Can I Grow in Holiness Without the Church?
00:00:00.000 | Dr. David Palveson is a biblical counselor and the author of some very important books
00:00:08.920 | and journal articles, resources that perhaps could lead some to see as promoting Christian
00:00:14.180 | growth apart from the local church.
00:00:16.600 | But of course that would be misleading, as he explained to me a few years back when I
00:00:19.920 | sat down with him at the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation offices near Philadelphia.
00:00:25.120 | I asked him to explain the vital role the local church plays in growing in sanctification,
00:00:30.460 | in our growth in holiness.
00:00:32.480 | Here's what he said.
00:00:34.640 | Local church is integral to sanctification in all sorts of, from all sorts of different
00:00:40.720 | directions.
00:00:41.720 | There's an obvious direction I'll come at second and there's a less obvious one.
00:00:45.380 | Every single fruit of sanctification gets expressed within the context of the church.
00:00:51.740 | And so if sanctification, if the payoff, to quote 1 Timothy 1.7, "The goal of our instruction
00:01:00.280 | is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith."
00:01:05.960 | That love gets expressed in the church.
00:01:09.400 | It gets expressed towards brothers and sisters.
00:01:12.080 | In the Apostle John's first letter, it's the, you know, if you love the son, you love the
00:01:18.840 | brethren.
00:01:19.840 | You know, if you love the father, you love the children.
00:01:21.540 | If you, if you are in Christ, you are in some intrinsic way wedded to the welfare of others.
00:01:30.160 | And so I'm going to get to second, the way the church blesses us in sanctification.
00:01:35.880 | But the very goal of sanctification involves the church.
00:01:39.680 | There is a sense, I am not perfected until you are perfected.
00:01:46.360 | We are not perfected until every single one of us, the children of the living God, is
00:01:53.480 | perfected.
00:01:54.480 | Which means another person's struggle, I have a stake in that for my sanctification.
00:02:00.500 | Sanctification is not a private endeavor.
00:02:02.400 | It's not a moral self-improvement project.
00:02:05.000 | It's not, it's not less than that, but it's so much more than that because the actual
00:02:10.240 | things that are improved about us actually tie us to the welfare of other people.
00:02:16.160 | I think this is part of why you see in Paul this, "Who does not stumble?"
00:02:21.160 | And I just, I burn.
00:02:23.760 | I'm so grieved.
00:02:24.760 | I'm so concerned.
00:02:25.760 | You're on my heart.
00:02:26.760 | I wrestle for you.
00:02:28.040 | There's tears on the piece of paper.
00:02:30.600 | Is it just because Paul is a particularly passionate Mediterranean personality or is
00:02:34.720 | it that Paul knows that our glory, which is the ultimate goal of sanctification, is when
00:02:43.280 | all of us arrive together and all of us together have grown up into the image of Jesus Christ.
00:02:50.200 | So where else will I express the fruits of growth but with my brothers and sisters?
00:02:56.160 | Where else will the gifts that God has given me to be the vehicles in which my sanctification
00:03:01.800 | is most fruitful, where else will they be expressed if the body of Christ, Christ's
00:03:07.080 | own beloved people, is not part of it?
00:03:09.920 | We are called to do good to all, of course, but especially to the household of faith.
00:03:15.600 | There's something about the nature even of God's election that it is an elect people,
00:03:22.680 | a holy priesthood is a nation called to be a light to the Gentiles, a light to the world.
00:03:28.160 | The whole world will know that we are his disciples if we love each other.
00:03:32.360 | And so evangelism and world missions from a certain point of view hinges, my ability
00:03:39.480 | to contribute to that hinges on whether I love the brethren, whether we as Christian
00:03:44.400 | people resolve our differences, treat each other with forbearance, patience, humility,
00:03:50.800 | constructive love, whether we're candid to reprove in a constructive and loving way and
00:03:56.360 | so forth.
00:03:57.440 | Am I about the business of a kingdom that is not my own?
00:04:01.280 | And if to the degree I am, it will involve me with other people.
00:04:04.800 | That's I think the less talked about side.
00:04:08.200 | The more obvious side is that I need my brothers and sisters.
00:04:13.120 | We can't say it's impossible to grow without fellowship because there are people in solitary
00:04:17.480 | confinement who have grown deep and rich and wise in the ways of the Lord.
00:04:23.320 | But the normal way that we grow, barring extreme circumstances, you know, you're the only Christian
00:04:30.520 | in a Muslim village in Algeria, or you're in prison, or you're elderly and extremely
00:04:37.280 | frail and disabled, and for whatever reason, there's no people around you that can support
00:04:43.480 | your faith.
00:04:44.800 | Barring those extremes, I need others.
00:04:47.920 | From whom else will I receive all of the one-anothering that the Bible says we need to give each other?
00:04:54.320 | Where else will I hear the word preached, but in the context of corporate worship?
00:04:59.160 | Where else will I be reminded through the Lord's Supper and baptism that this King,
00:05:05.720 | He stoops to meet us?
00:05:08.480 | He's not just a head trip.
00:05:10.120 | It's a, "Here's my body, here's my blood.
00:05:12.960 | These are the waters of life.
00:05:14.720 | Your sins are washed away.
00:05:17.080 | Partake of the feast.
00:05:18.400 | Repent of your sins.
00:05:19.560 | You really are forgiven.
00:05:21.160 | You really are washed."
00:05:24.040 | Where else do I get the incalculable thing that happens in public worship that is alive
00:05:30.080 | where I can sing a hymn when I'm by myself.
00:05:33.960 | Let me tell you, I'm glad that joyful noise counts unto the Lord, but there's nothing
00:05:39.640 | like singing with a pastel of other believers who mean it.
00:05:44.040 | I'm sure most of us have had that experience where, and there's points where you can't
00:05:48.160 | even sing because it is so awesome.
00:05:51.320 | We're singing to each other and to the Lord, and it is so awesome what we are saying to
00:05:57.040 | the Lord and to each other and how profoundly corporate worship, just what that does for
00:06:06.160 | our sanctification.
00:06:07.160 | So, yeah, do we need the body of Christ?
00:06:10.600 | Yeah, at both ends of the process.
00:06:13.200 | We need it at the input end to help us grow.
00:06:16.520 | Oh, in fact, how could I forget?
00:06:19.960 | When I was being interviewed for church membership, my final question was, "If I stray from my
00:06:26.120 | fidelity to Jesus Christ or my wife, what will you do?"
00:06:31.080 | And it was a huge comfort for the pastor to say, "I will pursue you.
00:06:35.640 | I will call you to repentance.
00:06:37.440 | And if you don't repent, we will excommunicate you."
00:06:40.080 | I said, "I'm signing on."
00:06:42.800 | There are shepherds who are looking out for my soul.
00:06:45.000 | Does that mean you can't be a solo Christian?
00:06:47.760 | Well, of course not, but God can sustain people in tough times.
00:06:53.600 | But boy, the norm and the goal is the body of Christ living and active.
00:07:01.800 | That's brilliant and beautiful.
00:07:03.340 | That was biblical counselor and author Dr. David Powelson speaking from the offices of
00:07:07.280 | the CCEF in Philadelphia.
00:07:09.280 | Dr. Powelson's books include Speaking the Truth in Love and Seeing with New Eyes.
00:07:14.680 | Well, anxiety and worry are part of the human experience in this fallen planet.
00:07:20.160 | But what do they say about the condition of our souls and how should we respond?
00:07:23.640 | We will hear from Dr. Ed Welch tomorrow.
00:07:25.640 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke.
00:07:26.640 | I'll see you then.
00:07:27.360 | [END]
00:07:28.100 | Dr. Ed Welch, CCEF, Ph.D.
00:07:30.100 | Dr. Ed Welch, CCEF, Ph.D.
00:07:32.100 | Dr. Ed Welch, CCEF, Ph.D.
00:07:34.100 | [BLANK_AUDIO]