SANCTIFICATION 4: HOW TO BE SANCTIFIED?
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. Sanctification
a) Sanctification takes a lifetime. We will never be completely perfected until that day of His return. We must resist temptation, flee from sin, press on, take hold, have a goal, strain toward, and read the Word of God. These allow the Holy Spirit to work in us, with us, and through us by cooperating and being proactive to avoid sinning against God.
b) We are told to be a living sacrifice. The only problem with being a living sacrifice is that it can crawl off the altar. Paul gives us a fitting conclusion: “I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:1-2).
2. How to be Sanctified?
a) We must be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. We must place our trust in Christ to save us and have faith in the Savior. If our trust and faith is in our self, in our own works, then we will fail miserably. How does this happen then except by the will of God and by His power, for “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).
b) The key portion of that is “by the Spirit of our God.” It’s not something you do by superhuman effort but by the power of the Holy Spirit and we were justified and “have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).
c) Paul writes, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).
d) Listen to what Paul had to contribute toward his attaining holiness and how he had to be proactive: He pressed on, he had a goal, he took hold, he forgot the past, and he strained toward it. Those are all the things that he did and Joseph did too. You don’t fall into sanctification, you cooperate with the Holy Spirit and you participate with Him in the process.
e) We see that it involves “sanctification in the Spirit” (1 Peter 1:2) and it is “sanctification by the Spirit“ (2 Thessalonians 2:13) that “he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word” (Ephesians 5:26). The “washing of water with the word” is a direct reference to the Word of God, the Bible.
f) When we read the Bible on a regular basis, this allows the Holy Spirit to sanctify us by the power that is in the Word. Remember there is real power in the active, living, sharper-than-a-two-edged-sword Word (Hebrews 4:12). It washes us…cleanses us…and gives us access to the power of the Holy Spirit which is the same power of God that raised Christ from the dead!
The End ...
1. Sanctification a) Sanctification takes a lifetime. We will never be completely perfected until that day of His return. We must resist temptation, flee from sin, press on, take hold, have a goal, strain toward, and read the Word of God. These allow the Holy Spirit to work in us, with us, and through us by cooperating and being proactive to avoid sinning against God.
b) We are told to be a living sacrifice. The only problem with being a living sacrifice is that it can crawl off the altar. Paul gives us a fitting conclusion: “I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:1-2).
2. How to be Sanctified?
a) We must be regenerated by the Holy Spirit. We must place our trust in Christ to save us and have faith in the Savior. If our trust and faith is in our self, in our own works, then we will fail miserably. How does this happen then except by the will of God and by His power, for “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).
b) The key portion of that is “by the Spirit of our God.” It’s not something you do by superhuman effort but by the power of the Holy Spirit and we were justified and “have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).
c) Paul writes, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).
d) Listen to what Paul had to contribute toward his attaining holiness and how he had to be proactive: He pressed on, he had a goal, he took hold, he forgot the past, and he strained toward it. Those are all the things that he did and Joseph did too. You don’t fall into sanctification, you cooperate with the Holy Spirit and you participate with Him in the process.
e) We see that it involves “sanctification in the Spirit” (1 Peter 1:2) and it is “sanctification by the Spirit“ (2 Thessalonians 2:13) that “he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word” (Ephesians 5:26). The “washing of water with the word” is a direct reference to the Word of God, the Bible.
f) When we read the Bible on a regular basis, this allows the Holy Spirit to sanctify us by the power that is in the Word. Remember there is real power in the active, living, sharper-than-a-two-edged-sword Word (Hebrews 4:12). It washes us…cleanses us…and gives us access to the power of the Holy Spirit which is the same power of God that raised Christ from the dead!
Comments
Post a Comment