Knowing Christ Message 7

Me:

Chicken Auction

Holiness Pentecostalism

This guy was dead serious.

He believed that he had reached a state of…

Sinless Perfection

They believe in a series of three distinct blessings that Christians experience.

The first work of grace is conversion (the new birth)

The second work of grace is the “entire sanctification” (marked by sinless perfection)

The third work of grace is the baptism in the Holy Spirit (which is marked by speaking in tongues).

I immediately brought up the passage we are going to look at today.

Philippians 3:12 NLT

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.

I can’t remember his response, but it made a lasting impression on me.

The Believers Purpose

The bible is clear on this.

1 Peter 1:16 CEV

That’s why the Scriptures say, “I am the holy God, and you must be holy too.”

You must be holy too…

We are judged by the deeds we do.

Romans 14:11 NCV

because it is written in the Scriptures: “ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘Everyone will bow before me; everyone will say that I am God.’ ”

Romans 14:12 CEV

And so, each of us must give an account to God for what we do.

Every Christian activity is a pursuit of that goal.

Your presence here this morning is an “effort” to honor God and grow in knowledge and truth of our Lord.

You don’t get up in the morning and make a check list of the sins you need to commit to you make your day complete.

No you start your day wanting to please and honor our Lord.

Our problem is our own lust that keeps from doing that fully.

Listen to what Paul said about this.

Maybe you can identity with his thoughts

Romans 7:18–19 LBP

I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn I can’t make myself do right. I want to but I can’t. When I want to do good, I don’t; and when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway.

Ding ding ding

What are we to do?

Press on!

What we cannot do.

Become comfortable, complacent, lethargic, or lazy

waste time and lose opportunity

begin to think he is safe and secure forever

Shall we go on sinning?

Yes we live under grace.

But we have died to sin.

See Romans 6 :1

What should we do?

Run don’t walk!

The believer must follow, run, and press after perfection.

The believer must be active in living for Christ.

1 Corinthians 9:24–27 NLT

Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

Christian Discipline

What does look like?

It requires training

It becomes a lifestyle.

Riding a bicycle.

You start small.

You build up your endurance.

5 miles then 100 miles

Here is a list of the spiritual disciplines

Bible Reading

Bible Study

Prayer

Generosity

Worship

Evangelism

Serving

Fasting

Silents and Solitude

Simplicity

Journaling

Celebration

Pray and fast to see where you need to start.

Pick one to begin your training on.

Start small then build up your spiritual strength.

Mind and Body

The Word is God’s instruction book.

It lays it all out.

How to think.

Phil 4:8 says to “Fix your thoughts” on these things.

We are told what to think

Turn your thoughts to what is good and right

Romans tells to renew our mind.

How you act.

Put your faith into practice.

James tells us faith without works is dead.

What good is knowledge if you don’t put it to work.