If you want to turn with me to
1 Corinthians 1 again you can. 1 Corinthians 1 and verses 30 and 31 I'll read
again. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30. But of
him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that according
as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. We are now on to made unto us
sanctification. But I want to go back and give
some points made from wisdom and righteousness, those messages,
just a few here, to get us caught back up. In God's wisdom, he
made a way that he might be just and the justifier of the ungodly.
The way he purposed this is not at all how man would have done
it, nor through man's wisdom could he have conceived of doing
this. Man, as was purposed of God,
fell so far that he could not get to God. He, in fact, does
what he can to hide himself from God. By man's wisdom, he will
never know God. That's what it says in the chapter
where our text is. So this is what God tells us
in his word. God's wisdom also purposed a
way that man would be enabled to see who God is. This would
all be done by Him. God being an absolute righteous
God came down. He came down in the likeness
of sinful flesh. He condemned sin in the flesh,
by His flesh, for our flesh. Him being the righteousness of
God, He was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. He kept the law, something you
and I could not do, but for him it was no effort because of who
he is. The Father loved him. We can
see in the gospel that Christ is the righteousness of God without
the law. Joe just mentioned it earlier.
Keeping the law did not make him righteous. He is righteous,
and because of that, keeping the law for him was not any effort. It is what he loved to do. In
the gospel, we can and do in time see Jesus Christ by the
power of God. We see him as these things, wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. So today, let's
look at sanctification. Sanctification, the meaning of
the word here is holiness, purification, purifier. God, Jesus Christ,
is all these things intrinsically. He has made known unto us these
things through the gospel by his spirit. All of these words
used here that it says he has made known to us are nouns in
the Greek. Nouns are a person, place, or
thing. In this case, they are a person. This is what Christ has made
unto us, all these things through the gospel. If it were not so,
then we would never know Christ. There are verb forms of this
word sanctification as well, and we will look at some verses
that use those. I don't know that I'll mention whether they're
a verb or not. But Jesus Christ is our purifier. I really like
the thought of that. It is he that makes me clean.
It is he that sets me apart for his use. It is he that makes
me holy. If you would, turn with me to
Hebrews 10, because I'm going to hit a few verses as I'm in
there in Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10, and starting in verse
9. Hebrews 10, verse 9. Then said
he, lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first
that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once. He taketh away the first, it
says. What did he take away? Do this
and live. The Ten Commandments. that he
may establish the second. What is the second? I have done
it all, live. It goes on to say by the which
will we are sanctified. Not we have begun to be sanctified
and now it needs to be finished or completed. But we are sanctified,
complete, finished. How? through the offering of
the body of Christ once. The for all was put in there
and I think it reads just fine without it. It does not necessarily
hurt it, but it reads better without it, I think. Once Christ
died, only once and no more. What did he accomplish in that
one time offering of his body for his people? Sanctification. He made us holy and it only took
one time for him to offer up himself to accomplish this my
sanctification verse 14 of Hebrews 10 it says for by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified This verse
verse says what I just told you this one offering perfected forever
And this word means perpetually. I remember when Joe mentioned
that somewhere else in the Hebrews the word meant perpetually. Like
this. He has perfected forever them
that are sanctified. This is something that was done
that is continuing and will never end. There is nothing about it
that is changing or It's just continuing on. This is to them
that are sanctified. What Jesus Christ has done has
set me apart unto God. It has cleansed me and made me
holy before God, all based on the work he did and nothing at
all to do with me or what I have done or will do. This was done before you and
I were ever even born. But God does in time come to
us in power and he then sanctifies us through his spirit if we are
one of his. And this based on his purpose
as to when he wants to do this for each of those that are his.
Second Thessalonians 2 13 very familiar. You all know this But
we are bound to give thanks always to God for you brethren beloved
of the Lord Because God hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation Here is what God tells us that will bring salvation
to us through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth His spirit comes to each of his at his own time. When it pleases him, the spirit
bloweth where it listeth. But the spirit comes and it sets
his own apart. The spirit makes them holy. Does the spirit of God do a job
that is imperfect and must be continued on or made better by
one who has been sanctified? Absolutely not. But just to finish
the passage, this setting apart, this making holy is for the express
purpose of believing the truth. I like to also read 1 Peter when
I read this, as it says the same thing, but in just a little different
way, and I think it makes it more clear. 1 Peter 1 verses
1 and 2. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
who the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father. Through sanctification of the
Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ,
grace unto you and peace be multiplied." Here we can see that the sanctification
of the Spirit, that is the setting apart of the Spirit, the making
holy of the Spirit is unto obedience. That is believing Jesus Christ
and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ
did all this for his church. What he did on that tree secured
the fact that they would, in time, be one of those whom God
would cleanse by his spirit. Ephesians 5, 25, and 26 we read,
Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church
and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse
it with the washing of water by the word. God does not do
a partial job of sanctification. God does not wind you up and
then you take over in time to sanctify yourselves. But don't
take my word for it, let's see what God says. First Thessalonians
5.23 says, and the very God of peace sanctify you holy. And I pray God your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. The word there for sanctify means
to make holy. This is one of those verbs. The
one who is making holy is the very God of peace. Who is that? Jesus Christ the Lord. Then we
have the word holy. The word for holy there, and
that is W-H-O-L-L-Y, means complete to the end. Absolutely perfect. So the God of peace sanctifies
us and he does this completely to the end, preserving us until
our God of peace returns. Progressive sanctification is
a lie. Sanctification is not a progressive
work, but a completed work. It is one that is a continuing
work, completed to the end. That is, it is a work that will
last how long it needs to. If you feel you are progressively
getting better, you are deceiving yourself. I do believe some people
confuse sanctification and righteousness, and I'm not saying I can't do
that. Sometimes I read things and I
may confuse sanctification and righteousness. Sanctification
is a setting apart. It is a cleansing. It is not
a performing of some work for righteousness. We know where
our righteousnesses are before God. Filthy rags. God tells us
that we are preserved by him and this preservation is all
the way until he returns. When he returns we will see him
as he is and shall be like him. So you want to sanctify yourself,
you go right ahead. My hope is in Jesus Christ who
has and shall bring me to God by himself. God sanctifies us
completely. He does this using different
things. I don't know the best way to
say, so someone may have a better way to say it, but we are told
in scripture that we are sanctified by the body of Christ, the faith
of Jesus Christ, sanctified by the Holy Ghost, and sanctified
by the truth of God. Are these different sanctifications? Jesus Christ by his death secured
our being made holy by his body and death. By his faith to do
what the father said to do. The Holy Spirit then coming down
and translating those who were his into the kingdom of his dear
son and they are set apart by the Holy Spirit. Them coming
to know this by his gospel, his truth. All the same sanctification. This is where and or when we
begin to see his maiden to us, all these things. But the scripture
talks about us being involved in sanctification. Do we cooperate
with God in our sanctification? Do we progressively get holy?
Short answer which I've already given is no. But let's look at
some of the passages that speak of different things. And I will
just go to those passages and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Those passages where some might say we are involved in our sanctification. And just to be clear, we are
involved. but only in the sense as the
one who has had these things done to us and not as some tool
where we do things to make ourselves so. God does the saving. We do the sinning. Our involvement
is offending the thrice holy God. God's part is saving those
who have offended him. You know, you hear some folks
talk about synergism. That is, man cooperates with
God. The only cooperation of man to
God is when he makes us willing in the day of his power, both
to will and to do of his good pleasure. When God exerts his
power, you will not resist, because you cannot. If he does not exert
his power and you are left to yourself, that's not a good place
to be. Men like to use these big words
like synergism. And it's not in God's word, by
the way. God did not even breathe in his word, Hebrew or Greek,
words that big. Not even words that would be
translated into other languages that are that big. Men like to
use these kind of words because it makes them look smart or feel
smart. This is what the scripture calls
words of man's wisdom. We know by man's wisdom that
no man will know God. The gospel is simple, and that
is, I mean by that, singular. It is Christ, Christ, Christ. Anything concerning the salvation
of a sinner, then it is all Christ, Christ, Christ. It is that simple. Man's part is offending God,
and that's it. You know what I think of those
men who use these big terms like synergism, supralapsarianism,
and so on, ad nauseum? I think of Charlie Brown's teacher,
wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah. Making noise but saying
absolutely nothing when it comes to Christ and him crucified.
Making it about man and not Christ. Let's turn to a passage that
men like to use as one of those passages to say, see, man does
have a part in his sanctification. In other words, they help God
out in sanctifying themselves. So turn with me to 1 Peter 1.
1 Peter 1. And I didn't mark it, so we might
be here for a while, me trying to find it. I got it right here. 1 Peter 1,
chapter 1 and verses 13 through 16. Wherefore, gird up the loins
of your mind, be sober in hope to the end for the grace that
is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former
lust in your ignorance. But as he which hath called you
is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because
it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. Your way of life matters. But
if you read this and get the thought that God turns things
over to me now to do that which is good, then you are wrong.
He wills his people into what he himself appoints. It is his
will that will be done in heaven as it is on earth. He works in
us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. This is all
done because of who Jesus Christ is and what He has done. Does
God tell us in Scripture to do things we cannot do? All the
time. In fact, there is nothing we
can do without Him. He must enable us to do all things
according to the counsel of His good pleasure. If it is us working
this out in ourselves, then we have something to boast of. It
is He that has made us holy, and it is He that directs our
steps. If you are fashioning yourself
according to former lust, that is, all these immoral things
that men think of that are immoral, and they are, but also if you
think that in some way you can do something to help God out,
that is immoral because it offends God. Immorality in scripture
is really unrighteousness. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean thing? Not one. No man born of Adam
can or will do such a thing, but we are told countless times
in scripture that Jesus Christ hath cleansed us and shall keep
on cleansing us. We do not cleanse ourselves,
we do not set ourselves apart. It is clear in scripture that
we are set apart by God, by the body of Jesus Christ, by his
spirit in regeneration, by the faith of Christ, by his truth. In Luke 17, you know the account
where the lepers, there were 10 lepers. Christ cleansed them,
but for some of them, this cleansing was only the outside. It only
cleaned them outwardly of their leprosy. He did not cleanse them
of their inner leprosy, if you will, that which is a leprous
heart. Christ said to the one in Luke
17, 17, he said, and Jesus answering said, were there not 10 cleansed,
but where are the nine? The indication in that passage
is the other ones did not come to Christ. They went on their
way. But this one who was cleansed
gave God the praise for what was done and not the others.
We do not venerate ourselves, that is we do not sanctify ourselves. We have been sanctified by the
purifier, by the one who has the power, the ability, the holiness
to do so. All we can do is be sanctified
and not get sanctified. Be ye holy for I am holy. And I want to read a Robert Hawker
quote on this verse. Quote, reader, do observe how
the Holy Ghost by his servant points out the method by which
this life is preserved. as he which hath called you is
holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. God's call is
to holiness, and God's grace works in us this holiness in
Christ and from Christ. And hence when he saith, Be ye
holy, for I am holy, this is not a bare precept, but the communication
of grace enabling. He wills his people into what
he hath himself appointed. He worketh them both to will
and to do of his pleasure. His grace is to this express
purpose. And it is to the praise of the
glory of his grace, when this is done, and which proves that
the work of his grace, and not man's labors or man's merit,
for then it could not It could not be in either sense to the
praise of his grace. And as it is on earth in grace,
so hereafter in heaven in glory. The final and full presentation
of the church is to himself and for himself, to be to the praise
of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the
beloved. Oh, the unspeakable riches of
God in Christ." End quote. How about this passage? First
Peter 3.15. but sanctify the Lord God in
your hearts, and be ready always to give an answer to every man
that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness
and fear. Do we sanctify the Lord? No. Not in the sense that we are
sanctified, but we sanctify him in our hearts. He is set apart
given the preeminence, which is his, so that we might tell
others about what he has done for us. Even this we cannot do
without him working in us to do this. Without him we can do
nothing. I'm not working alongside of
God to do these things. It is not God is doing his part
and I am doing mine. God is working in us to do these
things. It is his work that we believe
on him, and if he stopped doing this work, we would stop believing. But he is faithful to perform
that which he has promised to do. Jesus Christ is made unto
us sanctification because he is our sanctification. Ephesians
1-4 we read, according as he hath chosen us in him before
the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without
blame before him in love. God, the almighty, sovereign,
holy God calls us saints. That is holy. We are chosen in
him to be holy before him. That is God. What did Christ
tell Paul? If you would turn with me to
Acts 26. Acts 26 and I'll be almost done here. Acts 26. Acts 26 and verses 15 through
18. And I said," this is Paul speaking,
"'Who art thou, Lord?' And he said, "'I am Jesus, whom thou
persecutest. "'But rise and stand upon thy
feet, "'for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, "'to make
thee a minister and a witness "'both of these things which
thou hast seen "'and of those things in which I will appear
unto thee, "'delivering thee from the people and from the
Gentiles "'unto whom now I send thee. to open their eyes and
to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan
unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance
among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me." And
that is Christ. It is the faith which is in Christ
that sets us apart even as it set him apart. Read John 17 sometime. Christ is our sanctification. We are sanctified, past tense,
but it is a setting apart that continues until the day of Jesus
Christ until we are before God, holy. We are set apart by God
in this life. that we may give honor and glory
to his name. We have no sanctification of
our own. We are separated unto God that
called us by his almighty power. We are sanctified by Jesus Christ
once, not multiple times, but this sanctification which he
has wrought is a sanctification which is complete and perfect. We are continually sanctified
by him, meaning we are kept by God. We are preserved by God. What does it go on to say in
Hebrews as we have said before in verse 14? For by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. If we are
set apart by God, how much more setting apart can happen? Is
God imperfect? Does God do a work halfway and
leave the rest up to them or us? A halfway work is not a perfect
work. The scripture tells us that he
perfected us who are sanctified. And we know this sanctification
is through Jesus Christ who is made unto us this by his gospel
because he is this to his people. God the Father chose us in Christ
to be sanctified before him. The Son gave himself a sacrifice
to sanctify the ungodly. And God the Holy Spirit sanctifies
us by giving us life. The Word sanctifies us, making
Christ unto us sanctification. God, keep me from myself. Help
me, Lord, that I rest in your accomplished work, your accomplished
will, and your accomplished way. There is no more work to do to
get us before you in love, being holy in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Dear Lord God, thank you
for once again allowing us to be here today to hear of your
son, dear Lord. Apply these words to our hearts,
dear Lord, and be with those that are out, and be with us
as we go on. All these things we ask in Christ's
name, amen.