Sanctification

Greetings All!

     Not too long ago I was speaking with a group of college-age Christians when I brought up the topic of sanctification. There was dead silence.  “What’s sanctification?” one boy asked.  “It’s being set apart for God, or as belonging to God,” I said. “It means growing in holiness.”   Since they still looked a bit confused and didn’t totally understand the term holiness, I said: “You know, like growing to be more godly or coming to reject sin more and more. Seeking to do what Christ wants and resisting the things of the world.” 

     Yet, try as I might to explain it, it was a topic they found hard to grasp.  And these weren’t unbelievers or non-churched people, they were churched people, one young man being a pastor’s kid.  So, I figured that if they struggled with the concept of sanctification, maybe others do as well.  And if so, to help remedy that lack of understanding, I offer these quotes on sanctification from well-known Christians.  I trust they will help!  Enjoy!

     "There are three things which the true Christian desires in respect to sin: Justification, that it may not condemn; Sanctification, that it may not rein; and Glorification, that it may cease to be."       Richard Cecil

     "I asked her what was so scary about unmerited free grace? She replied something like this: If I was saved by my good works – then there would be a limit to what God could ask of me or put me through.  I would be like a taxpayer with rights. I would have done my duty and now I would deserve a certain quality of life. But if it is really true that I am a sinner saved by sheer grace – at God's infinite cost – then there's nothing he cannot ask of me."    Tim Keller

     "Associate with sanctified persons. They may by their counsel, prayers, and holy example, be a means to make you holy."    Thomas Watson

     "The Christian life requires hard work. Our sanctification is a process wherein we are co-workers with God. We have the promise of God's assistance in our labor, but His divine help does not annul our responsibility to work (Phil. 2:12-13).”    R. C. Sproul

     "Some Christians overlook the blessing of sanctification, and yet to a thoroughly renewed heart, this is one of the sweetest gifts of the covenant. If we could be saved from wrath, and yet remain unregenerate, impenitent sinners, we should not be saved as we desire, for we mainly and chiefly pant to be saved from sin and led in the way of holiness.”     Charles Spurgeon

     “Is my wife more like Christ because she is married to me? Or is she like Christ in spite of me? Has she shrunk from His likeness because of me? Do I sanctify her or hold her back? Is she a better woman because she is married to me?"    R. Kent Hughes

     "The one marvelous secret of a holy life lies not in imitating Jesus, but in letting the perfections of Jesus manifest themselves in my mortal flesh. Sanctification is "Christ in you."... Sanctification is not drawing from Jesus the power to be holy; it is drawing from Jesus the holiness that was manifested in Him, and He manifests it in me."  Oswald Chambers

     "The sanctified body is one whose hands are clean. The stain of dishonesty is not on them, the withering blight of ill-gotten gain has not blistered them, the mark of violence is not found upon them. They have been separated from every occupation that could displease God or injure a fellow-man."    A. B. Simpson

     "Those who have been justified are now being sanctified; those who have no experience of present sanctification have no reason to suppose they have been justified."   F.F. Bruce

     One of God’s primary purposes in the life of everyone He saves is to restore His sin-damaged and sin-fractured image within us.

     This is one of the three primary aspects of “salvation” which includes: 1^st) JUSTIFICATION or being “saved” from the wrath of God against our sin, and brought into a pardoned, reconciled, or right standing with God, by grace, through atonement and faith in Christ or His blood (Rom. 3:21-26).  2^nd) SANCTIFICATION or being “saved” from the power and personality-distorting effects of sin in two ways: In an immediate way at the time of our conversion (definitive sanctification), and then in a gradual way for the remainder of our lives (progressive life-long sanctification) where God conforms us more and more into the likeness of Jesus, who is “the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His being" (Heb. 1:3).  And 3^rd) GLORIFICATION or being “saved” from the indwelling presence of sin within us all together at the time of our death and/or resurrection.

     So, "salvation" is to be saved from sin’s penalty (justification) and power (sanctification) and presence (glorification). It's one of the reasons you can't really speak about salvation from a biblical perspective without speaking of sin!  It also explains what Richard Cecil means in the first quote, and why F.F. Bruce can say what he says in the last quote. "God chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in Him"  (Eph. 1:4) and "predestined us to be conformed to the image of His Son" (Rom. 8:29).  That was His eternal purpose for us, and it always involves sanctification!

In the Bonds of the Gospel, Pastor Jeff 

Set Apart -- Calling a Worldly Church to a Godly Life

Greetings All,

     Our culture has now begun the countdown to Christmas.  It's a mere 26 days away!  And the message we hear from almost every sector is: Get busy buying!!
     This 'thought' does not specifically address Christmas, but it does deal with an issue (because of our culture) that's been forced upon Christmas  -- the holiday as a way to spur the economy and generate wealth.  Christmas, whether we like it or not, is now one of the primary economic indicators in the American year.  A "good" Christmas is often said to be one where people are willing to spend and buy or part with their wealth. Jesus may be taken out of the celebration, and the carols that proclaim the true reason for the holiday are more and more suppressed, but I can pretty much guarantee you that as long as money can be made from observing that day, Christmas will never be done away with!  In fact, it seems that every year our culture tries to start the celebration earlier and earlier!
That said, I wanted to share an excerpt from the book, "Set Apart -- Calling a Worldly Church to a Godly Life," by R. Kent Hughes.  He was pastor of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois, and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the classes I took with him when studying for my doctorate.  This thought will probably not be one of the most popular I have posted. Why?  Because it addresses (I believe very accurately) the Bible's view on wealth. If you disagree (and surely some will) please look at the references he quotes and check to see if he was true to them in their context. The topic of "wealth," of course, had to be addressed in his book, because it really does contribute to the worldliness and spiritual apathy of the Church. Read the Old Testament and you will see that some of the times the people of God strayed the most from their God were the times they prospered most.  And if nothing else, consider what our Lord Jesus says about this topic as we approach the day set aside to honor His incarnation. Enjoy.

Materialism
     "Tellingly, Jesus Christ, God incarnate, spoke more  about money than about heaven or hell, and nowhere is this more evident than in the Gospel of Luke... From beginning to end...Jesus views wealth as a spiritual handicap. His "woe" to the rich, his parable of the rich fool, his epigram "you cannot serve both God and money," his parable of Lazarus and the rich man, his declaration that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven, and finally, the salvation of Zacchaeus who responded by divesting himself of his riches -- all testify that material wealth is a spiritual hindrance.  The evidence is that every time Jesus offers an opinion about riches, it is negative. Each time he teaches on wealth, he advises giving it away. For those of us who take the Bible seriously, this raises great tensions -- sanctifying tensions.

The Benefits of Wealth

     The fact that wealth is a spiritual danger in no way suggests that money is evil. Many of the Old Testament greats were well-heeled, including Abraham, Job, David, and Solomon.  And the same was true of some of Jesus followers, such as Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and Zacchaeus.  Jesus' ministry was supported by wealthy women (Luke 8:2-3). Paul set the record straight in his explanation to Timothy: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." (I Timothy 6:10). Randy Alcorn summarizes, "Money makes a good servant to those who have the right master, but it makes a terrible master itself... Money may be temporarily under my control, but I must always regard it as a wild beast, with power to turn on me and others if I drop my guard"... Alan Emery, one of the founding partners of ServiceMaster, said that possessions become either idols or tools. And he has used his immense wealth as a tool to serve God, underwriting hundreds of ministries and repeatedly refreshing the saints.  A. W. Tozer, in a remarkable essay entitled, "The Transmutation of Wealth," put it this way: "Any temporal possession can be turned into everlasting wealth. Whatever is given to Christ is immediately touched with immortality."

The Dangers of Wealth

     Yet the downside of wealth is well-documented. It can be delusive, idolatrous and damning... Riches can delude us into imagining that moral superiority is a matter pf homes and cars and yachts and designer labels. Timex and Rolex both end in 'ex', but the wearer of one can imagine a universe of superiority above the other.... Though money is neutral in itself, if your heart is not devoted to God, it can take on what Phillip Yancey describes as, "an irrational, almost magical power... It is a force with a personality. It is in truth, a god, and Jesus called it that."  And, of course, the delusive and idolatrous powers of wealth intensify its capability to damn the soul. The deceitfulness of riches choke out the Word (Mark 4:19). The god of riches instills pride and independence and anesthetizes the victim so that he or she feels no need.  As Jesus charged the lukewarm church of Laodicea, "For you say I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked" (Revelation 3:17).  Such inflated spirits never get into the kingdom, and really do not care.

Handling Wealth

     Since wealth is so spiritually radioactive, a crucial question is how to handle it. And the answer begins by understanding that money doesn't belong to you. Kenneth Kantzer once said: "We must give up all our wealth. We must own nothing. We are only stewards of what God owns. The point is not that we must be merely WILLING to give it up, and then live like anyone else. Rather, we must actually give it up. We are to abandon completely any claims to the wealth of this world. It is not our own, and we do not have ultimate control over it."

      Along with this understanding that our money is not our own, we must give it away joyfully. Theologian Jacques Ellul says that the only way to defeat the godlike power that money seeks to impose on our lives is to give it away, which he calls profaning it: "To profane money, like all other powers, is to take away its sacred character." This destroys its power over us. "Giving to God is the act of profanation par excellence," says Ellul. Every time I give, I declare that money does not control me.  Perpetual generosity is a perpetual de-deification of money.  When you give generously and regularly, it frees you from the bondage of money and declares that it is not a god in your life.

     You can, of course, talk until the moon stands still about what is the proper lifestyle for a member of your church, and the result would be an orgy of judgmentalism. And if we came up with a written description, it would entrench a grace-nullifying legalism.  Yet Paul minced no words with Timothy: "As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life."   This is the way to live -- give, give, give! "  

     Money is one of those Bible topics people like to be taught on least -- especially by Jesus!  For Hughes is right, "The evidence is that every time Jesus offers an opinion about riches, it is negative. Each time he teaches on wealth, he advises giving it away. For those of us who take the Bible seriously, this raises great tensions -- sanctifying tensions."  In my church growing up, you could pretty much guarantee that "Stewardship Sunday" (when the pastor spoke on giving and the needs of the church) would be one of the least-well-attended Sundays of the year!  Part of their mistake was announcing it was going to be Stewardship Sunday!  It's a sensitive topic in our materialistic culture, and those who like wealth will not like hearing Jesus speak so negatively about it. 
     The sad thing is that even people who worry themselves sick over the dangers of carcinogenics in their food, and are careful to avoid even the slightest possibility that any such contaminated product will ever touch their lips, don't give a second thought to the dangers of the spiritual carcinogens which wealth infects their soul with on a day in and day out basis.

     So how can you know if money is a "god" for you? You can get a good idea if while you read this thought you got defensive, were thinking of excuses not to do what he said, wanted to prove him wrong, enjoy getting far more than giving, or have a hard time bringing yourself to give joyfully, generously, and regularly.

Just a little food for thought!  In His Service, Pastor Jeff