God Sanctifies

Manuscript Template

Title:  God Sanctifies

Focus Statement:  Sanctification isn’t about restriction but about transferring one’s devotion from destructive patterns to life-giving obedience.

Function Statement:  Say “YES” to doing the next things God is calling you to do.

Tweetable Phrase:  

Grace is not the permission to keep sinning; it is the power to stop being ruled by sin.

Holiness isn't God's way of limiting your life; it's God's way of liberating your life.

Main Text:  Romans 5:20-6:23

Supporting Text:  

Redemptive Closure (point to Jesus):  

Memory Verse: 1 Thessalonians 5:23

Benediction:  Titus 2:11-14

WELCOME

Good morning!!! My name is Ryan Hanson, and I have the honor of serving here at The Light KC as the lead pastor. I’m so glad you’re here with us.

‌Welcome to those joining us online. We hope you're doing well and hope to see you in person in the coming weeks.

And a special welcome to those joining us for the first time. We’re so glad you chose to be here.

MEMORY VERSE

Before we get started...

...who took on the challenge of memorizing our Bible verse this week.

Please join me.

1 John 3:1

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us,

that we should be called children of God!

And that is what we are!

The reason the world does not know us

is that it did not know him.”

Great job.

ME/INTRO - Tension

So, moment of confession.

This week I really struggled with the introduction to today’s sermon.

I always want to have a story, a problem, or an interesting fact to

get us all on the same page

and pointed in the same direction

for the message that God has for us.

This week I was struggling...until.

Tuesday night I was watching TV with Andrea after the kids went to bed.

As I have shared before, that rarely goes well, and true to form, I fell asleep for 1.5 hours on the couch (my pre-sleep before my real sleep).

When I woke up, turned the TV off, and went to bed, but I was not tired at all.

So I did what most of us probably do when we can’t sleep, DOOM SCROLL.

I don’t have TikTok, but I have been known to get lost down the rabbit hole of FaceBook Reels.

Tuesday was one of those days.

I pulled it up and a Steve Harvey video popped up.

I don’t know anything about Steve Harvey other than he is a comedian that hosts Family Feud.

Apparently before the filming of every show, he gives the audience a short devotional.

This is a short clip from the video that popped up.

[Video: Steve Harvey - Fleas]

It grabbed my attention. I watched the whole thing. During the full version, he shared part of his testimony and gave God all the credit for his career. I thought it was great.

When the video was over I scrolled and this came up.

[Video: Buffalo song]

I quickly scrolled past this one.

The next video was this one.

[Video: Chicken Banana]

I again quickly scrolled past.

But then another Steve Harvey video came up.

This time the video was on never giving up.

[Video: Steve Harvey - Never give up]

Again, I watched the whole thing.

I then had some car videos, British comedians, paint restoration videos, and guys building pools out of mud in the jungle.

All of which I quickly scrolled past and didn’t finish.

But...interspersed in these videos were more and more Steve Harvey devotionals.

Each time one came up, I watched the whole thing.

As time went on, the frequency Steve Harvey videos kept increasing.

It got to the point where almost every video was a Steve Harvey video.

And...I have to admit I spent more than an hour DOOM SCROLLING Steve Harvey Videos.

Until this video came up.

[Video: Go to bed]

I took that as a message from God that my DOOM SCROLLING needed to stop.

But...as I laid in bed, waiting for sleep to come, God showed me something.

The way that Social Media algorithms choose what to put in our social media feeds, is the perfect metaphor this week’s sermon.

Sanctification

WE - Tension

I don’t know what you have previously heard about Sanctification.

According to the book SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY by Wayne Grudem

Sanctification is the progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives.

Now that is a great definition, but the reality of sanctification in our lives tends to produce quite a few questions.

Common questions I regularly hear people asking about Sanctification are:

If I am saved by faith alone (not works) and I am going to Heaven based on my belief in what Jesus has already done, why does it matter if I keep sinning while on earth?

If I wanted to be free of sin, how do I do that?

Why don’t I know anyone who is free from sin? Is it even possible?

Maybe you’ve had some of these same questions.

I know at times in my Christian walk, I certainly have.

What complicated things, was that when I asked questions in the past I would get metaphors comparing sanctification to Rain or Sand.

Have you heard these?

I was taught I was like a windshield. My sin was like rain that never stopped, but God’s grace was like the windshield wiper than cleaned me of my sins.

[Image: Windshield Wiper]

This was pretty depressing

I had no ability to eliminate or even reduce sin from my life

I was stuck living a life full of sin

On the other hand, I was also taught that sin was like sand on a beach. As we sin, it is like we’re building a sand castle, a kingdom of our own making. God’s grace is like the ocean tides that come in, break down the sand castle, and washes it out to sea.

[Image: Sand Castle]

I think this is more depressing

With the rain analogy, sin was happening to me

Here, I am consciously and intentionally sinning - building the sand castle

There is no motivation to stop the intentional sin because every day when the tide rolls in - God washes it away

These images, left me pretty depressed and hopeless that the battle against sin can’t be won,

and they made me question if it was even worth fighting against sin at all.

Maybe you’ve felt this way at some point in your life.

As we continue our summer series, this week we’re going to tackle the question...

What is Sanctification and what does God call us to do with the sin in our lives?

This is week 10 of our Summer Series titled our “Verses to Live By: Truth for the Road Ahead”

Throughout the summer we’re looking at a different bible verse each week in an attempt to answer three questions that I think we all need answers to

WHO IS GOD

WHAT DOES GOD DO

WHAT DOES GOD CALL US TO DO IN RESPONSE

Each week, we’re also going to have a memory verse (with accompanying memorization aid) so that together we can be intentional about putting scripture deep in our heart and allowing the Holy Spirit to

transform our thinking

guide our decisions

deepen our faith

You can get the verse of the week memorization aid at the info desk after service.

We have already wrapped up the first 1/3 of our series on “WHO GOD IS”

If you missed the previous messages, please feel free go to our website, TheLightKC.org, to catch up.

We are now in the 2nd 1/3 of the series focusing on WHAT GOD DOES

We saw that

God Creates

God Provides

God Sacrifices and Saves

God Adopts

If you missed the previous messages, please feel free go to our website, TheLightKC.org, to catch up.

This week, we’re going to look at another aspect of What God Does: God Sanctifies

And to do that we’re going to look at a passage in Romans where Paul directly addresses some of the questions we’ve been asking.

As we begin, please turn with me to [Romans 5:20: Sanctuary Bible Page # 914]

We’ll have the scripture on the screen, but if you have a Bible with you, or Bible app on your phone, I’d encourage you to turn to the passage and follow along. There is nothing that replaces having God’s word in your hand.

AND... if you don’t have a Bible, we have Bibles under the seats. If you don’t have a bible and would like one, please come see me after the service and I’ll get you one you can keep.

Let's dive in.

GOD - Text - HEAD

I want to start by looking at the definition of Sanctification again:

Sanctification is the progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives.

But Sanctification is only one step in God’s plan for Salvation

[Image: Plan of Salvation]

The first step is Justification, which we talked about a few weeks ago when we said that God Sacrifices and Saves

As a quick refresher, Justification is...

What happens when we put our faith in Jesus Christ and the work that He did on the cross, where He took the consequences of our sin upon Himself.

It is 100% the work of God

It is the singular point in time when we accept the free gift of forgiveness from our sins and eternal life with God in Heaven

The second step of Sanctification

That is where we grow in righteousness - where we learn right living

The final step is Glorification

That is when we are made perfect in Heaven with God

This occurs after we die

With that general overview in mind, today we’re going to focus in on that middle step.

Sanctification

And to do that we’re going to look at 4 aspects of sanctification that I think can help us align our thinking with God, on how God calls us to view sin and how to live in this “not yet” period in our lives.

Because, we are saved by Grace when we put our faith in Jesus Christ

But, we are not yet free of sin or the temptation to sin

Grace is never permission to sin

The first aspect of Sanctification I’d like to discuss is that the GRACE that saved us from the consequences of our sin (Justification) does not give us permission to keep sinning in this life

Let’s turn to Romans 5:20, where Paul directly addressed this.

Romans 5:20–6:2 reads:

“20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”

When we put our faith in Jesus as our LORD and SAVIOR we are Justified.

By God’s GRACE through FAITH, we receive the free gift of SALVATION and are forgiven of the consequences of our sins.

And at that moment of SALVATION our relationship with sin changes.

God’s GRACE doesn’t give us permission to keep sinning

God’s GRACE is an invitation into a new life

GOD’s GRACE empowers us to stop sinning

Through God’s Grace we are no longer slaves to sin, but empowered to say “no” when tempted

Grace breaks sin’s power

And that power to stop sinning, comes from the Holy Spirit.

When we put our faith in Jesus as our LORD and SAVIOR the HOLY SPIRIT takes up residence within us.

And that leads us to the second aspect of SANCTIFICATION...through the power of the Holy Spirit in your lives, the power of sin is broken.

Continuing in Romans, Paul writes:

Romans 6:3–14

“3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.”

Paul writes that the power of sin over our lives is broken because through our Baptism we were united with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection.

When we are Immersed in the water of baptism = we are Dead to our old lives

When we Emerge from the water of baptism = we are Resurrected into a new live, leaving our pasts Buried in the ground now free to live that new live no longer a slave to the power of sin

When we are Justified, the power of sin is broken...

But...God’s grace doesn't remove the temptation to sin from our lives.

The devil is still alive and active, trying to keep us from living the lives that God created us to live.

When we put our faith in Jesus and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, God removes sin's authority over our lives.

Sin is no longer our master

It is through God’s Grace and the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives that we now have the power to say “NO” to the temptations of sin.

Sanctification is partnership

And that is the truth.

Sin is no longer our master...

...but the bible say in in 1 Peter 5:8 that the devil prowls like a lion looking for someone to devour.

And that leads us to...

The third aspect of Sanctification is that Sanctification is a partnership.

Continuing in Romans 6:12–19, we read

“12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. 19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness.”

Whereas Justification was the work of God alone, through Jesus work on the Cross

Sanctification is a partnership between us and God

Look at the words Paul chose to write

“do not let”

“do not offer”

“of the one you obey”

“offer yourselves”

All of these statements are intentional choices that we make.

So let’s look at the different roles that God Plays and We Play in Sanctification.

First, let’s look at God’s Role: God...

Breaks sin's dominion through Jesus sacrifice on the cross.

Gives us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us - to teach us, to guide us, and to remind us of everything God wants for us.

Creates new desires in our hearts - helping us to desire righteousness - aligning our will to His.

Produces fruit in our lives through the Spirit - (Galatians 5:22-23) love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control

Discipline us as his children, when we stray away from His will for our lives

That is what God does.

Now let’s look at what we need to do.

Our Role: We...

Our role is … Passive - we need to rely on God to do His part and sanctify us

Trust and pray to God that God will remove temptations from our lives and enable us to flee from sin

Our role is also … Active - we strive to obey God and take steps that will increase our sanctification

We need to put to death the deeds of the flesh

By saying “NO” the temptations of the devil

Strive for holiness

By saying “YES” to activities the draw us closer to God

Bible Reading / Meditation / Prayer / Worship / Christian Fellowship / Self-Discipline / Self-Control / Evangelism

Seek out a healthy Christian community

Sanctification often happens in community

It sounds easy...

But the devil’s methods are seldom all out attacks.

Maybe you’ve experienced this...

Sin most often creeps into our lives through the accumulation of concessions, compromises, and indulgences that lead us away from God and the life He created us to live.

Remember if we truly want to follow, God we need to pay attention to the small things. Because...

Our thoughts, determine our actions

Our actions, create our habits

Our habits, define our character

That’s why Paul is 2 Corinthians 10:5 admonishes us to “take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ”

I think this is where we need to go back to my DOOM SCROLLING intro

The more time I spent watching Steve Harvey devotionals, the more the algorithm gave me spiritually uplifting content

It knew what I would watch, so it kept giving more and more of these videos to me

The less time I spent watching random other things, the less of those videos the algorithm gave me

It knew that I would scroll past quickly and if it gave me too much I would close the app

Sin works the same way

The more time I spend sinning, the more my thoughts are filled with temptations to keep sinning

The more frequently I have sinful thoughts, the more frequently I give in, creating a habit of sin

And the longer I allow the habit of sin in my life, sin defines my character, and keeps me from the path that God desires for me.

Alternately, the more time I spend doing things in line with God’s will for my life

The more my thoughts align with God’s will

And the more consistently those thoughts become desires to do God’s will, building the habit of righteousness

And the longer I maintain the habit of righteousness in my life, the more my character grows to the point where I am defined by my obedience to God’s will

Sanctification is about transferring our devotion from sinful destructive patterns to life-giving obedience to God’s will for our lives.

God provides the power to say “no” to sin and “yes” to righteousness through the Holy Spirit

Holiness leads to freedom

The final aspect of sanctification is that Holiness leads to freedom

Continuing in Romans 6:20–23

“20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Real freedom isn't doing whatever you want.

I think we all have experienced the consequence of giving in to our unchecked desires.

Just because we want it, doesn’t mean it is best for us

Freedom isn't the absence of boundaries

Freedom is about having peace because we’re living within the boundaries that God has set, being confident that we are living the life that God created us to live - the best life that we can live.

YOU - Takeaway - HEART

So my question to you is this...

Where are you in your Christian walk?

Maybe you’re still exploring faith in Jesus Christ, and we’re so glad you’re here and pray that you feel God’s presence and experience His love for you and His desire for you to know Him better.

Maybe you have accepted Jesus Christ as your LORD and SAVIOR and are JUSTIFIED...but you’ve been struggling with the fact that you are still not only tempted to sin, but give in regularly to it.

Maybe you are a bit more mature in your faith, and you’ve walked the path of SANCTIFICATION for a while...you have experienced the power of the Holy Spirit in your life and seen God free you from many sins that had you enslaved in your past.

No matter where you are at in your walk with Christ...remember

Sanctification is a journey, progressing throughout your life

We all sin, the Bible says no one is righteous

God can grant the gift of being free from all willful sin,

That is called Entire Sanctification

It can happen, God does give that Grace to some, but it is not the norm

WE / JESUS - Redemptive Close - Call to Action - HANDS

The goal is Christ-Likeness

No matter where you are on your walk with Christ...The goal of sanctification is to become more and more Christ-like

1 Peter 2:21

“21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”

We don’t pursue a sin free life because God is a mean father who doesn’t want us to have fun

Holiness isn't about avoiding life—it's about becoming fully alive.

Sanctification is not guilt-driven obedience, but grace-enabled transformation into the abundant life (the best life) Christ came to give each and every one of us.

Warning

But the bible does give us one pretty stark warning...

Hebrews 10:26–27 reads

“26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”

The big question we all have to ask ourselves...

If we claim to be saved, yet deliberately indulge in sin and reject the life that Christ offers, are we truly saved?

Saying a prayer accepting Jesus as your LORD and SAVIOR is a great things to do, but doesn’t mean anything if your life is not changed because of it.

God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit in your life, gives you the power to choose the master you will be serving.

The Wesleyan Bible Commentary puts it like this

Every act of will, whether in the direction of good or of evil, as it passes into reality, creates or strengthens a tendency which drags man with increasing force, till it becomes altogether irresistible. Every free act, then, to a certain degree determines the future.

So the big question of Sanctification is...

What master will you choose? Sin or Obedience to God

In the end, God loves you enough to give you the free will to make that choice for yourself.

A life as a slave to every temptation that enters your mind, sounds good, but leaves you feeling empty

Or...A life as a slave to God’s will, trusting that God loves you and will only guide you toward what is best for you

My prayer is that, as a church, we all choose to follow God, submit to His will for our lives, and pursue the individual and collective lives that He created us to live.

What next step is God calling you to take?

Will you choose to take it this week?

And to remember this truth, our memory verse for the week is

Let’s all read it together.

1 Thessalonians 5:23

“23 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.”

PRAYER 

Will you join me in prayer...

SONG 

As we enter into our final song, I want to open the steps up front as an altar to anyone who feels God calling them to respond to today’s message.

Maybe as you think about ...the sin in your life you need to come up and repent of all the times that you have chosen to allow sin to be the master of your life.

Maybe as you think about ...the Holy Spirit living within you, you need to come up and thank God for breaking the power of sin in your life.

Maybe as you think about ...Sanctification as a partnership you need to start living confidently, knowing that you are empowered to say “NO” to the temptations in your life and seek out Spiritual Practices and a Community that can help and support you as you mature in your faith.

Or maybe, you heard this message and you haven’t yet put your faith in Jesus as your LORD and SAVIOR. Maybe you need to pray to God

Admitting that you are a sinner and need forgiveness

Verbalizing your Belief in Jesus as the Son of God, who died on the cross paying the penalty for your sins, and rose from the dead on the third day giving your hope of an eternal life with God in Heaven.

Confessing that Jesus is your LORD and SAVIOR

If today is the day that you put your faith in Jesus, please come see me afterword. I’d love to walk with you as you start your new life in Christ.

‌

You may feel a hand on your shoulder as I or one of the elders join you in prayer.

BENEDICTION 

Titus 2:11–14

“11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”

This week...

Let’s stop seeing ourselves as victims to sin

Let’s stop allowing sin to be the master of our lives

Let’s live confidently, knowing that when we put our faith in Jesus as our LORD and SAVIOR, the HOLY SPIRIT took residence within us and empowers us to

say “NO” to the temptations of this world,

breaking the power of sin in our lives,

and helping us experience the freedom that God desires for us

Let’s choose to play an active role in our Sanctification

Reading God’s word and meditating on what it means for our lives today

Praying regularly, seeking God’s help and direction

Joining a Christian Community to help and support us as we mature in our faith

Quick reminder...

2nd Friday Movie Night - David - August 14th

Student’s All Nighter - August 14th

Fall Launch - September 13th

Discipleship Wednesdays - Daring Faith starts September 16 - sign up at the info desk - let us know if you need child care

If you’re new, please fill out the card in the seat back and stop by our info desk, or see me. We’d love to say “hi” and get you know you a bit better.

If you’d like to get more information about taking your next step of faith, fill out the card in the seat back and give it to me or turn it in to the info desk.

I hope you have a great week.

Go in peace.

You are dismissed.

DISCIPLESHIP QUESTIONS (download into APP)

How can recognizing the power of grace change our perspective on sin and sanctification?

What does it mean to you personally that holiness leads to freedom in your life?

In what specific areas of your life do you feel called to say 'YES' to God’s direction this week?

How can you actively seek out a Christian community that supports your growth in faith?

Reflecting on Romans 5:20–6:23, how can we actively partner with God in our sanctification process?