Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.    2 Corinthians 7:1 NKJV

We all have a need for waste disposal. Maybe you live on a large piece of property, and you have an area designated for disposing of waste or garbage. Maybe you pay a service to haul your waste away to a landfill or dumping ground. In order for us to live in a clean, sanitary environment, we must have a means of disposal.

In the book of Nehemiah there is a city gate called the Refuse Gate or the Dung Gate. From the name you may have guessed that this gate is where garbage was taken outside of the city for disposal.

As Christians, we must have a means of disposal. We must remove what defiles us. As our Scripture passage says, we must cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. We are told in 1 John 1:9 just how to do this. It says if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Just as the Jews had a gate in their city to dump their garbage, we must have a dumping ground for all that defiles us. We must be able to rid ourselves of anything that gets in the way of our holiness. We are all works in progress. We all strive to cleanse ourselves from unrighteousness.

We can only be cleansed through the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ tells us He is the way, the truth and the life in John 14:6.

Another gate on the Jerusalem wall was the Sheep Gate. The animals entering the city were brought in through this gate. This includes the animals that were being brought in to be sacrificed in the temple. Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice for our sins when He shed His blood on the cross. It is through His blood we are cleansed and made white as snow.

As a Christian, we must also have two gates. We must be willing to let Jesus enter in through one gate. And we must be willing to dump our garbage out the other gate.

We all know that garbage has a tendency to stink, it can also attract flies and cause other issues. It’s not something we want to keep around. In the same way, when we allow sin to defile us it can cause a host of problems. For this reason, we also want to rid ourselves of intentional sin.

We talked a few days ago about our gates and whether or not they were in need of repair. We need to be sure to keep the gate to our heart open for Jesus to come in. We need to be sure to dispose of intentional sin through our Refuse gate. We need to remove all garbage that will become a problem.

Gates and walls provide security. In order to be secure in your Christianity, allow Christ to enter into your heart. Send sin packing. Once we allow Christ to enter into our hearts, He will be glad to help us get rid of intentional sin, all we have to do is ask. We can trust in Him. We are told in James 4:7-8, Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and God will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

If you need to bag up the trash and haul it away, God will be glad to help. Just ask Him.

Have a great day!