SANCTIFICATION: AN EXPECTATION AND A PROMISE (ABRIDGED)

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OPENING ILLUSTRATION: LEG RAISES TO FAILURE. I used to play football back in the day, and we used to do these all the time. Whenever you do an exercize like this, there will be times when you feel like you can’t hold on any more; that you can’t keep going.
When we were training, there were plenty of times I thought there was no way I could do one more rep, or one more sprint. But together we got back up, we took the line, and we kept on going.
And as we got to playing games, back when I was a freshman playing varsity, there were games that felt like they were impossible to win. I mean, there I was barely 15 years old, and I kid you not, I was lining up against guys with tattoos and full beards!
And play after play, I would get just destroyed by these seniors. It felt like no matter what I did, I just wasn’t strong enough, or fast enough, or big enough. I would get crushed on the field, and I would work myself to the point of absolute exhaustion, and I would train every day hoping one day to win. And I’d sit there at half time wondering, “What am I gonna do? There is no hope! I have nothing left in the tank. There’s no way I can win this game. I can’t keep going” And there were days that I felt like giving up.
This year in Rooted in Truth, you all have already begun learning about this topic—Change: Discovering our identity and growing in Christ. And really, what we’re going to focus on today is that second part: Growing in Christ.
Because there will be days as you’re growing in Christ that you feel like there is no way you can keep going. Where you’re exhausted, and you feel like there’s no way forward, like I did in those half time moments. This is a subject that is close to my heart because, as I have sought to live out this journey of becoming like Jesus, there were times I wasn’t sure I was going to make it. There were days that I thought it was an impossible game—a contest I just couldn’t win. And many of those times happened when I was sitting in these seats as a middle schooler, and a high schooler. So, when we feel like giving up, what do we do? And that’s the question I want to take with us into God’s Word today.
If you’ve got your Bibles, go ahead and open up to 1 Thessalonians 4. Let’s walk through the text, and as we do, let’s see what we can learn about God’s intention for our lives and how we can persevere in it.
1 Thessalonians 4:1–3a (ESV) “1 Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification.
The first phrase in our text that I want to point out today is this phrase in verse one, “Finally, then, brothers.” When Paul writes this letter to his brothers and sisters, he’s writing to people that he loves who were experiencing some difficulty. The Thessalonians that Paul’s writing to had come under some intense persecution; they were suffering for their faith. They were in a “halftime” kind of moment: This is getting hard, what are we gonna do? And so Paul writes to them to remind them of some things, and the first thing he reminds them is that, even in the midst of trials and difficulties, even when it’s tough, they “ought to walk/live and to please God.”
But notice that Paul does not say “live in order to please God.” Rather, he says “live and please God.” And there is a huge difference between the two.
Living in order to please God is like living to EARN God’s pleasure. *But you tell me, is there any way for us to earn God’s pleasure?* No! I couldn’t earn it; I don’t deserve it! And yet Paul is saying to live and please God. See, living and pleasing Godisn’t about earning God’s pleasure, it’s about learning to ENJOY God’s pleasure. See, the Christian life is NOT a journey of earning your way into salvation; rather, it’s a journey of delighting in God’s love for us. That’s what happens as we grow. If you’re taking notes, write this down: We don’t grow in order to get God’s attention. We grow because growth. IS. God’s intention for our lives.
And that’s exactly what Paul goes on to say in verse 3. He says, “For this is God’s will, your sanctification.” God’s expectation, His will, His desire for us is to be sanctified. Now, what does sanctification mean? Well it’s a big word that means “to be made holy.” *And what is holiness?* It means to be set apart from sin, and to be set apart to God; remember about shaking hands in India? So, Paul is saying that, in order to live and please God, we leave behind our way of living that is all about sin, and all about ourselves, and we turn to God, we begin this journey of growing into Christ. This is what we’re supposed to do. This is God’s will for us, it’s His expectation.
The problem is that, sometimes, living and pleasing God feels like the hardest thing in the world to do. Sometimes, holiness feels like an impossible goal. At the beginning, when you’re first on fire for God, it feels amazing! It feels like all you can do is live and please God! But somewhere along the way, the feelings start to fade a bit, and you get into the long haul of the Christian life. And suddenly that sin that didn’t seem so appealing before is now calling out to you. Suddenly the hunger you had for God’s Word is wearing off a little bit. Suddenly you don’t feel that tug in your heart during worship like you used to. And you find yourself sorta going through the motions on the one hand, and to your suprise, falling into sin on the other. And it’s like, what happened? Things were going so well! I was living and pleasing God! But now for some reason it feels like I have to choose one or the other. Because it feels like no matter what I do, there’s something in me that doesn’t want to please God; it wants to please me!
And actually, that’s exactly what Paul talks about in the book of Romans. Chapter 6 of the book of Romans is about being dead to sin and alive in Christ, about leaving behind sin and grow in holiness… but Chapter 7 is all about our struggle to really live that way. Paul writes...
Romans 7:15–24ish “I don’t understand what I do. For what I want to do I don’t do, but what I hate—I do!… For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature [in my flesh]. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out... What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?
What Paul is saying is that, even though the expectation is clear, that doesn’t make it easy. Because there’s something inside every single one of us that Paul calls “the flesh” that is drawn to the darkness. It is drawn to sin. It wants to live for myself, and to seek out pleasure, and to build wealth, and to just relax, and to be lazy, and to do what I want. It wants to pursue the kinds of things that we left behind to follow Jesus. *And that is the part of us that the culture is trying so hard to appeal to.* We’re trying to live and please God, we’re trying to grow and become like Jesus, we’re trying to live a life of holiness, but at the same time we find ourselves sidetracked. We find ourselves stumbling. We find ourselves sinning. We find ourselves slipping back into self-centeredness. And all of the sudden, that expectation of holiness starts to feel like a heavy load.
Put on the pack.
It can almost feel like this backpack that we have to carry. And because the expectation is clear, we know what’s supposed to be inside. It’s the weight of expectation. We know what’s in there: Stuff like abstinence. Stuff like: Stay away from drugs. Work hard to stay pure. Stay away from alcohol. Don’t smoke. Get good grades, especially in Bible class. Be fit and athletic, but don’t make your body image an idol. Be interesting, but not too interesting. Be outgoing, but not overbearing. Be confident, but not prideful. Make friends, but don’t use social media or go online. Make your parents proud. Make the teachers happy. Be a good example. Repesent Christ well. And if that isn’t enough, sum it up with this: “Be perfect, as God is perfect.”
And so we shoulder this pack, but all the while we have this sinful nature, this flesh that is screaming for satisfaction. And so you’re trying to bear this weight, and you’re trying to walk on the path that leads to life, and your lungs are screaming, your legs are screaming: “Just take a break! Come on, seriously? You’ve got your whole life to get there. Look it’s not that far. You’ve tried really hard today. Just take the burden off for a little while and come and sit down with me and have a little fun. You’re only 10 once! You’re only 12 once! You’re only 14 once! Stop taking yourself so seriously. You need to calm down and chill out and take the load off.”
Our flesh is screaming to us, and at the same time, we want to follow this path, we want to grow, but we can find ourselves stumbling on rocks, backtracking, losing our way. I know what I should do. But I just can’t seem to do it.
And if we aren’t careful, the weight of expectation, and the reality of failure, will cause us to give up the race entirely. We hear Paul say “this is the will of God, your sanctification,” and we put our head down on the pillow at night to go to sleep, and even after a hard day of battling to be good, battling to be pure, battling to be holy, we can’t shake the feeling that something is seriously wrong with me. That my progress is so small. That my steps are so weak. And we wonder: Can I ever really live and please God?
Take off the pack.
So what’s the solution? Because something has to change. That’s not the life that God desires for us. We have this standard, this expectation, this burden, and what are we supposed to do? When we feel like giving up, when we’re in that half-time moment, what are we holding on to that pulls us through?
Well, there’s one last thing I want to point out in this text, and it has to do with this word “sanctification.” I said earlier that sanctification is about being made holy. And what that means is that sanctification is not a destination; rather, sanctification is a process. It’s the process of becoming holy. It’s the process of growing in Christ.
So when Paul says “For this is the will of God, your sanctification,” he isn’t saying that “God’s will is for you to suddenly and magically be perfect.” Rather, God’s goal for you is just as much a journey as it is a destination.
And this means that the Christian life, that living and pleasing God is not a game of perfection. It means that living and pleasing God is a game of PERSEVERANCE.
See if God wanted us to suddenly be perfect, He could make it happen! But God is pleased to allow us to become holy over time. And here’s the thing: Even though it may seem like our progress is so small, God is watching every step we make with care. And even though we may seriously doubt that anyone could pay attention to what’s going on in our lives and be proud, God is watching us as we struggle, and He is watching with pride, saying, “That’s my son! That’s my daughter! And I delight in them!” And if we can learn to live in light of God’s delight in us, even in the midst of our journey, even while we’re still in process, it will transform everything about our Christian life.
Back in the day when I was playing football, we faced a lot of impossible games. And yet, in the midst of being down by 40 points, I would go back and I would take the field with my head held high—But why? How did I keep going? It’s because even if I was losing, and even if I felt embarassed at my performance, and even if no one else noticed my effort, my dad was up in the stands watching every single step. And I lived for that moment when I would walk off the field, having tried as hard as I could and failed, knowing that I would fall into the arms of my dad. And he would hug me with pride not because I won. Not because I made every play. But because he watched every step and he knew my struggle, and because he was proud of his son anyway.
Because at the end of the day, when all is said and done, God’s pleasure in us is not based on our performance, but on the performance of Christ in our place! Christ carried our burden, and our sin, and our shame in His body on the cross. And this means that my journey of growing in holiness isn’t about what I could ever do, but about what Christ has already done in my place.
And in the end, that’s how Paul finishes his letter to the Thessalonians. It’s the most important reminder! This is what Paul says one chapter after our reading today: “May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it” (1 Thes 5:23-24). Sanctification is an expectation. And at times it can seem like a burden. But it’s also a promise. God Himself will do it. And this is a promise you can hold on to today and every day.
So if you’re here today, and if you’re struggling with the weight of expectation, if you’re struggling to grow and become like Christ, hear this: God is pleased with your journey. He could have made sanctification an immediate thing, but He’s inviting you into a process of growth that takes a lifetime. It’s not a game of perfection, it’s a game of perseverance. And every step along the way He is sitting up in the stands beaming—Not because you won’t make any mistakes, but because you know that the fight has been won on the cross of Christ!
So whatever you do, don’t give up! Keep going. And when you feel like giving up, hold on to Christ. Trust in God. Pull the straps in tight! Lean forward. And take it one step at a time.
Let’s pray.
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