The Sanctification Of Grace

Q: What does the Bible say about sanctification?

Sanctification is the work of God's grace, setting believers apart for His purposes and making them holy. Sanctification, in its most general sense, means being set apart for sacred use. Scripture teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ sanctified Himself to sanctify His people through the truth (John 17:19). This act of being sanctified involves a transformative work by God where believers are washed, justified, and made holy through the offering of Christ's body (Hebrews 10:10). Furthermore, sanctification is accomplished by the Holy Spirit, enabling obedience in the believer and setting them apart as vessels of mercy (1 Peter 1:2). Thus, sanctification entails both a positional holiness conferred upon believers and a progressive work in their lives through divine grace.

Q: How do we know salvation is by grace?

Salvation is by grace because it is not based on our works but is entirely the gift of God. The doctrine of salvation by grace is fundamentally supported by scripture, which asserts that it is God who initiates and completes the work of salvation (Hebrews 12:2). Ephesians 2:8-9 reinforces this truth, stating that by grace we are saved through faith, and this is not of ourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Additionally, the Apostle Paul emphasizes in Jonah 2:9 that salvation is of the Lord, reinforcing the idea that our justification and standing before God do not derive from human effort but from divine grace. Therefore, we recognize that our salvation, from start to finish, is a work of God's grace, precluding any boasting on our part.

Q: Why is it important to understand that God chooses whom He saves?

Understanding God's choice in salvation emphasizes His sovereignty and grace in saving unworthy sinners. The doctrine of election, or God's sovereign choice in saving individuals, is crucial as it underscores the grace and mercy of God. Romans 9:21-24 illustrates this by emphasizing that God, like a potter, has authority over His creations to make vessels of honor and vessels of wrath according to His will. This selection is not based on foreseen merit but on God's sovereign pleasure. Ephesians 1:4-5 affirms this, stating that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, signifying that our salvation is rooted in His will alone. Recognizing God's choice fosters humility among believers, as salvation is not a result of our actions but a gracious gift that brings glory solely to God.

Q: Why should believers give thanks for their salvation?

Believers give thanks for salvation because it is a gracious gift of God, acknowledging His mercy in choosing and redeeming them. Giving thanks to God for salvation is fundamental to the Christian life as it reflects the recognition of God's sovereign grace. In 2 Thessalonians 2:13, Paul explains that gratitude arises because God has chosen believers for salvation from the beginning, emphasizing His initiative in the act of saving us. This thanksgiving is also due to the acknowledgment that we are entirely undeserving, as all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Thus, thanks is not based on our works but rather on God's merciful choice and redemptive work in Christ, who has delivered us from our sins. The act of thanksgiving serves to glorify God and magnify His grace in our lives.

Q: What does the Bible say about being chosen for salvation?

The Bible teaches that God chooses those He will save according to His divine will and purpose. Scripture clearly articulates the doctrine of divine election, asserting that God has chosen a specific group for salvation. Ephesians 1:4-5 reveals that God chose believers in Christ before the foundation of the world, indicating that this choice is an act of His sovereign will and good pleasure. Furthermore, Romans 9:13 emphasizes that God's love and mercy are active in choosing some to be recipients of His grace, as exemplified in the distinctions made between Jacob and Esau. This doctrine assures believers that their salvation is not accidental but part of God's predetermined plan, which highlights the richness and depth of His grace and mercy.

Q: Why is understanding our sinful nature important?

Understanding our sinful nature is important as it deepens our appreciation for God's grace and mercy in salvation. Acknowledging our sinful nature is vital for grasping the full scope of God's grace in salvation. Romans 3:23 states that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, reminding us that no one can earn favor with God through good works. This recognition leads to humility and a desperate need for mercy, as highlighted in Romans 3:24, where it teaches that we are justified freely by His grace through Christ's redemption. Knowing the depth of our sinfulness magnifies God's grace, demonstrating His willingness to save unworthy sinners. Thus, the awareness of our sin propels us to rely on Christ alone for our righteousness and salvation.

This morning we're going to be in 2 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Paul, in the opening of this chapter, describes the mystery of iniquity that's now operating in this world, and he describes the coming destruction of the wicked who perish because he says in verse 10, they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved.

But against this backdrop, against what Paul says there, there's a glorious distinction that he makes when he gets to verse 13 of what the Lord does for his people whom he chose in Christ. loves and has provided for them. And so what we see here is the distinction of God's grace for his people and the sanctification of our Lord's grace for his people. So Paul begins the tracing out of God's distinction of grace for his people saying in the first half of verse 13, But we are bound to give thanks all the way to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation."

So let's stop right there and examine these things. Something that I want to emphasize in this message is how truly and fully the salvation of the believer is by grace. Our salvation is all of the grace of God. And this shapes our understanding of how God saves us. This shapes our speech and how we talk to others and tell of what the Lord has done for me, a sinner. It's going to change the way we talk about the Lord.

And what the Lord shows us is that it's not of works, but of grace. And if it's not of works, then it's all of grace, and that includes every part of salvation. You hear it in verses like when Paul said, Of God are ye in Christ Jesus, who has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that according as it's written, he that gloryeth, let him glory in the Lord. Our glorying and our boasting is not in ourselves and what we've done for the Lord.

Our glorying is in the Lord and what he's done for us. That's where we glory. So to begin, here's a question for us. Why do we give God thanks for the salvation of his people? Why do we give God thanks for salvation? Because if we get ourselves saved, as many in the world talk and speak of that way, if we get ourselves saved, then man has something to glory in. But if it's of God, if our salvation is of God, and entirely of God, then our glory is in Him. Our glory shall be in the Lord. If it's something I did, then you're gonna know in how someone speaks, because there's a lot of I's. It's a lot of what I did, right? I walked the aisle. I gave my heart to Jesus. I let God save me, right? It's a lot of what I have done. That's of the flesh.

That is the carnal man speaking there and what he's done for God. And the sinner's gonna glory in himself rather than what God has done. But if God saves us, then our glory and our thanks is to the Lord. And it comes out in what you believe. It'll inform how you speak. So for this part of the message, let me give you four reasons why we give God thanks for saving us. Why does the believer give God thanks?

Well, first of all, the scriptures tell us that our Lord is the author and finisher of our faith. He's the author and finisher. That means he writes the story. The author is the one who writes the story. And Jesus Christ is called the author and finisher of our faith in Hebrews 12, 2.

And this confirms what the scriptures declare to us, that salvation is of the Lord. And it doesn't say in Jonah 2, 9 that salvation is of man or that salvation is of man's strength or man's works. It says salvation is of the Lord. The Lord saves his people.

The second thing. The second reason why we give God thanks is because God chose whom he would save. God chose whom he would save. He chose his people. He chose those to whom he would make them vessels of mercy, and he chose those who would be vessels of wrath. God chose. He made us. He fit us for his own purpose, some for mercy and some for destruction. Now, let me show you first where God chose his people, and that before the fall. It wasn't after the fall that he chose us. It wasn't after something we did or didn't do. God chose his people before our fallen Adam.

It's written in Ephesians 1, verses 4 and 5. that it's according as God hath chosen us. And you'll notice in these scriptures that there's very descriptive, distinct words that are used to describe us, the church. that is distinct from the rest of the world. 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. So that's a particular people, us and we, as opposed to them. Speaking of us and we, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, And what did God base his choosing on? Paul tells us that it's according to the good pleasure of his will. You mean God does something that pleases him? Yes. God does what he wants to do? Yes. It's all entirely of what God chooses to do, as it pleases him. according to the good pleasure of his will.

And then let me show you where it speaks of him creating some to honor and some to dishonor. That would be found in Romans chapter 9 verse 21 through 24. Paul asks, hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? God makes vessels as it pleases him.

If I get a load of lumber and I take it back home, I choose out which pieces are going to be used for what. As it pleases me, we all do it. If you buy ingredients and you're making something for dinner, you choose which ingredients go in the pot and which parts and which ingredients don't make it. It's your decision. I hope the Lord chose whom he would for the purpose as it pleases him.

And Paul goes on to say, What if God, willing to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured, with much longsuffering, the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction? God's putting up with the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction. Why? That He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had aforeprepared unto glory. Even us, there's that distinguishing word again, even us, whom he hath called not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles.

Aren't you glad, you that rejoice in God's mercy towards you, aren't you glad that he chose you to be a vessel of mercy? You didn't choose this. God chose you unto this mercy. God chose you to give you a new heart, to open your ear, to be merciful to you, to be gracious to you, and to bring forth that love in your heart and that thankfulness in your heart. God chose you for that. He chose you to be a vessel of his mercy, and for that, we give him thanks. we give God thanks for choosing his people, for assembling his body together, and putting us in that body with them, right?

So we thank God for that. We don't boast of what we did for God, we boast of what God has done for me, the sinner. Then the third reason we give God thanks is because we are, on that point, we are all sinners. We thank God because we're sinners, undeserving sinners of this mercy and grace. The scripture is telling us in Romans 3, 23, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We have nothing to boast of in this. God chose his people knowing what we would be in Adam, knowing our fall. but he justified his people freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

That's Romans 3.24. And so it is that the scriptures are teaching us that God delights to show mercy. It is only the hardness of man's heart that doesn't delight. in God who delights to show mercy, that hardens our heart and won't hear him and won't believe him. But God delights to show mercy and he makes it a point of his grace to save his people whom he chose, that is to bring the light and understanding and a knowledge of what he has done for his people. He does this in making us know that we are sinners, He makes us to have a certain understanding of the depths of our sin.

Thankfully, we don't know the entirety of how awful we are by nature. One time I asked the Lord when I was younger, and I saw horrible views. I don't want to see. I don't want to know how awful I am. But what I've seen, I know enough of how black this heart is. just how evil we are by nature.

And so the Lord makes us to know what we are and how great his love and grace is toward us. God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, us who are the chosen people of God in Christ. And so God saves us from the enmity that is in us by nature toward Him. He saves us from that enmity. He delivers us from it. He overcomes that enmity in us, triumphing over us in grace and in love so that we don't remain in that hardness of heart. But by a new heart, by His Spirit, we believe God. We love Him. We trust Him. Turn over to Romans 8, and we'll look at this some.

All right, we thank God because he makes us to know that we're sinners, saved from our sin. Romans 8, beginning in verse 3, for what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, rendering it to have no power, no voice in our inheritance, whether we're the Lords or not. God gave the law to show man that he's guilty of sin, And any man who's made honest before the law will confess, I'm a sinner. And the Lord does that. He makes us to confess our sin because sinners, shown their sin by God, are mercy beggars. When the Lord makes you to know what you are by nature, to know your sin, and to know your offense and guilt before God, he makes us mercy beggars. We beg him for mercy.

He brings that fruit forth in his people. But what the law could not do, Christ did for us by satisfying the just demands of the law upon us in perfect righteousness. Christ came. He fulfilled all righteousness. He died as the substitute of his people and obtained satisfaction for us, to satisfy, to settle our debt of sin which we owed and to deliver us from. from trying to work a righteousness for ourselves. Our righteousness is seen and received and understood through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and what he's done for us. To know that he's forgiven us of our sins, obtained the forgiveness of God for us, for our sins, and to give us life with himself. Now, verse 3, Romans 8, sorry, Romans 8, 4, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.

And what that verse is speaking of there is the new birth. He must be born again. I must be born again. And he gives us a spirit which gives us a new birth in Christ with all those that he's graciously redeemed. We need to be born again to see God's kingdom.

You see God's kingdom because you have his spirit. Not seeing the external buildings that people call churches, but rather you see God's grace and mercy. You see his work and spirit in your brethren. and he draws you together with his people. He gives you his word of grace. You hear that word of grace, and you receive it. He's ministering faith to you, the word of faith, which we preach. Not the whippings and the beatings of the law, not the threatenings of the law, but you hear faith, grace, grace to all who are in Christ. And that's right where he's giving you a heart to want to be. in the Lord Jesus Christ, that's of his grace.

For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit, the things of the spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because the carnal mind is enmity against God. For it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. And so in Adam, we're all partakers of that enmity of God.

And though you maybe don't, by nature, some might not count themselves to be enemies of God. And yet, if you don't know the true and living God, if you don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and trust him for all your righteousness and all your standing before God, you are an enemy of God because you're denying the one whom the Father has sent. And so you might not think of God as an enemy, but you are, because you don't believe him, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Father hath sent.

And so we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we do so by his spirit of grace which is given to us. And so the difference in us with God isn't because of something we do. We can't look to our neighbor or brother or sister or parent or somebody that doesn't believe like us and be angry with them for not doing what we've done because what we do is of his grace. Our faith and hope in the Lord is of his grace and his mercy and we give God thanks that he saved a sinner like me. I had a wretched sinner like me.

So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God, but ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. If so be that the spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he's none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness.

Now all these words here, these scriptures here, inform our understanding of what the Lord has done for us and give us a right understanding of our standing in God for his grace and mercy, not because of my works, not because I'm sanctifying myself or fixing myself under the law in this flesh. The body is dead because of sin, and that's important here.

And then the fourth thing, just to finish this point up here, God chose whom he, we thank God because he chose whom he loved. All right, he chose those whom he loved. That means you that believe Christ are loved of God. God loved you before you loved God. God chose you while you were yet in darkness. He calls us brethren beloved of the Lord. And there's a distinction being made here between those who are beloved from the rest of the world that is not loved of God.

There's a clear distinction. Look at 1 John 5. 1 John 5. Verse 19 and 20. And we know There's those words. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. There's a distinction that God makes. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness, and we know that the Son of God has come and hath given us an understanding. God gives his people, whom he loves, an understanding that is not given to others. an understanding of who the true and living God is and how he saves, what he saved us from, how he accomplished it, he gives that understanding to his people. But God hath given us an understanding that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his son Jesus Christ.

This is the true God and eternal life. If you are in Christ, it's because God the Father hath put you in Christ. He put you in Christ, and he did so before the foundation of the world. He made provision for you, brethren, before the foundation of the world, entirely on the shoulders of our husband, our friend, the Lord Jesus Christ, our king, our all. Everything's in him.

Now that word, us, is a word that distinguishes God's people from the world that lies in wickedness and in darkness. If you look back in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 16, we see it again. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God, even our Father, which hath loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace."

That, brethren, can only be said of the people of God. That cannot be said of the wicked who are yet in unbelief. We can't give them any comfort or consolation that they are children of God while they stand in unbelief. While they continue to deny the very righteousness of God, many remain in that state, many die in that state, and they can never be said to be part of us, the us, the church of the living God to whom these epistles are written and by whom they are read with everlasting consolation and good hope through grace.

God makes a distinction in his people. And he makes a distinction with his love for his people. And if you needed any clearer, he says in Romans 9.13, Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated. God makes a clear distinction between us, whom Jacob is a part of, the us which is the church, and he didn't make Esau part of that us. He left Esau to himself.

So the point is here, we didn't choose God so that he could then save us. That's how dead letter religion teaches it. Well, if you do something for God, then God can do something for you. If you just let him save you, then God can save you. Well, that's not the language of scripture. God saves in spite of us. He doesn't wait for us. If he waited for us to do something, we'd all go to hell. We'd all die in our sins. But God is gracious and merciful to save whom he will, when he will.

He told his disciples, you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that ye should go forth and bring forth fruit. Or to put it another way, the Apostle John wrote, we love him because he first loved us. It's all of His grace and power. And so, our God is the cause of our love to Him. His love for us, His saving of us, is not because we love Him and chose Him first, or decided one day to follow Jesus, that allowed God to be gracious to us, no. He's gracious to us, and then all of that fruit, that ordained fruit that we should walk in these things, is brought forth by his spirit and power and grace in us. And so when we speak of him, we're speaking of what he has done for us. The scripture is Paul calling us his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath ordained that we should walk in them. God did it. And so there's four reasons to give God thanks. He's the author of our salvation. He chose whom he would to save. He saved us even though we were sinners. And God loved us first and revealed himself to us in love.

And that leaves room for boasting in only one, the Lord Jesus Christ, in our God and what he's done for us. We boast in him, not in ourselves. So reading verse 13 again, because we're going to finish verse 13 out. 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.

And now he tells us how our God made this salvation known to his people through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. And so the distinction of God's grace for His people is revealed by God to the world, to His people, in making known those who are His chosen, those who are sinners saved, those who are loved of God, those who are delivered from their sins by the Lord Jesus Christ.

God makes it known. It delights Him to make known to all who His people are. They believe Christ. They have faith in Christ. They trust the Lord Jesus Christ and make their boast of him. He lets people know who his vessels of mercy are. They believe Christ. They trust him.

And so the things we give thanks to God for, they evolve. We saw many things that all happened while we were unaware of them. We didn't have any part in fixing them or making them to happen. We see God's salvation of his people while we were ignorant of his glory and ignorant of his Godhead. But there comes a day in each chosen vessel of mercy where God reveals to the sinner your mind. He lets you know it. He makes you to know what you are and who he is and what he's done about it to make you his own.

So first, The distinction is made, it says there in verse 13, through sanctification of the spirit. Sanctification of the spirit. And I want to talk about this because there's a lot of misunderstanding about sanctification. There's a great deal of teaching that I don't think is scriptural about sanctification. And so let's just look at this. The majority of this message here is on sanctification.

So in the most general sense of what it means to be sanctified, it means to be set apart, to be consecrated, or to be set apart for sacred use, for a specific use. by the Lord. Now, in that sense, our Lord Jesus Christ, as our high priest prayed in John 17, 19, he said, and for their sakes I sanctify myself. That's where we see one sanctifying themselves, is the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth. That he's going to sanctify his people. I'm sanctifying myself to sanctify them. The Lord Jesus Christ, as our high priest, did that for us.

Sanctification is also said to make a thing holy that was before unholy, or common, unholy or common by nature, so that when the church is regenerated, it is said to be washed. It is said to be sanctified. When we're regenerated, when the Lord makes known to us what he's done for us, we are sanctified according to the scripture.

And it's all together. So 1 Corinthians 6, verse 11, 1 Corinthians 6, 11 says, and such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus by the Spirit of our God. So that the Lord puts there both sanctification and justification all being done together by Him. By Him. We're sanctified by the Lord Jesus Christ, just as we're justified by the Lord Jesus Christ. He does it all. He's our sanctification. He's our salvation.

And so keeping that in view here, what our three-in-one God has done for us in salvation to sanctify us, with that understanding will result in a scriptural understanding of sanctification and what the Lord does for us. Again, that we may give him thanks and rejoice in him and make our boast in him. So the church is said to be sanctified by God the Father.

Now the word sanctify isn't in this verse, but listen to it in Ephesians 1.4, this is the Father's work. According as the Father hath chosen us in Christ, before the foundation of the world that we should be holy. He's chosen us to be holy, to be set apart, sanctified, and without blame before him in love. That's the Father's sanctification of the church.

Then we see the Son's sanctifying work for his church in Hebrews 10.10 and 10.14. Those are two good scriptures. Verse 10 says, by the witch will, we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. So if you just say, well, that's the beginning of our sanctification. We were sanctified to sanctify ourselves. No, we were sanctified once for all by the Lord Jesus Christ. He separated us by His grace and power. Verse 14, for by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.

All right, He's perfected forever. You can't get any more perfect tomorrow than you are today. All right, the Lord has made you as perfect as you're ever gonna be. You can die right now. You could die on the day you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you are fit for heaven. You are fit to worship your God with all the saints of God from that day and moment, because the Lord has sanctified you. He's done it. And so it's not those who are sanctifying themselves, but those who have been sanctified by God for his use. And then I'll give you one more.

We're told what the sanctification by the Holy Spirit accomplishes in us. in 1 Peter 1.2. 1 Peter 1.2 says, 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. And so this is what what we who are chosen of God the Father before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and redeemed by the blood of Christ, which sanctified us once for all. And we are sanctified of the Holy Ghost unto the obedience of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

You will believe. You will hear and be given faith. And you'll obey God. through faith, through faith, by believing Christ. That pleases the Father. All who come to the Father in the Lord Jesus Christ, he's well pleased with, because he says, in whom I am well pleased. So we come in Christ by his grace and power and give him thanks for it, because that's what pleases God. And he makes us to do that. He makes us vessels of mercy to do that.

And this is what's repeated by Paul here in our text, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. It doesn't say through sanctification of yourselves. but through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. It's what God has done for you in sanctifying you, in setting you apart for his own use and purpose, to glorify his name in you, not as a vessel fitted unto wrath and destruction, but as a vessel of his mercy. He sanctified you for that purpose. He chose you, loved you, washed you, sanctified you, redeemed you, justified you in Christ because you're His, because He loves you. He did that for you, brethren.

Now, I know that many in our day and many for quite some time claim a progressive sanctification. That's spoken of a lot, that there's some kind of a progressive sanctification, and as I understand what they're saying there, meaning they are improving their flesh. That by the things they do or don't do, they can improve the flesh. That's the rub right there, is that they can fix or make this flesh a little better by something I do than what it was before I did this work. before I did this. That's what they're saying there when they speak of when most speak of progressive sanctification. I'm sure we can misuse the term at times, and we want to be gracious to people. But I think by and large, when it's used, men are speaking about making tweaks and adjustments in compliance with the word as best they can to improve, to make better this flesh, better than it was yesterday.

And that's not what the scriptures teach. We don't improve this flesh. And I'll show you some scriptures that make this clear, because we need His grace to help us to glory in Him. Otherwise, our eyes will be taken off Christ, and we start speaking of and looking at the flesh, and that's where the biting and the devouring comes, and where a lot of wickedness comes.

And when we're focusing on what on my flesh. According to the flesh, that's where the trouble comes. So it's the spirit. All right, so let me say this. The body is not renewed in regeneration here and now. According to the scriptures, it's not the body that's been regenerated. It's going to be regenerated, but I want to make this more clear. The spirit is quickened by the grace of God, right? Or the spirit quickens, and we are given life, given a new spirit, which is born of the incorruptible seed of Christ, because what's here by nature is of Adam, and it's corrupt, right?

And it remains corrupt and defiled. But we've been given the spirit, which is in earnest of our down payment in us. whereby we cry Abba Father, by that spirit. So the body itself is dead because of sin. Our Lord says in John 3, 6, and let this sit as a banner for you whenever you're thinking about it, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the spirit is spirit. But men want to confuse the two. But what's born of the flesh is flesh, and what's born of the spirit is spirit.

And so when Christ has come, that's why there's a warfare begun in those two natures. Even Rebecca is a picture of it. When she conceived in her womb the two sons, Jacob and Esau, she said, well, if it's so with God, if God has blessed me, why am I like this?

Why is there this warfare going on in my womb, this fighting? now, right? Because again, it's a picture that this flesh isn't improved. It's not complying and going along with the Spirit. It's enmity, right? It still fights in wars against the truth.

Paul says it this way in Galatians 5, verses 16 through 18. This I say then, walk in the Spirit. He says, walk in the Spirit, not walk in an improved flesh. You walk in the Spirit. And we brethren keep walking in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Because it's still present. It's still there. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit lusteth against the flesh. And these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye are led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." So we walk by the Spirit, we're led of the Spirit, and if you are led of the Spirit because you have the Spirit of God, you're not under the law.

You're in Christ. You're in Christ in a new and living way. And the right understanding of these verses will cause us to look to Christ for all our help. When you feel the lust of the flesh, you're looking to Christ. You're crying out, Abba, Father, save me. You're not turning to the flesh and saying, I've got to beat you down and fix you and make you better, because you're not going to make it better. The next day, it's going to have the same fighting, the same lust, the same flare-ups as it always has.

And this gives us a right understanding of what the Apostle John meant when he says in 1 John 3, verses 2 through 3, Beloved, now are we the sons of God. We are. We are saved by his grace. And it doth not yet appear what we shall be. We don't see it yet in his flesh. It doesn't appear yet, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

That's when we'll have a heavenly body. Now we have a terrestrial body, an earthly body. But in that day, when he returns, we'll have a heavenly body, a new body that isn't corrupt and sinful and wicked. And there won't be that warfare going on in us in that day. And he says, every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure. Well, how do we make ourselves pure? Well, we don't, but it's by the spirit that we are made pure.

It's by the spirit that we do mortify the flesh, put it to death. Lord, deliver me, save me from this thing. I don't want to fulfill the lust of the flesh. It's by the spirit that we mortify the flesh. That's very different than men speaking about a progressive sanctification that improves this flesh. If we're mortifying the flesh, we're not making the flesh better. We're mortifying it. We're putting it to death by the Spirit, not by the letter of the law and improving the flesh.

That doesn't happen. And the scriptures don't speak about an improving of the flesh. They speak of the Spirit. which is given to you by which we mortify the flesh and say, Lord, save me from that. I don't want to do that stuff. Deliver me from that. And so by turning to the flesh under the law, that's contrary to walking in the spirit. And it's not an improvement of the flesh that we're telling ourselves that we need, but a mortifying.

So let me just quote Romans 8 to that point, Romans 8, 13 and 14. For if ye live after the flesh, even trying to sanctify and improve this flesh by what you do or don't do, he says, ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. That's not improving the flesh, that's mortifying the flesh. Very different than progressive sanctification. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. And so you and I, we're not going to see improvements in the flesh. That's not what it is.

God's saints who are regenerated by the spirit of grace are actually made to feel our infirmity of this flesh more and more. We're made to know what sinners we are and to feel the plague of our own heart. I'll just quote a few of our brethren in the scriptures here. Paul could say in Romans 7, 18, for I know that in me, that is, in my flesh.

He wasn't talking about an improved flesh. He says, I know in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. It hasn't improved at all. There's nothing good dwelling in it. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. Can't find it in there.

The prophet Isaiah would say in Isaiah 6.5, woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.

For mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. That's what he makes us to see. When you get a view of our Lord, when you see your God, when you see Christ seated on the throne, and you see what you are in self, woe is me. woe is me, I'm undone. Job would say, behold, I'm vile. Job 40 verse 4, behold, I'm vile.

What shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand on my mouth. In other words, I ain't boasting no more. I got nothing good to say. I heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. That's what Job was made to confess when the Lord spoke to him. in his heart and made him to see him.

David, our brother, in Psalm 51.3 said, I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Wasn't your flesh improved, David, over time? No, it's ever before me. I see what a sinner I am. Daniel tells us that his comeliness was turned into corruption and he retained no strength.

That's Daniel 10.8. We're told in Hebrews 12, 21, so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. There's not an improvement in the flesh.

There is a growth in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We grow in that grace the longer we live. We see him more and more precious, because we do see in this flesh how corrupt it is. We see dark corners that we didn't know existed, but they're there. and the recesses of this nature, that's what it is. But we acknowledge our corruption of the flesh, and we acknowledge, Lord, I need you, I need your grace.

One other way to put this is this body is sown a natural body. In other words, it goes into the earth in the grave as a natural body that's corrupt, and it sees corruption. It's corrupt and it sees corruption. It's subject to the law of sin so that it dies and it corrupts in the grave. That's what the body does, because it isn't improved. It hasn't improved at all. It's not gotten any better. It's still sown in hope, though.

We go down to the grave in hope of the Lord who promised to return and raise us up a new body that's not burdened by sin. At the resurrection, believers know the plague of their own heart. We do grieve and mourn for our sin because it's still there. It's a warfare. I know that in me, in my flesh, dwells no good thing.

Paul said in Romans 8, 23 through 26, he said it this way, and not only they, but ourselves also, which had the first fruits of the spirit, even we ourselves grown within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. We're waiting for the Lord's return. We're walking in faith. We know what He's promised, though I see this flesh giving me trouble every day and why I need His grace, but I believe Him.

I'm walking in faith. I'm walking in the Spirit, trusting Him, mortifying these deeds, putting them off. I don't want to go out and live like the devil. Though in the less of the flesh I do, but in the spirit, no, I don't. I want to serve him and know him and grow in him and be faithful to him. But I have this burden of the flesh.

So we wait for the redemption of our body for we are saved by hope. But hope that is seen, it's not hope. If you're seeing improvements, you're not hoping anymore because you see something. You stop hoping in Christ because you see something. But hope that is seen is not hope for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." to make our boast of us sanctifying ourselves by the keeping of the law and getting better and better at it. And I'm doing all these things improved now that I didn't used to do, but I'm just so much better. Now, that's ignorant of the plague of my own heart. That's just voicing my ignorance to the truth of what the scriptures say about me. And Jeremiah tells us, 17, 9, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?

And so this is why God's love for us is such a wonder, that he can love us and dwell with us and take up his abode with us, giving us the spirit. Ephesians tells us that Christ dwelleth in our hearts by faith. And our Lord himself said that if a man loved me, he will keep my words, believing him. trusting the Lord, and my Father will love him and will come and we will come unto him and make our abode with him." Isn't that a wonder that God should do that for us?

I'm just going to read verse 14 back in our text, 2 Thessalonians 2.14, whereunto we called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. God, His grace is so magnificent and wonderful to do all this for us, to reveal these things to us, to deliver us from darkness, and to make us to know what he's done for us.

It really is a remarkable work of grace. And when you see it in that light, truly, without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness, that God was manifest in the flesh. justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed down in the world, received up into glory." It's not because this flesh is so agreeable with God. It ain't. It's His grace. That's why we boast in His grace and give God thanks for saving us, brethren. So, amen.

The Sanctification Of Grace

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about sanctification?

How do we know salvation is by grace?

Why is it important to understand that God chooses whom He saves?

Why should believers give thanks for their salvation?

What does the Bible say about being chosen for salvation?

Why is understanding our sinful nature important?

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