Sanctification: The Believer’s Transformation, Part 1

open your Bible if you will to Colossians and there are many many things that I want to bring to your attention in this chapter so it's going to be a few weeks for us to work our way through what remains of it we've already gone down to verse nine the bottom line here is a very simple principle and it starts in chapter and three verse one it starts in verse 1 therefore since you have been raised up with Christ and then it gives us a lot of imperatives since we are joined to Christ since we are in Christ Christ is in us since we have first three died to ourselves and our life is hidden with Christ in God and Christ is now our life there are some responses that are required this is one of those passages that very familiar to readers of the Apostle Paul where he lays down a doctrinal premise and then speaks to the issue of the responsibility that issues from that premise now this is familiar language so let me remind you of a passage of scripture that you're familiar with it's Philippians 2 verses 12 and 13 I'll just quote it for you Philippians 2 12 and 13 says work out your salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who is at work in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure that really describes the dynamics the pathology of spiritual life and sanctification God has done a work in you God has done a transforming work in you and now it's your responsibility to let that inward work be manifest on the outside work out your salvation doesn't mean work for your salvation it means to make manifest on the outside the salvation that God has wrought on the inside God has done his will in you as a believer God has done his work in you as a believer for his own good pleasure you are regenerated you are born again you are transformed Christianity is a total complete transformation now the responsibility that the believer has is to let the inward work be manifest on the outer work and you do that with fear and trembling why because it's not easy it's a difficult work to do it's hard to live a holy life it's hard to live a godly life it's hard to overcome the remaining flesh but we have to remember that God is watching and we do that with a sense of awe and a sense of trembling in the light of his chastening if we are disobedient so we as believers are called upon having been given a new nature having become new creations old things passed away and everything new - so live to make that manifest now obviously no one earns their salvation by works it is a gift of grace through faith but we are not passive in salvation we must believe nor are we passive in sanctification we must obey true believers are commanded to obey and this is how we work the inward work of God to the outside and make it manifest both to God and to men there has always been this notion that God has done this mahn or gistic work in you and he's done it all in you and now sanctification is sort of in his hands and and there's the sort of quietest idea let go and let God just kick back relax sort of swim in grace and don't worry about anything don't let anybody impose law on you imperatives commands nothing could be further from the truth of scripture the New Testament as you well know is loaded with and they are commands for you based on the power that is now in you and the newness of the new creation that God has wrought in you the new man the new self you are to work that to the outside so that it is manifest to all who see it 2nd Corinthians for example 7 1 let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh perfecting holiness in the fear of God what an amazing statement we are the ones who are called to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and thus perfecting the work of holiness that is a responsibility for the believer we are called to pursue holiness godliness virtue and sanctification in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 1 we are called to walk worthy we are to be worthy of the calling to which we are called this is what the Christian life and sanctification is all about in the sixth chapter of Romans in verse 19 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 sanctification there again a command to present your members all your faculties as instruments of righteousness this is the primary pursuit of your life as a believer the primary pursuit of your life they then again in Philippians 2:12 the verb is work out work out that's kot-tair gods are my very strong verb it's sim Phatak it's intense and it's reflexive that is it reflects back on you you be working out your salvation so that it's manifest on the outside that you have been changed on the end the verb could be translated labor work achieve produce bring about for yourself the revelation manifest on the outside of the transformation that God has wrought on the inside this call to godly virtue this call to godly behaviors not easy because we're fighting against the flesh and Paul even uses this same kind of language in Romans 7 when he says I'm trying to work it out but the things that I want to do I'm not doing the things I'm doing are the things I don't want to do there's a wretchedness in me there's another principle operative in me that hinders me from this progress in sanctification it is a struggle that is why we do it with fear and trembling now essentially what I just showed you in Philippians 2 12 and 13 is what Paul is talking about here we have a new creation we are a new creation our life is hid with Christ in God we have been transformed regenerated born again from the very bottom of our being we have been changed If any man be in Christ he is a new creation 2nd Corinthians 5:17 all things that passed away new things have come we are new creatures but that does not mean we live without a struggle Paul says in 1st Corinthians 9 I beat my body into submission very strong language I beat my body into submission this is a tremendous life long challenge and that is exactly what Paul is calling us to here you have been raised with Christ which means you died with Christ your old life died you have been raised in a new life you are united with Christ hidden with Christ in God that leads to one imperative after another after another after another that defines our spiritual responsibility keep seeking set your mind consider your body the mall assigned all those kinds of commands fill the section that I read now some of the commands are negative verse five consider the members of the earthly body is dead consider yourself to have died to that old life and therefore you are dead or should be dead to the elements of that old life so these are the things that you eliminate immorality impurity passion evil desire greed which amounts to idolatry down in verse eight you put aside anger wrath malice slander abusive speech from your mouth and do not lie to one another those are negative things and we talked about that but as we come this morning to verse nine we shift to the positive side to the positive side in verse 9 we read since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices and have put on the new self there going to be some behaviors that you need to do that are not negative but positive verse 12 as those who have been chosen of God holy and beloved put on a heart of compassion kindness humility gentleness patience bearing with one another forgiving one another etc put on love put on peace be thankful worship do all to the glory of God so this is just a summation of Christians sanctification negative things to be put off positive things to be put on you are a new creature now you need to dress in new garments put off the old garments that were connected to your flesh that were connected to your previous fallen nature in Adam and put on garments consistent with your new life in Christ let me back up a little bit to get the big picture one of the great early church fathers was John Chrysostom and he was a great scholar and preacher Chrysostom made an interesting statement in one of his writings he said all the animals went into the ark and came out exactly the same when they left at the end of the flood they were exactly the same animals they were when they went in the Fox was a fox a crow was a crow and he even talks about a porcupine being a porcupine but he says there was absolutely no change they went in they were not changed they came out exactly the same but he says all who enter the Ark of salvation in Christ all who entered the Ark of salvation in Christ in the midst of the flood of God's judgment are transformed we go in one way and we come out completely different completely transformed sinners who enter the Ark of Christ in one form are completely recreated in another form another insight into that was given by aj gordon and i think it might be helpful for you to understand this dynamic a little bit hey J Gordon wrote I have seen in the autumn when the trees have shed their leaves that some leaves stick fast to the branches and and they hang on even through the storms of winter we've seen those barren trees with a leaf or two hanging on a Jay Gordon said but when the spring comes and the SAP begins to rise the leaves disappear because they're pushed off by the power of new life that's very analogous to what it is to be sanctified you have become a new creation you have died you have new life you have some vestiges of the old life still attached that will be pushed off by the power of the new life this is sanctification God makes us new creations in Christ now listen to this as a new creation you are changed you are not who you were you are not who you were you are now righteous not just declared righteous but you have been recreated in righteousness you have been recreated in a more godlike way there were ways in which you were created in the image of God in your generate form but there are ways in which you are now recreated in the image of God in your spiritual form you are called Saints you are declared to be sanctified you are converted you were a slave of sin Romans six and now you're a slave of righteousness in your slavery to sin it was just ever increasing manifestations of sin now as a slave of righteousness Romans 6 says it's ever-increasing evidences of righteousness and this is the whole point of Colossians chapter 3 to command us to live on the outside what God has made us on the inside we are new we need to live in a way consistent with that newness it's very popular today to say you believe in Jesus and you trust Jesus you might be a homosexual politician and say Jesus is your Savior you-you-you find this everywhere you you might be a pastor who says Jesus is your Savior and then people find out you've been living in adultery multiple times and you register that to God's grace and mercy on your behalf you can almost live any kind of life today you could almost live any kind of life and if you say you believe in Jesus that would qualify you as a Christian true Christians are transformed people they are transformed people they are made righteous and they manifest that righteousness and are commanded to continually manifest more of that righteousness you have love you need more love you have virtue you need more virtue and so forth so fundamentally we find out in this chapter the pattern of sanctification that is commanded of us so let me let me just at least introduce a couple of about seven points that I want to make it'll take me a few weeks but the first one as you well know but the first one let's just talk about the premise of sanctification that the premise the the foundation of it and that comes right there in verse 9 verse 9 says since you laid aside the old self with its evil practice and then verse 10 and have put on the new self that is very very important language past tense done deal over with completed you have laid aside the old self or the old man with with it's practices which the italics indicates of course are evil you're no longer in Adam to borrow the language of Romans 5 since you have a new identity a new condition this is the premise of your sanctification you are not who you used to be pieces 4 22 says the old self the old man is corrupt it's in Adam that's natural it's sinful it's godless it's unrighteous it's depraved the new self is completely different Romans 6:6 says the old has been crucified it's dead you are now a new person I want to drive this home because I think this is the premise on which you must understand your sanctification listen to Roman's 5 18 and 19 so then as through one transgression through one Adam and his transgression there resulted condemnation to all men even so through one act of righteousness that is the act of Christ there resulted justification of life to all men all who believe and then this verse 19 as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners now mark that through the obedience of Adam many were made sinners they weren't just counted sinners they weren't just forensic ly identified as sinners they were made sinners so through the obedience of the one Christ the many will be made righteous as the sin of Adam made us all sinners the righteousness of Christ made us righteous the truest thing about you is that you are righteous sin is alien to you it is an intrusion it is an enemy you have been transformed you are not two people you are not an old man and a new man living side by side you're not two natures that's a grave error you're not two natures fighting each other you're not both in Adam and in Christ you were in Adam you're now in Christ you were a slave of sin you're now a slave of righteousness you are a new creation the old has passed away it has been crucified it is dead this is your identity and this is the premise of sanctification you are a new person it's not two people in you both fighting with equal power you are one whole new creature you were born again let me tell you how explicit this is first Corinthians chapter 6 and Paul makes statements here that make this truth inescapable first Corinthians chapter 6 verse 9 do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God do you not know it should be obvious the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God you're not going to heaven if you're unrighteous you're not going to heaven if you're living an unrighteous life do not be deceived whatever you may say about Jesus and your relation to him do not be deceived neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor homosexuals nor thieves nor the covetous nor drunkards nor revilers nor swindlers swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God heaven is not for unrighteous people that couldn't be more clear then verse 11 such were some of you that you were in one of those categories all of you were in one of those categories or another but you were washed and you were sanctified and you were justified yes you were justified declared forensically righteous the righteousness of God imputed to you but not just justified sanctified which means made holy washed which means made clean we want to talk a lot about the doctrine of justification we need to make sure we're talking about the doctrine of regeneration as well and conversion and transformation the old self is dead the old loves and longings are dead killed crucified you're in Christ and Christ is in you the old man is not converted it can't be converted it can only be killed the old man is not renewed it can't be renewed it can only be killed it can only be replaced by the new man by the creative act of God and nothing less salvation is a complete new Paul says in Galatians 2:20 I ago I am crucified with Christ that is to say I died III was killed nevertheless I live I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not i but Christ lives in me and the life which I live I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me it's still I but it's not the old I it's the new I inseparably linked to the life of Christ who is in me you are one person one new creation you have been sanctified and washed as well as justified you have been made new the old is gone the new has come this is the premise of sanctification that you are a new person and that the realities of righteous behavior and conduct and thought and word are all within the capacity of your new nature in fact this is the truest and purest expression of who you are so that no one truly regenerate would say I am a I am a saved adulterer I am a saved fornicator I am a saved coveter I'm a saved thief God doesn't care about my immorality that is not possible the only way you'll ever enter the kingdom of heaven is if whatever you were you are no longer such were some of you the church is full of people who are all those things but no longer are no it doesn't mean that you're not having battles because you're still this new creature is still incarcerated in unredeemed flesh we haven't got our new bodies yet so we have vestiges of the Fallen nature in our minds and in our faculties and that's why this is such a struggle and that's why we do it with fear and trembling but understand this as a believer you are a new creation with new longings new aspirations new desires new loves that's the premise of sanctification and if those aren't there then you're not a new creature let me talk to you a little bit about not the premise of sanctification but the progress of it point to the progress of it look at verse 10 verse 9 said you laid aside the old with its evil practices the fact you put on the new that's a fact and then this the new self who you are is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him now we've just stepped into the realm of spiritual growth into the realm of progress in sanctification now that you are a new creation you are being renewed you are being renewed constantly the verb is constantly being renewed and by the way there are a lot of ways to express renewal this is renewed not say in time or superficially but renewed in quality in other words you are qualitatively being made better new in quality this is going on constantly and this is what sanctification is being renewed being made new let me give you an illustration that may help with this you have a baby a baby is fully a baby all the parts are there all the organs are there all the elements are there all the faculties are there everything is there the child however needs to be fed so the child can grow and the body needs to be renewed continually renewed with new cellular development growth and eventually the child grows and grows and grows that's natural to life that should be natural to spiritual life as well you may have a little baby and you're looking at the baby and you're saying hey it looks like his father well maybe he doesn't look like his father poor kid it'd be better if you'd look like his mother we all know that but but he doesn't act like his father he screams and cries and makes messes he looks like his father but he doesn't act like his father the only way he'll grow up to act like his father if is if his father invests in him truth and wisdom and knowledge and then he'll not only look like his father he'll act like his father and that is exactly what spiritual progress is it is regeneration and we have new birth and we have a new life and we can look and say yes that looks like looks like his father he looks like the Lord who created him there loves and longings and desires and features and elements but but he doesn't fully act like the one who created him because that's a process of spiritual renewal going on all the time all the time the new nature is complete the whole spiritual person is there and it has a capacity for growth and spiritual cellular development and that's exactly what needs to happen the new birth is a recreation in God's image which was lost in the fall the subsequent life is just the development of that image so that that child looks more and more and more and more like his father becoming more like Christ Paul says 2nd Corinthians 4:16 the inner man is being renewed day by day the inner man is being renewed day by day you know the Holy Spirit dwells in us right where the temple of the Holy Spirit you don't think he's just there sitting around he's at work it's the Spirit of God who is at work in you it is God who is at work in you it is Christ who was at work in you and what is what is the work of the Trinity in the believer it is to develop stronger spiritual muscles stronger clearer spiritual thoughts this is an unending progress the inner man is being renewed day by day Paul says that in the context of suffering doesn't matter how hard life gets William Hendrickson explained it this way when you become a believer you step into the waters of salvation maybe ankle-deep at first but as you progress it's knee deep and as you progress it's waist-deep and pretty soon as you request you find yourself swimming in the depths of the waters of salvation they're there your your environment their your atmosphere you all of a sudden live and breathe in the waters of salvation you grow from the ankles to the knees to the waist to being engulfed how does this happen well it tells us right there in verse 10 who is being renewed ace into a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him it's connected to your knowledge of the one who created you the Lord this kind of growth is directly connected to spiritual knowledge the word for knowledge shares epignosis compound words strong word and it means deep knowledge deep knowledge he doesn't say your renewed by good works he doesn't say you know your old life was marked by bad works your new life is marked by good works and it's those good works that produce the growth it's not the good works that produce the growth it is the knowledge that produces the growth that produces the good works if it were just the good works that produce the growth that would be legalism he doesn't say you're renewed by good works you're renewed by deep knowledge go back to chapter one and I'll show you how he explains it even more clearly in the first chapter Colossians 1:9 catch Paul's prayer here this is a very important prayer Clash's 1:9 for this reason also since the day we heard of it we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask what are you asking Paul for us that you may be filled with the epignosis the deep knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding that's the issue so your progress your spiritual cell development is directly connected to the increase of your spiritual knowledge Paul prays that you would be filled with the knowledge of God's will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding then verse 10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord the good works are the product of the deep knowledge that's when verse 10 says you bear fruit in every good work when you're increasing in the knowledge of God that's when you become strong verse 11 that's when you become steadfast and patient that's when you become joyful that's when you live in Thanksgiving so knowledge is the key as he says there in Chapter 1 deep thorough complete knowledge you may wonder why do I get in front of you every Sunday and talk to you for an hour why do I write books why do we listen to preaching read good literature why is it that we almost feel like we can never get enough why do we hunger for more because we know that our spiritual growth is directly connected to the depth of our knowledge of God and his will we know that I don't even have to tell you that because you hunger for his word as the deer pants for the water so pants my soul after you oh god you can never get enough what I've been at this a long time I can never get enough ever never get enough every day of my life I'm picking up another book on some aspect of divine truth and and I'm reading it and reading it and reading it I never get enough because my hunger is never satisfied and I'm not yet what I need to be so I need to grow second Timothy 3 says all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable the man of God would be complete fully equipped we're not there yet but that's the whole issue in spiritual growth and sanctification it's absolutely unbelievable things that are righteous and pure and holy and just and good you don't have a new nature you don't have a new nature salvation is visible it shows up on the outside when God has done a work on the inside and progressively through the intake of the word the Lord leads us to be conformed to the image of the one who created us that's sanctification divine knowledge is the means the fuel for our spiritual growth as babes desire milk you need to desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow there by Peter says so this is a good start for us in understanding sanctification the premise of sanctification is you are a new creature the progress of sanctification is you're in a growth mode and as you grow you can look at as the child growing you could look at it as someone getting deeper and deeper into the waters of salvation you can look at it as as you grow the vestiges of the leaves of the past life that have clung to the branches are pushed off in the power of that new life but no matter what your analogy or your illustration is progress toward Christlikeness marks true believers that progress is connected to two things one exposure to the deep truth of God and to obedience obedience well that's two out of seven but we've got more to come I'm going to ask the Lord not to come in the next three weeks till we get through this just kidding come Lord Jesus let's pray father we understand that you have given us clear instruction we know what you have done for us and in us and with us and we also know what you expect from us O Lord we pray that we might pursue sanctification with all our hearts that we might pursue it not in some artificial way but that we might pursue it in coming to the full deep true knowledge of you and your will that we might know you in your fullness give us an inexhaustible energy to take in more truth give us an insatiable hunger to feed on your word that we might know you we thank you Father that the Spirit of God living in us is renewing the inner man day by day building those spiritual cells so that we grow more into the likeness of our Father

Channel: Grace to You

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Keywords: John MacArthur, Bible, Preaching, Christianity, Expository, Exposition, Sermon, Jesus, Christ, Sanctification

Id: _sef7IpImoE

Length: 38min 28sec (2308 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 24 2019