Step #2 of the 12 Steps
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The 12 steps of AA are fundamental life changing spiritual principles that we should try to understand
We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, anger, jealousy, materialism, consumerism, food, pornography- that our lives had become unmanageable.
Sometimes addiction will tell us things have become unmanageable
Sometimes a jail cell will tell us things have become unmanageable
Sometimes a divorce will tell us things have become unmanageable
Sometimes failure will tell us things have become unmanageable
Sometime our mental-physical health will tell us things have become unmanageable
Life has a way of letting us know-THINGS NEED TO CHANGE.
2nd Peter says:
For you are a slave to whatever controls you.
2 Peter 2:19
It could be alcohol -or- anger - or - whatever
The process of breaking free from what controls parts of our personality or behavior and following Christ
This is for the Christian called SANCTIFICATION
AA calls it - getting sober!
Sanctification -
This is a process we need to agree to
It does not happen automatically
We can stay an immature Christian/person our whole life
Facing the truth about ourselves is not easy
There are two types of sanctification:
Positional Sanctification (Justification)
As for us, we can’t help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth.
Hebrews 10:10 also speaks of this:
For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.
If you give birth to a child…that child is yours
You belong to your Mother & Father when you are born
We are born of God through being “Born Again” and therefore are sanctified (belong to) God
The atonement for the sin of humanity has been provided by Christ.
Corinthians says it like this:
Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
But there is another form of sanctification
Progressive Sanctification
There are a couple elements involved in this process
The Bible
Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.
And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.
How can we know what God requires from us if we do not have written directions.
The bible is our course guide
There is one other force that enables us to do what is in the bible.
The Holy Spirit
Every believer has received the Holy Spirit
It is the Holy Spirit that truly enables us to change our behaviors
The natural desires-reactions-motivations that live in most people are not always healthy:
We are jealous, envious, competitive, judgmental, unforgiving, narcissistic (lovers of ourselves)
This is called “the flesh” or “carnal man”
For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.
Corinthians says it like this
So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
But this process all starts with an awareness that in some area of our life we are powerless to change what needs to be changed.
Life has ways of telling us we need a savior
An Alcoholic will always have the potential to return to his unhealthy behavior
We can return to our previous ways of behaving
So what is our lesson from all of this?
What do we have in our life that controls us and we want it gone?