CORRUPTION-FREE HEART

“That through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having ESCAPED the CORRUPTION that is in the world through lust”” – 2 Peter 1:4b

Divine Transformation produces a CORRUPTION-FREE HEART: “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having ESCAPED the CORRUPTION that is in the world through lust” (2Per.1: 2-4). Corruption refers to a degenerate, debased, invalid, spoilt, or putrid state. Corruption is a scheme from Satan to cause believers to lose focus in Christ. Through God’s multiplied Grace and Peace, we can walk as people who have escaped the world’s corruption!

Corruption is one terrible, infectious heart spoiler! Isaiah referred to “Children who are corrupters” (Isa.1:4). Also, corruption is irreversible once it has set in! It’s like a quagmire into which the victim sinks deeper and deeper (Hos.9:9a). Once a thing becomes corrupt, we can slow corruption, but we cannot reverse it. If a piece of fruit is corrupt and left, its corruption will become totally manifest. Putting it in a refrigerator will slow the decay, but will not reverse it. Similarly, we can put a person in the church; it doesn’t terminate his corruption, even if it does slow it down. God is so realistic. He doesn’t try to reverse corruption. His one solution is: the new birth, a totally new start – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2Cor. 5:17). The new creation is totally God originated. There’s not one element of corruption in it!

Peter’s thesis is that as “partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that’s in the world” the Believer must diligently develop and mature in faith: “…giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love” (vv.5-7). Only then will the escape from corruption be real! Otherwise, “he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins” (v.9). This explains the unfortunate error of Believers who still live more-or-less like sinners!

The Heart is the soil of either corruption or regeneration. Galatians 6:8 describes how corruption responds to the “Seed-Harvest” principle: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh REAP CORRUPTION, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” (Gal.6:7-8). The soil for the sowing referred to here is the HEART, as the next verse implies: “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not LOSE HEART” (Gal.6:9). The Question is: What kind of seeds are we sowing or investing in our hearts?       

We live in a corrupt world which, by prophecy, will only become more corrupt (2Tim.3: 1-5). Christ came to set us free from sin as we repent and trust in His Blood. Then, we’re not to be conformed to this warped world, but to be molded following Christ’s likeness (Rom.12:2). Though we have corrupt churches, fake ministers, many false brethren, and deceitful people coming into churches spreading lies and false teachings, we must never let corruption, which is a scheme from Satan, creep into our hearts, and cause us to lose focus on Christ. Even though corruption is all around, we can walk by the Spirit and continue to grow in Christ. 2 Peter 2:20 warns: “For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.” May we never retrogress in faith!