Andy Woods - Soteriology 17: Sanctification

ah are you guys ready for me up there okay well good evening everyone if we could take our Bibles and open them to first Corinthians or first Californians as race Stedman used to call it first Corinthians chapter 1 verse 2 continuing on tonight and then next Wednesday and then the Wednesday after that as the kids presentation then the summer will be over but we're gonna by then be into eternal security which we're going to continue Sunday mornings in the sanctuary during the Sunday school hour so we have been talking about this through this outline as we've been studying the doctrine of salvation and we've been dealing with the results of salvation backing up just a little bit Roman numeral 5 was how salvation is gained by faith alone once you have salvation what exactly does that mean well dr. Schaeffer called this the results of salvation these things don't cause salvation but they occur because of salvation and he itemized about 33 concepts that you presently possess as a Christian as a result of being saved we can't go through all 33 but we can drill down on some that need more probably explanation than others but we've talked about the fact that we have adoption because we're saved eternal life because we're saved regeneration because we're saved justification because we're saved forgiveness of all pre cross sins because we're saved and last week you remember we talked about how we have the ability or the capacity for good works we tried to make the case that good works are not automatic in the life of every child of God but they're desirable and it's what God wants to do in and through us and something else we have it's it's called sanctification and let's spend a little bit of time tonight on sanctification sanctification is a huge topic in the Bible for example in the in the Old Testament and I have those Hebrew and Greek names at the top the Old Testament word which was written in Hebrew for sanctification is kodesh and it means the opposite of profane profane just means common so when someone uses profanity they're using vulgarity which is earthy speech common speech and the Hebrew word for sanctification is the opposite of that it means separated from sin and as you track this through the Old Testament what you'll see is kodesh is used to describe things that to God or holy like the tabernacle that he instructed Moses to build like the temple and you go into the New Testament and the Greek word for sanctification is Hagee ods Oh which means it's very similar to kodesh it means to be separated for God's use that's what sanctification is separated for God's use and as you go it's the opposite of impurity and as you go through the New Testament you'll see hoggie zou is applied to things that God considers special like the city of Jerusalem like the temple and one of the interesting things is this word hog wads oh and at least the concept kodesh is applied to the believer so God's desire for us is that we would be sanctified the opposite of common the opposite of impure that we would actually be a peculiar people set aside for His purposes so notice if you will first Corinthians chapter 1 verse 2 it says to the Church of God which is at Corinth to those who have been what sanctified in Christ Saints by calling and then the rest of the verse goes on but you'll notice there that sanctification has three tenses to it and here it's being used in the past tense you know it's obviously not being used in the present tense because when you study the book of first californians you'll discover that these people first current things excuse me these people weren't acting very saintly okay so positionally they were sanctified or separated but practically they weren't so their practice hadn't caught up with their position and that's why Paul wrote the book of 1st Corinthians but very clearly they were in a positional sense in a past tense already sanctified so regardless of your progress in progressive sanctification there is a sense where every child of God has already been sanctified or set aside at least by position take a look if you could at 1st Corinthians 6 verse 11 here's another example of it such as some of you were you were washed but you were what sanctified see how it's past-tense idea it already happened to him and then and that you read this whole chapter and these people are suing each other they're visiting temple prostitutes for sexual purposes so how in the world could they be sanctified when they're acting like that because this is not dealing with this word the way I'm using it here practical sanctification it's positional it's something that already happened another example of sanctification in the past tense is the book of Hebrews chapter 10 verse 10 take a look at that if you could Hebrews 10 10 you'll see sanctification used in the past tense again and it says there by this we have all been what sanctified through the offering of the body but the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all so sanctification has three tenses to it that's what I just described as sanctification in the past tense it already happened the moment you trusted in Christ God set you aside for his purposes but then what you'll discover in the Bible is sanctification is also used in the present tense so for example notice John 17:17 here Jesus is praying for the disciples and those who would be impacted by the disciples and he prays to the Father and their behalf sanctify them in the truth Your Word is truth so they were already believers these disciples and yet Jesus prays for them to be sanctified and what he's praying for them therefore is that their practice would catch up with their position which is called spiritual growth as our daily life catches up with our identity or emulates our identity we that's the definition maturity or growing in Christ but here Jesus is specifically praying for their not past-tense sanctification they already had that but their present-tense sanctification and that's where you have all of these commands in the New Testament for example Romans 6 verse 19 I think it is you might want to follow me over there for a moment Romans 6 verse 19 says I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh for just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness resulting in further lawlessness so now present your members as slaves to righteousness resulting in what sanctification so when I no longer yield my body to my old nature but I begin to yield it more and more to the new nature what's happening is I'm experiencing practical sanctification their sanctification is used in the present tense a couple more examples if I could of present-tense sanctification take a look at the book of first Thessalonians for a minute 1st Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 3 for this is the will of God you ever wonder what the will of God is for your life I mean believers scratch their heads the whole lives wondering what's God's will for my life well here it is right here in the Bible you ready for this is the will of God your what sanctification now here it's obviously not talking about past tense sanctification but present tense sanctification because it describes what is to happen in our lives so that we can experience present-tense sanctification that you abstain from sexual immorality so what is God's will for your life what is God's will for my life present tense sanctification and we had staying from sexual sin and then you move down to verse seven and it says for God has not called us for the purpose of impurity but in what sanctification present-tense take a look if you could over at second Timothy chapter 2 remember the two vessels we've been covering this Sunday morning we covered it a few few months ago but God in this house has two kinds of vessels vessels that are common like plastic ware and vessels that are uncommon like silverware so do you want to be plastic or silver you know silverware you bring out for special occasions right plastic ware you use for ordinary purposes so what does God's will for your life he doesn't want you to be plastic he wants you to be silver and that's what 2nd Timothy 2 verses 19 through 23 is talking about but notice verse 21 2nd Timothy 2:21 it says therefore if anyone cleanses himself from these things he will be a vessel for honor what's the next word sanctified and then once you begin to experience progressive sanctification you become useful to God you're no longer plastic but silver he can use you for not just common purposes but for very noble purposes but that's the collection of verses that talk about sanctification in the present tense which is what God wants and then one of these days we're going to die or the rapture will happen I hope the rapture comes first personally but I can't promise that but I'll be out of this body you'll be out of your body and the temptation to go back into sin won't even exist and at that point you will have achieved sanctification future tense so sometimes the word sanctification is used in the future tense for example notice first Thessalonians 3:13 so that he may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father now we know this is future because it says at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with his Saints or our Lord Jesus with his Saints and then over in 1st Thessalonians 5:23 it says now may the God of peace himself do what sanctify you entirely your spirit your soul and your body to be preserved complete without blame when at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ so there the verb sanctify is used in the future tense so we have been dealing with the three tenses of salvation haven't we justification the past tense of salvation sanctification the present tense of salvation glorification the future tense of salvation so what I've just given you our synonyms for these three tenses another way of saying it is salvation in the past is the past tense of South sanctification salvation in the present is the present tense of sanctification and salvation in the future is the future tense of sanctification so I have been sanctified I will be saying to be sanctified and hopefully what's happening in my daily life is my life doesn't become sin less but I'm starting to sin less if you know what I'm talking about and as that begins to become a reality in our life we're actually growing spiritually and we're experiencing sanctification in the present tense now who sanctifies us the answer is every member of the Trinity is somehow involved in our sanctification for example the father is involved because Jesus prayed to the Father regarding the disciples in John 17:17 sanctify them so Jesus wouldn't have prayed that if the father didn't play some kind of role in our sanctification past present and future and then going back to the verse we started with first Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 2 we know that the son the second member of the Trinity plays a role in our sanctification because it talks about the Saints and those who are those by calling in every place on the name of who our Lord Jesus Christ so that's the second member of the Trinity playing a role and I don't want to leave out the Holy Spirit the third member of the Trinity notice 1st Peter chapter 1 verse 2 he says there Peter an apostle to those who are aliens scattered and then verse 2 says according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by the sanctifying work of the who Holy Spirit so when you study these passages on sanctification what you learned is all members of the Godhead are involved in that process so obviously this this issue of sanctification must be pretty important to God we believe in one God but we believe he's expressed himself in three personages because you can find verses that show you that every member of the Trinity is involved in this so I have been sanctified I will be sanctified and hopefully what's happening in my life which is the will of God for me as I'm becoming more and more progressively sanctified which means I'm becoming a vessel for not profane uses or common uses but special uses just like the temple and the Old Testament and the tabernacle you know there's a reason the New Testament tells us that our body is the temple of the what Holy Spirit just as the temple was a holy place in Old Testament times that's how our bodies are to be and those are the types of vessels that God uses for noble purposes you know how does God sanctify us exactly well if you're talking about sanctification in the past tense where we've already been set aside positionally what accomplishes that is the blood and body of Jesus the body and blood of Jesus applied to us at the point of faith is what gave us positional past-tense sanctification so for example notice Hebrews 9 and verses 13 and 14 book of Hebrews chapter 9 and notice if you will verses 13 and 14 it says for if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled what's the next word sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh and then verse 14 says how much more will the blood of Christ who through the Eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the Living God so notice very clearly it's Christ's body which was sacrificed for us in his blood which was spilled in our behalf which is the means that God used to positionally sanctify us past tense one more notice Hebrews 10:10 Hebrews chapter 10 verse 10 it says by this we all have been what sanctified now notice the Bible doesn't just say we're sanctified it gives us the means through the offering of the body of Christ once for all so what does the means by which we are sanctified past tense it is the body of Jesus Christ which was sacrificed on our behalf and his blood that was spilled in our behalf okay well then if that's all true what does God use to sanctify us today in the present tense and he uses two tools over and over again the first one is the Word of God and the second one is the Holy Spirit so remember the prayer that jesus prayed going back to john 17:17 he prayed for the present tense sanctification of the disciples remember what he prayed sanctify them in the what truth your what is truth word so they're a very clearly says that the means that God wants to use to bring these disciples and us into present tense sanctification is the word of God notice acts 20 and verse 32 these are pause words to the Shepherd's at Ephesus the pastors and the elders he says and now I commend to you to God and to the what word of His grace that's the scripture which is able able to do what which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who are what sanctified so do we want to be counted among those who have achieved through God's power some level of progressive sanctification in this life if the answer is yes then we have to be routinely exposed to God's Word God doesn't do it without his word and this sort of dub-dub tales the teaching we've been doing on Sunday morning through 2nd Timothy three and four where we're in that section dealing with preach the word out young Timothy is to preach the word and Paul gives the benefits of the word being preached you might recall 2nd Timothy 3:16 all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for what teaching reproof correction and training and righteousness so that the man of God may be equipped for every good work now notice if the word of God is not being taught and people aren't exposing themselves to the Word of God then the process of progressive sanctification cannot and will not happen because you subtract the Word of God from the equation and suddenly teaching disappears reproof disappears correction disappears and training in righteousness disappears and equipping disappears so there's a lot of people kind of have this mindset that it's just kind of me and God and I kind of do my Christian thing well I sit under a tree you know I don't need the church the problem with that is the church is the place where the Word of God is supposed to be openly proclaimed and if you're not an environment where the Word of God is being openly proclaimed and you're not allowing yourself to be corrected and built up week by week through the Word of God then you simply can't attain progressive sanctification you may have it positionally and ultimately but you can't have it practically so your progress in progressive sanctification is related to the extent that you avail yourself to God's Word and it's not just listening to sermons it would be reading it on your own reading it with your family reading it with your children reading it personally it's the extent to which you avail yourself to God's Word and not just have information going into the mind just for the sake of it having going into the mind but you actually start volitionally obeying and responding to God's Word if there's not a perpetual intake of God's Word and there's not a perpetual response of obedience to God's Word progressive sanctification in my life and your life is very negligible if at all so it's very clear here that the middle tense of progressive sanctification is contingent upon the Word of God and its role in our lives so that's why we you know we're somewhat aggressive at least at this church in teaching over and over again the Word of God because we want to see people grow we don't want to see him pass an exam in college that college I teach that I would like to see him pass an exam but the ultimate goal is not to pass an exam the ultimate goal is sanctification which is what God wants to produce in our lives and then the second tool that the Holy Ohr that God uses to bring us into progressive sanctification is the holy spirit the third member of the Trinity and notice Galatians 5:16 Galatians chapter 5 verse 16 says but I say walk by the what spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh now what does it mean to walk by the spirit it means to be continually dependent upon the spirit so the Bible never calls us to overcome the less of the flesh and by the way notice you still have less of the flesh as a Christian the less of the flesh are still there in fact sometimes the less of the flesh are more obvious to you as a Christian than they were to you before you were a Christian because now the Spirit of God is inside of you pointing out righteousness so some people actually feel worse about themselves after they get saved than before and the reason is because something greater than yourself lives inside of you now who constantly brings to our awareness sin and things that are displeasing to God but you'll notice that it says if we walk according to the spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh I don't overcome the less of the flesh through willpower in and of itself I overcome it by submitting to the commands of God under his power and if you don't have any teaching on the spiritual life which most Christians don't have because the subject for whatever reason is very poorly understood the only thing you're left with is a set of rules you know don't smoke don't chew don't go with girls who do don't have a tattoo not that I'm in favor of tattoos necessarily but it's a rule people put on themselves I can't have a tattoo I can go to PG movies but not our movies or maybe PG there's so many ratings now I get them all confused there's pg-13 you know you guys get my drift is it's it's a set of rules that I have to follow because God's people are supposed to act this way but not this way so that's the only thing I'm left with a set of rules which we call legalism if I don't have any teaching on the spiritual life what gives you by contrast progress in progressive sanctification is not a set of manmade rules and do's and don'ts the Pharisees had all that stuff it's walking moment by moment under the spirit's power that's how the lusts of the flesh you start learning to say no to the lusts of the flesh with greater and greater regularity so the more you're in the word and obeying it and dependent drawing upon the resources God has given you and saying no to the lusts of the flesh the more you're developing as a Christian and growing and be cut becoming a sanctified vessel middle tense that God can now use for noble purposes so that's a tremendous source of wealth that we have our progressive sanctification let me add another to your list if I could let's take a look at Romans 8:34 a minute another source of wealth that we have is glorification what is glorification glorification is the future tense of salvation justification is the past tense of salvation freedom from sins penalty at the point of faith sanctification as we just finished talking depending on what tense you're in but focusing on the middle tense is the present tense of salvation or we're being gradually delivered from sins power as we walk under the spirits control and then the future tense of our salvation is glorification because you see now in a certain since i'm dual natured i have a new nature that wants to please god but as long as I'm still in this body I have an old nature that I can return to at any moment and in the middle tents of my salvation I have to start depending upon God's resources and saying no to that old nature with greater frequency but in glorification you're single natured again there is no old nature to return to so the desire to go back to the sin nature the desire to retreat to the sin nature isn't even there in glorification and so that happens the moment we're out of these bodies either through rapture in which case my body will be transformed or through death now your glorification all are you in glory right now you guys don't look like you are I don't think I look like I do either but did you know that the Bible teaches that your glorification is a done deal it's part of your wealth so God looks at us legally as if we're already glorified how do I know that it's right there in Romans 8:29 and 30 he articulates the various phases of our salvation for those whom he foreknew he also predestined now predestined in the past tense right already happened to become conformed to the image of his son so that we would be the firstborn among many brethren and those whom he predestined he called calls in the past tense right and those whom he called he also justified justified in the past tense right and then look at the rest of the sentence and those whom he justified he also what glorified past tense so if glorification is the future tense of my salvation and it hasn't happened yet how in the world can Romans 830 put it in the past tense and the answer to that is it's a done deal it's so sure from God's perspective that he can articulate it in the past tense although it factually hasn't happened yet so if you want a fancy name for this it's a distinction between de jure and de facto de jure means legal de facto means in fact so legally I am already glorified as far as God is concerned actually it hasn't happened yet that's got to wait till death or the rapture and Ephesians 2 verse 6 tells us that we legally are seated with Christ in the heavenly places are you seated with Christ in the heavenly places factually right now no you're stuck in this building although it's a nice building we have cushion seats in an air-conditioned so praise the Lord for that it's a comfortable place to be but it's not your ultimate destination you're legally not here you're legally seated with Christ in the heavenly places Ephesians 2:6 so that's a de facto de jure distinction legally that's where we are factually we're not there yet so legally I'm already glorified by the way just a tip tip my hand a little bit that's one of the reasons you can't lose your salvation your salvation is so sure your glory is so sure that God can speak of it as if it's already happened in other words nothing can derail future glory for the Christian Satan can't derail it we can't even derail it the fallen angelic realm can't derail it the tribulations and trials of life and suffering can't derail it either and that's the whole point there of Romans 8 as you move into Romans 8 33 38 nothing can separate us from the love of God because one of the pieces of wealth which we already possess is our glorification glorification is yours it's in your account currently even though it hasn't happened yet it's kind of like what God did with Joshua you read Joshua 6 and God brought Joshua to Jericho and before there was any battle at all God told Joshua you already won before they even gone out to do anything militarily God announced in Joshua 6 that you've already won so that is the position of the believer we've already won that's why the devil hates our guts that's why we're called overcomers the the the battle is over the war is over just factually a few things have to work out first but legally that's our position we're glorified already so that's a phenomenal thing isn't it let me add one more to your list we are at the end of the law take a look at Romans 10 and verse 4 this can get a little tricky so watch watch carefully on this Romans 10 for Romans 10:4 says and for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to who to everyone who what believes so if you are in Christ you are at the end of the law the law is a thing of the past so what in the world does that mean I mean it stated there in Romans 10 for first of all does the law play any role now when I talk about the long talk about what God gave Moses at Sinai does the law play any role in your justification I mean not really other than to maybe alert you to the fact that you're a sinner need to be justified the only thing that justifies you is faith alone in Christ alone Paul is very clear about this in acts 13 which is his first major speech in the synagogue there in Pasadena and theok acts 13 39 he says and he's speaking in the synagogue to Jews and who were steeped in the law to the Jew the law was everything they even looked at it as an instrument of salvation they perverted its meaning and that's why Jesus and John 5 says to the Jews the Pharisees your hopes are set on Moses so these these folks thought I gain salvation through adherence to the Mosaic law Paul upset their apple cart a little bit a little bit a lot because he says in acts 13 this is why they kicked him out of the synagogue and hated his guts he's he's contradicting 1,500 years of false teaching he says in through him everyone who believes is freed from all things from which you could not be freed through the law of Moses obedience to the law of Moses is not what justified you before God Paul says notice acts 15 verses 10 and 11 now here the church it's what's called the Jerusalem Council are true and the the leadership of the church was still Jewish at this time but the problem is you got a lot of Gentiles saved on Paul's first missionary journey so these Jews in acts 15 who are now Christians are trying to figure out what do we do with all these Gentiles and a lot of them thought well let's just make them all go under the Mosaic law because that's what Gentiles did in the Old Testament those folks were called what proselytes one of the most famous proselytes in the Bible is ruth the moabite us from moab and what did she say to her mother-in-law Naomi your people will be what my people your God will be my god so that's how you grew as a Gentile in the Old Testament era if you are believer in Yahweh you went under the law of Moses to grow spiritually so now Paul has gone out on a missionary journey one and almost everybody that saved as a Gentile I know all these Jews are trying to figure out are we going to put all these Gentiles under the law and I believe this is Peter who speaks up and I like what I like what he says it's almost a little bit humorous acts 15 10 and 11 it says now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear but we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ in the same way as they are also the words Peter says why in the world when we put all these Gentiles under the law we Jews did a terrible job of being law just read the pages of the Old Testament I mean we this this this law was a yoke we Jews couldn't even bear and we're the chosen people we've had zero success in keeping the law why why would we make a bunch of Gentiles going to the law so this is another verse you can add to show that we are at the end of the law and notice the book of Galatians which is really the whole book is about this how do you achieve growth and the Christian life to you there's a whole bunch of people there in Galatia saying if you if you really want to grow as a Christian you got to go under the law and what does Paul say Galatians 3 23 through 25 but before we were kept in custody under the law being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed therefore the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ so that we may be justified by what faith but now faith has come we are no longer under a tutor so the law is our schoolmaster that brings us to Christ how does it do that it points out our guilt before God if you can look at the Ten Commandments and be inflated with a sense of pride and say you know gosh I'm doing pretty well here you don't even understand what the Ten Commandments are about Ten Commandments are there to not make us feel good about ourselves but to make us feel bad about ourselves because the Ten Commandments reveal our sinful heart particularly when you understand that the law sits in judgment not just on what I do but what I think what's the tenth commandment anybody know thou shalt not covet now coveting is something I can do in my heart it's desiring something that doesn't belong to me so I can be committing the sin of coveting and no one could even know it because the loss that's in judgment on my heart so my heart has committed sins that my hands haven't gotten around to yet that's what the law reveals and that's the whole point of Christ's Sermon on the Mount when he says things like in Matthew five 21 and 22 if you're angry with your brother you're already a what a murderer and then Matthew 5:27 and 28 if you're lusting sexually after somebody that you're not married to then you're already an adulterer now who who among us can look at that standard and see ourselves as innocent so that's the function of the law the law deals with my wicked heart and then I say oh my gosh Lord what am I gonna do and the Lord answers that cry for mercy by pointing to Christ who paid the penalty for our sins and we trust in him so the law is my schoolmaster that leads me to Christ he's a it's like a tutor but once I'm in Christ there's no need to go back and resubmit myself to the law see that so the law doesn't have any role in our justification it makes us aware of our need for justification notice if you will Romans chapter 3 verse 20 says the same thing Romans 3:20 it says because by the works of the law no one will be what justified in his sight okay well if no one is justified in his sight through the law why did God give the law look at the rest of the verse through the law comes the knowledge of what sin so you've got to get a man lost before you get them saved what makes us aware that we're lost is the law but after the law has done that and brought us to Christ its job is over see so the law doesn't play a role in my justification now does the law play a role in my progressive sanctification you got a what you got to follow me very carefully on this because there is massive confusion on this today first of all why did God give the nation of Israel the law who did God give the law to only to Israel Psalm 147 verses 19 and 20 of the law says he declares his word to Jacob his statutes and his ordinances to Israel for he has not dealt thus with any nation and as for his ordinances they have not known them praise the Lord who was the law given to only Israel wasn't even given to the United States of America wasn't even given to Sugarland Bible Church it was given specifically to the nation of Israel now for what purpose not watch this very important understand this not to justify them how do I know that because when the nation of Israel crossed through the Red Sea which God closed on the Egyptians and before that put the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorpost they were justified before God the law hadn't even been given yet how do I know they're justified before God because they're in the Hall of faith the the generation that passed through the Red Sea is in the Hall of faith Hebrews 11 29 and then when they pass through the Red Sea it says they believed on the Lord which is the same Hebrew construction used to describe Abraham salvation Genesis 15:6 which everybody takes as a type of our salvation that's how Paul uses Genesis 15 throughout his writings romans 4 Galatians 3 many other places so these people were already saved they're already redeemed and then you look at Exodus 19 1 and you'll discover that two months pass after they came out of Goshen out of Egypt passed through the Red Sea it took them two months to get from passing through the Red Sea to Sinai what did they receive at Sinai the law so why to give why did God give these folks the law not to redeem them they already were redeemed not to justify them they already were justified he gave the law specifically to Israel to teach God's redeemed people how to behave the law was never given to redeem of people it was given to a redeemed people and it was only given to the nation of Israel because as they're going from the Red Sea to Sinai two month journey Exodus 19 1 what are they doing are they acting saintly not at all every crisis that arises they complain against God they complain against the leadership they don't like the food that comes from heaven they don't they don't like anything in fact a lot of them say we just want to go back to Egypt at least we got you know three square meals there we're out here in the wilderness and God just gonna kill us I mean they had no faith at all so these people were justified but they needed to learn how to live and so God took them to Sinai not to redeem them but to show God's redeemed nation how they're to live as a redeemed person how do you interact with your fellow believers or your fellow man Commandments one through four tell them that excuse me Commandments five through ten tell them that how do you act towards God Commandments one through four tell them that how do you act towards the nations the law told them that because it gave them their calling as a kingdom of what priests and what happens when you sin and you need to have fellowship restored between you and God the law told them how to do that it's called the Levitical system so the law told them how to relate to God as a redeemed person how to relate to each other don't commit adultery with your neighbor's wife don't steal don't murder as you relate to God make sure God is first in your life don't use the Lord's name in vain honor the Sabbath those kinds of things all of that comes from instruction in the law how do you relate to the unsaved world the law gave them their role as a kingdom of priests and told them how to do that and what do they do when they fall into sin the Levitical system taught them to do that there's nothing in the law that taught these people how to be justified it's all about sanctification and the Pharisees come along and they switch the order around they start telling people you know if you really want to be right with God in terms of justification you need to go under the law and they use the law in a way that was perverted and when the law becomes a perversion it becomes a curse because you're using it for something other than why God gave it it's called a curse when it's misused in Galatians 3:13 so many people today suffer under the curse of the law because they look at the Ten Commandments and they think they've got to keep these Commandments to be justified before God when in reality those Commandments aren't there for that purpose at all they function as a schoolmaster that leads us to Christ but they're not there for that purpose so in justification the law plays zero role in sanctification the law played a role for who Israel and who else no one else you with me because the law Psalm 147 19 and 20 was only given to the nation of Israel so if all of this is true then how am I to achieve sanctification a lot of people think I've got to go back to the law but notice Galatians 5:22 and 23 Galatians chapter 5 verses 22 and 23 but the fruit of the Spirit is love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control against such things there is no law God never told us that we achieve practical sanctification through the law it's through the spirits empowerment notice 2nd Corinthians 3 verses 6 through 11 2nd Corinthians 3 6 through 11 Paul is saying the same thing here he says I plan it appalled upset that's the wrong Corinthians that's the wrong californians alright 2nd Corinthians 3:6 4:11 who has made us adequate as servants of a new covenant not the letter of not of the letter but of the spirit for the letter kills and the Spirit gives life but if the Ministry of death in letters engraved on stones came with glory so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face fading as it was how will the Ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more glory for if the Ministry of condemnation has glory much more does the Ministry of righteousness abound in glory for indeed what had glory in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it for that which fades always was with glory much more that which remains is in glory now you go through that paragraph and you'll see Paul comparing the law to the spirit what is the law for the New Testament believer it's the Old Covenant what is the law of the Spirit the New Covenant what can they ought what can the Old Covenant do it's the letter of the law what can the new having to do it's it's the it's the spirit which gives life the law gives death because it points out our sin the Spirit gives life the law is written on stone the New Covenant spirit the the Old Covenant some glory what are we having the New Covenant greater glory what do we have in the law condemnation what do we have in the spirit righteousness what do we have in the law something temporary God never intended it to be permanent what do we have with the life of the Spirit Jesus said the Spirit will be in you for how long forever he's contrasting our covenant with the old Mosaic Covenant and he's saying we are not under the law to achieve progressive sanctification we are under the spirits energy so therefore what you see here is the law has no ability number one to justify me before God only you can do is point out my sin which tells me I need to be justified and it has no ability to bring me into progressive sanctification that's the spirits job now you see it will hold the phone here are you saying we're not under the law at all if that's true then why is it that nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament every commandment is repeated in the New Testament other than which one Sabbath so people say well if we're not under the law at all then why are nine of the ten commandments which come from the Old Testament repeat it in the New Testament beyond that what do you do with passages like romans 13:9 which quote the law to the believer romans 13:9 says you shall not commit adultery you shall not commit murder you shall not steal you shall not covet isn't that from the Old Testament law isn't Romans in the New Testament I'm confused notice 1st Peter 1:16 is 1st Peter in the new last time I checked it is and yet what is first Peter 1:16 say it starts quoting the login first Peter 1:16 says because it is written you aren't you shall be holy for I am holy that's from Leviticus 11 44 so if we're not under the law what's Peter doing quoting the Leviticus Book of Leviticus for the New Testament believer so you see this tension a lot of verses say we're at the end of the law but then you get into certain New Testament passages and it indicates that we're back under the login so am i free from the law are my under the law what's the what's the deal here and let me tell you the wrong way of handling this tension this is what you get from reformed theology John Calvin and others developed this idea they say well the law of Moses has three parts to it there's the ceremonial which deals with the sacrifices there's the civil part of the law which says stoned to death Sabbath breakers and witches and homosexuals and then there's the moral part of the law don't steal don't covet and those kinds of things and so the reformed theologian says you see the law of Moses had three parts to it civil ceremonial and moral we are not under the civil we are not under the ceremonial because Christ's death rendered null and void animal sacrifices but we are under the moral part of the law and you hear this a lot from people we're not under the civil part of the Mosaic law or this or the ceremonial part of the Mosaic law but the moral part of the law were under and that's how they justify these the fact that nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament let me tell you something that view is totally 100% wrong let me tell you why it's wrong number one Moses when he was given a lot by God never said all right gang here's the civil part over here here's the ceremonial part over here here's the moral part over here that is an artificial man-made distinction that you don't find in the law of Moses the second reason why reformed theology is wrong in the on this account is because of the law of Moses is an all-or-nothing proposition James 2:10 says whoever keeps the whole law yet stumbles at one point becomes guilty of what all of it so if I put my little pinkie forget the pinkie this little pinky fingernail and I stick it under the law in any in any sense guess what I'm under the whole thing so this idea that we're under the moral part but not the civil part or the ceremonial part is inaccurate so then how do I handle this tension which says we're not under the law but yet nine of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the New Testament here is the proper solution we are under a similar yet different system we are under a system that at places resembles the Old Testament law but it's a different system entirely because similarity is not always the same as what equality I have two cars in my garage they both have four wheels and seatbelts and a steering column does that mean car a equals car B even though they look similar obviously not that would be a logical fallacy so we are under a system that you read it in the New Testament it looks a little bit like the Mosaic law but it's not Texas law and California law look similar but guess what I'm a licensed attorney in California I'm not a licensed attorney in Texas well why not because I never passed the Cal I never passed the Texas bar I haven't even tried to pass the Texas bar because Texas has laws like California but they're a little bit different by the way if I steal something in California where am I going to be prosecuted California I can be prosecuted in Texas even though Texas also has laws against stealing so what am I trying to say California law and Texas law looks very similar but they're not the same the system that we are under it looks an awful lot like the Old Testament law points but it's not the same it's an entirely it's an entirely different system what are the differences in our system we don't have sacrifices do we stone to death Sabbath breakers you know what they said in numbers 15 hey Moses we found a guy that wasn't showing up to respecting the Sabbath what Moses say oh here's what you do I want you to pick up rocks and throw rocks at the guy till he's dead numbers 15 verses 32 and following is that what we do to people today that miss church I've thought about it but we don't do that because we're under a different system the civil sacrifices and ceremonial is not here the punitive element of stoning to death Sabbath breakers is not here and here's what else is different with our system is we have a source of what power if we walk according to the spirit we will not fulfill that what less of the flesh so I look at the moral teachings of God in the New Testament which sometime look like the Mosaic law but I see a lot of differences I don't see ceremony you know I don't see civil I don't see punitive and I see a source of power which means that we are under a system that looks like the Mosaic law at points but it's not the same as the Mosaic law it's different so what would you like to call our system that we're under well it's not for us to pick that the New Testament calls it the law of Christ Galatians 6:2 you not the law of Moses the law of what Christ Romans 8:2 calls it the law of the what spirit not the law of Moses the law of the Spirit so I'm not here preaching against the moral requirements of God as expressed in the epistles primarily as expressed in the New Testament what I'm saying is that's not the law of Moses so what role does the law of Moses have in our justification 0 what role does the law of Moses have in our progressive sanctification 0 because we are under a system that's higher and better because we have privileges that those under the Mosaic law didn't have so that's sort of what I mean by this idea that we're at the end of the law so what is in your ledger tonight your sanctification your glorification and the end of the law and we'll talk about next week some miscellaneous privileges that we have all right I guess we can dismiss folks to pick up their kids and I'm sure there's some questions that people want to ask about tonight you

Channel: Andy Woods' Unofficial Channel

Views: 2,075

Rating: 4.9529409 out of 5

Keywords: andy woods, soteriology, sanctification, osas, once saved always saved, eternal security

Id: GEDs5-YYL70

Length: 66min 47sec (4007 seconds)

Published: Fri May 24 2019