this, because we have a new nature, because we're sons and daughters of God, because we're walking in one direction, the world's going in another, and because what we believe doesn't match what they believe,

because our whole perspective on life is different, we're thinking in terms of eternal values, not temporal values, and because we have an entirely different master to whom we have offered ourselves and yielded ourselves as Lord, he says, we have to be very, very wise. And what he's doing, this principle. And that is, don't get involved in a situation or circumstance or relationship with unbelievers in a fashion that causes you to contradict by your behavior and by your attitudes, the very things that you stand for and the things that you live by. Now, let me tell you what Paul's not saying. He is not saying don't have any contact with unbelievers. Now, some of you may walk out of here or you may say, well, you know I heard Stanley the other day and he said

that you're not to have any relationship with unbelievers. I didn't say that. Now, I'm going to show you why I didn't say it in a moment. I didn't say that. Nowhere does the Bible say, don't have anything to do with unbelievers. He doesn't say that. How in the world with Jesus,

they say, go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creatures if it didn't mean for us to have relationships with lost people? Because oftentimes it's developing a relationship with the lost person whereby they understand what we believe in who we are and why we act the way we act that brings them to the point of wanting Christ. So we're not talking about cutting off all relationships. We're not talking about cutting out all contact.

Now, what is he saying to us? He's not saying that you and I should not have any relationship of people who are lost. I mean wicked and as vile as the devil. Why? Because, listen, you and I may be the only hope that person has for Christ. It is a matter of not being contaminated with them, not having contact.

And so that's why we have to work diligently at keeping clean in a dirty world. And these folks who say, well, you've got to join them to win them. The Bible nowhere says that. Somebody says, well, but Paul says, I must be all things to all people, nor do win some. Being all things to all people does not mean indulging in what they indulge in and acting like I believe what I don't believe. But rather, understanding where they are, keeping clean in a dirty world, says sometimes I have to walk away.

And walking away is, listen, not for the purpose of priding myself that I am better than, but for the purpose of separating myself so that I can be the kind of godly witness that my separation from this does not mean that I don't care about you. It must be done wisely in love, concerned always about the other person. The very purpose of coming to church is to do what is to worship the living God, to learn his ways, to understand. the truths of God, to let him convict us and persuade us and to encourage our hearts, to remind us that the power of the Holy Spirit is available within us so that we leave this

building, we go out in the world like salt and light, like making a difference in a world of darkness. And when you walk into a room that is full of people who are lost in sin, when you walk in, that room brightens up. It doesn't make any difference what they think. What they say, when you walk in, it brightens up. We'd to be wise about our relationships. When we walk into darkened rooms, darkened business, darken organizations, whatever it may be. We are to shine. We are to shine for the kingdom of God. But there's some things he will say to us.

Not that relationship. Don't touch that thing. Don't be a part of that. And if we're going to live clean in a dirty world, we just have to make some hard decisions. And the problem today is this. There's so many Christians in so many churches teaching things, listen, just make it easy.

There's not one single verse in the Word of God that says living the Christian life is easy. And the dirty of this world becomes the, the more evil it becomes, the more difficult that it's going to be for us to walk holy before Almighty God. But listen, the more difficult it becomes, the more valuable every single child of God becomes to God himself. We are His lights. We are the walking witness. Christ is living on the inside of us. If Christ is living on the inside of you, they want you to shut up from your witness, what they're trying to do is to shut God up. They don't want to hear God coming out of

you. They don't want to hear God in your life. But my friends, you just keep on talking. talking, keep on telling the truth, keep on sharing the faith, and keep on living godly before them no matter what. And you know what? Ultimately, you will conquer or they will pay a horrible price for eternity. And that's why it's worth all of our time, all of our effort, all of our energy, all the criticism, everything it takes in order us to bear witness to the glory of God. So you see, we're not talking about isolation. There's not a single verse in the scripture that says we are to be isolationist. He says, go into all the world, preach the God. gospel every creature. That means missionaries who are sending out that other countries who have all kinds

of idols. Suppose they said, they walked into some person, I'm a Christian. I hate all idolatry. I hate all other religions. All of the religions are anathema. We want you to receive Jesus. What a joke. They meet them across their backyards and they begin to talk. And that person sees something in this person they've never seen before. They hear something they've never heard before. And what happens? Before long, that saint of God begins to draw that person who is lost in the light. And when they get them into the light and the Spirit of God works in their heart and brings about conviction of sin and the reality, the truth of who the one true God is, they've won them to Christ, not because they became like them, but because they shined before them, clean in the

eyes of God and clean before that person. We all get dirty. And therefore, that's why he said, in order to live clean in a dirty world, this is what's necessary. You have to remember who you are that you have a different nature. And secondly, that you develop wise relationships. The third thing, look at this. And the third thing is all wrapped up in the first verse of the seventh chapter. He says, therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness and the fear of God. Now, what in the world is he saying? Don't be bound. Look at all the contrast he mentions here. God says, I'm going to be with you. I'm going to be wait when your friends turn you away? He says, I'm going to be your father. He said,

on the basis of all this. Now, notice what he says. He didn't say, you all, he said, let us cleanse ourselves. Paul never puts himself above other people as being sinless. There's no such thing as a sinless person. We're talking about all of us living in a dirty world and attempting to keep clean. Now, he says, this is the third way. Not only to develop and realize who I am with a new nature. But second, developing wise relationships. But thirdly, he says, here's something that's very important. And that is, assuming personal responsibility for dealing with sin in our life. That's the third step. If I don't assume personal responsibility for sin in my life, I'm going to blame it on somebody else, so blame it on God. Now, how does this happen?

Well, notice what he says. He says, cleanse ourselves. Let us cleanse ourselves. Somebody says, Well, wait a minute. Doesn't 1.7 say, we're to walk in the light as he is in the light, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. Correct. That is, all cleansing and forgiveness is from God. That is, that's the cleansing that has made us holy. But I also, and you also have a responsibility on a daily basis for dealing with those actions and those attitudes that are ungodly. Now, let's explain something. We're talking about sanctification. sanctification is not just some biblical theological word that we should ignore. Sanctification means this, a very important word in the Bible.

Sanctification means this, that God, when he sanctifies something or someone, sets that person apart under himself for himself. Every single one of us who was saved by the grace of God, we were sanctified in that moment. God did what? He set us apart as his own. We have bought with the price. We've become the children of God.

He's our heavenly father, so we're sanctified. sanctification is a position. It is the position of being owned by God. It is the position of being made holy by God. That is our position. We are saints in the eyes of God. Now, on a day-to-day basis, I have a responsibility. What is that responsibility? He says, cleanse yourselves. Now, what does he mean by that? Well, what's involved in cleansing? Two things. Confession and repentance. Confession simply means that I agree with God about what he says, about what I did or what I thought or what I felt. repentance is not only confessing and understanding that, but repentance says on the basis that I understand what he believes about this, I'm going to have a change of mind. I don't want that in

my life because it doesn't fit me. Therefore, repentance is a change of mind, a change of heart, and a change of conduct on the basis of the fact that we agree with God that this does not fit who we are. So now, listen carefully. Confession is what we usually put the emphasis on. But the truth is just telling God about it's not enough. Because you see, if you keep on doing the same old thing over and over and over again, you're just telling God, telling God, telling God, telling God. I'm sure he must get tired of having us tell him the same thing over and over again. Repentance means that not only do I tell him about it, but repentance says that doesn't fit and because it doesn't fit, I'm going to do something about it. That is my responsibility to walk away from what is not of

God. It isn't enough just to tell him. If I'm going to keep clean in a dirty world, I have my responsibility, his responsibility forgiveness in cleansing. My responsibility, dealing with sin by confession and genuine repentance before God. Now, let me ask you a question. How often should you cleanse yourselves spiritually? When you sin against God, the spirit of God, if you're a believer, that quickly, you know that wasn't right. What you said, what you thought wasn't right. So the conviction comes instantly. So think about this. If you say, well, I deal with sin every night before I go to bed, let me ask you a question. Is the Holy Spirit only convict you of sin before you go to bed?

Does he wait for the nighttime to say, okay, let's look at your account for today. This morning at 7 o'clock, you blew your lid bad. Or at your business today, here's what happened. No, he convinces immediately. When should repentance and confession be exercised? Immediately. Listen, when I'm dirty, I need to deal with the dirt. not wait at night time

because you know what, isn't it amazing how we can forget some things? It's real convenient to forget the dirt. Or brushing on the rug. And I can remember when I was a kid growing up, my mom, on one occasion had me cleaning up and I was pretty small and she said, the dust pandas over here.

So when you finish, you just take it and take it outside. So my mom was gone. So had a linoleum rugs and I thought, well, I just lifted up that rug shoved that stuff right under there and I thought that takes care of that. Well, it was over the next to the refrigerator and so when my mom came back of all the places, she walked right across that spot.

She said, hmm, what's that? She raised it up and that was my dirt. You know I never did that again? Because somehow I thought my mom had this real evil eye that she could look right through that rug and see all the places I'd dirt it up. What does God want us to do? He wants us to deal with it. He says, cleanse yourself.

Don't try to forget it. Don't try to act like it's not there. He says, cleanse yourselves of these things. Now watch this. He says, of the flesh and of the spirit. Now, watch this. Usually, on almost every occasion, Paul uses the term flesh to speak about our naturalness. That is, all of us who say we still have the capacity to sin, and we can still be tempted.

And so when we yield the temptation, what are we doing? We are yielding to that naturalness about us. We still have those five senses. and so that's what he's referring to. But on this occasion, what he's referring to, a sins of the body, shall we say physically, outwardly, and inwardly. He's talking about the total personality. Cleanse yourselves of flesh and spirit.

So when you think in terms of, say, flesh like drunkenness or murder, a fornication, or whatever it might be, or, and spirit, pride, and arrogance and rebellion and jealousy, whatever it might be, he says, cleanse yourselves of those things. And so while God is in the process of always cleansing us through his blood, we have a responsibility in this dirty world which we live to deal with those things that don't fit who we are we're not talking about good conduct and doing the right thing in order to become holy but because that is our position that's because of who we are what he's saying here is cleanse yourselves of these things so that he who is within you christ he will be more evident

he will be more exhibited he will be more clear to those who are watching and looking at your life. So we're not cleansing ourselves in order to get forgiven. We're not cleansing ourselves in order to get our holy. We are cleansing ourselves and we are taking a spiritual bath continually in order to so remain so clean in the eyes of God that the very person of Jesus Christ who indwells us will be evident and seen by those people around us. How do we live clean in a dirty world? Here's how we live it. We recognize and acknowledge. We have a whole different nature. in the world which we live. Our environment's different. Secondly, we choose godly relationships.

We are wise in our relationships, the persons, businesses, things, whatever. And thirdly, we assume personal responsibility for our sins. And we deal with them on a daily basis. And we deal with them when they happen in order that, not to be saved, but because we are. Not to become children of God, but because we are. not to become a saint, but because we are one. We deal with those things that would hinder our relationship, our enjoyment of God, and our relationship, and our influence upon people who do not join Jesus Christ as their Savior.

How do you keep clean in a dirty world? The Spirit of God, convicting, revealing, enabling us. Always there to forgive. Always there to make it a reality. Thank you for listening to Paul. Part 2 of Living Clean in a Dirty World. For more inspirational messages like this one, visit our online 24-7 station.

And if you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or InTouch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of InTouch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.