Saints Pursuing Holiness
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 4 viewsNotes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
We are going to look at a topic this morning that can often bring a lot of confusion to people and rightly so…because it can seem contradictory.
I really believe that this can help clear some things up for some of us.
It’s about a topic that is often found confusing
Its this topic about the dual nature of Christians
Namely that we are saints, yet sinners
I had this phrase come into my head that kind of sums up our dual nature as Christians
Title of Teaching: Saints Pursuing Holiness
Now if you know a little bit of Greek, this title would seem like a contradiction, or an oxymoron.
Heres why: Saints comes from the Greek word “hagios” which means “holy one”
To fully understand what I mean, I’m going to have to explain why I say we are saints, and yet sinners.
I’m going to be using some theological terms that might be a little confusing, but I’ll break them down as easily as possible so we can all follow along.
So the sermon title is basically saying A holy pursuing holiness.
Why would someone that is holy pursue holiness if he or she already has it?
It starts off with an understanding this word “Saint”
The English NT uses this word over 60 times, and almost every time it is used to refer to believers in Jesus Christ.
Some of us are probably more familiar with the term saint in Catholic tradition.
In the Catholic tradition the title of a saint is given to a special class of people who have been canonized (Saint Peter, Saint Patrick, St Nicolas)
It is an honor that is bestowed upon someone after they have died, and after there has been a thorough investigation of their life and some undisputed miracles that took place through their intercession.
That’s why you’ll have Catholics who will pray to the saints as well
But that’s not exactly what we read about when we read about saints in the Bible
The English NT uses this word over 60 times, and almost every time it is used to refer to believers in Jesus Christ.
Let me read off a few examples of its usage:
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:
1 Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
s
s
Now if you know a little bit of Greek, this title would seem like a contradiction, or an oxymoron.
The Bible is calling Christians saints
If Paul were to write a letter to us today it would say....
If you are a born again believer in Jesus Christ, you are what the Bible calls a saint.
So what is a saint? If I’m a saint, its pretty important for us to know what it is right?
The word “Saint” comes from the Greek word “hagios” which means (get this…) “holy one”
So the sermon title is basically saying A holy one pursuing holiness.
So you and I as Christians are called “holy ones”
That’s a crazy thought! And this is why its crazy...
Why would someone that is holy pursue holiness if he or she already has it?
How many of you would say, “I aint holy”
I was yelling at my kids on the way to church again
I got into a fight with my wife last night
Or how many of you Bible school students here would say, “I know my roommate is still a sinner.”
And the thing is, that we do things every day that don’t resemble holiness
You can begin to see our dual nature here…we are saints or holy ones, pursuing holiness.
So how is it that Christians are called holy ones?
It seems like a bit of an oxymoron
We are holy ones pursuing holiness.
This is where we need to have an understanding of certain theological terms, to answer this question:
How can I be called a holy one, when I know I’m still a sinner?
This is where we have two theological doctrines that help to explain this peculiar relationship
But how you understa
These are the doctrines of... justification and sanctification
I know those are big words
Now some of you might think you already have a good grasp on what these terms mean, but I especially want you to pay attention this morning, because
Don’t worry, these words are going to be broken down in a way that makes it easy to understand.
Don’t worry, were going to break these down a bit, to hopefully bring some clarity
The relationship between those two doctrines has been the source of so much confusion.
At times the meaning and role of one of those doctrines has been carried over to the other one, or switched around, and it drastically changes how we view God, ourselves, and salvation.
Understanding these doctrines properly, has huge implications for our lives, and the way we live as holy ones, yet sinners
It can make the difference between a life of legalism and a life of freedom. Or a life of spiritual apathy and a life of spiritual growth.
So I know the topic this morning might seem a bit dry and repetitive, but if we can grab hold of this, it is life-changing.
A complete understanding of these doctrines can lead us into amazing freedom
Lets just bow our heads for a word of prayer:
So just to give you an overview of how I want to approach this topic
Firstly, we are going to look at what these words justification and sanctification mean
Secondly, I want to expose 4 common misunderstandings about these doctrines.
Because they have a special relationship and order, but when mixed up can become toxic,
But before we do that would you just bow your heads and pray with me.
Lets pray
Justification
Justification
What is it?
It is a declarative act of God.
Definition - Justification is God's righteous act of removing the guilt and penalty of sin while, at the same time, declaring the ungodly to be righteous, through faith in Christ's sacrifice.
a legal declaration in which God pardons the sinner and accepts the sinner as righteous in his sight
Think about this with me for a second
Imagine you as a broken sinner on one side
burdened by the weight of sin, guilt and shame, with nothing but fear and torment in your future
On the other side is Jesus Christ, as pure, and holy and righteous and everything that is good and acceptable
Jesus takes on your sin, guilt, and shame, and then gives you his robe of righteousness
Justification is not just a pronouncement of innocence, it is a swap.
Your sin and guilt for his righteousness
Many people think of a courtroom, when they think of justification.
Christ didn’t just take on our sins…but we also took on his righteousness.
That is an incredible thought
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
But Justification is not just a pronouncement of innocence, it is a swap.
That God Almighty, creator of the Universe, would care enough about you and I to go out of his way in drastic fashion to save us and make us acceptable in His sight
And it is because we take on His righteousness, that we are called saints!!!
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Here’s what’s important to understand about this:
Justification is a declarative act of God…its a moment...it is not a process.
It is an act of removing the guilt and clothing one in righteousness
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
When it’s done it’s done
But you might say....how can God just pardon the sinner…that wouldn’t be very just of God if He just gave a free pass.
It’s often been said that grace is free…but its not free. It might not cost us anything, but it cost God something.
Freedom isn’t free analogy
What is the basis of this declaration, what the basis of this pardoning?
There is only one way:
God justifies the sinner solely on the basis of the obedience and death of His Son, Jesus Christ.
That is the standard.
puts it this way:
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
In other words, there was a swap that took place.
burdened by the weight of sin, guilt and shame, with nothing but fear and torment in your future
On the other side is Jesus Christ, as pure, and holy and righteous and everything that is good and acceptable
Christ didn’t just take on our sins…but we also took on his righteousness.
That is an incredible thought
That God Almighty, creator of the Universe, would care enough about you and I to go out of his way in drastic fashion to save us and make us acceptable in His sight
Think of all the weight of guilt and shame, and fear that you feel in your life as a result of all that you’ve done and what has been done to you, and now imagine in a moment, all that weight is transferred to Christ and he clothes you in righteousness.
3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ.
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Ok, so we know what justification is, and we know that its only on the basis of Christ’s obedience, death and resurrection, but this is the important part…because this is where the application takes place.
what does the sinner need to do?
By what means is the sinner justified?
Do I have to tell the truth more times than I tell a lie?
Do I have to read my Bible everyday, and make sure I say my prayers?
Do I have to go to church and volunteer my time in ministry?
We are justified through faith alone when confessing our trust in Christ
Surely we have to do more....surely I have to live righteously or do a certain amount of good works for God almighty to accept me. NO!
Faith adds nothing to what Christ has done for us, its simply the avenue through which we receive what has been done for us.
Our faith is the action of extending our hand out and saying I accept this gift of salvation.
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
In other words…our works of righteousness are irrelevant
They’re not even part of the equation.
Christianity is the only religion in the world where you don’t have to “earn” your way to God or heaven. That’s why its often said that Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship.
You are justified not by what you do, but who you know.
Its not about what you do, its about who you know.
He has already done it
It’s not about what I do, it’s about what He has done.
Even our faith isn’t a work of righteousness on our part
Faith adds nothing to what Christ has done for us, its simply the avenue through which we receive what has been done for us.
Our faith is the action of extending our hand out and saying I accept this gift of salvation.
So to sum this up…Justification is the declarative act of God (declares us righteous and free from the guilt of sin)
He is able to do this on the basis of the obedience and death of his Son Jesus Christ.
It is applied to us through faith in Jesus Christ. That’s justification.
So big word number 1 down!
Once we are justified, we are then led into sanctification.
So what is sanctification?
Sanctification
Sanctification
Definition - To sanctify is to set a person or thing apart for the use intended by its designer.
The word Sanctify comes from the same type of word that means “holy”
To sanctify someone or something is to set that person or thing apart for the use intended by its designer.
We are set apart for holiness
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
One leads into the other
You can’t have sanctification without first being justified.
So here is the relationship between justification and sanctification...
Justification is the moment we are declared holy, sanctification is the process in which we are becoming holy
whereas justification addresses the guilt of our sin, sanctification addresses the dominion and corruption of sin in our lives.
This right here explains our dual nature
That is why we are called saints, yet we are still sinners
My standing as a Christian is that I’m holy and accepted by God, but my current condition is I’m still a sinner in pursuit of Holiness.
whereas justification addresses the guilt of our sin, sanctification addresses the dominion and corruption of sin in our lives.
So hopefully this helps clear up any confusion on what can be a very confusing topic.
But here is where we can get into trouble
But the enemy will come in and switch things up, and reorder things a bit, and what once was full of life can become toxic.
Carbon dioxide vs carbon monoxide
I want to give you 4 lies that the enemy will tell us
Danger
Danger
Lie #1 - Justification is a process (This lie is the joy killer)
The lie that on some days you might be justified, and other days you aren’t
You fall in and out of salvation depending on how you did that day.
Remember, sanctification is the process, justification is the act of God declaring you Holy
This is what happens when the Christian believes
The burden of trying to gain acceptance from God
but you know your mistakes and shortcoming better than anyone else, so you get easily discouraged and overwhelmed, condemned
And it puts an unhealthy pressure on you to try and measure up because you think your acceptance is a process…its merit based from day to day
You become like that child who yearns for affirmation from their Father, but you never quite measure up, you’re never quite good enough
And you always have this question in the back of your mind nagging you saying, “Does he love me yet?” “Have I done enough?”
How can I prove I’m worthy of His affection?
How can I show that I’m worth something?
And ultimately you live in a place of guilt and fear and shame…always questioning God’s love for you.
It is a sad and condemning place to be…and there is no comfort there
For the non-believer that leads into:
“I know I need God, and I want to start going to church, but I have to clean myself up first”
But no matter how hard you try, you’re never comfortable with where you are at, and so you never come
Oh, if you only knew that your acceptance isn’t a process of earning brownie points with God, but was grounded in faith in Jesus Christ
Lie # 2 - Sanctification is a part of justification (This lie breeds hypocrisy)
This is the lie that we are saved by faith and works.
The enemy will kind of combine the two definitions
For the Christian that turns into:
Legalism
I have to live a certain way and earn my salvation, or earn being justified.
You begin to look down on everyone else around you
You become like the Pharisees who added more and more rules and laws that you had to abide by that just becomes a bondage to you and those around you
Your righteousness is not motivated by a love for God, but by a self inflicted mandate to live up to the law.
You begin to look at everybody else as though they are inferior to you and the holiness by which you are living.
And there’s never any joy in what you do, because it’s not rooted out of a love for God, but out of a pursuit of your own holiness.
Lie # 3 - Sanctification leads into justification (This lie demands much up front, but gives nothing in return)
This is the lie that I have to save myself
Al
The enemy switches the order
“Hopefully the good at the end of my life out-weights the bad”
It is all about self-betterment…becoming a good person.
And it’s so deceptive because someone can become a “better” person apart from the sanctifying work of God in his or her life.
Unbelievers who have a great marriage, without Christ at the center
Unbelievers who have found victory over drugs or alcohol without ever having surrendered to God
Unbelievers who have resisted all sorts of temptations, and said no to the wrong things and yes to the right things, and lived with integrity in the workplace and in their family....all without the power of the Holy Spirit living inside of them.
But it doesn’t lead anywhere
Its like what Jesus said:
36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
Someone can be great, and have done a lot of good things in their life, and in the end
Archer analogy
It’s almost like being an archer that is shooting at a target.
You could shoot at the target 100 times, and every time hit the bull’s eye
But when you come to the end of your shooting you realize that you were shooting at the wrong target.
At the end of the day, you still lose…you still missed the mark.
We can do a lot of good, and still fall short at the end of the day because sanctification doesn’t lead into justification.
Lie #4 - You shouldn’t strive for sanctification (This lie hinders growth)
There is this mentality in Christianity that words like strive and struggle are bad words. We shouldn’t strive as Christians. We need to let go and let God.
We shouldn’t do things in our own strength
We have this idea that grace is opposed to human effort
Here is where the mixup comes in:
One author put it this way, “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning.”
When it comes to our justification, human effort and striving is pointless because you can’t earn your way to justification
And somehow we can carry this over into our sanctification
But when it comes to sanctification, human effort is encouraged…we are a part of the equation.
Or maybe your mentality is the opposite, and you think “well I’m saved”…and there is no push in your life to grow in righteousness....either way
The reality is, the Bible tells us to strive for holiness. Listen to some of these verses.
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
The Apostle Paul says this in
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.
Again he says this in
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
The apostle Peter says this
5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
Then theres this verse in
6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.
3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
We are called to strive for holiness!
Some of you may be feeling uncomfortable with this thought because you think, “Well doesn’t that just make sanctification up to us? Where does God fit in, after all isn’t it God who sanctifies?”
Yes, but listen to what Paul says in
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
The fact that you are even working and striving and desiring for holiness is the work of God in your life.
One author put it this way, “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning.”
When we realize that God is working in us, and empowering us, it motivates us to action.
We strive to live godly lives because God has put that desire in our hearts, to love him with all of our mind, soul, and strength. Amen!
Conclusion
Conclusion
So in concluding...
Maybe you’ve believed the first lie, that justification is a process, and you need to settle in your heart, that it is a done deal:
I am loved
Sanctification
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
I am accepted
I am saved
I am free
Or perhaps you’ve believed the second lie, that sanctification is a part of justification, and you need to say
If you have never placed your faith in Christ, realize that you can’t earn your way, but you can find salvation by reaching our in faith.
I’m going to step out of my legalism and hypocrasy
And live in the freedom of Christs righteousness, and live in the joy of serving Him
I’m going to step out of my legalism and hypocrasy
Maybe you’ve believed the third lie, and you’ve been trying to save yourself, and you need to release the burden of trying to do something that can’t be done, and you need to place your faith in Christ
Or lastly, you might say, I’ve been believing the fourth lie, and I need to take action in pursuing the holiness God has ordained me for.
Whatever category you find yourself in, lets settle some of these things in our hearts this morning.
Pray