1114. How Do We Grow In Gospel Grace (part 1)?

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville South Carolina today and tomorrow on The Daily Platform will hear a sermon preached at the Bob Jones University Bible conference where the theme was sanctification. Dr. Sam Horn will teach us about growing and gospel grace from first Thessalonians chapter 5 were going to turn in our Bibles got together this morning. First Thessalonians chapter 5.

Our first session together that I had the privilege of talking and preaching from God's word had to do with the foundation of Christian sanctification and we turn to the two most familiar verses in the book of Romans chapter 12 and we noted that Christian sanctification was a response that a category of people offered when they fully understood what God had done for them back when they understood what got it done for them. This group of people. It was their natural. It was sort of the almost spontaneous spontaneity is response.

Spontaneous response it was it was the logical outflow in worship of what they had come to understand that God had done for them. The amazing mercies of God that had taken them from where they were in Romans chapter 1, and had actually made them into a kingdom of priests and as priests they had been not just forgiven but they had been cleansed and they had been brought into this priesthood and every day they would bring a living sacrifice to God and that sacrifice was their body and the whole point of the sacrifice was this, we want to devote our bodies to the exclusive use of God, the one who did all of this for us and we want to use our bodies to discern in two is good and acceptable and perfect will. No matter what cost to my work takes us no matter what it entails. So that was the foundation of it this morning out of this text and the number of other texts I want to start to put the back end of that. Now that we know the foundation for what it's built on what it is a response to this immense gospel mercy.

How does it actually happen in our life. How is it actually warmed up.

How do we grow in gospel rates. You know when I am went out to the West Coast and Beth and I moved out there.

We we live in a little community that is sort of on the outskirts of Los Angeles. It's an amazing city and it is that it is a very different culture than anything we have ever experienced at any time in our life. I grew up in South Texas Beth were up in Florida in Orlando. We spent a good many years of our life here in Greenville, South Carolina.

Then God called us to serve up in the northern corner of Wisconsin and for a period of time we lived in Minnesota and that's pretty much been where we've been and then all of a sudden we find ourselves out on the other side of the country and everything is different. It's it you know the Emily looks the same and they talk the same but different assisted different and one of the things that's very interesting about that culture is that it is a car culture. How many of you like cars. I mean, just like cars get up in the morning and you see a cards like now that this week and then I have never seen the kind of cars driving around on the highway out there that I've seen.

I mean it's stunning what people drive out there there's a dining Jay Leno how to be a part of Jay Leno okay not speaking anything about what he does but this one thing is. Think about Jay Leno. He is a car fanatic. He has garages, not just the garage garage is full of cars that I mean if you took the sum total of all the worth of his vehicles. It is in the millions of dollars for the vehicle that he has and he drives around on the highway. It's not unusual, and I've never seen it but but it's not unusual look over and there's Jay Leno just driving next to you, that all jobs is stuck out there grand Rounds cars. I drove up to Walmart and you'll see Ferraris. It's not unusual to see a Ferrari destroyed by I mean if you are a Ford Mustang. There are Ford Mustangs everywhere.

There are portions. I mean I can't tell you the number of times I've been driving along in my little Jean Watson along on the highway and clean and look over and you know you just see the afterglow of us are like Moses on the mountain we got past.

I just see the afterglow and it's a Porsche and not just like a little portions of it out.

I mean them Porsche SUVs. I mean this is it's a car culture. I was with Beth.

One day we were going to the portal of paradise. Walmart and we pulled into our parking space and we were getting out the car and a Rolls-Royce late pulled in right next to us at Walmart. I wish I had thought to take a picture of that. You know one day. Actually, this is about a year ago I was at a gas station and I pulled in to get some fuel and in next to me right in the sort of comp just ahead of me posing a guy in a Ferrari now II just like Ferraris.

I don't own a Ferrari.

I will never own a Ferrari. I've never ever ridden in for effect.

It's one of my bucket list things to do, I'd love to just write a Ferrari officially like to drive one, but I don't think so.

I standing there and this put gas in my car in the sky comes in and is Ferrari and he gets out and I think that is a sweet car and he starts walking around and I'm kinda watching them. You know, and he's looking around for the gas can the gas lid on his Ferrari he did know what was walking around the car and he finally finds it. It's up on the front of the car above the passenger side wheel somewhere up there and then. He's looking around and he's punching it and then he goes in the front seat of the car needs. Looking around, and he gets out and he gets on his phone and finally he comes over to me and I'm thinking because I need some help. I will let you know your do you know how to open that the fuel On this car.

Yeah, it's easy to do it all the time. I had no he said you know I just I went to the far dealership and I just picked up the car today.

It's a sweet car but I did know how to open the fuel it and there was no manual in the car apparently didn't have a manual with it are on and how we got this Gardens try to call the dealer and I don't know how he solved that problem. I just looked at him, I said Sir in the name of the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, be warmed and filled. I didn't say that seriously, but I couldn't help him because I had no clue.

Apparently apparently actually went online after to try to figure it out. Apparently, in some Ferraris they have these dummy buttons on the console that aren't labeled and some of them work in some of them down and apparently one of the unmarked ones is the fuel Release and so until you know which one it is and you find out which one it is. You can sit there and poke at that thing all day and I thought to myself, that's a pretty good illustration sometimes of how we approach the idea of Christian sanctification.

What we been talking about all week. You can have the sweetest Ferrari on the planet with all the power and all of the force available to you, but if you don't how to put fuel in the tank. You are to be pushing that car and sometimes I think we we we have this idea about Christian sanctification and it's what we talked about last time we know that it is essential in our Christian life. We know that it is an essential component of being a Christian we know instinctively that we needed an answer Christie and there's a part of us that really wants it. And so as we we talk about it, we we think about it we hear about it and then we set out to do it and where like that guy at the gas station trying to figure out okay so how do we actually get this going.

How do we do. So what I'd like to do in the session today as I'd like to answer five questions. I think that will help us understand how the Bible speaks and what the Bible has to say about Christian sanctification and how it is formed upping you.

How does God do this in your life and in my and then at the end.

I want to and with a very very specific application that I think will sorta wrap up some of the things that we been hearing about this week. So Paul said it this way. As we look at this text together and the very God of peace. This is first Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 23 and the very God of peace sanctify you wholly entirely in every part. In other words, God is going to do something with regard to sanctification, and when he is doing it is going to involve every part of your Christian life. This isn't just something that you can compartmentalize often do some area so that you know today I'm gonna work on this and and tomorrow my work a little bit on faith and end on Wednesday and work on prayer and and on Saturday morning a Bible reading and then eventually on Mondays. That's my thing. That's not how it works and I think we all know that I'm not trying to be reductionistic and and I described that but even if we know it in her head like we instinctively know there's a fuel Ferrari and there's gotta be a way of opening it. If we compartmentalize it. Then we missed the whole point. This is something that God is doing and he's doing it in you and it touches every part of your life. There is a completeness to this process. The very God of peace sanctify you wholly and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body, so there is mean you didn't need to get you wanted a clarification you can see if there be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ faithful is he that call with you, who also will do it right so that's the text we want to use sorta bizarre place to park and then we'll look at some of the text along the way. So let's look at our first question together.

Here's the here's the very basic question and we been answering this question all week in different ways. You've heard different speakers. Dr. Pettit started with this on way on Tuesday night and then we been talking about it in different ways all week long. What exactly is sanctification. Let's make sure that's real clear in her mind, so that when we go to fuel we at least know what were talking about and what were thinking about Sony do it this way let's let's look at real quickly. A working definition and then a biblical description right. So, here, here are the ways certain theologians have sort of tried to capture the idea that were talking about one theologian put it this way, sanctification is the gracious operation of the Holy Spirit involving our responsible participation that's really important. Segregation is not this divine sap where your passive and all of a sudden God does something in your completely sanctify is the gracious operation. The grace enabled. That's the idea. There, the gracious grace enabled operation of the Holy Spirit involving our responsible participation by which he delivers justified sinners really important. Sanctification can't happen before justification.

And it's different than justification. He delivers justified sinners from the pollution of sin. Remember, you're a priest. He delivers justified sinners from the pollution of sin. He renews our entire nature. According to the image of God and he enables us to live lives that are pleasing to God's out the end of Romans chapter 12, so that's an interesting working definition but to give you another one. Sanctification is God setting us apart exclusively for himself. That's what Dr. Pettit talked about when he preached the opening session.

It is God setting us apart exclusively for himself and progressively transforming our nature, so that our inner man is conformed to his character and our outer man reflects his attributes accurately and attractively. So those two definition sort of give us a working base to can answer this question.

What is sanctification so there's a working definition and that definition leads to a biblical description when the New Testament writers talk about sanctification and all of them talk about when when the a man who wrote the New Testament talk about sanctification. They typically talk about it in one of three ways. Let me show you how this works right.

So here's a description of how these eight men talk about it. They talk about it in the sense that it is something positional. It is something that you already have. There are places in the New Testament where the writers of the New Testament talk about sanctification as though it already has happened because positionally you're already sanctified.

You have been set apart totally for God and to God's use only give an example of a place where this takes place in the book of first Corinthians, Paul says, and such were some of you talking about their former behaviors pagan and such were some of you, but he arm washed and he are sanctify. This is what is already happening to you, ye are sanctify ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of God and then the writer of Hebrews. In chapter 10 verse 14 says for by one offering, the offering of his own life he Jesus hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

So when we talk about sanctification in the New Testament there is a sense in which some of the New Testament writers or the New Testament writers sometimes talk about it is something that's already happened.

We call that positional psych and then obviously it's something that's happening to you right now and so we described that is present for progressive sanctification, and so let me show you an example of this in second Corinthians chapter 7 verse one Paul says to the Corinthians. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness that something you're doing right now, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Romans chapter 6 verse 19, Paul says, present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. So there is a sense in which Paul and we could cite many other New Testament texts talk about sanctification, not just as something positional that God's already done for you easily put you in this category is something that God is actually doing in you right now and that you have a part. It that's the progressive president sanctification that's going on right now and then the writers of the New Testament describe a time in the future where you will be fully and permanently sacked sanctified in the presence of Christ. Listen to Paul again in first Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 13 he says to the end, he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God. Even our father.

When will this happen at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all the saints, he was chapter 12 or 23 you are, the writer of Hebrews says to anything describing this this wonderful place.

The New Testament Christians come to the general assembly and church of the firstborn which are written in heaven and to the God and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made so there is a full and final and permanent sanctification that works out itself in your life in the future, so there is this definition and description, but sanctification in the New Testament is also a spiritual responsibility. It's something that you and I are doing in cooperation with God, and particularly the spirit of God hears how Paul described it to the Philippians in chapter 2. This is another major tax that you need at least markdown somewhere in your Bible when you're thinking about how sanctification works. Listen to what Paul told the Philippians in chapter 2 verse 12. Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling the ideas, not like a boy I got, you know, somehow justification didn't work with me tonight at work is the idea of displaying take the salvation that you have received when you were justified and start working it out and all the parts of your life so that it's evidence start displaying its effects in every part of your life and so how in the world am I gonna do that. I don't know that I have the ability to do that and that's why Paul goes on in verse 13 to say this, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. So in this amazing tax you have a description of sanctification in which you have a responsibility and God also engages and then I would say it's also supernatural work of divine grace. Somebody said it this way, any attempts any attempt at morally improving oneself apart from the working of God's supernatural grace.

In other words, if you try to do this, apart from God's supernatural grace through your union with Christ. Any any attempt is a counterfeit form of sanctification, and here's what'll happen, it will find no favor from God. It will enjoy no enabling grace from God and it will be utterly ineffective to conform to the image of God's so this is a super natural work of divine grace. So that's what sanctification is, how does it function that's our second question has a function. How does it actually function in her life and and we could say this way. It builds on a theological foundation and we talked about that's all not belabor that point. It's built on a theological foundation and that foundation is justification. That's why all the texts in the New Testament that speak of sanctification are are directed to Christians week week we set a little bit about this in Romans chapter 12 verse one I beseech you therefore, brethren, Paul, in his immense treatise on Christian sanctification to the Galatians chapter 3 and then again in chapter 5 is directing that the people who have experienced the new birth, who began in the spirit and by the spirit and so sanctification is built on a foundation and the foundation is the work that God did when he declared you righteous in Romans chapters 1 through three and when you understand that you have a question. What shall we say this.

This is in Romans chapter 6 verse one what shall we say to all of this, shall we continue in sin in Paul's answer that couldn't be more definitive. He said no. May it never be so. The theological ground on which your segregation is built and harasses justification. It's spiritual acts of immaculate actualization. In other words, how is it actualized involves spirit, energized obedience, we can say this would becoming more like Christ and less like the world involves personal effort that is affected by the spirit. It is energized by grace, and it is directed by the word. Let me just say that one more time.

So lodges in our thinking it.

It involves personal effort that is affected by the spirit. It is energized by grace, and it is directed by I think in pictures. So let me give you sort of embarrassing illustration about this.

My wife and I enjoy the trails that are around our house. There's a lot of walking trails and jogging trails and hiking trails and then there is this immense Paseo. It's a it's it's a California term for a bike path and and it's about a 30 mile trail and so I had a bike and I started biking the trail. I really enjoyed it and I thought you know Beth might like this and so I I went to Beth and assumed you would you enjoy this and she said sure I would enjoy that in and I thought well in those 30 miles.

I need to get her the kind of bike that she can navigate this trail and so I went down I had a buddy, I met a buddy that had a bike store and went down there and they had a an electric paddle assist like how many of you have a mom that has an electric paddle assist biker you you know somebody that has a bike like I never heard of this.

So I talked to Beth about it and and I bought this bike for her and and does so she started riding it around her neighborhood and then we had a day when we can go on this big bike 25 mile bike so we got out there and I clip and and I will bike helmet and off we go, and I I am tooling down this bike path and I'm just pouring. I mean it.

It's hard it's difficult I'm trying to keep about an 18 to 20 mile pace. As I'm writing, and I mean it's just, and I'm flying down this path and I look back and I can't see Beth I thought well okay and I just kept like you don't just drag along. You know, being a loving husband. I know it's as I'm she's back there.

God will take care of it on Friday and I love and I knew my legs are burning, looking back there and there's no so I get ready to settle my kind I catch my breath, but this would be a good excuse. If she comes up to to just say honey I was waiting for you spring for you while you were writing this one. Make sure you okay so I'm having only Stutzman doesn't get ready to pull over stop and get on the bike and says I'm looking back like this.

I swing around this way and I look over there in there's bath in front of me just come in behind like this, like, just knowing she's right up on her little bike 20 miles an hour nap. You don't bike that doesn't sound like a lot, but if you bike at that screen your legs are dying in your ear like chill at your outcome off those rides. I might just like trying to get in the car without crawling and here's my like you standing up or sitting upright. This look around, you know, waving like a queen and that's cheating. It was the paddle assist you know she was working she was pedaling just like I was paddling she was doing all the same thing she was keeping her balance. She was even on the Paseo.

She wasn't going off the path she was all of the things I was doing, but there was something different. There was an immense assist and you know what there is an immense assist when it comes to God helping you in Christian sanctification. It isn't just you pedaling the bike. It's it's not can happen if you don't get on the bike is not gonna happen if you don't paddle is not gonna happen if you don't stay on the path but if you try to do it like I did it.

You are going to exhaust yourself and it is in, because God didn't design sanctification to work that way in your life.design sanctification to involve your faithful effort, but you are faithful advert is going to be energized by his insurmountable find unmeasurable strength. Unfortunately, that's all the time we have for today's sermon from Dr. Sam Horn titled growing and gospel grace. Be sure to listen tomorrow is will hear the conclusion of the sermon preached from the Bob Jones University Chapel platform