An Introduction into faith

Introduction

Welcome

I hope everyone has had a great week

I am excited about the things God is doing in this church

It may not look like it on the outside, but God is at work

And I am confident He is going to bring this place back to life

For the next few weeks we are going to talk about sanctification

Sanctification just means making someone clean or holy

And above everything else that is going to characterize your life as a believer

Sanctification begins the moment we get saved

And it doesn’t end until we draw our last breath

God is the author of sanctification

He aligns things in our lives to change us or mold us into His image

And we are going to see tonight God’s basic outline of His sanctification process

Rom 5:1-5

Salvation summons afflictions into our lives

Many people experience tribulation who are not in Christ

But as a Christian you are going to suffer righteously

That means you are going to suffer without deserving it

This is God’s way of molding us into His image

The basic meaning is to “press, crush, or push’

It is “trouble that brings conflict”

And this is the process by which God tears us down

Paul tells us we can glory in our tribulations

And as much as we don’t like trouble we need to understand this truth

We must remember that tribulations are a good thing in Christ

It means God is working on us

It means we are going to come out of it differently than we went in

It means your’e in God’s will

We often think that God is made at us when we are pressed down

(v 1) “having been justified by faith, we have peace with God

Just because you have conflict in your life, it does not mean your doing something wrong

It may actually juts mean you’re doin g something right

Often times those who are without conflict are the ones who are not living right

When you are living for the lord the devil is going to be breathing down your back

But when your walking with the devil, life will smooth right out

Why would Satan attack you if your doing what he wanted you to do?

If we live like the devil we will rarely encounter him

When we really begin to live for the Lord, the devil is going to be all over us

Affliction produces Perseverance

Perseverance

The ability to hold out in the face of difficulty

It also means means to “remain expectant”

The idea is a positive and courageous ability to stand firm in the face of affliction!

And this is a characteristic every believer needs!

How does affliction bring about perseverance?

“In the experience and belief that they possess the Spirit as a “firstfruit” (Rom 8:23) and “guarantee” (2 Cor 1:22; 5:5), Christians can compose themselves in patience and can persevere in patient expectation (Rom 8:25). Present afflictions can only strengthen and keep them in this perseverance (5:3, 4).

Hebrews 10:36 NASB95

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

Proof of character

Hope