Having therefore these promises, beloved, let’s cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 1. Having, therefore, these promises, mentioned just before, that God would be a father to us, and so forth let us cleanse ourselves from all filth or defilement of the flesh, and of the spirit, that is, from all kind of sins. It is not without good grounds, that Saint Thomas, and the divines in the schools, tell us, that some sins, as those of impurity, gluttony, and drunkenness, may be called carnal sins, bring disorders that in a particular manner affect and defile the body: and that (though all sins whatsoever defile the soul, and when they are such as are called mortal, bring a spiritual death to the soul, by depriving her of the grace of God) other kinds of sins may be called spiritual sins, their malice and disorder affecting, and residing, as it were, in the mind or spirit of man; such are all the sins of pride, envy, idolatry, and so forth Witham.