Understanding Sanctification

Understanding Sanctification

Philippians 2:12-18

Paul has been hammering the need of Christlikeness into the hearts of the Philippians. He continues to do that in this text. Last week we looked at verses 5-11. In those passages Paul showed us that Christ is our example for the Christian life.

Jesus humbled Himself.

Jesus obeyed to the point of death.

Jesus was rewarded.

That is the model of the Christian life.

We are to be humble

We are to be obedient

We can expect to be rewarded by God.

In these passages he’d going to get very practical. Last week Paul showed us what our mindset should be. This morning we see what our actions should look like.

Before we start let’s remember what sanctification is. Sanctification is the process of becoming like Christ. It is growing in grace. It is spiritual maturity. This morning I hope to help you understand it a little better.

1. Every Christian has a responsibility in his/her own sanctification (12).

A. Note that Paul is talking to the “beloved”

And those who are already obeying the Lord.

These are saved folks. You can’t be sanctified until you are justified.

Paul is not saying “Do this to be saved.” He is saying “Do this because you are saved.” Your salvation is not being worked in, it’s being worked out.

The Philippians had been an obedient people. A good example of this is the Philippian jailer who was saved.

He was scared to death when the Lord shook the jail where Paul was being held. He asked “What must I do to be saved?”

Paul told him and he obeyed the Lord.

He repented.

He believed.

He was baptized.

Romans 6:17 says we are saved because we obeyed the doctrine that was delivered to us.

Romans 10:16 says many do not obey the gospel and they are lost.

We begin the Christian life with obedience, and we continue it with obedience.

B. Sanctification reveals the integrity of our profession.

Paul told them they should obey the Lord not only in his presence but much more in his absence.

Why much more?

First, Paul was a worker. He served God with passion. He did the work of many Christians. To make up for his labor the Philippians would have to be busy for Jesus.

Secondly, their obedience in his absence proved that they were not obeying just to keep Paul off their backs. Their salvation was real to them. He said the same thing in 1:27.

Notice it’s called “your own” salvation. This is your salvation. It’s not Paul’s salvation. You are the only one who can work out your salvation.

You made a profession now prove it’s real. You pledged allegiance to the Lord.

Our salvation is a great privilege that comes with great responsibility.

We can see things we couldn’t see before.

We can understand things we could not understand before.

We can do things we could not do before.

Sanctification is our opportunity to show that our salvation is real. Please understand when you say “I want to be saved” you are also saying:

I want to love Jesus

I want to know the Bible

I want to overcome sin

C. The fear of the Lord should motivate us to sanctification.

Paul says our salvation should be worked out with fear and trembling. It’s not that we dread God or are afraid of Him. It means that we recognize how great God is and that impacts the way we live.

Illustration: How I prepare for a wedding. I recognize the seriousness of the occasion. It’s a sober moment.

Same things for a funeral. I fear the moment. That fear urges to be prepared.

The greatness of God should cause us to live differently. When we do we will work out our salvation. Let me give you three quick ways we work our salvation out:

1. We must live a life of resistance to and repentance from sin (2 Cor. 7:1).

Having therefore these promises dearly

Beloved let us cleanse ourselves from

All filthiness of the flesh & spirit perfecting

Holiness in the fear of God. 2 Cor. 7:1

2. We must feed from the word of God (1 Peter 2:2).

As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

3. We must be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18).

When we fear the Lord we will take the Christian life seriously.

Let me ask you a question. How many times have you run out of gas? Probably not many. You know why? You fear breaking down. You fear walking. You fear not getting to where you need to be. Because of that you keep an eye on the needle.

When we fear the Lord and recognize He has somewhere for us to be we will keep an eye on the needle. We will watch our spiritual lives. Our spiritual is our own responsibility.

2. Salvation is proof that God has worked salvation in us (13).

A. God works with our will.

God enables our will. If He did not, we would have no desire for the things of God. God gives us the will to desire him and the will to desire spiritual things.

There is no God gene. None of us are going to naturally follow God. Unless God intervenes and gives us a desire for Himself, we will go our own way.

In the Christian, God has intervened in our will.

What a blessing it is to see that!

We have a desire to repent!

We have a desire to believe the gospel!

We have a desire to follow Christ!

B. God gives us the power to work.

The word “work” in the Greek is energeo. It’s where we get the English word “energy” from. God gives us the power to live for Him.

Listen folks, if you are saved you can live the Christian life.

You can overcome sin.

You can endure trials.

God doesn’t only do a work for us in salvation. He does a work in us in salvation.

You’re not just going to heaven. Heaven has come to you. You’re a new creation.

The Bible says concerning salvation:

1) We were dead, now we are alive.

What can a dead person do?

What can a living person do?

2) We were blind but now we can see.

If you went from being blind to being able to see would your life be different?

3) We were lost but now we are found.

A lost person doesn’t know where he is or where he’s headed.

Salvation is a supernatural work of God.

He gives us spiritual life.

He gives us the ability to comprehend spiritual things.

He places us on the narrow road and leads us to Himself.

Listen friend:

Would you describe your salvation as a miracle?

Have you been radically changed by the Spirit of God?

Is God at work in you?

Has God energized you giving you the desire to live for Him?

C. God is working in us for His own pleasure.

This is one of the ways we know God is at work in us. Before Christ we are living for our own pleasures. When God saves us, we begin to live for His pleasure.

What is the pleasure of God?

It is to see us work out the wonderful salvation He has worked in us.

When you plant seeds in the garden what do you expect? You expect the flowers to grow. You expect the vegetables to produce. You walk out there to look each day. The more they grow the more pleasure they give you.

God has planted the gospel in us. He expects to see it bloom. He expects to see fruit. When He does it brings Him pleasure. We are God’s garden. He has done the work.

He has prepared the soil.

He has planted the seed.

He has beat back the birds of the air.

He has pulled the weeds.

He has watered the soil.

He expects to see us bloom.

3. Because believers are shining lights in this dark world sin must be removed (14-15).

A. Sanctification does not always please us.

The road to sanctification can be difficult. Verse 15 is a reference to Moses word in Deut. 32:5. Moses dealt with a people who murmured and had disputes.

They murmured when they thought they would be defeated by the enemy in battle before entering the Promised Land. Num. 14:2-3, 27, Deut. 1:27

They murmured because they wanted something to drink. Exodus 15:24, 17:3

* They murmured because they wanted something to eat. Exodus 16:2-3

In the notes of his Bible DL Moody wrote beside this verse:

“A murmur means I could have managed this thing better than God.”

Murmuring is more of an attitude than anything else. As God works in our life, sometimes we feel that He should be treating us differently than He is. We consequently get a self-centered attitude. Our thoughts are centered on the way we feel. We cannot expect that the Christian life is going to be an easy one. We have not yet entered the Promise Land.

“Disputings” is a word that means to “argue with”. It does not take long for murmuring to overflow into arguing. If we do not deal with the attitude that causes us to murmur against God we will soon find ourselves arguing with God. We should be careful not to blame God for the way we feel. If our circumstances cause us to be angry with God, we need to change. An example of this is when Israel began murmuring about their hunger in the wilderness. Next they started blaming God and even said that God should have killed them in Egypt rather than killing them with hunger in the wilderness (Exodus 16:2-3).

We are headed to the Promised Land but there are some things the Lord wants to get out of us before we get there. We will never deal with what we don’t see. We will never see what is not revealed. Sometimes the only way to reveal certain things in our life is to put us in uncomfortable situations.

B. Grumbling and complaining hinder sanctification (15).

Look at verse 15. Paul says, “that you may be blameless and innocent”. If you are grumbling and complaining, you can’t be blameless. Why? Because it is sin.

You and I can’t be perfect but we can be blameless.

John the Baptist parents were blameless (Luke 1:6).

To be blameless and without blemish means to be godly. It means there is no duplicity in us. We are single minded with the Lord.

Sadly, we don’t often equate attitude with sin. We only think of sinful actions. You may by nature be a negative person. You may grumble and complain about everything. There are sins that we become very comfortable with. Scripture calls these besetting sins (Hebrews 12:1).

Do you have a besetting sin? You’ve gotten to the point that you’ve accepted it. That’s going to hinder you.

Is there a something you do on a regular basis that you know is a sin, but you have no intention of overcoming it? If so, your sanctification will be hindered.

C. One purpose of sanctification is to be a witness in a dark world.

Paul says we shine like lights in a dark world. When you look up at a starry night what makes that night beautiful? The stars. The moon. The lights in the sky make the night beautiful.

If it were not for those lights all you’d have is darkness. They’d be no beauty. Paul is saying this world is in darkness. The only beauty shining in it is believers. We live in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation.

There are people watching all of us.

Illustration: When my mom was saved she immediately put down the cigarettes and the liquor and the drugs that amazed me. I was a grown man and had never known a time she didn’t drink, smoke, and do drugs. By God’s grace she put it all down. She was a shining light to me.

Parents, how are you shining before your kids? Is there a sin that has a hold of you? One that if you were to put it down your children would marvel? You think about the witness you can be to those around you.

Those close to us will notice when we overcome sin. When they do we will point them to the Lord. We will say “It is God who works in me to will and to do of His good pleasure!”

4. Sanctification produces joy in the church (16-18).

A. Holding fast to the Word of God encourages the preacher (16).

Paul said if they’d hold fast to the Word of God he would be proud and know his work was not in vain.

“Holding fast” means to hold forth. When we obey the Word of God we are also extending the Word of God to a lost world.

Paul had worked so hard for these people. He had run for them; he had labored for them. He invested himself in the Philippian church. He wanted to see them extending the Word of God to others as he had extended it to them.

Paul pictures himself on the Day of Christ looking at the Philippians.

There they stand clothed in white.

There they stand at the finish line.

He hears the Lord say to them “Well done!”

If a preacher is worth anything his encouragement will come from seeing the people he preaches to sanctified.

Some might be happy if you just show up.

Some might be happy if you just give your money.

But true men of God are only happy if those he preaches to grow in grace!

There’s an interesting part in verse 17. Paul sees himself as a drink offering and the Philippians as a sacrificial offering. In this text the primary offering is the sacrifice. The drink offering is secondary. It accompanied the sacrificial offering. That means that Paul saw the Philippians ministry as more important than his own. What makes a preacher happy is knowing when he leaves this world, he has left people behind to continue the work.

B. Sanctification produces joy in the Christian (18).

Paul says the Philippians should rejoice with him. We know that sin causes sorrow so it only follows that holiness leads to joy.

Listen friend, if you are saved you will never be happy in sin.

But there is more. The more sin you overcome in your life the more joy you will experience. The more sin you overcome the more God can use you. The brighter you will shine. To experience Paul’s level of joy we must have Paul’s level of commitment.

Listen to me closely. Let go and let God is not in the bible. It’s not there. The Christian life is not a passive one. We are to be engaged.

It’s a race.

It’s a battle.

It takes effort.

It takes commitment.

But it produces great joy.

Are you working out your own salvation with fear and trembling?

Are you killing sin?

Are you blameless?

Are you overcoming sin in such a way that your children and those around you stand amazed?

Are you holding fast to the Word of God and extending it to the next generation?

Sanctification is your response to the power of God at work in you. Are you engaged in that process?