33:8
“I will cleanse them from all the sin ...”. Being cleansed of all our sin is a fundamental part of the gospel, and their are two key aspects to this, and these two aspects are fundamentally linked. One is forgiveness for our sins, being washed of our defilement. For sin defiles us, we are guilty. Jesus paid the price of our sins upon the cross. The second is that we are sanctified. Sin is not just something we do, it is something we are. Our natures are twisted, we are opposed to God and will always end up sinning because of this. So our nature needs to be changed. We are born again and the Holy Spirit starts a work of sanctification in our lives.
33:9
“Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honour” Jerusalem was meant to be an example before the nations of how a godly people live. Likewise the church is meant to be a living example before the world. “When they hear of all the good things I do for it”. The world is meant to see God blessing His people. Now in applying this we need to beware of going down the cheap prosperity gospel route, which leads to nowhere good. There will be times when we are blessed materially, but the basic blessing is our becoming more and more Christlike. Look at the beatitudes for a definition of being blessed. While we must avoid the prosperity gospel, we should also bear in mind the last part of this verse. “The abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it”. God is good, and must not adopt a poverty gospel out of a desire to avoid the prosperity gospel.
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