Sanctification

[00:00:01] Okay, so we will definitely need probably a good review in a second. But first, I want to ask a couple or just one question. I'll just ask one question. I'll take a few answers. [00:00:15] I know you're probably all going to be chomping at the bit here. What is your favorite chore? [00:00:22] Your favorite chore. [00:00:23] There's not. Quick answers. What? [00:00:26] Mowing the lawn. [00:00:27] Okay. I hate doing that. But, hey, that's a good. I like that opinion. Yes. [00:00:32] Walking the door. That actually does sound kind of nice. [00:00:35] Yes. [00:00:36] Yes. Okay. Folding laundry. [00:00:40] Unload. Specifically unloading. Dishwasher. Okay. Yes. [00:00:45] Washing what? Your truck. Okay. Yeah. [00:00:50] Taking out the trash. I like to stay with him, but at night, specifically. [00:00:55] Okay. [00:00:58] It's a little more on edge. Yeah. Oh, yes. Cleaning my room. Cleaning your room. Okay, that's nice. All right. You two are the last ones. Yeah. [00:01:08] Sweeping. Organizing. Organizing. Great. Okay. Yeah. All sorts of chores. [00:01:13] Mine, I think, is probably doing the dishes. [00:01:18] You look confused. What do you think? You don't think it is? [00:01:25] She says that, like, I don't do the dishes all the time. [00:01:33] Yeah, I do. I think if I was gonna choose one, it would be the dishes. [00:01:39] You know, it's nice to see dirty, filthy dishes all over the kitchen and then to look again a few minutes later and everything is clean. You can smell the. The soap. The sink is empty. The counters are clean. I just love that feeling. So I mostly like it because of how it looks afterward. [00:01:58] But it's a process. You know, I can't. I can't do the skillet before I do the plate. You know, I know I have, like, a weird order in my mind than I do, or, you know, you can't scrape food off while you're wiping the counters. You kind of have to go through this process, but in the end, it's all perfect. [00:02:16] And I think that this is a good analogy for sanctification, our topic. It's a process of kind of cleaning things up, becoming holier. And at the end of your life, when Jesus returns, if you're a Christian, it will all be perfect. It'll be complete and clean. [00:02:32] So that is kind of maybe a helpful visual of sanctification. But let's do some quick review. What is theology? It's been a few weeks, Asher. The study of God and how you become more like. That's right. We study God and how to become more like him. So we do this by studying different categories. So theology is kind of the big umbrella. Under that umbrella are smaller ones, and under those are even smaller ones. So different categories. So we've been doing different doctrines or categories. We've done the doctrine of the Word of God, of creation, of Christ, of the Holy Spirit. [00:03:07] We're currently doing the doctrine of salvation as a reminder. Doctrine is just a set of teachings, just a category of teachings. That's how we think of it. So we've covered common grace, the grace which is shared to all people that helps point them to Christ. [00:03:25] It is not saving grace. It is distinct. But it should point us to our need of the Savior and to the existence of God. We've talked about election, which is how God has chosen those who would be saved. Union with Christ, which is the heart of salvation, where a sinner is made one with Christ in his death, resurrection and eternal life. [00:03:45] We've talked about regeneration, which is when the Holy Spirit renews the heart. We've talked about conversion, which is when we respond with faith and repentance. Remember, conversion equals faith plus repentance. We've talked about justification, how God declares Christians righteous. [00:04:01] He credits the righteousness of Christ to your account through faith, and you are then justified in his sight. We've talked about adoption, when God welcomes sinners through Christ into his family as children. [00:04:14] And then last time, we talked about baptism with the Holy Spirit. What is baptism with the Holy Spirit? [00:04:24] Might be a hard one, but it was the most recent. [00:04:36] Yes, Receiving the Holy Spirit as a result of being saved. [00:04:40] Yes. Receiving the Holy Spirit as a result of being saved. So this happens with. [00:04:45] It's very similar to regeneration happens at conversion. [00:04:51] We think of how everyone is going to be baptized in the Spirit. [00:04:56] That is what we're talking about. [00:04:58] It's not the same as baptism by immersion in water, but this is the baptism which actually saves. [00:05:06] Whereas baptism in water is not salvific. Baptism with the Holy Spirit is something that happens to every single Christian. It happens at conversion. It does not happen later. It does not happen more than once. Those are some of the misconceptions we talked about. [00:05:21] But now we turn to sanctification. [00:05:24] Who knows what that means? This is one of the ones we probably talk about the most, or one of them. Yeah. What does sanctification mean? [00:05:33] Yeah, to be made holy. Yeah, that's right. To be made holy. That is a great simple definition, if you want to write it down. To be made holy is to be sanctified, to be cleansed, to be made holy. This can refer to a couple different things, so that definition kind of works. But there are a couple different levels of sanctification. Not like you're achieving different levels, but different kind of areas. [00:05:58] So it can refer to general and complete act of God to set a Christian apart as holy. So when he sets you apart as one of his own, that is you being sanctified in a sense. [00:06:08] But in theology, we most often talk about it in terms of progressive sanctification, which is a process of becoming more holy over your life. That's usually how we use it, but the Bible does speak of it in both ways. So it's important to remember when you're reading the Bible to not always assume the one definition. It could be the other. [00:06:30] All right, let's talk about our major affirmations. Number one of those. Number one, under point one is sanctification is a work of God. [00:06:40] It's a work of God. And we're going to go to John 16 for this. Sanctification is a work of God. [00:06:57] John 16. We're going to read verses 8, 11, Which say, and when he comes. [00:07:13] This is talking about the Spirit. When he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment concerning sin. Because they do not believe in me concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see me no longer concerning judgment because the ruler of this world is judged. [00:07:35] So what does the Holy Spirit do in this passage? [00:07:38] What does he do? [00:07:40] Yes. [00:07:41] He convicts. That's right. So he convicts. What else does he do? [00:07:46] Or what does he convict us about? I should say. [00:07:54] Sin. That's right. Anything else? [00:07:58] Yes. [00:07:59] Judgment and judgment. Okay. Yeah. Sin, righteousness and judgment. How is this related to sanctification? [00:08:07] What is conviction of sin concerning, or what is conviction concerning sin, righteousness and judgment? What does that have to do with sanctification? [00:08:19] Yes. [00:08:22] Yeah. That can bring us closer to God. It can help us see that we need to come closer to God. Right. The conviction. [00:08:32] So this conviction of sin is exactly what we need to understand that we need the Savior. We need to be holy. When the Spirit convicts of sin, you realize that you do not believe in Jesus. You are a sinner. He is going to the Father and he is not here. We await for him. The world will be judged. And that knowing these things because of the conviction of the Spirit draws us to know that we need to be holy. [00:09:01] We are sinners. We act as if we do not believe in Christ. [00:09:06] So we need sanctification. [00:09:09] Let's go down to two Peter, chapter one. [00:09:21] You make sure you're in second Peter, chapter one. [00:09:27] And would somebody read verses three through four? [00:09:37] Yeah. [00:09:41] To us, all things that. [00:09:48] By which he is granting to us so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world. Because. [00:10:01] Okay, so according to these verses, verses 3 and 4, what is God's role in sanctification? [00:10:15] Yeah, I would say that's probably his purpose in sanctification, to bring us closer. But what is his role? What is he doing to contribute? Because we're saying in this first point that sanctification is a work of God. What exactly is God doing? [00:10:37] He has given us everything we need to be sanctified. Yeah, he's given us what we need. So we could say it's empowerment, it's equipping. He is, through the Spirit, giving us the power to do all things pertaining to life and godliness. So to live godly lives is to live sanctified lives. And God is giving us the power to do it. So sanctification is a work of God. We need his empowerment. We need the gift of the Spirit in order to be sanctified. [00:11:07] Now flip over to 1 Thessalonians 5. That's not too far away, 1 Thessalonians 5, 1 Thessalonians 5. Look at verse 23 says, 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. [00:11:37] So he says, sanctify you completely. We see that, see not just that God sanctifies, but Christians must believe that he can sanctify completely. [00:11:48] Because if you are a Christian, I hope you also recognize that you still struggle with sin. [00:11:55] You cannot sanctify yourself completely. [00:12:00] You can maybe willpower your way somewhat, and with the help of the Spirit, you can certainly become more holy. But you on your own cannot be sanctified. [00:12:09] You need God's help. So that is why Paul in this letter is praying that the God would sanctify these believers completely, because only God can complete that task. We need his help. That is why sanctification is a work of God. [00:12:24] Well, secondly, the second affirmation is that sanctification is a work of man. [00:12:28] And when I'm saying man, I mean mankind, men and women. It is work that people do. So it's the work of God and it's a work of man. So this is different than the other topics we've been discussing. So there's a couple ways in which humans act for sanctification. [00:12:47] You know, first, humans act passively in sanctification. [00:12:51] And when I say we act passively, what I mean is that we live kind of with a certain posture towards God. You can Think of Romans 12:1. If you want to write it down, you don't have to flip there. It says, present your bodies as a living sacrifice. It is just by living. For the Lord is how we are passively being sanctified, trusting that he will mature us and sanctify us. [00:13:15] So we can be sanctified passively. But also humans can act actively. We can be active in sanctification. [00:13:25] So what are some ways that Christians actively pursue holiness? That's a question for you. What are some ways that Christians actively pursue holiness? [00:13:47] Any ideas being in God's Word? Yeah, that's a good answer. [00:13:55] Yeah. Trying to do what he tells you. That's right. Yeah, that actually. Oh, you have one. What's up? [00:14:00] Praying. Yes. Yeah, those are great answers. I wrote both of those down. So Christians obey. [00:14:07] James 1:22 says, Be doers of the Word and not hearers, only deceiving yourselves. Christians obey. [00:14:14] They listen to the Word, so they have to read it and understand it, and then they do it. Not hearers, only be doers of the Word. Christians also pray. [00:14:24] Philippians 4:6 says, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. That certainly can include prayers for sanctification, asking God to sanctify you, to make you more holy. That is a wonderful prayer. And Paul says to do everything by prayer and supplication in Philippians 4. 6. [00:14:49] Finally, there's one more. First Corinthians 10:13 says, if you want to write that down, I'll just read it again. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. [00:15:02] God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. [00:15:06] But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. [00:15:15] Christians also flee temptation. That's another way we can actively pursue sanctification, by fleeing temptation. Paul gives us this encouraging verse, great verse to memorize, First Corinthians 10:13, that no temptation has overtaken you. That's uncommon. [00:15:33] God is not going to allow any temptation to come across you that you cannot resist. He's not going to put you in a situation where there's no way for you to avoid sinning, which is convicting, because you know that you do sin, which means you didn't take the way of escape. [00:15:50] But God is faithful to give us the way of escape from every temptation. So we pursue sanctification by doing what we can to avoid and Flee temptation. [00:16:02] So again, progressive sanctification is something that men and women do with God. [00:16:10] You know, there's a fancy word for this if you're interested. It's synergistic. That just means that God. God and man cooperate together. [00:16:18] If you like big words, you can write that one down. If you don't, you don't need to. Just know that God and man work together. It's cooperative. [00:16:25] Yes. [00:16:29] S Y N E R G S Y N E R G I S T I C S Y N E R G I S T I C. [00:16:44] Well, there's another word on the flip side. Other works of God are monergistic. So it's the same word but with M O n at the beginning instead of syn, you know, like, which means God alone does the work. So these, these are. Again, you don't need to know those words if you want to. That's great. I like knowing the words. That's why I give them to you. [00:17:06] Because it kind of takes a big concept and makes it worth one word anyway. So sanctification is cooperative. God and man working. But others like election, regeneration, justification. We are not cooperating with God. We are not contributing. This is not a work of God plus man. Election, regeneration, justification. These are God alone. Sanctification. Progressive sanctification is something that we take part in through God's power. It is a cooperative work. It's a enormous privilege that God allows us to work cooperatively towards our own sanctification, I think. [00:17:44] Okay, so that was the second affirmation. Now we're on the third. [00:17:48] Sanctification starts as a change of position. [00:17:51] Starts as a change of position. So it means that sanctification in the Bible sometimes refers to a Christian or a group of Christians changing positions from outside of God's love to inside of it. [00:18:04] You are in the world and then you are transported into God's family. [00:18:09] That's how we see it used a lot. So First Corinthians. Yeah, we'll actually flip to this one. Go to First Corinthians 6. [00:18:23] 1 Corinthians 6. [00:18:29] This is a great example of how sanctification starts as this change of position. Look at verse 9, 1 Corinthians 6. 9. [00:18:38] Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? [00:18:43] Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor the nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. So this is how the Christians were described. [00:19:01] He's talking to a church, saying, these people will not inherit the kingdom of God. And then look at verse 11, he says, and such were some of you. [00:19:13] So he's saying, this is you. [00:19:15] You Christians were like these people, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. [00:19:27] So he's describing this change of position. [00:19:29] You once were of those people, but now you've been sanctified, you have moved positions, you are holy now. You've been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. [00:19:39] That is true of believers, those who have faith in Christ. [00:19:44] Okay, fourth, sanctification is also progressive during this life. [00:19:49] So it starts as a change of position. It becomes progressive. We've been talking about that again. That's how it's typically used. [00:19:56] So Philippians 2, 12, 13 is helpful. I'll just read that if you want to write it down. Philippians 2, 12, 13. [00:20:03] Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence. He says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. So even though it is God who works in you, he says, you must also work out your own salvation. You see, you are working it out, but it is God who works in you. This is the cooperative work of sanctification. It occurs during your lifetime if you're in Christ. In fact, if you have put your faith in Christ and are truly a believer, then sanctification is your life's worth work. That's what you are doing. That's kind of the stage of salvation you're in. [00:20:48] If, you know, if you don't like that idea, that's a problem, because that's the busyness of the Christian life is being sanctified. [00:20:56] This is how we work out our own salvation. [00:20:59] See, the term salvation, it's not wrong in how we usually use it, but it refers to this entire process of salvation, from election, which is before creation, all the way until glorification. That's the last step. That'll be the last lesson, which is when Christ returns and resurrects the dead. So that whole process is salvation. [00:21:22] So while we, again, we can say, you know, I got saved this way or on this date or whatever, I want us to remember that it's not. [00:21:34] It's done, in a sense, it's, you can be justified. It's done. But in the same way, it's not complete until Christ comes again. [00:21:42] Instead, we are being saved by Christ. I think that's maybe a better way to say it. You are being saved by Christ. If you have put your faith in him, then you've been elected, you've been called, you've been justified, you've been adopted, you've been justified. [00:21:55] But you are currently being sanctified. And one day you will be glorified when Christ returns, and that will be the completion of your salvation. [00:22:05] So I only say that not to nitpick on how people speak. Again, like I said, you can say those. [00:22:11] You can say those things. But I want us to humble ourselves, just be humble and recognize where we are. We are being sanctified. We still have work to do in a sense, so we should take that seriously. [00:22:25] The final affirmation. Or actually, I have two more. Sorry. [00:22:29] The second to last sanctification will be perfected. [00:22:33] So it'll be perfected in heaven. [00:22:36] Hebrews 12:23 says, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous, made perfect. [00:22:47] So the spirits of the righteous will be made perfect in heaven. [00:22:52] And then now the final affirmation. Sanctification is aided by the Holy Spirit, the Bible and the Church. [00:23:01] Sanctification is aided by the Holy Spirit, the Bible, and the Church. So quite simply, the main ways that we are sanctified is through the Spirit's work, obeying what the Bible teaches, and through the church. [00:23:17] Now, how does the church aid in our sanctification? What is something that the church does to help us be sanctified? [00:23:33] Yeah. [00:23:35] Place of worship. So worshiping brings us closer to God that aids in our sanctification. That's right. [00:23:41] Yeah. [00:23:43] Yeah. Faithful preaching helps us know the Word. That's right. And faithful preaching is not just helping us understand the Word, but it's calling us to obey it. [00:23:52] Exhorting and commanding us. Yeah. [00:23:58] Anything else? Those are some big ones. Yeah. [00:24:01] Church discipline can help us be sanctified just the way that would practically look. If you're having a hard time understanding what that could look like, it could mean another member pointing out a sin that you are kind of living in and helping you repent of it and. And turn back to Christ. That is a wonderful way to help us grow. [00:24:21] And even if church discipline becomes public and someone is removed, it's an opportunity for the other church members to be warned of the seriousness of sin. Helps us be sanctified. [00:24:32] Right. Yeah. Any others There are a lot, I think maybe kind of tying to the discipline thing, one that we might maybe more intuitively understand is just accountability, just having fellowship with people that can help us, encourage us in our walks with Christ. [00:24:52] You know, all the things we do, singing and praying, those things all help us in our sanctification. Everything that the Church does together can help us. [00:25:00] So, you know, praise God for the Church. [00:25:03] All right, let's talk about some errors to avoid. [00:25:07] Got three. The first one is that we must, sorry, we must not overemphasize the divine role in sanctification. [00:25:16] I felt a little bit weird when I wrote that out. Overemphasize God's role in sanctification. [00:25:22] What I'm trying to say is I want to caution you against the let go and let God philosophy. [00:25:28] As humans, we have the responsibility to cooperate with God and his grace to be sanctified. It's not just a do whatever I want and let God do it. [00:25:39] In terms of sanctification, we are called to work out our own salvation. We are called to be sanctified, to be holy in our conduct. We just talked about that in 1 Peter, not that long ago. [00:25:51] So live holy lives. [00:25:53] So we don't want to overemphasize God's role in this. To say, it doesn't matter what I do, he's going to sanctify me. That would be a bad response. [00:26:02] The second error to avoid is the opposite. Don't overemphasize the human role in sanctification. [00:26:07] Right to remove God completely. We would swerve us over into relying on ourselves for our own salvation and holiness, when in reality we cannot please God on our own. [00:26:20] So while we can work and maybe obey things and break fewer rules and do fewer bad things, you are not being sanctified if the Spirit is not in you, helping you, you are not pleasing God. If you haven't trusted in Christ. If you haven't and haven't been given the Spirit that is necessary, you need God's indwelling to be sanctified. Otherwise you're just putting a band aid on a gash. [00:26:46] That's what good works essentially are. [00:26:49] It's insufficient to heal you. [00:26:52] The third error to avoid. [00:26:54] We must not dismiss progress as an essential component of salvation. So what I'm saying is that progressing in holiness is essential to salvation. [00:27:05] Now what I mean, if there's never any progress in your holiness in Christ likeness, then you should seriously be confused. [00:27:14] You should have doubts. That's the point. [00:27:17] The progress is not functionally saving you, but it is. The lack of progress can point you to something troubling in your heart. [00:27:27] It can point to a lack of faith. [00:27:31] That's the point. I think God made us that way so that we can notice if we are not truly trusting Christ. We can notice if maybe I've been a false believer this whole time because I have no desire to grow and I'm not growing and I haven't grown in years and years. [00:27:50] Now you have to be cautious and I want to be cautious. [00:27:53] You won't always grow a lot. [00:27:55] There will be times where you feel like you grow in Christ a ton and times where you feel like you're moving so slow, maybe you're even moving backwards. And sometimes you probably will move backwards. [00:28:05] That doesn't mean every single time that happens, you have stepped out of the faith and you need to step back in it. That's not how that works. [00:28:13] But the point is to examine yourselves in those times, to pray and ask God to, to help you to do that. And if you're in Christ, if you're confused and you're like, but I'm in Christ, if I go backwards, then I'm still in Christ. That's true. If you're in Christ, then that means you get back up and you pursue holiness. You don't quit, you continue because God gives you the ability to persevere. [00:28:38] If you feel like you're just want to quit, you're going to hang in the towel. Then you're proving to yourself where your heart really is. So have a heart that always repents and loves Jesus. That's really what I'm saying with this one. [00:28:53] And look and challenge yourself to grow in holiness. [00:28:56] Challenge you and your friends, who are also Christians, to grow in holiness. [00:29:01] And all of those. You know, we've said a number of ways to enact the doctrine by obeying, praying, fleeing temptation, looking for the church to help aid in your sanctification. [00:29:14] And so here are a few ways to enact this doctrine. So that's big point. Number three, cooperate with God in sanctification. [00:29:23] So again, you can do this by reading the Bible, obeying it, praying for the Spirit to help you grow in sanctification, or grow in holiness to be more like Christ. [00:29:33] You can also make number two, make steady progress toward greater holiness so you don't have to look at your life and number up all the sins you have and get rid of those by next week. I mean, that'd be great. You should try. But you know, you need to be realistic in some sense. That fighting sin is going to be a lifelong battle. [00:29:55] So look for steady progress and then finally create an environment where all church members can be cared for and to be helped to be more holy. [00:30:09] That's something you can do, you know, whether you are a quote unquote church member or not by our church's role, but just in this environment, in youth ministry, especially in your small groups at things like the weekend, make the environment a place where the other people can be cared for, that they can be helped towards sanctification. Don't be judgmental. Don't gossip about what people share in those groups. [00:30:33] That should be obvious, but don't do those things. [00:30:36] Help people make people feel comfortable to confess their sins and then help them with it. Help them fight it. You're in it together, you know, if somebody is confessing a sin and wanting help defeating that sin, you should treat them how you would want to be treated. If you are struggling with a sin and you really needed help, you want people to understand you, not judge you, but to walk with you in sanctification. So remember that in your group times. [00:31:04] Any questions on sanctification? [00:31:08] All right. I think we have two more lessons in salvation. [00:31:12] I think we got perseverance and then glorification. [00:31:15] So that's exciting. Those are great. [00:31:18] Let's pray. [00:31:20] Father, thank you for your word and for the Spirit that helps us to be sanctified. God, we pray that those who are living in sin outside of Christ, that your spirit would convict them, would call them to repentance, and that you would help all of us to be sanctified in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray this in his name. Amen.