15 It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. 16 Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those [a]who would believe in Him for eternal life.
The Justification and Sanctification of believers through the finished work of Christ, in my previous post we briefly examined the important doctrine of Justification, which in many ways is part of the bigger picture of Salvation and the Christian life and walk, today we will examine briefly the important doctrine of Sanctification which follows on from Justification.
1)Now let us look at the differences between Justification and Sanctification
Justification
Sanctification
Legal Standing
Internal Condition
Once for all time
Continuous throughout life
Entirely God’s work
We co-operate with God
Perfect in this life
Not perfect in this life
The same in all Christians
Greater in some than in others
Sanctification differs from justification in several ways. Justification is a one-time work of God, resulting in a declaration of “not guilty” before Him because of the work of Christ on the cross. Sanctification is a process, beginning with justification and continuing throughout life. Justification is the starting point of the line that represents one’s Christian life; sanctification is the line itself
2)Sanctification is a progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives
Sanctification is the process of renewal and consecration by which believers are made holy through the work of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification is the consequence of justification and is dependent upon a person being in a right relationship with God.
Sanctification is applied justification. By its very nature justification does not have a progressive character. It is God's declaration of righteousness. The focus of justification is the removal of the guilt of sin. The focus of sanctification is the healing of the dysfunctionality of sin. Since all spiritual blessings, justification and sanctification included, are the Christian's the moment he or she is "in Christ" sanctification is total and final in one sense Yet, unlike justification, sanctification also continues until it will be consummated when Jesus Christ returns. For then we will be like him, perfect and complete.Sanctification, therefore, has an initial, progressive, and final phase. A believer's present preoccupation is with progressive sanctification, by which the child of God lives out the implications of initial sanctification with an eye to the goal of final sanctification. The sanctified life is victorious, though it is lived out in the context of temptation and suffering. God promises the "overcomers" in Revelation 2 and 3 to restore all that was lost in the fall, in sanctification; the believer is simply applying the implications of his or her justification.
3)A believer grows in sanctification by living according to his or her new identity
Sanctification, defined broadly as the work of God’s grace in man’s perfection in righteousness, begins when he becomes a believer and hence is “in Christ.” It continues progressively until death brings him into Christ’s presence unless he “does despite to the Spirit of grace.” It is only as one by dedication and faith realizes in actuality what is provided in the atonement that this grace is experienced; it does not follow as a matter of course, as the exhortations in the NT imply. Parallel to the work of sanctification is the infilling of the Holy Spirit in the believer, perfection in love, having the “mind of Christ,” and “walking as he walked.”
There are many things that I can say about Sanctification but more importantly that I what I can stay about Sanctification is what the Bible says about Sanctification.
Now let us look at some scriptures in regards to Sanctification
1)Romans 6:15-19 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! 16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin [j]resulting in death, or of obedience [k]resulting in righteousness? 17 But thanks are to God that [l]though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, [m]resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, [n]resulting in sanctification.
2)1 Corinthians 1:30 30 But [u]by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, [v]and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption.
3)I Thessalonians 5:23-24 23 now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.
4)I Thessalonians 4:1-8 4 finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to [a]walk and please God (just as you actually do [b]walk), that you excel still more. 2 For you know what commandments we gave you [c]by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from [d]sexual immorality; 4 that each of you know how to [e]possess his own [f]vessel in sanctification and honour, 5 not in [g]lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but [h]in sanctification. 8 So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you
5)2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you [o]from the beginning for salvation [p]through sanctification [q]by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 14 It was for this He called you through our gospel, [r]that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter [s]from us.16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, 17 comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.
As
I write this post, I’m watching one of
my favorite television programmes, The American Sitcom "How I meet your Mother “ it many ways it’s easy tv, doesn't take a lot of thinking, no plot just something that’s enjoyable, ,
while watching this programme my attention is caught by an amazing sunny afternoon How often do we miss so
many things because we are caught in our own information virtual reality!
Some
30 years ago, when I was in School in South Wales, we had no Internet, and we had just 4 Television Channels, BBC
1, BBC 2, HTV, (ITV Wales and the West Country) and S4C
(The Welsh Language version of Channel 4), in someways It was a simpler and
less complicated age, if I needed to do
Research for a School Project, I would
have to go to the Library and get a
book, and of course we had Ceefax. I loved reading and would devour books, nothing has changed there. If we
needed up to date information, there was always the BBC and ITN news and
newspapers such as The Daily Mail and Daily Express which covered national and
international news and then there would be local papers such as The Evening
Post and the Neath Guardian, and if you wanted to know what was happening
Church wise, there would be The
Apostolic Church, Riches of Grace magazine and the Jesus and Me magazine. If I
wanted to listen to music, there would
be the Radio and we couldn’t download
music, we would have to buy cassette
tapes and records.
Yes it was a simpler age, please don’t think I’m
a sort of late 20th Century techno-phobicLuddite, I was listening to the radio station Absolute
80’s on my digital tv service and listened to the 1980’s Group The Bluebell’s
singing Young at Heart, which I then found on Youtube and posted it
here to my blog, then posted it to
Google, Facebook and Twitter.
Now
when I write, I use MS Word on my
PC, if
I want to find out something I
use the Internet, when I write this blog
and what to put in some Scripture I go to Bible Gateway.
We
live in the Digital and Information age,
where we have instant access to
information whether that’s via our smart tv’s,
our computers and tablets, and even our mobile phones, In some ways, as the Information revolution has marched on
with an increasing speed, we are caught up in a seeming dystopian nightmare instead of
the promised technological utopia. The
social darwinism of
social media
We
are caught up in a seeming endless information maze with no prospect of escape,
and we have become isolated from those around us, today in South Korea where a number of people
live on their own , there is a phenomenon where people can pay to watch other
people eat their meals on their own, via a webcam, that’s so sad, why don’t they arrange via social media or
their mobile phones to meet up in a Restaurant,
read the BBC Story here; read here
Wherever
we go we see people caught up in own little bubble, where they always seem to
accessing via their smart phones or tablets facebook, twitter and youtube, we miss the wonder of life, I saw a news story okay via the Daily
Express of a man looking at his mobile phone while on a small sailing boat, and
feet away a humpback whale swims by, he
missed the wonder of creation and choose to play candy crush! instead, read
the story here
We
can miss so many things in our lives because we have been caught up in our own
little information virtual reality world,
can imagine what would happen today if Moses lived now, and instead of seeing a burning bush he’s caught
in the world of angry birds ?
Exodus
3 English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)
The
Burning Bush
3
Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of
Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to
Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a
flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was
burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see
this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he
turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he
said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off
your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he
said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
7
Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in
Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their
sufferings, 8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the
Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a
land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites,
the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 And now,
behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen
the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come, I will send you
to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the
children of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 He said, “But I will be with you, and this
shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the
people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
13
Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them,
‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you’, and they ask me, ‘What is his
name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.”[a] And
he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’” 15 God
also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘The Lord,[b] the God of
your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has
sent me to you.’ This is my name for ever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout
all generations. 16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to
them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of
Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I have observed you and what has been done
to you in Egypt, 17 and I promise that I will bring you up out of the
affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites,
the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, a land flowing with milk and
honey.”’ 18 And they will listen to your voice, and you and the elders of
Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the
Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days' journey into
the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ 19 But I know that
the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand.[c] 20
So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will
do in it; after that he will let you go. 21 And I will give this people favour
in the sight of the Egyptians; and when you go, you shall not go empty, 22 but
each woman shall ask of her neighbour, and any woman who lives in her house,
for silver and gold jewellery, and for clothing. You shall put them on your
sons and on your daughters. So you shall plunder the Egyptians.”
Or
indeed when Isaiah was called, he
decided to update his twitter account #yhwhcalledmetoday before obeying the
call.
Isaiah
6:8 English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)
Isaiah's
Commission from the Lord
8
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go
for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
Called By God from The Oswald Chambers Daily Devtional
I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: "Whom shall I send, and who
will go for Us?" Then I said, "Here am I! Send me." —Isaiah 6:8
God did not direct His call to Isaiah— Isaiah overheard God saying,
“…who will go for Us?” The call of God is not just for a select few but for
everyone. Whether I hear God’s call or not depends on the condition of my ears,
and exactly what I hear depends upon my spiritual attitude. “Many are called,
but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14). That is, few prove that they are the
chosen ones. The chosen ones are those who have come into a relationship with
God through Jesus Christ and have had their spiritual condition changed and
their ears opened. Then they hear “the voice of the Lord” continually asking,
“…who will go for Us?” However, God doesn’t single out someone and say, “Now,
you go.” He did not force His will on Isaiah. Isaiah was in the presence of
God, and he overheard the call. His response, performed in complete freedom,
could only be to say, “Here am I! Send me.”
Remove the thought from your mind of expecting God to come to force you
or to plead with you. When our Lord called His disciples, He did it without
irresistible pressure from the outside. The quiet, yet passionate, insistence
of His “Follow Me” was spoken to men whose every sense was receptive (Matthew 4:19).
If we will allow the Holy Spirit to bring us face to face with God, we too will
hear what Isaiah heard— “the voice of the Lord.” In perfect freedom we too will
say, “Here am I! Send me.”
Not often, but every once in a while, God brings us to a major turning
point--a great crossroads in our life. From that point we either go more and
more toward a slow, lazy, and useless Christian life, or we become more and
more on fire, giving our utmost for His highest--our best for His glory."
--Oswald Chambers, from the My Utmost for His Highest.
Psalm
68:6 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
6
God sets the lonely in families,[a]
he leads out the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched
land.
Today, we need to break free from our self-imposed
exile and prison of technology and information,
and become once more involved with those around us, can imagine if Jesus walked past us and
called us to serve Him and follow him like he called Peter and the other disciples, and we say just a moment, Jesus I need to
update my facebook status and my twitter account, #seenjesustoday
Matthew
4:18-22 English Standard Version Anglicised (ESVUK)
Jesus
Calls the First Disciples
18
While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called
Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were
fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of
men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on
from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his
brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he
called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed
him.
Luke
9:57-62New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Exacting
Discipleship
57
As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You
wherever You go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds
of the [a]air have [b]nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
59 And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to
go and bury my father.” 60 But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their
own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” 61
Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say
good-bye to those at home.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting
his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
"The first thing that impresses us about the call of God is that it
comes to the whole man, not to one part of him. The majority of us are godly in
streaks, spiritual in sections; it takes a long time to locate us altogether to
the call of God. We have special days and religious moods, but when we get into
contact with God we are brought in touch with Reality and made all of a piece.
Our Lord's life was all one reality; you could never cut it into two--shallow
here and profound there. My conception of God must embrace the whole of my
life." –
Suppose God tells you to do something that is an enormous test of your
common sense, totally going against it. What will you do? Will you hold back?
If you get into the habit of doing something physically, you will do it every
time you are tested until you break the habit through sheer determination. And
the same is true spiritually. Again and again you will come right up to what
Jesus wants, but every time you will turn back at the true point of testing,
until you are determined to abandon yourself to God in total surrender. Yet we
tend to say, “Yes, but— suppose I do obey God in this matter, what about . . .
?” Or we say, “Yes, I will obey God if what He asks of me doesn’t go against my
common sense, but don’t ask me to take a step in the dark.”
Jesus Christ demands the same unrestrained, adventurous spirit in those
who have placed their trust in Him that the natural man exhibits. If a person
is ever going to do anything worthwhile, there will be times when he must risk
everything by his leap in the dark. In the spiritual realm, Jesus Christ
demands that you risk everything you hold on to or believe through common
sense, and leap by faith into what He says. Once you obey, you will immediately
find that what He says is as solidly consistent as common sense.
By the test of common sense, Jesus Christ’s statements may seem mad, but
when you test them by the trial of faith, your findings will fill your spirit
with the awesome fact that they are the very words of God. Trust completely in
God, and when He brings you to a new opportunity of adventure, offering it to
you, see that you take it. We act like pagans in a crisis— only one out of an
entire crowd is daring enough to invest his faith in the character of God.
Oswald Chambers
Once
more The Lord is calling us to follow him on an adventure of faith, let us lay aside our virtual reality
adventure and follow him
Mark
1:16-20 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
Jesus
calls his first disciples
16
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew
casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 ‘Come, follow me,’
Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ 18 At once they left
their nets and followed him.
19
When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother
John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they
left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
1
Kings 19:19-21 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)
The
call of Elisha
19
So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was ploughing
with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah
went up to him and threw his cloak around him. 20 Elisha then left his oxen and
ran after Elijah. ‘Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,’ he said, ‘and then
I will come with you.’
‘Go
back,’ Elijah replied. ‘What have I done to you?’
21
So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered
them. He burned the ploughing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the
people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant.
The
Lord is calling today, Follow Me, will
you follow or update your twitter feed or facebook status first!
Christians sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for missionary work in Iran
Wed 05 Jul 2017
By Eno Adeogun
A judge in Iran has sentenced four Christians to 10 years imprisonment each for engaging in missionary activities and "conducting activities against national security", according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide.
Iranian national Nasser Navard Goltape, and Yusif Farhadov, Eldar Gurbanov and Bahram Nasibov from the Republic of Azerbaijan were arrested on 24th June 2016, after traveling to Tehran to visit their Christian friends.
They were released on bail from Evin Prison more than four months later, with the Azeri men returning to their home country.
