Salvation: Sanctification

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.

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

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.

1 Peter 1:14

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,

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.

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,

Colossians 3:5

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,

Hebrews 10:10

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,

Colossians 1:9

verse 9.

Colossians 1,

Colossians 1:9

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?