Christian Life Church
May 15, 2022 8:30am & 10:00am
Great Words of the Christian Faith Words That Reflect The Challenge: Sanctification
Locations & Times
Christian Life Church Columbia
2700 Bush River Rd, Columbia, SC 29210, USA
Sunday 8:00 AM
FULLNESS 5/15/22
11. Great Words of the Christian Faith
Words that Reflect The Challenge: #11 Sanctification
The final words are: Sanctification, Assurance, Glorification.
Matthew 24:13 NASB But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved.
Philippians 2:12, 13 NASB So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to desire and to work for His good pleasure.
1 John 3:1, 2 NASB See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are. For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
Sanctification describes both our standing and our journey. We are declared completely holy immediately when we receive Christ, yet through Him we grow more holy day by day.
We are vessels who are separated from common use, and dedicated to God’s directive. We are changed immediately and completely in the inner man, but the growth is more gradual in our natural man.
How can this be?
· We are born again and immediately take on the full righteousness of Christ. This is our standing or our identity in Jesus. This is deliverance from Egypt.
· Our behavior must learn to express this new nature. Our goal is to grow into maturity. This is the transformation of the fleshly being. It is our journey. This is conquering the Promised Land.
I. With the end in view
A. All of these grand ideas are introduced at the beginning of salvation, but we must remember there is a grand culmination following the beginning of the journey and the journey itself. These words represent the finish of the process was we understand it.
B. Note: The idea of eternity, and even of Heaven itself, is scarcely a flash of an idea in our minds. That is why we do not refer to this as the end of salvation. It is simply the culmination of phase one.
C. William Hull explains it this way, “The center of gravity of the salvation experience lies in the future!”
II. Lives made Holy
A. Sanctification is seen as both crisis and process.
B. Sanctification involves both negative and positive elements.
C. Sanctification will be completed. John says, when we “see Him.”
D. Sanctification is both passive (rest in Him) and active (“Continue to work out your salvation.”)
III. Christian Life Lessons
A. Salvation, like The Sabbath, is designed to make our lives beautiful, not oppressive.
B. Freedom involves the freedom to say “no” as well as the freedom to say “yes.”
1. We may be victims of a legalistic past.
2. We may be victims of a lawless past.
3. We must learn to treat Spiritual Freedom as a treasure.
4. Paul taught the Corinthians and the Romans that freedom without responsibility was just another form of bondage.
C. Do not quench The Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:19
1. This means we are to be careful to not stop or hinder the work of The Spirit.
2. Note: We need to grow in Him so that we seek His expressions, not our own.
D. Do not grieve The Spirit.
1. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30
2. This means we must not wound the heart of God.
3. James and John learned this in their dealings with the Samaritans.
11. Great Words of the Christian Faith
Words that Reflect The Challenge: #11 Sanctification
The final words are: Sanctification, Assurance, Glorification.
Matthew 24:13 NASB But the one who endures to the end is the one who will be saved.
Philippians 2:12, 13 NASB So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to desire and to work for His good pleasure.
1 John 3:1, 2 NASB See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are. For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
Sanctification describes both our standing and our journey. We are declared completely holy immediately when we receive Christ, yet through Him we grow more holy day by day.
We are vessels who are separated from common use, and dedicated to God’s directive. We are changed immediately and completely in the inner man, but the growth is more gradual in our natural man.
How can this be?
· We are born again and immediately take on the full righteousness of Christ. This is our standing or our identity in Jesus. This is deliverance from Egypt.
· Our behavior must learn to express this new nature. Our goal is to grow into maturity. This is the transformation of the fleshly being. It is our journey. This is conquering the Promised Land.
I. With the end in view
A. All of these grand ideas are introduced at the beginning of salvation, but we must remember there is a grand culmination following the beginning of the journey and the journey itself. These words represent the finish of the process was we understand it.
B. Note: The idea of eternity, and even of Heaven itself, is scarcely a flash of an idea in our minds. That is why we do not refer to this as the end of salvation. It is simply the culmination of phase one.
C. William Hull explains it this way, “The center of gravity of the salvation experience lies in the future!”
II. Lives made Holy
A. Sanctification is seen as both crisis and process.
B. Sanctification involves both negative and positive elements.
C. Sanctification will be completed. John says, when we “see Him.”
D. Sanctification is both passive (rest in Him) and active (“Continue to work out your salvation.”)
III. Christian Life Lessons
A. Salvation, like The Sabbath, is designed to make our lives beautiful, not oppressive.
B. Freedom involves the freedom to say “no” as well as the freedom to say “yes.”
1. We may be victims of a legalistic past.
2. We may be victims of a lawless past.
3. We must learn to treat Spiritual Freedom as a treasure.
4. Paul taught the Corinthians and the Romans that freedom without responsibility was just another form of bondage.
C. Do not quench The Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:19
1. This means we are to be careful to not stop or hinder the work of The Spirit.
2. Note: We need to grow in Him so that we seek His expressions, not our own.
D. Do not grieve The Spirit.
1. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30
2. This means we must not wound the heart of God.
3. James and John learned this in their dealings with the Samaritans.