Okay, I've got a confession to make. I'm not a coffee guy. I don't really know a lot about coffee.
If you make it for me, I might drink it, like the guys who live with me make really good coffee.
And I'll ask them sometimes, like, hey, are you going to make any coffee?
And they're like, no, but you can make some if you want.
And I'm like, that's okay, never mind.
That's as far as my love for it goes.
But because I am ignorant of coffee, like I drank some a little while ago because it's kind of just fading.
And now I'm like just really messed up.
So we'll see how it goes tonight.
But a little out of sorts.
Yeah.
Well, tonight we're talking about sanctification.
What a word.
You know, what a confusing word at times.
And I think if I have a title for tonight, it would be sanctification, becoming who we are in Christ.
So becoming who we are in Christ.
So I kind of have an introduction, and then I have four different, or five, something like that, questions we're going to look at just on this.
But to understand what sanctification is, we need to ask another question, and that is, what does holy mean?
What does holiness mean?
And when we talk about the holiness of God, what does that mean?
And from that, we need to, from there, we can kind of continue on about what sanctification is.
But the Old Testament root, the Hebrew word for holy, it implies a lot, okay?
There's not just one fixed definition that you can actually put on for what holy means.
It's really quite difficult.
But when talking about holy, at least in the root word in the Hebrew, it's an idea that means to be separated,
to be utterly different and distinct from anything else, and to be utterly devoted to something else.
And when applied to God, it's meant that God's holiness is His separateness.
It's the way of God being in a class all by Himself.
If you have to pick one term almost to define who God is, it's holy.
He's totally separated from everything that is not God, in a way, if you want to put it that way.
He's being in a class all by Himself.
And because He is in a class all by Himself, that makes Him, like, supremely, infinitely valuable,
because of Him being in this category by Himself.
He's distinct from all else that is not God.
So it kind of implies transcendence, otherness.
It's a part of God's very essence.
There's no lack or deficiency in God at all.
I'm going to just read out of Revelation 4.8.
You don't have to turn there.
But there's this scene going on around the throne of God.
And there's these angelic beings that are flying around and they're crying out to God.
It says,
The four living creatures, each of them has six wings, are full of eyes all around and within.
And day and night they never cease to say,
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.
So that's what is constantly going on.
It says they don't stop doing that.
That's constantly going on around the throne of God.
These creatures are crying out to God,
Holy, holy, holy.
And so, if you wanted to limit holiness just to being separate,
they've got to be saying more than, like, separated, separated, separated.
It just doesn't roll out like that.
It implies a lot more.
It's a holiness is where our language kind of runs out and we can't describe who God is anymore.
And we're kind of like, we've reached the edge.
And then beyond that is just the vastness of who God is.
It really, we can't actually put our hands on it.
But holiness does mean that God is, like, utterly separated from all things that are sinful,
all things that are evil.
He's in a completely different category in and of himself.
And Isaiah had a similar experience.
Like when he was in the throne room of God,
he saw angelic beings, seraphim, flying around and crying out,
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.
The whole earth is full of his glory.
And he was confronting with that.
If you were here a long time ago for one of the first messages,
that was a passage we actually looked at.
And a lot of us, you know, we have this idea that we just kind of want to, like, run right upon God.
We want to see God.
We want to behold God.
And kind of almost an idea of just, like, waltzing right into his presence.
But everyone in Scripture seems to have a completely different kind of experience.
Because whenever they encounter God, whenever they encounter the holiness of God,
they're utterly terrified.
Like, they are, some of them almost, some of the experiences almost even kill them.
Because that's how powerful it was.
And this holiness of God is in a category in and of itself.
And that's why in Isaiah, all throughout Isaiah, which I'm kind of reading right now,
I didn't count how many times, but I mean, I at least saw it seven times,
where God says something kind of like this,
To whom then will you compare to me, that I should be like him, says the Holy One.
God's always, like, daring people to find something to compare to him.
And it's because he is completely other, completely separate, completely immorally pure, is God.
So look at this. Turn to 1 Peter, chapter 1.
So, God is holy means God is God.
If you want to think about it that way.
Yeah, so, what does this have to do with sanctification?
Well, since God is holy, he calls his people also to be holy.
Those who belong to him, those who are in Christ.
So, 1 Peter 1, verse 14.
It says this,
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance.
So don't be like you were before you were a Christian.
But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct.
Since it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy.
And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds,
conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,
knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers,
not with perishable things such as silver or gold,
but with that which is the precious blood of Christ,
like the lamb without blemish or spot.
So, it says basically here, God is saying,
You will be holy, for I am holy.
And that's quoted out of Leviticus 11, 44.
It says this,
Yahweh, your God, He is holy.
You must consecrate yourselves because He is holy, for He is holy.
So, it's this idea that because God is holy,
He now calls His children, those who belong to Him, to also walk in holiness.
If you look at the language here,
it kind of carries the language of like children to a father.
And you see that here?
He commands us to be holy,
but He's not giving us an arbitrary command.
He's basically saying that like,
Look, if you belong to God, holiness is a family trait.
Like, holiness is like the spiritual DNA that we have received from God,
and it should be in us.
If we truly are born of God,
if we truly have been born again by the Spirit,
then like His DNA has been put in us.
And so, He's saying,
Walk as the children that you are.
Walk as those who have been changed by God.
And then He goes on, He says,
Because, you know,
you were ransomed by the precious blood of Christ.
Like, you were made His,
you were made His child through the precious blood of Christ.
So, you were bought.
Right?
You no longer belong to yourself.
You belong to God.
And you want it to be that way.
Right?
The freest person in the world is the one who's a slave to a perfect master.
Right?
We want to belong to God.
And we want to be who He's called us to be.
The spiritual DNA that's in us is holiness.
So, point being here,
whenever the New Testament talks about sanctification,
it's basically talking about holiness.
Okay?
That's kind of what the focus is.
You can't really understand it without the others.
So, let's get into some of the things here.
The first question,
which we're going to kind of unpack this with,
is what is sanctification?
What is sanctification?
And so,
just talk about terms a little bit.
Don't get lost in this.
I tried to condense this as much as I could.
But,
the English word sanctify,
or sanctification,
comes from the Latin word,
you know,
sanctus.
And it,
which means holy in Latin,
sanctus.
But,
the problem is,
like,
in our English language,
the adjective holy,
we don't have a way of,
like,
converting that into a verb.
We don't have,
um,
holification.
You know,
it doesn't exist,
like,
in the English language.
But,
um,
but in the New Testament,
the adjective for holy
can also be made into a verb,
which means to make holy,
or to set apart as holy.
It can be turned into a verb.
So,
so,
the adjective holy
can be implied as
the condition of being holy,
right?
The condition of being holy,
holiness,
or it can imply
to the process of becoming holy.
It's,
uh,
either one of those,
which would be like holification,
uh,
which doesn't really exist.
Again,
if the word existed.
So,
we use sanctification.
That's,
basically,
what we're,
what we're getting this word from.
Um,
so,
the crucial point is this,
all right?
Anytime you read in the New Testament,
the word sanctify,
you know they're talking about holiness.
That's what,
that's what you need to,
to kind of read into
when you're,
when you're reading those words.
Okay?
So,
therefore,
the goal tonight
is to talk about
not just being holy,
but like becoming holy.
It's,
it's both of those.
Uh,
as the New Testament talks about it.
And so,
the New Testament refers to our holiness
in both senses,
a condition of being holy
and becoming holy.
All right?
So,
uh,
but,
if you start really researching this
and studying this,
you're going to find like the word
sanctify,
sanctification,
is used for like a lot of different
kind of things.
And you're going to be like,
how do you put all this together?
It's not as clear a term as like
regeneration or justification.
It's really broad.
But,
it can be said
that there's two ways
that it occurs the most.
There's two different ways.
So,
so in what ways
does scripture speak about
sanctification?
Okay,
now,
this is the two that you want to write
underneath that first title.
What is sanctification?
Excuse me.
But the first one is
called definitive
sanctification.
A big word,
definitive,
right?
Try to spell that,
whatever.
Definitive sanctification.
All right,
and I'm just going to read
a definition of it for you
by John Frame.
It's not really that long,
but
in this sense,
definitive sanctification
is a once-for-all event
simultaneously
with regeneration
that transfers us
from the sphere of sin
to the sphere of God's holiness.
From the kingdom of Satan
into the kingdom of God.
It's this act
that God does himself
where he like takes us
from the realm of sin,
the realm of Satan,
and moves us to
the realm of the kingdom of God.
It's like a transfer
that he's done.
He's made us
like his people.
I'll give you an example of this.
In 1 Peter 2,
it says this.
Are you already in Peter?
Are you still in Peter?
Oh, how about that?
Go ahead and flip over
to chapter 1,
verse 2.
Excuse me,
chapter 2,
verse 9.
All these words
are blending together.
Chapter 2,
verse 9.
It says this.
And this is one way
we can think of
definitive sanctification.
But you are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood,
a holy nation.
See that?
A people for God's own possession
that you may proclaim
the excellencies of him
who called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light.
Once you were not a people,
but now you are God's people.
Once you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy.
You see that?
It's like this transfer
of like you were this
and now you're this.
God has like brought you there.
He set you aside
to be his people
and to live for his purposes.
That's one way
that this is used.
But I didn't intend
for you to turn there,
but turn to 1 Corinthians 6
real quick.
I'll show you another
example of this.
1 Corinthians 6.
Then go to verse 9.
Alright?
So it says,
Or do you not know
that the unrighteous
will not inherit
the kingdom of God?
Rhetorical question.
Do not be deceived,
neither sexual, immoral,
nor adulterers,
nor men who practice
homosexuality,
nor thieves,
nor the greedy,
nor drunkards,
nor revilers,
nor swindlers
will inherit
the kingdom of God.
Okay?
So he's saying like
that's,
those kind of actions
are manifestations
of someone's sinful condition.
They come out of us
because we are sinful.
So he's saying
if you live by those things,
if that's what's coming
out of your life constantly
and that's what you live for,
he's like,
you won't have,
you won't not inherit
the kingdom of God.
But then he changes
his kind of tone
and he says,
and such were some of you,
the Christians he's talking to,
but you were washed,
you were sanctified,
you were justified
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
by the Spirit of our God.
Pretty awesome.
Like a picture of like us
moving from this realm
to that realm.
That's who a lot of us were.
Some of you may still be
in that realm,
but God has all the power
to move you into
his realm,
the kingdom of light
and to be a part
of the holy nation,
his own possession.
So,
so definitive sanctification
redeems us,
okay,
this is important.
Definitive sanctification
redeems us
from the ruling power
of sin in our life
and it frees us
from the slavery of sin.
Okay,
so it,
so we still sin,
okay,
right,
as believers,
we all know that,
that's where we're kind of,
where we're kind of going here.
But,
but it's not the same
like as it was before,
before we were in Christ.
The power of sin
has been broken.
So,
if you really have become
a believer
and God's Spirit
is in you,
you should notice
over time,
like,
sin weakening
in your life
in certain areas.
Not totally being demolished,
but like,
God's power
and God's Spirit
inside of you
is causing you
to have more
and more victory
over those sins
in your life,
in your actual life.
So,
and that's because
of definitive sanctification.
God has
caused you
to be born again.
Some of you were here
when Nathan,
if you weren't here
when Nathan preached
on regeneration,
I don't know
if we have the sermons
up yet,
but do we have
the sermons up yet?
Okay,
working on it?
Yeah,
but,
but if that has
happened to you,
you now are not
a slave to sin anymore,
you're not a slave
to Satan anymore,
you belong to God
and by His power
you can like walk
in victory over sin.
So,
it destroyed the dominion
of sin over your life.
So,
sanctification in this sense
is decisive
and it's a radical break
with the power
and pleasure of sin,
okay?
It's like a,
and God does this,
it's an act that God does
at regeneration
as He moves us
from one kingdom
to another.
So,
that's the first one.
Thank God for that one.
That's the first way
it's used.
We've been set apart
as God's people
for His purposes.
Sorry.
The second way
this is mostly used,
alright,
and this is probably
the one that we're
most familiar with,
is progressive
sanctification.
Progressive
sanctification.
And Wayne Grudem,
he defines it
this way,
it's a progressive
work of God
and man,
key phrase there,
work of God
and man,
that makes us
more and more
free from sin
and like Christ
in our actual lives,
like right now.
Read that again.
It's a progressive
work of God
and man
that makes us
more and more
free from sin
and like Christ
in our actual lives.
So,
so in definitive
sanctification,
it's all the work
of God.
Justification,
all the work
of God.
You don't cooperate
at all.
Being born again,
completely the work
of God.
But in sanctification,
at least in this sense,
we do cooperate
with God.
We exercise
our new natures
and the new desires
and wills
that we have
that were given
to us
to love God.
So what?
So guess what?
We're not puppets,
right?
We're not machines
dangling around.
We have real
actions.
Our actions
mean things.
And we can choose
to love God
or choose to
disobey God,
even as believers.
So,
in this sense,
we can think of
sanctification
as the outworking
of the new life
that we have
in Christ.
Okay?
It's like
the new life
that was given
to us
in regeneration,
we're actually
now moving
more and more
into our new nature
that was given
to us
when we were born
again.
And this involves
like a gradual,
incremental,
progressive work,
spiritual work
inside of us
when we're still
putting to death
remaining sin
in our lives.
All of us still
have remaining sin
in our lives.
I know I do.
But by God's power,
what I'm able to do
is I can rely
on His strength
and I can have
more and more
victory over
those particular sins
that are in my life.
And I can become
more like Christ
in this life.
So we do play a role.
We cooperate.
Alright?
Let's just say
you're facing
that moment
of temptation.
Right?
It's before you.
And everything in you
is wanting to go for it.
Like your flesh,
which actually
is not your nature.
That's a whole new talk.
You have one nature now.
Right?
It lives in
corrupted,
sinful flesh,
but you have
one spiritual nature.
And that's the new man
that's come from
the act of regeneration.
So you're faced
with temptation.
Alright?
Now you have a chance there.
The Holy Spirit,
this is His operation
and us,
by the way.
He's saying like,
don't do this.
This is close enough.
Stop now.
You know this is going
to lead to disaster.
You know that God
is so much better.
Trust me.
Right?
And then He will
begin teaching you
and showing you ways
to get out of that situation.
And what?
You can either say,
okay,
alright,
I'm out of here.
You know,
like whatever it is.
Or you can be like,
you know what?
I really don't want
to fight right now.
So I'm just going
to lay down
and get into my sin.
Right?
So that's an example
of how this works
in reality.
We do play a role.
We cooperate
with the Holy Spirit
as children of God.
And we have to yield
to His work.
I'll turn to
Colossians 3.
I'll show you
an example of this.
Sorry.
So here,
Paul writes,
okay,
to the Christians here,
in light of your new identity
in Christ,
in light of what
Christ has done for you,
because of that,
live this way.
That's kind of what he's saying.
Because of who you are now,
live this way.
Walk this way.
Colossians 3,
verse 5.
And you'll see
this is a picture
of progressive sanctification.
It says,
put to death,
therefore,
what is earthly in you,
sexual immorality,
impurity,
passion,
evil desire,
and covetousness,
which is idolatry.
On account of these,
the wrath of God
is coming.
In these,
you too,
once walk.
There's that idea of like,
hey, you know what?
You used to be that way.
That's who you were
before Christ.
Then he's making a present
connection.
But he says,
but now,
you must put them
all away.
Anger,
wrath,
malice,
slander,
obscene talk
from your mouth.
Do not lie to one another.
Seeing that you have been,
you have put off
the old self
with its practices,
and you have put on
the new self,
which is being renewed
in the knowledge
after the image
of its creator.
Right?
So,
if you remember the talk
a good while back
when Kyle talked about
sin and the fall of man
and how we were,
man was the shattered
image of God,
the broken image of God,
how we were meant
to reflect who God is,
right?
His holy character
and His dominion.
And sin shattered that.
Okay?
But as believers now,
people that have been
born again,
have a new nature,
most of us sin here,
we can now actually
reflect who God is.
You see that?
It says there
at the end.
It says,
He's being renewed
after the knowledge,
or excuse me,
the knowledge
after the image
of its creator.
We can now reflect
to the world
who God really is.
It's really cool.
We can actually do that
now as believers.
But He says,
you know,
put what's earthly
in you to death.
Stop these things
because
that's not
who you are anymore.
And really sorry
Bible teaching,
which I grew up with a lot
and a lot of us
have been exposed to,
they'll jump immediately
like,
do these,
don't do these,
do these,
don't do these.
But the problem,
a great example of this,
maybe John remembers this,
maybe not,
but a long time ago,
we were teaching
through Ephesians
when we were all
in college,
and the first three chapters
of Ephesians,
okay,
are about who we are
as children of God,
who we are in Christ.
It talks about our identity,
right,
our new identity.
And then the next three chapters
talk about,
now,
in light of who you are,
walk this way.
That's kind of,
this is what the new man
looks like.
So it's a totally different
way of thinking.
It's saying like,
wow,
this is who we are.
You always hear Nathan
and Wes and I say,
you were created to be
and not to do,
and now the being
comes to doing.
This is what we're talking about.
So put to death
these things
that remain in you,
right?
So that's progressive
sanctification.
So,
I'm going to show you
probably one of the wildest
verses in the Scripture,
I think.
It's very interesting.
Look at Hebrews 10
real quick.
Is there any places
where you see
definitive and progressive
sanctification
in the same verse?
And the answer is yes.
That's kind of
mind-boggling here.
But look at
Hebrews 10,
verse 10.
So,
these passages
demonstrate how
true Christians
are sanctified,
they are holy,
but then it says
they also are
being sanctified,
they're becoming holy.
It's really a
crazy thing,
but both are true.
So look at verse 10.
And by that
we have been
sanctified
through the offering
of the body
of Jesus Christ
once for all.
See that?
So which one do you think
that's implying to?
It says,
and by that
we will have been
sanctified
through the offering
of the body
of Jesus Christ
once for all.
Which one?
Definitive or progressive?
Someone say something.
Definitive.
Yeah.
He's like
taking us
and moved us here.
Okay?
So then,
in the same chapter,
look at verse 14.
Let's go down
just a little bit.
Here's like the verse
that just is like,
what?
It says,
for by a single offering,
Christ has perfected
for all time
those who are being
sanctified.
Right?
Christ has perfected
for all time
those being
sanctified.
So there is a sense,
right,
by which
we believe in Jesus
and we are sanctified
in this verse.
We are holy.
Right?
But then later on,
like in this verse,
we see that Christians
are both perfected,
we already are holy,
and then we also
are being sanctified.
We're being made holy.
It's pretty crazy.
So one of the greatest
sources of joy
for us as believers
is that
to endure
and keep fighting,
which I think
Chris McKean
is going to talk
about that next week.
You don't want
to miss that.
It's going to be
a good one.
So where it says,
for by a single offering,
namely Christ Himself,
right?
Just look at the verse.
He has perfected
for all time
those being
sanctified.
And that's amazing
because in the same
sentence,
right,
he says we are
being sanctified
and that we already
are perfect.
Isn't that nuts?
So being sanctified
means that we are
imperfect,
right,
in the process
of,
but we are
becoming holy
but not because,
but we're not
fully holy.
And I'll read you
this quote by
John Piper
on this particular
verse,
right?
The joyful
encouragement here
is that the evidence
of our perfection
before God
is not our
experience perfection
but our experience
progress.
See that?
I'll read that again.
The joyful encouragement
here is that the
evidence of our
perfection before God,
right,
being holy,
is not our
experience perfection.
Most of us don't
really experience
what it's like to be
perfectly holy,
right?
We don't in this life.
But he says
the evidence of our
perfection before God
is our experiential
progress.
Are you growing?
That's the evidence
that you already are
perfected.
And this is what he
says,
the good news
is that being
on the way
is proof that
we have already
arrived.
Pretty awesome.
The good news
is that being
on the way
is proof that
we have already
arrived.
So don't ask,
like,
am I perfectly
holy yet?
Because the answer
is going to say,
like,
experientially.
No,
you're not.
But are you
growing in holiness?
And you can answer
yes,
then that's evidence
that you've already
arrived.
That's kind of
like what he's
saying.
So that's the two
ways that the
Bible mostly
talks about
sanctification.
But number
two,
the big number
two,
second point
or question,
what is the
difference between
sanctification and
justification?
Those are
serious distinctions.
You might
couldn't call
yourself Christian
if you don't
understand,
at least in
experience,
right,
what these
differences are.
There's a big
difference.
So we have to
be careful to
distinguish the
two,
but also not
to separate
them.
We can't
have one
without the
other.
Some people
actually want
to make that
happen.
The same thing
is like light
and heat from
the sun.
You can't
really separate
those things.
The sun
gives out
light and
heat.
We both
need those
things.
And so
they're not
the same,
but they're
not separated
either.
They're still
together.
It's what the
sun gives
us,
right?
So the
problem is a
lot of
people want
to say,
I've been
justified,
like I've
been made
right before
God,
but then
they actually
don't experience
any kind
of growth
in this
life,
right?
That can be
dangerous.
They want to
kind of
separate those
two things.
And also,
at least in
church history,
the Roman
church would
put sanctification
before
justification.
Saying that
you actually
have to,
like,
make yourself
holy enough
in this
life to
actually be
justified.
I'm glad
that's not
the case.
It would
mean that
we have to,
like,
make ourselves
godly,
right?
And that he
only would
justify us
when we
had made
ourselves
godly.
It's a big
difference.
We believe
that sanctification
is the evidence
of justification.
It's the
outflow of
what God
has done.
So I'm
going to
give you
some statements,
okay?
And just
differences,
just to kind
of make
a clarification.
The justification
versus
sanctification.
Justification
is being
declared
righteous
by God.
Sanctification
is being
made righteous.
Declared
and then
made,
right?
Justification
is about
God's
attitude
to me
changing.
Sanctification
is about
God
changing
us,
right?
He
accepts us
because of
what Christ
has done,
right?
Kind of
the point
there.
Justification
is our
position or
status before
God,
legally
speaking.
But
sanctification
is a
practice that
continues
throughout
our lives.
It goes
on and
on throughout
this life
on earth.
all right?
So,
this is a
big one.
Justification
is immediate
and complete
upon
conversion.
It's like
that,
okay?
It's
instantaneous
with being
born again.
So,
what's cool
about that
is you
can't be
more justified
today or
tomorrow than
the moment
you first
believed.
You can
have a
terrible,
awful day
and like
falling to
grievous
sin.
That
doesn't
make
you
any
less
justified
before
God
as
your
so-called
best
day
where
you
share
the
gospel
with
five
people
and
you read
your
Bible
for three
hours.
You're just
as justified
before God
as you
always have
been.
So,
that's
big.
And so,
comparing
that to
sanctification,
sanctification
is a
progressive
process.
It's a
process.
We are
being
sanctified,
growing
into
holiness.
then,
okay,
justification
is
objective.
Sanctification
is
subjective,
right,
because we
cooperate
with God.
All right,
and then
the last
one here,
justification
is completely
an act
of God,
monergistic,
God alone.
Sanctification,
we actually
play a role
by cooperating
with the
Holy Spirit
and growing
in holiness.
So,
those are
major
differences.
If you
switch those
around,
we would
be in
trouble,
because it
would be
like God
standing on
top of
Mount Sinai
saying,
like,
you have
to,
like,
climb all
the way
up here,
obey every
single law
with your
heart,
your mind,
your soul,
on your
own,
and when
you get
up here,
I'll
justify you.
No,
that's not
the way the
Bible actually
talks about it.
It says that
justification
came first,
clearly.
That's what the
whole Reformation
was about,
almost.
So,
Luther would argue,
so,
all together
now,
let's kind
of put this,
all these
statements together.
All right,
so,
when you were
born again,
right,
God raised you
from spiritual
death to life.
Like Lazarus
being called
out of the tomb,
Christ said,
Lazarus,
come out,
and he came
out.
And,
so that's
regeneration.
generation.
The result
is,
the new
life you
have actually
breathes air.
That is
saving faith.
The air that
the new
person breathes
is saving
faith.
Right?
That's what
happens at
conversion.
And then once
we have,
says what,
we're justified
by,
we were here,
last week,
justified by
what?
Works or
faith?
Faith.
So we
were justified
by faith.
So when you
actually have
saving faith,
in that moment,
God justifies
you.
It's all like
this.
It's not a,
well,
I was born
again,
but I don't
think I'm
justified yet.
It's like this
one instantaneous
act.
We actually
just know
that there's
some sort
of sequence
based on how
Scripture
talks about
it.
And it
carries on.
So if
we're justified,
right,
we've been
established
permanently as
a living,
breathing,
new nature,
child of
God,
right?
And so
how we put
sanctification
into this?
Sanctification
is the
exercising of
or the
working out
of the
new nature
in which
the Holy
Spirit is
like our
trainer.
He pushes
us and
disciplines us
and encourages
us as our
teacher to
like walk
more like
the person
that we
now are
before God.
If you
want to
think about
it that
way,
it's like
the exercising
of the
new man,
right?
So another
example is
like,
I mean,
whatever,
Jesus might
have been a
carpenter,
maybe,
I mean,
his dad was,
his earthly
dad was,
so maybe he
learned that,
but there's
really nothing
in the
scripture that
says that
Jesus was a
carpenter,
but necessarily.
Let's just
say that like
Christ being the
carpenter,
he carefully
crafts us into
something beautiful,
right?
The construction
is messy,
and it
takes time,
and it
does hurt
us from
time to
time,
and he
has to
move things
around,
but like
major
renovations,
right,
require,
you know,
us to like
get rid of
things that
are in
us,
right?
We need
to push
those out
and allow
him to
work.
And so,
I read this
somewhere,
this is this
side of
heaven,
right?
We never
will reach
complete
perfection in
this actual
life,
it's not
going to
happen.
But with
something we
should strive
for and
move into.
And so,
God basically
kind of hangs
this sign of
our heart that
says under
construction.
And when we
go to heaven,
we go to
glory,
which glorification
will be in
a few weeks,
we then will
be completely
and fully
holy,
perfect,
sinless.
That's when
it's completed.
So,
I remember
this really
kooky saying,
all right?
I remember
when I was
an early
Christian back
in the
early 2000s,
I liked
him a lot.
He's a nice
guy.
He's kind
of a traveling
Baptist
preacher.
He was from
the North
American Mission
Board,
I think.
He was an
old guy,
and he was
like really,
he did a
really good
exposition of
John 3,
I think.
But then he
said this,
all right?
When God
saves you,
there's an
inward
transformation,
which leads
to an outward
demonstration,
not sanctification,
which leads
to an upward
destination.
When God
saves you,
there's an
inward
transformation,
it leads
to an
outward
demonstration,
which leads
to an upward
destination.
But you
couldn't say
that something
actually happened
inside of you
if there was
not something
showing for
that.
Big difference.
So,
you can
remember it
that way,
maybe.
So,
number three,
what is our
role in
sanctification?
Right?
Tell me what
to do.
So,
what is our
role in
sanctification?
Look at
Colossians 1.
We're going
to stay in
Colossians just
for a minute.
Colossians 1,
verse 9.
Colossians 1,
verse 9.
What is our
role in
sanctification?
Alright,
verse 9.
Paul says,
And so,
from the day
we heard,
we have not
ceased to pray
for you,
asking that
you may be
filled with
the knowledge
of His
will and
all spiritual
wisdom and
understanding.
And then he
says this,
So,
walk,
so as to
walk in
a manner
worthy of
the Lord,
fully pleasing
to Him,
bearing fruit
in every good
work,
and increasing
in the knowledge
of God.
Alright,
so it kind of
says there,
if you look at it,
it's like,
yeah,
walk this way,
do this,
bear fruit
in every good
work,
increasing the
knowledge of
God.
It's kind of
like telling
you to do
something here.
So,
we want to
please God,
right,
and with our
attitudes,
and bearing
fruit is kind
of the example
of that.
So,
this fruit
that we have
in our
Christian life
is evidence
of God's
work in us,
right?
It's the outflow
of what God
has done in us.
And so,
if you want to
take a statement
here,
if you want to
just ask the
question,
what is our
role?
We are called
to be faithful,
obedient,
to labor,
and to toil
in the work
of being holy.
In growing
in holiness,
we do play
a role.
We are like
to strive
for this,
you know,
and just
even practically
speaking,
you know,
what does that
look like?
It means like
taking advantage
of every means
of grace
that God
has given us.
You being
here tonight
is a means
of grace
because you're
hearing the
word of God,
you're reading
the word of
God,
being around
the people
of God,
the church,
the body
of Christ,
that's a huge
means of grace.
Something that
probably 60-70%
of college students
neglect because
they're content
to just be on
campus,
you know,
but the body
of Christ
will help you
grow in holiness.
You need to be
around older
individuals that
have gone before
you and have
lived, you know,
different lives
and they can
teach you and
disciple you.
and ultimately
prayer, like
sitting, talking
to God,
pouring out your
heart to Him,
listening to what
His heart is,
and meditating,
reading, and
practicing the
word of God.
Those are all
means that He's
given us.
Those are the
primary means,
right?
So, that's it.
We're to be
faithful, obedient,
to labor,
to toil.
It's not the
whole let go
and let God.
It's kind of
like a,
applying it to
growing in holiness
is kind of like
not true.
In some situations
when you're trying
to control everything,
maybe it is,
but we are to
be active,
proactive in this,
being obedient
children.
All right,
which brings us
to the next
question,
number four.
What is the
Spirit's role
in sanctification?
All right?
And you find
that in the next
verse,
verse 11.
It says,
May you be
strengthened with
all power,
according to
his glorious
might,
for all endurance
and patience
with joy,
giving thanks
to the Father
who has qualified
you to share
in the inheritance
of the saints
in light.
Saints mean
holy,
holy ones,
right?
So those who
have been set
apart,
that same idea
uses the word
there.
So the Holy
Spirit gives us,
according to this,
the divine strength
we need
to live holy
lives.
He, like,
gives us that.
He shapes
our desires
and our wills.
He comforts us.
He guides us.
He teaches us.
Wes taught in the
Holy Spirit a few
weeks ago.
Good, great message.
You can go back
and hear it once
we get that up
and running again.
But the Spirit
empowers us,
right,
to live for God.
He gives us
the strength we need.
So,
the second statement
here,
all right,
so what's the
Spirit's role?
As we step out
in faithfulness
and obedience,
as we move,
right,
the Holy Spirit
is faithful
to empower
and encourage
and guide
and comfort us
while we're
growing in holiness.
All right?
And so that's
the great spiritual
mystery,
right?
Some people just
want to make it
one or the other.
It's either all God
or it's all us,
but in this case,
it's both.
We have a clear
calling and a clear
part to play in this,
but ultimately,
it's God's power
that's working
inside of us.
And since you're
in Colossians,
jump to the end
of the chapter
to verse 27,
right?
And we're going
to see like how,
again,
both of these
work together.
Verse 27,
to them God
chose to make known
how great among
the Gentiles
are the riches
of the glory
of this mystery,
which is Christ
in you,
the hope of glory.
All right?
That's the message.
And here's what
Paul says.
Him we proclaim,
warning everyone,
teaching everyone
with all wisdom
that we may present
everyone mature
in Christ.
For this I toil,
struggling.
See that?
I'm toiling,
I'm fighting.
He actually uses
the word agonize
in lots of his letters.
He is like toiling,
fighting,
struggling.
Then it says this,
with all his energy
that he powerfully
works within me.
What?
You know?
So like,
as we step out
and are active,
being proactive,
being obedient,
God gives us
the strength we need
to endure.
All right?
So,
kind of wrapping this up.
We got started
a little late tonight,
but I apologize
for that.
Number five,
the last one.
And this is
the encouraging part.
God will finish,
you might feel like
you're never going to ride,
but God will finish
what he started in us.
God will finish
what he started in us.
Right?
So one of the greatest
heartaches in the Christian life
is like the slowness
of our change.
We like,
it's so slow.
Personally,
I get very discouraged
at how slow I change
and are black thereof
of change
in my life at times.
I get very discouraged.
I'm not seeing
a lot of spiritual growth
during certain seasons
in my life
and I can be very hard
on myself.
I really long
to love God
with all my heart
and all my mind.
Right?
I want to love him
fiercely.
I want my whole life
to be consumed by him.
I want that.
I know that
that's what most of you
want too.
But then you find yourself
just slipping back
into a reoccurring
state in your life
and you get discouraged
and dang it,
you just want to quit.
I know the feeling
and I know I'm not alone here.
So,
if you feel like that sometimes,
be encouraged
because,
unlike us,
who start a lot of things
and don't finish them,
right,
God never does that.
Whatever he starts,
he always finishes.
He always brings you
completion.
Right?
So,
our destiny,
one day,
is to be one day
like completely holy,
sinless,
perfect before God.
That's where he's going
to take us.
I think in three weeks,
something like that,
four weeks,
we're going to talk about
the doctrine of like
glorification,
which is basically
being perfect
and being with the Lord
in eternity.
And he's going
to take us there.
Philippians 1.6
says this.
Most of you
have heard this verse.
Philippians 1.6
I am sure of this,
sure of this,
that he who began
a good work in you
will bring it
to completion
at the day
of Jesus Christ.
He will complete it.
So,
true,
genuine believers,
right,
who have experienced
God's saving power
and have the confidence
that one day
the work that God
started right now
is going to be completed.
It's going to be finished.
He will complete it.
Another man
discouraged about
the slowness of his change,
kind of like I can be,
and maybe like most of you,
hopefully,
that you grieve over your sin,
the sin of your life,
was John Newton,
former slave trader
and brigand
and drunk
and brawler
who became a believer
and completely had a life change,
completely was devoted to
to Christ
and actually helped
bring down the slave trade
in the British Empire
years later.
But he said
in that hymn,
Amazing Grace,
it was grace that taught
my heart to fear
and grace my fears relieved.
How precious did
that grace appear
the hour I first believed.
Right?
And what he says
right here,
a very cool statement.
He says,
I am not what I ought to be.
I am not what I want to be.
I am not what I hope
to be in another world.
But still,
I am not what I used to be.
And by the grace of God,
I am what I am.
Pick that up like,
I'm not where I want to be.
The one encouraging thought
is I'm not who I used to be.
Right?
And by God's grace,
I am what I am.
Very powerful.
So,
we'll close with this text.
Let's look at
1 Thessalonians 5.
Just to kind of wrap this up.
1 Thessalonians 5.
Just showing you
another verse here.
Verse 23.
And this is kind of a prayer
of Paul.
And he would pray it
for us too.
He says this.
Verse 23.
Now may the God
of peace Himself
sanctify you completely
and may your whole spirit
and soul and body
be kept blameless
at the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Right?
He who calls you
is faithful
and surely He will do it.
See that?
He's going to do it.
He's going to bring us
to completion.
Holy and blameless.
And it's going to be
God's power.
He will do it.
So let's pray together.
Let's pray together.