Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. Welcome to our program. I'm glad
you could join us today. Today's message is number 14
in a series of messages that are intended to accompany a new
book that we at Eager Avenue Grace Church and Reign of Grace
Ministries is offering. The book, we offer it free of
charge, and the book is What is a Christian? A Biblical Study
of the One True Faith. What is a Christian? And throughout
this book I've been dealing with various passages of scripture
going through the Bible to see what the Bible says concerning
what a Christian really is and what a Christian is not. And
I've tried to avoid all the opinions of men and all the subjective
ideas that people naturally have about what a Christian is and
what a Christian is not. And today in this message we're
going to talk about the chapter that is entitled, Christians
are sanctified people. Sanctified people. Now when you
hear or read the word saint, saint, what do you think it means?
What do you think the word saint means? Would you be surprised
to, you know, a lot of people have different ideas there. I've
heard people say quite often, they say, well, I'm a Christian,
but I'm no saint. Well, is that what the Bible
teaches? Would you be surprised to hear
me say that the Bible teaches this, that every true Christian
is a saint and every saint is a true Christian. And it's all
made so by the grace of God in Jesus Christ. You see, a saint
is not some kind of super-Christian that has attained great heights
of spirituality, morality, and dedication. Now it's true that
all true Christians should seek to attain great heights of dedication,
sincerity, morality, all of that. That's not what makes a saint.
That's not what saves a sinner. What makes a saint is the grace
of God in Christ. Think about these two aspects
of salvation. A true Christian is justified
before God. Now that refers to a Christian's
legal standing before God. based upon the blood and righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I stand before God without debt
because my sin debt has been paid by Christ. My sins were
imputed, charged, accounted to Him. I stand before God righteous
because His righteousness is imputed, charged to me. That's
my justification. But Christians are also the subjects
of sanctification. They're sanctified. And in the
Bible, all true Christians are addressed as saints. And you'll find that nearly a
hundred times in the scripture. Now consider further what a saint
actually is according to the Bible. Think about this. A saint or a sanctified one is
a sinner who's been set apart. Now that's a key term. You know,
when people think about a saint or sanctified, they think about
moral purity. And sometimes that word can have
reference to moral purity, but the word saint or sanctified
literally is the same word as holy in scripture. And it means
set apart. So not only is a Christian justified,
legally righteous in Christ, he's been set apart. And there's
various ways that he's been set apart. So a saint is a sinner
who has been set apart by God for salvation and service according
to God's grace through the Lord Jesus Christ. When we study the
Bible on this issue, we learn that a true Christian, a saint,
is one who's been sanctified, set apart by God in three ways. Now listen to this. Number one,
a true Christian has been sanctified, set apart by God the Father in
electing grace. That means God chose that person,
set him apart before the foundation of the world in Christ. And that
setting apart, that sanctification by the Father in electing grace
had nothing to do with any qualification or foreseen obedience or believing
in that person. It was totally free sovereign
grace. In the book of Jude, verse 1,
We read, Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
to them that are sanctified, set apart by God the Father and
preserved in Jesus Christ and called. So they're set apart
first in electing grace. God chose them. That's why one
of the descriptions of true Christians are the elect of God. That's
why Peter said, make your calling and election sure. That's why
Paul said, I know your election. Because the gospel came to you,
not just in word, but in power. The second way that true Christians
are sanctified or set apart is this. True Christians are sanctified,
set apart by God the Son incarnate, the Lord Jesus Christ, in redeeming
grace. So that not only did God set
them apart before the foundation of the world in Christ, but Christ
was sent into the world and by His obedience unto death as their
surety and substitute, He died for them in their place and set
them apart by redemption. You see, even though God chose
them before the foundation of the world, we fell in Adam, ruined
by the fall. So it was necessary then for
salvation that we be redeemed by the blood. Hebrews 10 and
verse 10 speaks of the will of God by the which will we are
sanctified, set apart, through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. Now the all there again is not
all without exception, but it's all for whom he died, all his
sheep, all the elect of God. And then in Hebrews 10 and verse
14 it says, for by one offering he hath perfected, which means
completed, forever them that are sanctified. The complete
work of redemption was accomplished by Christ for those who had been
set apart by God. So sanctified by the Father in
electing grace in Christ, sanctified by the Son of God incarnate,
the Lord Jesus Christ, in redeeming grace, and then as a result,
as the fruit and result of redemption by Christ and righteousness established
by Christ, the third way is that true Christians are sanctified
by God the Holy Spirit in regenerating grace. Now that's the new birth. That's a sinner being brought
under the preaching of the gospel and the Holy Spirit in the power
of truth, making it the power of God unto salvation to everyone
who believes. Second Thessalonians chapter
two and verse 13 speaks of that. It's where the Apostle Paul says,
for we are bound, but we are bound to give thanks all way
to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation, there's electing
grace, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. There's regenerating grace. And
he says in verse 14, whereunto He called you by our gospel to
the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So that
regenerating grace sets a person apart. Now when the Holy Spirit
does that great work, He does not make a sinner morally perfect. Because even as born again persons,
regenerated, converted, convicted, brought to faith in Christ and
repentance of dead works, having the love of God shed abroad within
our hearts, being motivated to obedience, the obedience of faith
and grace. True Christians are not morally
perfect. We struggle with sin. We have
a warfare, it's a daily warfare. Paul described it in Romans 7,
verses 14 through 25, and also in the book of Galatians 3. Christians
are at war not only with the devil, they're at war not only
with the world, but they are at war with themselves. So He
did not set us apart. The Holy Spirit does not set
us apart in the way of making us morally perfect. You see, we do have a moral perfection. You know where we find that?
In the Lord Jesus Christ. We have a perfect righteousness.
We who are true Christians have a perfect righteousness. Not
in ourselves, but in Christ. His righteousness imputed. Though
what the Holy Spirit has done in the new birth, He set us apart
as those who are no longer dead spiritually. We have spiritual
life. We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. We rest in Him. And there's no argument that
true Christians are to be separate from the world. Romans 12 and
verse 1 Paul wrote, I beseech you therefore brethren by the
mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice
wholly acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service and
be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing
of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable
and perfect will of God. True Christians are not to live
like the world either morally or religiously but There is no
moral perfection within us. Our perfection is Christ. We're
complete in Him. Now consider another passage
of scripture that defines the true Christian as being one who
is sanctified or set apart by the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. That passage is 1 Peter chapter
two and verse nine. And this is one of those verses,
back a few messages ago I was preaching on True Christians
described or defined in one verse and I use Philippians chapter
3. Well, here's another verse that is that's like that that
describes true Christians and it's where Peter wrote he says
talking to believers the church He says in first Peter 2 9. He
says but ye are a chosen generation a royal priesthood and holy nation
A peculiar people that you should show forth the praises of him
who have called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now
there's the issue of salvation. That whole issue of what Christ
has brought to his people and what Christ has done for his
people in defining them. Think about that verse. Let's
look at each phrase. but you are a chosen generation. Chosen of who? Not chosen by
the world. The world doesn't choose God's
people because the world hates us. Christ said to his disciples
in the book of John chapter 15, he said, marvel not if the world
hates you. It hated me before it hated you. Think about that. Not chosen
by themselves. The Bible teaches, and this is
what a lot of people don't understand today. The Bible teaches that
if left to ourselves, we would never choose God. Now we can choose religion. We
can choose even morality. We make choices all the time. Sometimes we make bad choices.
Sometimes we make good choices, and I'm talking about in the
realm of humanity now. We never make good choices in
God's sight, by nature is what I'm saying. Because the scripture
teaches us that God requires perfection. But people don't
understand this, that man is a fallen, ruined creature, born
dead in trespasses and sin. And that means that our mind
is under the bondage of sin, our affections are under the
bondage of sin, and our wills are under the bondage of sin.
You know, people today, they think evangelism, for example. being evangelist. They get up
and preachers get up and they quote some verses. They have
a four point plan that you can follow. And if you just admit
to this and pray the sinner's prayer, then you're saved. They'll
tell you, God loves you. Christ died for you. He's doing
everything he can do. The rest is up to you. Just make
your decision for Christ. And that's not biblical evangelism,
my friend. The Bible teaches. that if God
were to come down here and gather the whole fallen unregenerate
human race before him and offer them salvation, nobody would
choose God. Now that's not to say that man
by nature cannot be religious, that he cannot change, that he
cannot be moral and dedicated and sincere. Paul spoke of that
in Romans chapter 10 when he talked about the Jews who had
a zeal of God. They were religious, but not
according to knowledge, for they, being ignorant of God's righteousness,
and going about to establish their own righteousness, have
not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." People
want to be saved. People want to live forever.
People want to be religious. Man, by nature, is a religious
creature. But they don't want these things
God's way. They want these things their
own way, their own ideas. And the reason that so is God's
way only gives God in Christ the glory. Man's way will give
him a little room to boast. Oh, I rose above the crowd and
made my decision. You think you're saved because
you rose above the crowd, that you're better than those who
wouldn't choose Christ? No. That's why Christ said you
must be born again. So when Peter says you're sanctified
in this way, you're set apart in this way, you're a chosen
generation. We have to understand what the Bible teaches about
that subject. And that's simply this, God chose
his people. Why did he choose this one and
not that one? I don't know, the Bible doesn't say. I just know
the Bible says that he did. He did it. And I know people
say, well, that's unfair. That's unrighteous. That's unjust. That's unreasonable. Read Romans
chapter nine and every objection to God's sovereign election of
grace of his people. Every objection that you bring
and that I used to bring in my unregenerous state is found right
there in Romans nine and answered the only way that it can be answered. You see, how is God sovereign
and man responsible? I can't put those two things
together in my mind or yours. That's not the issue. I just
know this, God is sovereign, man is responsible. You listen
to what the Word says. You're not God, I'm not God.
Secret things belong to Him. The revealed things belong to
us. So how are true Christians sanctified? They're chosen of
God. And that election is an election of grace. I've heard
preachers say, well, God looked down through the telescope of
time and he foresaw how much better you were than somebody
else or what better choices you, oh, my friend, if that were true,
the Bible doesn't teach that. That's just a concoction of self-righteous
false religion. But if that were true, then don't
talk about the election of grace. You say, Noah found grace in
the eyes of the Lord. Why? Was Noah a better guy than
the rest of them? No. I tell you what, if Noah
was a better guy than the rest of them, he didn't need grace.
If God chose you because he foresaw what you would do for him, you
don't need grace. He's just giving you what you've
earned and what you deserve. This chosen generation is the
election of grace. Here's the next phrase. You're
a royal priesthood. A royal priesthood. What does
that mean? That means a kingdom of priest.
Well, what does a priest do? Well, you remember back in the
old covenant, the priest, there was a high priest and that high
priest was the head priest. He was a direct descendant of
Aaron, who was the first high priest under the law of Moses. And he was a type of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's the only one who could go
into the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant and the
Mercy Seat were, one time a year for the people, making atonement
based upon the blood of the lamb that came off the brazen altar.
Now, all of that was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ doing
His great work for His people. And in doing so, What is represented
there is Christ, the Lord, our righteousness. Christ is, He's
the sacrifice of His people. He's the Lamb. Sin was imputed
to Him. He's the altar. His sacrifice
was set apart by the glory of His person. He's God in human
flesh. and he's the high priest, the
representative. So he's the representative, he's
the surety, he's the substitute, and he goes into the holiest
of all, the very presence of God, by the blood that he shed,
the merits of his righteousness. Now in doing that for his people,
he made them priests unto God, a kingdom of priests, which means
this, the priesthood of the believer, All true Christians have been
set apart in this way. They have free access unto the
holy place, the holy presence of God by the blood of Jesus
Christ. You understand that? I used growing
up in churches that I grew up in, not hearing the gospel. I'd
hear people talk about the priesthood of the believer. And for some
reason I had in my mind, I don't know if I was directly taught
this or if this was just something that we concluded. For some reason
I had in my mind that that meant, well, you can go to the scriptures
yourself and you can just figure out what it means for yourself.
And it may differ with other people, but the priesthood of
the believer gives you that right. Well, that's not what the priesthood
of the believer is. You know, as I said, under the
old covenant, they had the high priest, But then you had the
other priest which represented the church, the people of God,
the chosen of God, the elect. And what it's showing is they
served the tabernacle. They went into the holy place.
Now they couldn't go into the holiest of all at that time because
that was only the work of the Messiah with whom the high priest
represented. But because of his work, the
true people of God are set apart. as priest unto God in that we
have free access to God. We pray unto the Lord through
Christ. We don't need another man. We
don't need the saints. You don't pray to God through
Mary. That's idolatry. I'm telling you. You don't pray
to God through St. Paul or St. John or St. so-and-so. You pray to God through
Jesus Christ. You don't pray to God through
the Jews. I heard a fella say on TV the other day, he was talking
about how the Jewish people were always connected to that land
of Palestine, and he said, that's our connection to God. No, it
is not. The true believer's connection
to God is the one mediator between God and man, the man, God and
men, the man, Christ Jesus. Christ is the believer's advocate. And so a royal priesthood, a
kingdom of priest, that's what believers are. The third phrase
there, an holy nation. That word holy means set apart.
That word holy doesn't mean that they walk around with halos.
It doesn't mean they walk six feet in the air above everybody.
It doesn't mean they're better than everybody. It means they're
set apart by God. They are different. but their
difference is not in their perfection as far as their own works. We
don't have it. I'm different in that my perfection
is Christ. A set apart nation, set apart
by God's grace, set apart for mercy. And then he says next,
a peculiar people. Now that word peculiar means
purchased. The purchase possession. They
belong to Christ because Christ redeemed them by His blood. He
bought and paid for them. Their sins were imputed to Him
and He paid the debt. He paid the price, the redemption
price. They stand righteous in Him.
And so they're purchased. They don't belong to themselves.
They don't belong to the world. They don't belong to the church.
They belong to Christ. If you belong to him, then are
you Abraham's seed. The next phrase he says, that
you should show forth the praises of him who have called you out
of darkness into his marvelous light. This is their whole attitude
and purpose that in their lives, a true Christian sanctified now,
They're set apart to show forth not their own glory or their
own praise, but to show forth the praise of God who called
us out of darkness into His marvelous light to Christ. You see, the
true Christian's goal is not to draw attention to himself
and to make a name for himself. I talk to people all the time
about that verse, they'll quote this verse, Matthew 5, 16, where
it talks about, let your light so shine before men that they
may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.
And a lot of people say, well, see there, our good works are
the light, that's our witness. That is not what that verse is
teaching. The light there, let your light
so shine before men, the light is the gospel of Christ. The
gospel, the light is Christ and the work that he accomplished
in his glorious person and the testimony of his righteousness. So we preach the gospel, we live
by the gospel. The light is that which shines
on the works of men. And what it does, it shows that
the works of true believers are the work of God in them, accepted
of God in the beloved. In other words, the works that
I do that are accepted of God, they're His work in me by His
Spirit, motivated by grace, gratitude, and love, and redounding to His
glory and His praise because they're His work and they're
accepted with God, not because of my sincerity, not because
of their quality, but because they're washed in the blood,
accepted in the beloved. But that same light will shine
on the works of unbelievers and expose them to be evil deeds. Why? Because they're the product
of unbelief. They're the product of pride.
They deny the God of grace. They deny Christ. And so the
light there is the gospel. But whatever they see, it's the
light of the gospel that shows them, look, my works, however
good you may think they are, make up no part of my righteousness
before God. They do not earn God's grace
for me, and they do not make me deserve it. It's all Christ.
That's sanctified in Him. I hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia, 31707. contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.theletterofgrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.