Sanctification Session 5 -6 Things Every Christian Needs to Know About Sanctification

The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study is now studying the Christian doctrine of sanctification.

Sanctification is a continuing change worked by the Holy Spirit in us, freeing us from sinful habits and developing in us Christ-like desires, attitudes, and virtues. 

Sanctification -  the act or process of acquiring sanctity, of being made or becoming holy. 

Three aspects to sanctification

1.  Positional sanctification received at salvation 

2.  Progressive sanctification, the daily growth, becoming more and more set apart for God's use

3.  Ultimate sanctification attained only when we are fully and completely set apart to God as we become just like Christ.  

In today's final session we look at the 6 things every Christian needs to know about sanctification.

1. Sanctification takes place in two parts
2. Sanctification is hard
3. Sanctification happens because we're united to Christ
4. Sanctification is different for everyone
5. Sanctification is a community projecty
6. Sanctification is slow

These are the notes to Session 5 of the study.

For our study we are using the book "Sanctification Alive in Christ" by Lyle W. Lange. You can order a copy by clicking this LINK or the Amazon image at the end of the notes.

For an audio recording of Session 5 click the YouTube link at the end of the notes.

Definitions 

sanc·ti·fy - verb -  set apart as or declare holy; consecrate; set apart for sacred use: to make free from sin: purify

"Sanctity" is an ancient concept widespread among religions. ... To sanctify is to literally "set apart for particular use in a special purpose or work and to make it holy or sacred."

This work of the Holy Spirit in believers is known as sanctification.

Sanctification is a continuing change worked by the Holy Spirit in us, freeing us from sinful habits and  developing in us Christ-like desires, attitudes, and virtues. 

Three aspects to sanctification

1.  Positional sanctification received at salvation 

Acts 20:32 (NKJV)  So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.  

1 Corinthians 1:2 (NKJV)2  To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: 

2.  Progressive sanctification, the daily growth, becoming  more and more set apart for God's use

John 17:16-19 (NKJV)16  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.17  Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.18  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.19  And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

3.  Ultimate sanctification, attained only when we are fully and completely set apart to God as we become just like Christ.  

1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NKJV)  Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Salvation is the work of God alone.  We don’t have anything to do with it and we can’t earn it.  Sanctification is a process.  Where salvation comes from outside of us, from God, sanctification comes from God within us by the work of the Holy Spirit.  In other words, we contribute to sanctification through our efforts.   The saved person is actively involved in submitting to God's will, resisting sin, seeking holiness, and working to be more godly or developing growing in the fruit of the Spirit.  

Sanctification is the divine process by which Christians become more and more like Christ. It is a divine process because the changes in the life of the Christian are produced by the Holy Spirit 

Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV)22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

The “fruit” of the Spirit, on the other hand, is the expression of our renewed nature as it is seen by others. Iin order to live your life in a way that is pleasing to God, you must bear fruit. 

1 Peter 1:1-2 (NKJV)1  Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,2  elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. 

Those changes are not the result of self-improvement efforts or reimaging. They are the result of the power of God renewing the heart and mind of the Christian. In the Christian’s sanctification, God’s resurrection power is at work on a renewal project.

The relationship is that sanctification flows from justification by grace through faith. Justification is based on God’s work in Christ. Sanctification is the new life a Christian lives through faith in Christ.

There are also contrasts between justification and sanctification. The 5 contrasts are:

Contrast 1

Whereas justification involves a change in people’s status before God, Christians’  sanctified lives involve a change in their hearts and lives in relation to God and their neighbor.

Contrast 2

Whereas justification excludes all human works, sanctification of the Christian life consists in the good works God enables the Christian to do.

Contrast 3

Whereas justification is complete and perfect in Christ, the Christian’s sanctified life in this world remains imperfect and incomplete.

Contrast 4

Whereas justification embraces all people, sanctification takes place only in believers.

Contrast 5

Whereas justification gives us complete certainty of salvation, the sanctified Christian life produces evidence of faith but can never give us complete certainty of salvation.

The relationship is that sanctification flows from justification by grace through faith. Justification is based on God’s work in Christ. Sanctification is the new life a Christian lives through faith in Christ.

One of the contrast is that whereas justification embraces all people, sanctification takes place only in believers or saints or Christians. 

Last week we looked at the Christian as a person who has both a new self (new person, new man), which desires to do God’s will, and an old Adam (old self, old man, sinful flesh), which wars against God’s will. We will then examine the implications this has for the Christian’s sanctified life.

Sanctification is part recognizing that our redemption has been accomplished by Christ, and part realizing that our redemption is being applied by the Spirit.

Those of us who have been walking with Christ for any length of time recognize that the work of sanctification is slow. There is no insta-sanctification or seven steps to become successfully sanctified. It is slow, with many twists and turns. It’s also deeply personal as we each have different areas of life in which the Spirit is working. Sanctification is also a highly corporate project as well. The “us” of sanctification is just as important as the “I” within the Christian life.

1. Sanctification takes place in two parts

Sanctification is the cooperative work of God and Christians by which ongoing transformation into greater Christlikeness occurs. 

Philippians 2:12‭-‬13 NIV Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Such maturing transpires particularly through the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.

2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Galatians 5:16‭-‬23 NIV So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

John 17:17 NIV Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

Sanctification is not about perfection, but persistence. Fighting sin is a lifelong endeavor. The believer cooperates with the Holy Spirit working in them, their works being an expression of gratitude for their salvation. Sanctification, therefore, begins at the moment of conversion.

The Bible gives us two ways of understanding this doctrine. First, sanctification is definitive. This is God’s work of setting believers apart from non-believers. Even the newest believer who trusts in Jesus Christ and his finished work on the cross is considered a “saint”.   When we trust in Christ by faith we are set apart in Christ and considered to be saints based on the work of Christ for us.

 

That is positional sanctification.

1 Corinthians 6:11 NIV And that is what some of you were. 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.

Romans 6:11‭-‬14 NIV In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Galatians 2:20 NIV  I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

But as we have seen in this study sanctification is also progressive. This active growth proceeds from the life we live by faith in Jesus Christ. Continuing to trust in the finished work of Christ, we grow in Christlikeness by cooperating with the Holy Spirit in seeking to live more faithfully in accordance with God’s word.

2. Sanctification is hard

There is no silver bullet to sanctification.  Our sanctification is “simply the art of getting used to justification.

Without a doubt, justification is a beautiful doctrine, but it is not the sum of the Christian life. All biblical doctrines are necessary for understanding our life in Christ. All the Scriptures are vital for the Christian. All of Jesus and his work is necessary, not just a part of him. Thus, the Christian faith, with all its rich theological reflection and truth, is best understood in light of our union with Christ. This essential truth of the Christian faith provides a framework for all of the Christian life.

At every turn of the Christian life, we must remember the distinction between the objective achievement of Christ’s work in redeeming us from sin and death, and the subjective response of such work by faith through the Spirit. Sanctification is one aspect of our union with Christ.

3. Sanctification happens because we’re united to Christ

Here’s a helpful way to understand our sanctification in light of our union with Christ: sanctification is part recognizing that our redemption has been accomplished by Christ, and part realizing that our redemption is being applied by the Spirit. We are in Christ by faith, and he is in us by the power of the Spirit.   Here is what this looks like:

Ephesians 1:3 NIV Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17‭, ‬21 NIV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Romans 8:10 NIV But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.

Galatians 2:20 NIV I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

When we understand the profound nature of our union with Jesus, then we begin to see the immense riches available to us for our growth in godliness. Sanctification therefore is multifaceted and meets every one of us exactly where we are on our journey of becoming more like our Savior. Though they may be similar, no two roads of sanctification are alike.

4. Sanctification is different for everyone

We are unique human beings who have been affected by the fall in unique ways. Though we all suffer from the same disease, our symptoms are often different. Though sanctification is deeply personal, we must remember that the Alpha and Omega of sanctification is Christ himself.

The first spark of justifying faith sets us apart as “holy ones” of God and simultaneously lights the first flame of our growth in Christlikeness. Although we are all different, the objective of progrssive sanctification is the same and flows into one source which is the Holy Spirit’s application to know, enjoy, delight in, and adore Jesus Christ for all time.

Here are five factors at work towards our sanctification:

1. God. 

Philippians 2:13 NIV for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

2. Truth. 

The truth of God’s word taught, sung, preached, studied, and read is one of the surest means by which the Spirit brings about change in our lives

John 8:31‭-‬32 NIV To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

3. Wise people. 

God mediates our change “through the gifts and graces of brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Romans 12:3‭-‬8 NKJV For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of  himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let  us  use  them: if prophecy, let  us  prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let  us  use  it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

I Corinthians 12:1‭-‬12 NKJV Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of  all:  for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.

Ephesians 4:11‭-‬15 NKJV And He Himself gave some to  be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—

I Peter 4:7‭-‬11 NKJV But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let  him  speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let  him  do  it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

 

Proverbs 11:14 NIV For lack of guidance a nation falls, but victory is won through many advisers.

Proverbs 15:22 NIV Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.

 

4. Suffering and struggle. 

Though we don’t relish it, suffering and struggles work towards our growth in Christlikeness. Difficulties prompt us to rely on God. 

Romans 5:1‭-‬5 NIV Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

James 1:2‭-‬8 NIV Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

Hebrews 13:5 NIV Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

5. You change. 

Scripture calls us to actively believe, obey, trust, seek, love, confess, praise, and take refuge. We are not passive. The mystery of faith is that we are 100% responsible, and at the same time 100% dependent on outside help.

Hebrews 11:6 NIV And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

How these factors play out in each of our lives may look drastically different. The Spirit is at work, applying the objective work of Christ, yet that work touches us all differently. While journeying towards the same goal, each believer will have a distinct path which they will tread.

John 16:12‭-‬15 NIV “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

1 Corinthians 12:4‭-‬6 NIV There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

5 Sanctification is a community project

Though sanctification is personal, it is also deeply corporate. Christians are called into a body, a group of other believers, in order to experience the work of the Spirit in our lives together. Christ died for a people. Apart from the body of Christ, sanctification is impossible. This is the way God designed the Christian life.

There is no such thing as a growing Christian apart from an active life in the body of Christ. This is so because a clear evidence of sanctification is that we are thinking of Christ and others more than ourselves. When we are not overly preoccupied with ourselves then we can rest assured that our sanctification is progressing. Our sanctification is intimately bound up in our love for and service to others. Those who are in Christ are forgiven sinners, sufferers who find shelter from life’s storms, and saints in process. And, we are in this together.

6.Sanctification is slow

Sanctification is a slow work. There are numerous reasons for this. I conclude with two. First, we can resist the work of the Spirit. Again, one factor of our sanctification is ourselves.

Therefore, when we defy the Spirit’s work, Scripture calling that “quenching” the Spirit.

Another way to say this is that through our stubbornness we effectively snuff out the flame of the Spirit in our lives. The result of such “quenching” (cf. 1 Thess. 5:19) may lead to a season of spiritual dryness.

Second, there is no part of our human existence unaffected by the fall. Our bodies, minds, emotions, relationships, and more have all been spoiled by the decay of sin. Thus, to find healing and restoration is a lifelong process. Though slow, this process of sanctification is good, because it gives us numerous opportunities to lean upon God and see him consistently glorified in our lives.

Like a spouse for whom our affection grows the more we see their beauty, so too is our relationship with God as we grow in our sanctification.

Bible Study Audio

Sanctification Session 4 - The Recipient of Sanctification: The Christian

 

The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study is now studying the Christian doctrine of sanctification.

Sanctification is a continuing change worked by the Holy Spirit in us, freeing us from sinful habits and developing in us Christ-like desires, attitudes, and virtues. 

Sanctification -  the act or process of acquiring sanctity, of being made or becoming holy. 

Three aspects to sanctification

1.  Positional sanctification received at salvation 

2.  Progressive sanctification, the daily growth, becoming more and more set apart for God's use

3.  Ultimate sanctification, attained only when we are fully and completely set apart to God as we become just like Christ.  

Justification embraces all people, sanctification takes place only in believers. As we examine ourselves in the light of God’s law, it becomes very obvious that even our sanctified lives fall far short of what God demands. No matter how hard we try, we do not carry out God’s will as we wish to carry it out. In fact, when we examine ourselves, we see a sinful nature within us that wars against the new self God has given each of us. Thus, the Christian is at one and the same time both saint and sinner.

Today we will look at the Christian as a person who has both a new self (new person, new man), which desires to do God’s will, and an old Adam (old self, old man, sinful flesh), which wars against God’s will. We will then examine the implications this has for the Christian’s sanctified life.

These are the notes to Session 4 of the study.

For our study we are using the book "Sanctification Alive in Christ" by Lyle W. Lange. You can order a copy from by clicking this LINK or the Amazon image at the end of the notes.

For an audio recording of Session 4 click the YouTube link at the end of the notes.

Review

Definitions 

sanc·ti·fy - verb -  set apart as or declare holy; consecrate; set apart for sacred use: to make free from sin: purify

"Sanctity" is an ancient concept widespread among religions. ... To sanctify is to literally "set apart for particular use in a special purpose or work and to make it holy or sacred."

This work of the Holy Spirit in believers is known as sanctification.

Sanctification is a continuing change worked by the Holy Spirit in us, freeing us from sinful habits and  developing in us Christ-like desires, attitudes, and virtues. 

Jesus had a lot to say about sanctification.

John 17:16-19 (NKJV)16  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.17  Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.18  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.19  And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

 In Christian theology, sanctification is a state of separation unto God; all believers enter into this state when they are born of God: 

“You are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30, ESV). 

The sanctification mentioned in this verse is a once-for-ever separation of believers unto God. It is a work God performs, an intricate part of our salvation and our connection with Christ (Hebrews 10:10). 

Hebrews 10:10 ESV And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

This is positional sanctification and is the same as justification.

Progressive sanctification, the daily growth, becoming  more and more set apart for God's use

It is the effect of obedience to the Word of God.  It is the same as growing in the Lord or spiritual maturity. 

2 Peter 3:18 ESV But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

God started the work of making us like Christ, and He is continuing it.

Philippians 1:6 ESV And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

This type of sanctification is to be pursued by the believer earnestly and is affected by the application of the Word 

John 17:17 ESV Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

Progressive sanctification has in view the setting apart of believers for the purpose of doing good works.

Romans 8:28‭-‬29 ESV And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Ultimate sanctification, attained only when we are fully and completely set apart to God as we become just like Christ.  

1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NKJV)  Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

1 John 3:1-3 (NKJV)1  Behold what manner of lIove the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.2  Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.3  And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. 

Last week we talked about the contrasts and the relationship between justification and sanctification. The 5 contrasts are:

Contrast 1

Whereas justification involves a change in people’s status before God, Christians’  sanctified lives involve a change in their hearts and lives in relation to God and their neighbor.

Contrast 2

Whereas justification excludes all human works, sanctification of the Christian life consists in the good works God enables the Christian to do.

Contrast 3

Whereas justification is complete and perfect in Christ, the Christian’s sanctified life in this world remains imperfect and incomplete.

Contrast 4

Whereas justification embraces all people, sanctification takes place only in believers.

Contrast 5

Whereas justification gives us complete certainty of salvation, the sanctified Christian life produces evidence of faith but can never give us complete certainty of salvation.

The relationship is that sanctification flows from justification by grace through faith. Justification is based on God’s work in Christ. Sanctification is the new life a Christian lives through faith in Christ.

One of the contrast is that Whereas justification embraces all people, sanctification takes place only in believers or saints.  Not the title of saint because the Bible calls all believers saints.

The word “saint” comes from the Greek word hagios, which means “consecrated to God, holy, sacred, pious."

The Recipient of Sanctification: The Christian

What or who is a saint? People often think there are two criteria for being a saint: the person must have led a very holy life and must now be dead. The Bible, however, calls all who believe in Jesus, living or dead, saints. This means that you, I, and all other believers are saints, holy people, in God’s sight. God has made us to be saints through faith in Jesus Christ. Christ’s righteousness covers our sin.

Romans 1:7 ESV To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:2 ESV To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:

Romans 8:27 ESV And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

As we examine ourselves in the light of God’s law, it becomes very obvious that even our sanctified lives fall far short of what God demands. No matter how hard we try, we do not carry out God’s will as we wish to carry it out. In fact, when we examine ourselves, we seea sinful nature within us that wars against the new self God has given each of us. Thus, the Christian is at one and the same time both saint and sinner.

Today we will look at the Christian as a person who has both a new self (new person, new man), which desires to do God’s will, andan old Adam (old self, old man, sinful flesh), which wars against God’s will. We will then examine the implications this has for the Christian’s sanctified life.

God created Adam and Eve in his image

God created a perfect world.   Just look at the first chapter of the Bible.

The heavens and the earth were perfect. The world in which Adam and Eve lived was perfect. Vegetation grew unthreatened by disease or insects. The climate was perfect. Animals lived in perfect harmony with humans and one another. Everything was as God wanted it to be.  

      

Into this perfect world God placed two perfect people.

Genesis 1:26‭-‬31 ESV Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

It says that Adam and Eve were made in the image of God.  What  did that mean?

Ephesians 4:20‭-‬24 ESV But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Colossians 3:9‭-‬10 ESV Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

The image of God consisted of knowledge. Adam and Eve enjoyed a blissful knowledge of God. They knew him, with their heads and with their hearts, to be their loving Creator. They relished his presence and basked in the glow of his love.

The image of God consisted of holiness. Holiness involves

freedom from sin. Adam and Eve were free from any taint of sin. But there is more to holiness than being free from sin. Holiness also involves having a will that corresponds perfectly to God’s will. Adam and Eve loved God and each other. They wanted to do what God willed. There was no hesitation, no grudging compliance, no unwillingness. They were eager to do God’s will. Their wills conformed perfectly to his will.

The image of God consisted of righteousness. God is righteous. He does everything in accord with his perfect will. He does all things right and does nothing wrong. God created Adam and Eve with the ability to carry out his will. Because they were righteous, they were able to do God’s will. Every thought in their minds, every desire in their hearts, every word that came from their mouths, everything they did correspond perfectly with God’s good and holy will. This was the perfect state in which Adam and Eve were created.

The image of God was lost

God created Adam and Eve with a free will. They had the ability to obey God or disobey him. The tragedy is, they chose to disobey God, even though they were surrounded by the evidence of his love.

We know the story.  

Genesis 3:1‭-‬7 ESV Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin cloths.

I want you to look at something.  Eve’s answer to the devil proceeded from the wrong motivation. She gave the fear of dying as her reason for not eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Her motivation to obey God was not love for him but fear of the consequences of disobeying him.

Genesis 3:2‭-‬3 ESV And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

The devil seized this as his opening for further tempting of Eve. He boldly and deceitfully asserted, “You will not surely die…. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis3:4,5). The devil denied that disobedience would bring death. He insinuated that Godwas holding out on Adam and Eve. He suggested that they would be better off if they charted a course apart from God. Indeed, he suggested that they dethrone God and enthrone themselves in his place.

After their disobedience, Adam and Eve did not find things the way they had thought they would be or the way the devil had suggested they would be. Instead of finding happiness and fulfillment by striking out apart from God, they found only the loss of happiness and the bitter consequences of sin. The blissful knowledge they had of God as their loving Creator was replaced by a terrified dread of God. The last thing they wanted to do was stand in his presence. They no longer desired what God willed.

      

They rose up in rebellion against God. They could no longer carry out his will. Their thoughts, words, and deeds deviated from God’s holy will. No longer did they love God. No longer did they love each other. Adam and Eve tried to hide from God when he sought them in the garden. When God confronted Adam with his sin, Adam did not accept responsibility for his actions but blamed God for giving him Eve in the first place. Adam was quite willing to sacrifice Eve to save his own skin. If God had not acted in love, humans forever would have remained in this sorry state. God, however,promised to send the Savior to save fallen humans from their sins.

Genesis 3:14‭-‬15 ESV The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Since the fall, all people are born in Adam’s image

Genesis 1:26-27 says God made man in His image

Genesis 1:26‭-‬27 ESV Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

But there is a sharp distinction between Adam’s creation and the birth of Adam’s son.  Adam was created in God’s image. Adam’s son was born in Adam’s image.

Genesis 5:1‭-‬3 ESV This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created. When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.

Adam had lost the image of God. The sin that corrupted him was passed on to his children.

      

This sin becomes our own at the moment of conception, as David confesses, 

Psalm 51:5 ESV Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.

 David is not saying that his mother conceived him as the result of an illicit affair. Nor is he suggesting that the process of reproduction is a sinful. No, he is saying that from the moment his life began, from conception on, he was not the person God wanted him to be. The sin of his parents was passed on to him.

This sin, which we call original sin, or hereditary sin, is real.

Romans 5:12‭-‬13 ESV Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.

People are born spiritually blind. They think they can make themselves right with God. They do not see that their works condemn them and cannot save them.

Ephesians 2:1‭-‬3 ESV And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

People by nature cannot believe the gospel message of salvation on their own. God comes to us through the gospel.

Romans 8:7‭-‬8 ESV For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

 The Christian is a new person If God had left us to our own devices, we would have remained in our fallen stateforever. Instead, he secured our salvation through the life, death, and resurrectionof Jesus. But he went beyond that. Jesus’ suffering would not have done us any goodif it were not for the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to us throughthe gospel and Baptism, working faith in our hearts. The Bible describes this workingof faith in a number of ways. Though we are dead in sin by nature, God makes us alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:1). Corrupted by sin through our physical birth, we are givena new birth through Baptism (John 3:5,6). Because we are unable to believe the gospel on ourown, God enlightens us by his Spirit so that we believe the gospel message (Ephesians 5:8). Born in rebellionagainst God, we are changed in heart and life so that we follow God’s way (Luke 15:7—repentance;

         Acts 15:3—conversion).

      

What is the result?

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

The image of God is restored again through conversion. 

Ephesians 4:20‭-‬24 ESV But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Christians demonstrate the Spirit’s work in themby the works that flow from their lives.

Alive in Christ, empowered by his Spirit, the Christian abounds in good works.   Christians demonstrate the Spirit’s work in them by the works that flow from their lives.

Galatians 5:22‭-‬23 ESV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

The Christian still has the old Adam

At the same time that we assert that Christians are new people in Christ, we must also acknowledge that the old Adam (the sinful nature) is still there.   they live in this world. The image of God is not fully restored in Christians, for we are not entirely new people.

The old Adam keeps the Christian from carrying out God’s will, as the new person desires.

Romans 7:15‭-‬19 ESV For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.

Galatians 5:17 ESV  For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

We can’t keep sinful thoughts from tempting us, but as Christians we can say no to them. As long as the desire to carry out God’s will remains within us, we still are children of God, even though we are tempted to sin.

How long will this struggle with our flesh go on? Is there any hope we will have some relief from it here in this world? The Bible tells us this struggle will continue until we die. As long as we have this sinful flesh with us, we will have to struggle with the temptations that arise from it. But God has not left us without hope.

Romans 7:21‭-‬25 ESV So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

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