ACBC Theology Exam 16 - Justification and Sanctification by Faith
00:00:00.000 | us on this webinar and it's great to meet together in this online format to again study
00:00:06.880 | the Word of God and to be further trained in the ministry of biblical counseling.
00:00:11.600 | I hope and trust that you're all doing well in the Lord and that you're enjoying the blessings
00:00:16.420 | of Christ and we just rejoice in your faithfulness as you work through these essays.
00:00:22.360 | We're praying for great fruit from this time as we dig deep into the Word of God and as
00:00:29.080 | we study these precious topics.
00:00:31.260 | We do hope that you'll be encouraged in your own walk with Christ and also that you'll
00:00:35.960 | be equipped to minister these truths to others.
00:00:39.640 | Tonight we are looking at the ACBC Theology exam number 16.
00:00:44.460 | It is the subject of justification and sanctification by faith.
00:00:50.840 | And in our study tonight, we're going to be making a transition from the doctrine of justification
00:00:56.560 | to the subject of sanctification.
00:01:00.400 | Now as I mentioned previously in the seminar classes that the subject of sanctification
00:01:06.860 | is really where we live and where we breathe as biblical counselors.
00:01:12.540 | We are helping people with the issues of sanctification and so it's very important that we are well
00:01:20.400 | equipped to think through the doctrine of sanctification and also apply this doctrine
00:01:26.240 | to our lives and to the lives of others.
00:01:30.200 | So ACBC has at least three, if you kind of consider it broadly, there could be an argument
00:01:38.500 | that four or five of these essays deal with the subject of sanctification, but at least
00:01:44.880 | specifically speaking, three of the essay exams deal with the subject of sanctification
00:01:51.660 | and that's because of the great importance of this doctrine to the ministry of biblical
00:01:57.360 | counseling.
00:01:58.540 | So in theology exam number 16, we're making that transition from the doctrine of justification
00:02:05.920 | to the doctrine of sanctification and I do hope and pray that your study of this topic
00:02:14.360 | will bear much fruit in your life and stir up a passion in your own life to pursue sanctification
00:02:21.480 | and holiness in your walk with Christ.
00:02:26.060 | For tonight's devotional, I'd like to take us to Romans chapter 6 verses 1 to 4.
00:02:33.180 | This is a wonderful passage of scripture that I've used in my own life and in my own counseling
00:02:39.360 | ministry to encourage counselees who are struggling with sanctification and by the way, I would
00:02:49.620 | just include, I would just mention that that should include us all, the broad category
00:02:55.960 | of those who struggle with our sanctification should include really all Christians because
00:03:01.360 | we learn from scripture that sanctification is a battle, it is a fight, it is a war and
00:03:08.860 | it is indeed a struggle.
00:03:11.880 | If you look at the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 7 and you see him saying, "I do what
00:03:17.980 | I don't want to do and I don't do what I want to do," even the Apostle Paul wrestled with
00:03:23.940 | his sanctification.
00:03:26.940 | Galatians chapter 5, the spirit sets itself against the flesh, the flesh sets its desires
00:03:33.020 | against the spirit and so you do not do what you please.
00:03:37.500 | There is always this internal battle, this internal struggle in relation to sanctification.
00:03:44.940 | So when I say that I use Romans chapter 6 verses 1 to 4 to encourage believers who are
00:03:51.640 | struggling with sanctification, I'm talking about a very large category of people.
00:03:58.880 | I'd be very concerned with the believer who says that they have reached some level of
00:04:04.800 | spirituality where they are no longer battling for their sanctification, they're just kind
00:04:10.620 | of coasting their way to holiness.
00:04:13.840 | I'd be very concerned about that believer that there would be a defective understanding
00:04:20.560 | of sanctification.
00:04:23.680 | But Romans chapter 6 has really good news for anyone who is in the battle for their
00:04:28.700 | sanctification and let me just read this text for us.
00:04:33.360 | It says there, "What shall we say then?
00:04:36.520 | Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
00:04:42.240 | By no means.
00:04:43.360 | How can we who died to sin still live in it?
00:04:47.340 | Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into
00:04:54.520 | his death?
00:04:56.480 | We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death.
00:05:01.360 | In order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father, we too
00:05:07.520 | might walk in newness of life."
00:05:12.040 | And let me just skip down to verse 7 of that passage where Paul says, "For one who has
00:05:16.920 | died has been set free from sin."
00:05:21.480 | Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
00:05:26.240 | We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again.
00:05:31.080 | Death no longer has dominion over him.
00:05:34.340 | For the death he died, he died to sin once and for all, but the life he lives, he lives
00:05:41.200 | to God.
00:05:42.200 | So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
00:05:49.800 | Then in verse 12, Paul says, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make
00:05:57.000 | you obey its passions.
00:05:59.400 | Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves
00:06:05.520 | to God as those who have been brought from death to life and your members to God as instruments
00:06:11.960 | for righteousness."
00:06:14.400 | And here's the good news, verse 14, "For sin will have no dominion over you since you are
00:06:21.120 | not under law, but under grace."
00:06:26.920 | So as I've said, I've used this passage in counseling ministry to encourage believers
00:06:33.680 | who are doing battle for their sanctification, and the key thought that I just want us to
00:06:40.040 | think about tonight is simply this, and we're making, again, the transition from the doctrine
00:06:46.440 | of justification to the doctrine of sanctification.
00:06:50.280 | The key thought is this.
00:06:53.440 | Justification is by the grace of God.
00:06:55.460 | We understand that, we've studied that, we've learned that.
00:06:59.360 | It's not through works of the law, it is purely by God's unmerited favor alone.
00:07:07.000 | And then the additional thought is that sanctification is by God's grace as well.
00:07:14.520 | So we have good news to proclaim to the unbeliever who is dead in sins and trespasses.
00:07:20.560 | We say to that unbeliever that your sin can be forgiven on the basis of what Christ has
00:07:26.640 | accomplished through his work on the cross and his glorious resurrection from the grave.
00:07:34.580 | But we also have good news to proclaim to the believer, the believer who has received
00:07:42.760 | justification but still struggles with sin in his sanctification.
00:07:49.380 | And the good news that we have to give to the believer is that Jesus died not only to
00:07:54.420 | free you from the penalty of sin, but Jesus died in order to free you from the power of
00:08:00.580 | sin.
00:08:02.080 | Jesus died on the cross and he rose from the grave so that you may no longer live in bondage
00:08:10.560 | to sin.
00:08:13.040 | You are no longer a slave to sin because Jesus lived and he died and he rose again.
00:08:23.280 | That's good news and that's the good news that we have for our counselees.
00:08:30.200 | I've sat with those in counseling ministry and just those who struggle with anger, who
00:08:38.080 | struggle with laziness, who struggle with anxiety, who struggle with depression.
00:08:45.320 | Before I get into the practical applications of how they need to put off ungodly behavior
00:08:51.240 | and put on godly behavior, what I want to do is give believers hope.
00:08:56.880 | I want to give my counselee hope.
00:08:59.420 | And I've said to many counselees that I have hope that you can change.
00:09:06.340 | Your tomorrow doesn't need to be the same as your yesterday.
00:09:10.300 | You can be different.
00:09:11.340 | You can grow.
00:09:12.340 | You can change.
00:09:13.340 | And I'm saying that not because I have confidence in you so much, but I have confidence in Christ
00:09:20.180 | and his saving work in you.
00:09:22.420 | I have confidence that through your faith in Christ, you have been delivered from the
00:09:27.820 | power of sin and you are no longer a slave to sin.
00:09:32.100 | Whatever the issue is, whatever the sin issue is, you are not a slave to sin.
00:09:37.360 | You can grow and change.
00:09:39.040 | And I say that on the authority of God's word.
00:09:42.380 | And I just want to give counselees hope that they can change on the basis of what the scriptures
00:09:49.620 | say.
00:09:50.620 | And I ground that in the teaching of Romans chapter six, Jesus died so that you may no
00:09:59.140 | longer live in bondage to whatever this sin issue is.
00:10:07.100 | And so you make the transition from the doctrine of justification, imputed righteousness to
00:10:13.620 | the doctrine of sanctification, imparted righteousness.
00:10:21.700 | So going back to Romans chapter six, verse one, Paul is just a detail, an explanation
00:10:28.460 | of the doctrine of justification in Romans chapters three to five.
00:10:34.140 | He has said that we have been justified by faith.
00:10:37.700 | We have received this imputed righteousness by grace alone through faith alone on the
00:10:42.740 | basis of Christ's work alone.
00:10:44.980 | We have peace with God.
00:10:46.300 | Romans five, verse one, we have this standing in grace.
00:10:50.380 | We exalt in the hope of the glory of God.
00:10:53.220 | We received all of this by God's grace alone, not by any works that we have done, not by
00:10:59.020 | any work of the law that we have completed.
00:11:02.940 | And then he says in verse one of chapter six, what shall we say then?
00:11:07.680 | Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
00:11:14.100 | Martin Lloyd-Jones has made the observation that that is a surest test that you are preaching
00:11:18.340 | the gospel rightly.
00:11:20.140 | If you preach the gospel rightly and you proclaim a gospel of grace alone, the question is going
00:11:26.020 | to come.
00:11:27.020 | Do you really mean that because it's by grace alone that we can go ahead and sin?
00:11:33.880 | Because the more we sin, the more grace we receive.
00:11:37.420 | He's going to give an answer to that question, but Lloyd-Jones is just saying that if that
00:11:42.660 | question arises as you preach the gospel, that is an indicator that you're doing it
00:11:48.060 | right.
00:11:49.180 | If you safeguard the gospel of grace alone, someone's going to come along and ask the
00:11:53.660 | question, do you really mean Dan that we're saved by grace alone?
00:11:57.460 | Does that mean that I can continue to sin?
00:12:00.700 | Look at Paul's answer.
00:12:03.700 | He uses the strongest Greek emphatic negative possible by no means.
00:12:11.220 | May it never be.
00:12:13.260 | One translation puts this absolutely not.
00:12:18.940 | The King James versions translates this phrase, God forbid.
00:12:23.340 | The paraphrase JB Phillips says, what a ghastly thought.
00:12:30.580 | May we never think that the doctrine of justification by grace means that we can continue to live
00:12:38.220 | in sin instead.
00:12:41.340 | In verse two, the apostle Paul says this, how can we who died to sin still live in it?
00:12:51.180 | Paul says that when Jesus died on the cross at Calvary, that you and I were united to
00:12:59.880 | him in his life, death, and resurrection so that when he died, we died.
00:13:06.480 | And when he rose, we rose.
00:13:10.520 | And I've said this to counselees and counseling ministry, cause you personalize it in the
00:13:14.200 | counseling session.
00:13:15.460 | Did you know that when Jesus died on the cross, 2000 years at Calvary, you know that when
00:13:21.360 | he died, that you died with him, you were united to him in his death so that you died
00:13:29.680 | to your old life.
00:13:32.160 | And did you know that when he rose from the grave on that glorious Sunday, that you rose
00:13:36.840 | with him to live a new life in Christ, that you are a new creature, new creature because
00:13:43.720 | of your faith in Jesus Christ.
00:13:49.320 | Paul uses the imagery of baptism, not water baptism, but the concept of immersion, being
00:13:54.920 | fully immersed into Christ's life, death, and resurrection.
00:13:59.080 | He says, do you not know that all of us who have been literally immersed, baptized into
00:14:04.640 | Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.
00:14:10.400 | We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was
00:14:16.240 | raised from the dead by the glory of the father, we too might walk in newness of life.
00:14:23.960 | That's what we want for each of our counselees.
00:14:28.200 | Right there, verse four, we want them to walk in newness of life.
00:14:33.800 | That's what we want for ourselves.
00:14:36.160 | This is what I want for you as counselors in training.
00:14:39.000 | This is what we want for our families, our loved ones.
00:14:43.360 | We want them to experience the joy and the satisfaction of walking in newness of life,
00:14:51.520 | to be filled with all of the good blessings of God and to walk in holiness and in sanctification.
00:15:01.400 | And so justification is by the grace of God and sanctification is by God's grace as well.
00:15:09.240 | So a helpful work that has helped me think through this.
00:15:12.720 | And again, I'm trying to introduce this whole idea of in this essay, you're making the transition
00:15:17.680 | from the doctrine of justification to the doctrine of sanctification and a really good
00:15:23.800 | work that I would commend to you is Jerry Bridges book, transforming grace.
00:15:29.880 | This is a book that I read when I was pretty early on in my Christian life and it really
00:15:34.640 | had a formative influence upon my thinking of the Christian life and of the doctrine
00:15:42.440 | of salvation.
00:15:43.440 | And he makes a point there that justification is being declared righteous before God through
00:15:49.240 | faith in Jesus Christ.
00:15:51.240 | It's a point in time event.
00:15:52.880 | It's the time in our lives when we are saved.
00:15:55.540 | It is the Ephesians two verse eight experience for it is by grace you have been saved through
00:16:00.160 | faith.
00:16:01.840 | And then he transitions to sanctification.
00:16:04.400 | He says, sanctification is our growth in Christ likeness.
00:16:09.240 | It is a progressive experience covering our entire Christian lives from salvation to glorification.
00:16:19.680 | This is glorification occurs at the time we depart from this life to be with Christ.
00:16:25.840 | Now note Bridges observation and his thesis in this book.
00:16:30.720 | I think it'll be helpful to you.
00:16:34.240 | He says all true Christians readily agree that justification is by grace through faith
00:16:39.320 | in Christ.
00:16:40.320 | And if we stop to think about it, we agree that glorification is also solely by God's
00:16:47.240 | grace.
00:16:48.240 | Jesus purchased for us not only forgiveness of sins justification, but also eternal life
00:16:54.800 | glorification.
00:16:58.640 | With sanctification, the entire Christian experience between justification and glorification
00:17:06.300 | is another story.
00:17:09.200 | At best, the Christian life is viewed as a mixture of personal performance and God's
00:17:16.120 | grace.
00:17:18.760 | So he goes on to say that our view of the Christian life could be illustrated by the
00:17:23.600 | following timeline, justification is based on grace.
00:17:30.260 | Sanctification is based on works or human performance.
00:17:35.440 | And then glorification is based on grace.
00:17:41.500 | According to that illustration, our concept of the Christian life is a grace works grace
00:17:46.960 | sequence.
00:17:47.960 | He's trying to bring out the idea that this is how we tend to view our Christian lives.
00:17:55.340 | Instead, the principal thesis of this book, the truth I hope to demonstrate is that the
00:18:01.480 | illustration should look like this justification based on grace, sanctification based on grace,
00:18:09.960 | glorification based on grace.
00:18:14.080 | Dear biblical counselors in training, can I just encourage you and ask you to evaluate
00:18:19.800 | is that your view of the Christian life?
00:18:22.080 | Do you believe that sanctification is entirely based upon the unmerited favor of God given
00:18:30.000 | to us through the work of Jesus on the cross?
00:18:33.680 | Or somehow have you come up with a method of sanctification that bypasses grace, bypasses
00:18:39.840 | Jesus and bypasses Christ's sufficient work on the cross?
00:18:47.160 | Because if you embrace the biblical view of sanctification, which I believe is represented
00:18:52.760 | in this table, what you then do is you bring into the counseling session with your counselee
00:19:01.280 | a message of hope and a message of encouragement that God is going to give his grace to you
00:19:10.540 | as you work through this sanctification issue.
00:19:14.080 | His grace will be sufficient for you.
00:19:17.280 | Christ's work on the cross is to be applied to this particular counseling issue and empowers
00:19:27.280 | you to grow and to change in Christ.
00:19:31.200 | By the way, dear friends, this is why we in the biblical counseling ministry offer to
00:19:38.680 | our counselees what no secular system could ever hope to offer.
00:19:43.660 | Secular psychology cannot offer this message of grace and hope that is based upon Christ's
00:19:49.840 | work on the cross and him alone.
00:19:55.440 | And we need to be equipped to apply this message of grace to the counseling issues that we
00:20:01.840 | encounter in our ministry.
00:20:06.180 | Now with that said, let me pray briefly.
00:20:08.080 | I'll get into our essay topic for tonight, but I do hope that was a good primer from
00:20:13.080 | the doctrine of justification to sanctification, which we're going to be focusing on in this
00:20:18.080 | session and then in the sessions to come.
00:20:21.720 | We're going to be right there in the middle of that table there.
00:20:26.560 | We're going to be looking at sanctification, which is based on the grace of God and his
00:20:31.160 | grace alone.
00:20:32.160 | Let me pray for us.
00:20:33.680 | Father, we thank you that we come to you by your grace, by your mercy, through the work
00:20:38.480 | of your son, Jesus Christ, and because of that, we have hope for change in our lives
00:20:44.080 | and change in the lives of those whom we minister to.
00:20:48.120 | We believe that we are not in bondage to sin.
00:20:52.480 | We are not slaves to sin.
00:20:53.800 | We praise you for that.
00:20:55.620 | We praise you that whatever the counseling issue is, either in our lives or in the lives
00:21:00.240 | of our counselees, that your all sufficient grace is enough.
00:21:05.120 | It is sufficient that we have the power to grow and change.
00:21:10.360 | We thank you for Christ and his perfect work, and we thank you that we are no longer living
00:21:18.500 | with sin as the cruel master over our lives.
00:21:23.280 | We just pray that we would make that truth a reality in our own practical living and
00:21:30.160 | that you would help us to minister this truth to others.
00:21:32.720 | So we give you our time together in Jesus name.
00:21:35.400 | Amen.
00:21:36.400 | Okay.
00:21:37.440 | Okay.
00:21:38.440 | We're looking at theology exam number 16 tonight, and on your first page of your handout,
00:21:43.520 | you have the question there to define faith in biblical terms, explaining its relationship
00:21:49.880 | to justification and sanctification.
00:21:52.240 | So we're making the transition from justification to sanctification.
00:21:58.880 | I would break this essay up into three parts.
00:22:04.600 | What the essay exam is asking you to do is first of all, to define faith in biblical
00:22:11.160 | terms.
00:22:13.400 | The second thing that the essay is asking you to do is explain the relation of faith
00:22:18.400 | to the doctrine of justification.
00:22:22.360 | And then the third thing that the essay is asking you to do is to explain the relation
00:22:26.520 | of faith to the doctrine of sanctification.
00:22:30.480 | So if you were to take this question and break it up, what are the things that they're asking
00:22:35.680 | you to do?
00:22:36.680 | They're asking you to define faith in biblical terms, explain the relationship of faith to
00:22:42.440 | justification and then explain the relation of faith to the doctrine of sanctification.
00:22:50.760 | So here's the good news with this exam.
00:22:54.200 | The good news is that you've pretty much already studied the first two aspects of this question.
00:23:01.440 | If you have completed theology exam number 14 and theology exam number 15, then you've
00:23:08.000 | covered the first two aspects of this question.
00:23:12.360 | You've studied it.
00:23:13.360 | You should know it.
00:23:14.360 | What you need to do in this exam question is really just summarize the content of theology
00:23:21.120 | exam number 14 and 15.
00:23:24.840 | So the first aspect there to define faith in biblical terms, you've already written
00:23:30.800 | on that subject, and that will be a review of theology exam number 14.
00:23:38.680 | You'll remember from that exam you wrote on the components of what faith is, that there's
00:23:45.600 | an intellectual component of knowledge, just knowing the truth of Scripture.
00:23:53.240 | There is the emotional aspect of faith, which is being convicted or convinced of what the
00:24:00.680 | Word of God is and how it applies to your life, and then there is the volitional aspect
00:24:05.720 | of faith, which is actually placing your reliance or your trust, your confidence in the finished
00:24:14.080 | work of Jesus Christ for your salvation.
00:24:17.400 | So you should have already written on that topic.
00:24:19.760 | You should be acquainted with that topic, and if you need some review, you can go back
00:24:24.680 | to our session on theology exam number 14.
00:24:30.360 | So a good strategy for writing this essay, theology exam number 16, is to go back and
00:24:36.440 | then summarize in one paragraph some of the main features of what faith is in biblical
00:24:44.320 | terms.
00:24:46.080 | So you wrote like a page and a half on this topic.
00:24:48.880 | You're going to take just some of the salient points of that material and summarize it in
00:24:54.560 | one paragraph.
00:24:55.560 | That would be a suggested way to address the first aspect of this essay exam.
00:25:03.820 | If you're repeating any material as you work through the theology exams, you can use the
00:25:09.080 | writing device, quote, "As already discussed in theology exam number 14, faith is blank,"
00:25:21.200 | and then end quote of that material.
00:25:25.560 | So you can use that writing device to say, "As I've already explained in theology exam
00:25:30.920 | number 14," and then go ahead and you can repeat some of that material but summarize
00:25:36.160 | it in a much more condensed fashion for this essay.
00:25:41.400 | You don't have to use that writing device.
00:25:43.240 | You can go ahead and just summarize it and just put the material again, but some students
00:25:47.320 | feel like some of these essays, they're kind of repeating things that they've written before,
00:25:53.440 | and if you want, you can use that writing device and say, "As I've already discussed
00:25:57.320 | or as already discussed in a prior essay," and then go ahead and repeat some of that
00:26:03.800 | material.
00:26:06.840 | The second aspect of that exam is asking you to explain the relation of faith to the doctrine
00:26:14.360 | of justification.
00:26:16.440 | That's going to be a review of theology exam number 15.
00:26:20.360 | Again, you can use that writing device.
00:26:23.400 | As already discussed in theology exam number 15, justification is by faith alone apart
00:26:30.480 | from works of the law or something like that.
00:26:34.500 | You can go ahead and summarize some of that.
00:26:37.800 | But a good approach to this essay would be to go ahead and address the first aspect in
00:26:44.040 | a paragraph, address the second aspect in a paragraph as well.
00:26:50.640 | For this essay, you're really focusing in on the fact that justification is by faith.
00:26:58.480 | It's not by works of the law.
00:27:00.560 | You don't need to get into all of the issues of double imputation and imputed righteousness.
00:27:07.560 | You really want to focus in on the key scriptures which distinguish biblical justification from
00:27:15.500 | the idea that you can become righteous by performing works of the law.
00:27:21.080 | But you should have already studied that material from last week, and you should already have
00:27:26.280 | a really good head start on the second aspect of this essay.
00:27:32.880 | The real new material that you're going to be developing in this exam question is in
00:27:40.240 | relation to the third component here, explain the relation of faith to the doctrine of sanctification.
00:27:51.260 | That's the new ground that you're going to be covering in this essay.
00:27:57.360 | Again, as I mentioned, you're going to be writing some additional essays on this doctrine
00:28:04.020 | of sanctification, so save some of your firepower.
00:28:09.040 | This essay exam is not designed for you to write everything that there is to say about
00:28:15.320 | sanctification.
00:28:16.320 | It's really designed for you to introduce the subject of sanctification, to distinguish
00:28:23.040 | sanctification from justification, and talk about how sanctification is by faith.
00:28:33.300 | It's not to get into everything that there is to say about sanctification, as we will
00:28:39.200 | see in further sessions.
00:28:43.840 | Just to make that note, there's a lot you can say about sanctification.
00:28:47.560 | We're really here interested in two aspects, I'll give you the two bullet points here under
00:28:54.240 | component number three.
00:28:56.160 | We're really interested in the issue of how does sanctification relate to justification,
00:29:04.040 | and then we're interested in passages dealing with sanctification by faith, or the crucial
00:29:11.040 | issue of faith in our sanctification.
00:29:17.520 | You're going to want to hit those two sub points in this essay, and so this would be
00:29:24.160 | just a suggested strategy to write the essay, is to find faith in biblical terms, explain
00:29:30.360 | the relation of faith to the doctrine of justification, and then explain the relation of faith to
00:29:35.280 | the doctrine of sanctification.
00:29:38.560 | That's a three to four paragraph essay, if you want to do it that way, but I would use
00:29:44.480 | the first two paragraphs to summarize the material from Theology exam 14 and 15, and
00:29:50.920 | then break some new ground in talking about how does sanctification relate to justification,
00:29:57.920 | and deal with the passages which concern sanctification by faith.
00:30:05.160 | So if you look at your handout, I have some suggested material there on reading that's
00:30:11.360 | going to help you do this, Wayne Grudem and Paul Enns are some helpful works that will
00:30:17.740 | help you think through justification and sanctification, and then I really want to encourage you to
00:30:22.680 | read J.C. Ryle on this subject.
00:30:24.680 | He's got some very good material, he has a chapter on sanctification from the larger
00:30:31.620 | book called Holiness, and by the way, if you want to spend some money, $10 or so, get the
00:30:40.120 | whole book, J.C. Ryle, Holiness.
00:30:43.240 | That is just an amazing, excellent read that has made such an impact on my life, and it's
00:30:50.840 | just one of those books that every Christian should read, J.C. Ryle, Holiness.
00:30:56.200 | Well, he has one chapter in that book that they've actually posted online, so if you
00:31:00.560 | don't want to spend any money, you can just look at it online and get that from the link
00:31:05.160 | there.
00:31:06.160 | That's going to help you think through what is sanctification, and how does it relate
00:31:10.960 | to justification, and then there's another work that's been placed online as well that's
00:31:17.420 | available for free, and that is justification and sanctification, how do they differ, and
00:31:25.000 | that is a very helpful work that's also available online.
00:31:31.680 | Now let me move to page two of your handout there and just give you some thoughts on this
00:31:41.640 | as it relates to a definition of faith.
00:31:46.540 | As we noted, that's the first element of this essay is to summarize a definition of faith,
00:31:53.360 | and so this is just going to be a brief review from Theology Exam number 14.
00:31:59.560 | Charles Ryrie says that faith means confidence, trust to hold something as true.
00:32:04.480 | Just make the note there that the terms faith, trust, believe are really synonymous.
00:32:12.400 | They're used interchangeably in scripture, and so faith means to place your confidence
00:32:19.580 | in something or someone, to place your trust in something or someone, and then as it relates
00:32:27.520 | to saving faith, Wayne Grudem writes that saving faith is trust in Jesus Christ as a
00:32:33.600 | living person for forgiveness of sins and for eternal life, and we mentioned that there
00:32:41.040 | are three components to saving faith.
00:32:43.860 | There is the intellectual aspect, a person must have knowledge, Paul Enns writes this
00:32:50.440 | involves the intellect and emphasizes that there are certain basic truths that must be
00:32:56.100 | believed for salvation.
00:33:00.240 | So Romans chapter 10 verse 14, how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed
00:33:06.560 | and how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard and how are they to
00:33:11.280 | hear without someone preaching?
00:33:14.380 | So there must be knowledge of objective truth in order for a person to be saved, and yet
00:33:24.240 | as the scriptures teach us, knowledge alone is not enough to save.
00:33:29.480 | James 2 verse 19 says you believe that God is one, you do well, even the demons believe
00:33:37.220 | and shudder.
00:33:39.060 | So even the demons have an intellectual understanding of who Jesus is and they have an intellectual
00:33:47.220 | understanding of the Bible.
00:33:50.000 | So knowledge is necessary, but knowledge is not enough.
00:33:54.800 | There must also be number two, the emotional aspect of faith, which can be labeled as conviction.
00:34:07.140 | So a person with intellectual knowledge says that all have sinned and fall short of the
00:34:12.700 | glory of God.
00:34:15.020 | A person who has conviction says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
00:34:21.160 | and I am a sinner and I need salvation.
00:34:27.240 | Paul Enns explains helpfully that conviction involves the emotions.
00:34:33.540 | This element emphasizes that the person has not only an intellectual awareness of the
00:34:38.140 | truths, but that there is an inner conviction of their truthfulness.
00:34:44.820 | As it says in Acts chapter 2 verse 37, now when they heard this, they were cut to the
00:34:51.700 | heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do?
00:35:00.100 | Now I've experienced this, haven't you?
00:35:04.020 | The word of God just so pierces your heart that you're convinced and convicted of your
00:35:09.300 | need to change, your need for repentance.
00:35:15.460 | It's not just, yeah, I know that that's true for everyone in the world, but it's, this
00:35:20.460 | is true for me and I have come under the conviction of God's word.
00:35:26.460 | Zacchaeus, the tax collector, didn't just say, well, intellectually, I agree that everyone
00:35:33.220 | is a sinner, but he said in Luke chapter 19 verse 8, behold, Lord, the half of my goods
00:35:41.460 | I give to the poor and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.
00:35:46.100 | And Jesus said, today salvation has come to this house for the son of man came to seek
00:35:54.020 | and save the loss.
00:35:56.820 | Zacchaeus intellectually understood his need of salvation, but then emotionally he had
00:36:04.100 | come under conviction that he needed this grace, he needed salvation, and he needed
00:36:11.540 | to repent of his unjust dealings with people.
00:36:16.020 | So there is the intellectual aspect, the emotional aspect, and there is number three, the volitional
00:36:21.740 | aspect, the aspect of trust, faith, trust, believing, those terms are used interchangeably
00:36:36.740 | in scripture, you can intellectually understand, you can emotionally respond, but until you
00:36:42.740 | volitionally place your trust in Christ and rely on him for your salvation, you will not
00:36:51.360 | be saved.
00:36:52.360 | It's one thing to look at a chair, to know that it can hold you, and it is another thing
00:36:58.420 | to sit in the chair and allow the chair to bear the weight that you bring upon it.
00:37:05.500 | And this is the aspect of the volitional aspect of salvation.
00:37:15.300 | You understand who Christ is, you are convinced of your need for him, but have you trusted
00:37:22.300 | him?
00:37:23.300 | Have you renounced your reliance on your self-righteousness and placed your trust in Jesus for your salvation?
00:37:33.200 | So a good essay on this subject is just going to review some of this material of the definition
00:37:41.460 | of faith.
00:37:43.480 | You have the relationship of faith to salvation.
00:37:47.440 | Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, for by grace you have been saved through
00:37:52.800 | faith and this is not your own doing.
00:37:55.760 | It is the gift of God, not a result of work so that no one may boast.
00:38:02.600 | We are saved by faith and faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.
00:38:08.860 | It always produces the fruit of good works, verse 10 goes on to say, for we are his workmanship
00:38:16.440 | created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk
00:38:23.780 | in them.
00:38:24.780 | We're not saved by our works, but we are saved unto good works.
00:38:32.640 | So move to the next page of your handout.
00:38:35.520 | You have a review of theology exam number 15, the doctrine of justification by faith.
00:38:43.160 | Man is justified by faith alone, apart from the works of the law.
00:38:49.840 | The Westminster Catechism says justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein he
00:38:56.180 | pardoned all our sins and accepted us as righteous in his sight only for the righteousness of
00:39:03.340 | God imputed to us and received by faith alone.
00:39:08.060 | And then I've listed numerous references there in the book of Romans, which really
00:39:14.520 | emphasize the fact that justification is the free gift of God received by faith alone apart
00:39:22.260 | from any works of the law.
00:39:24.700 | I'll mention briefly Romans 3, verse 20, for by works of the law, no human being will be
00:39:30.340 | justified in his sight since through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
00:39:36.800 | But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the
00:39:40.660 | law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus
00:39:46.540 | Christ for all who believe.
00:39:49.700 | As we've mentioned, faith itself is not a meritorious act.
00:39:56.260 | It really is the declaration of spiritual bankruptcy.
00:40:03.080 | Faith says, "Nothing in my hands I bring, only to thy cross I cling.
00:40:08.220 | I've nothing to offer, nothing to add to my salvation.
00:40:12.220 | All of my works are but filthy rags."
00:40:15.180 | Person with faith declares spiritual bankruptcy.
00:40:20.060 | Jesus described this as the beatitude attitude, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs
00:40:26.460 | is the kingdom of heaven.
00:40:28.780 | Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."
00:40:34.980 | And it is not the greatness of our faith that saves, it is the greatness of the object of
00:40:43.340 | our faith that saves.
00:40:44.740 | So faith is not some kind of meritorious act that somehow earns our way into God's favor.
00:40:54.860 | B.B.
00:40:55.860 | Warfield has said, "It is not, strictly speaking, even faith in Christ that saves, but Christ
00:41:01.140 | that saves through faith.
00:41:04.100 | The saving power resides exclusively not in the act of faith or the attitude of faith
00:41:10.260 | or nature of faith, but in the object of faith."
00:41:14.020 | I think that's a very good point, and it is well said.
00:41:19.540 | Tim Keller has observed, "It is not the strength of your faith, but the object of your faith
00:41:25.380 | that actually saves you.
00:41:27.700 | Strong faith in a weak branch is fatally inferior to weak faith in a strong branch."
00:41:36.940 | And I'm so glad that is true.
00:41:40.060 | So in this portion of the essay, you want to summarize the teaching that justification
00:41:46.860 | is by faith apart from the works of the law, and then let me move you to the next page
00:41:52.780 | of your handout.
00:41:58.020 | Let's talk through the issue of sanctification by faith, sanctification by faith.
00:42:05.380 | Now, again, you're not going to say everything that could be said about sanctification in
00:42:11.700 | this essay, but you are going to cover some key truths, and here's some things I want
00:42:15.740 | to kind of lay before you and ask you to think about and to write about in your essay for
00:42:26.380 | exam number 16, and the first would be the distinction between justification and sanctification.
00:42:34.140 | The distinction between justification and sanctification, as we mentioned, justification
00:42:39.140 | is imputed righteousness, it is God crediting to our account the righteousness of Christ
00:42:46.400 | at the moment of conversion.
00:42:48.660 | God gives us the perfect record of Jesus Christ as a gift, and we receive it in full at the
00:42:55.580 | moment of conversion.
00:42:58.420 | So we are never more justified than we were on the day we were saved.
00:43:04.700 | Our sanctification does not improve upon our justification, we're not more justified as
00:43:11.780 | we grow more sanctified.
00:43:13.940 | Our justification is complete, it is final, it is perfect.
00:43:21.860 | But then sanctification deals with imparted righteousness or practical righteousness.
00:43:30.700 | The two must be distinguished but never separated.
00:43:37.900 | So let's pick that statement apart.
00:43:40.420 | If you fail to distinguish between justification and sanctification, you end up with a Catholic
00:43:47.780 | view of justification and sanctification.
00:43:53.380 | The Catholic view is that justification is not a pronouncement, justification is a process.
00:44:02.420 | The Catholic view of salvation and the Christian life is that you become more justified the
00:44:08.520 | more you become sanctified, and that causes all sorts of confusion in the Christian life.
00:44:15.620 | So we must take pains to distinguish justification, a completed act, from sanctification, an ongoing
00:44:22.620 | process.
00:44:27.520 | J.C.
00:44:28.520 | Ryle has written this, "Justification is the reckoning and counting a man to be righteous
00:44:33.780 | for the sake of another, even Jesus Christ the Lord.
00:44:39.540 | Sanctification is the actual making a man inwardly righteous, though it may be in a
00:44:44.380 | very feeble degree.
00:44:46.920 | Justification is a finished and complete work.
00:44:50.100 | Sanctification is an imperfect work comparatively and will never be perfected until we reach
00:44:55.260 | heaven.
00:44:57.720 | Justification admits of no growth or increase.
00:45:01.160 | Sanctification is eminently a progressive work and admits of continual growth and enlargement
00:45:06.060 | so long as a man lives.
00:45:09.580 | Sanctification gives us our title to heaven and boldness to enter in.
00:45:13.460 | Sanctification gives us our meatness, an old word for suitability for heaven, and prepares
00:45:20.540 | us to enjoy it when we dwell there."
00:45:23.840 | Ryle says, "It can never be too strongly impressed on our minds that they are two separate things.
00:45:34.800 | That they cannot be separated, and everyone that is a partaker of either is a partaker
00:45:40.980 | of both.
00:45:42.560 | But never, never ought they to be confounded, and never ought the distinction between them
00:45:48.680 | to be forgotten."
00:45:51.180 | So if you fail to distinguish justification from sanctification, you end up with a Catholic
00:45:57.820 | view of the Christian life and of salvation.
00:46:03.780 | But if you fail to hold them together, if you somehow separate them so that sanctification
00:46:11.620 | is an optional add-on to justification, if you somehow buy into this idea that a man
00:46:19.020 | can be justified without also being sanctified, then you end up in the error of antinomianism,
00:46:27.540 | which is a critical theological error, which basically says that a man can be justified
00:46:34.860 | and then live however he wants.
00:46:38.540 | Paul says, "May it never be.
00:46:41.180 | God forbid.
00:46:42.680 | The two must be distinguished, justification and sanctification, but they must always be
00:46:48.420 | held together.
00:46:49.420 | They are inseparable."
00:46:50.940 | In other words, no one is justified without also being sanctified, at least to some degree.
00:46:59.620 | No one just receives the grace of justification without also receiving the grace of sanctification.
00:47:08.200 | So Ryle is taking pains.
00:47:09.380 | I would really encourage you to read those two works that are placed online.
00:47:14.900 | He's taking pains to hold these two expressions of grace together while at the same time distinguishing
00:47:22.240 | them so that a person does not labor under the idea that I've got to be more sanctified
00:47:28.700 | because I'm afraid that I am not justified, when the reality theologically is that it's
00:47:35.740 | the very opposite.
00:47:36.740 | It's because we are rejoicing in our justification that we are empowered and we are motivated
00:47:44.820 | to pursue our sanctification.
00:47:47.420 | Our justification is not in doubt.
00:47:52.440 | So that leads us to the second point here, the necessity of sanctification.
00:47:58.340 | Letter B, Paul moves on from justification in Romans chapter five to sanctification in
00:48:06.220 | Romans chapter six.
00:48:09.180 | We covered this passage in the introductory thoughts here, but the key idea here is that
00:48:16.380 | grace not only pardons the sinner, but grace empowers the sinner to live a holy life.
00:48:25.740 | Grace not only forgives sin, grace also transforms the believer so that the believer no longer
00:48:32.380 | loves his or her sin but desires to live in holiness and in righteousness.
00:48:40.860 | John Calvin has said this, "Christ justifies no man without also sanctifying him.
00:48:46.700 | These blessings are conjoined by a perpetual and inseparable tie.
00:48:52.180 | Those whom he enlightens by his wisdom, he redeems.
00:48:54.980 | Whom he redeems, he justifies.
00:48:56.860 | Whom he justifies, he sanctifies.
00:49:00.060 | Although we distinguish between them, they are both inseparably comprehended in Christ."
00:49:10.500 | First Corinthians 1 verse 30 says, "And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became
00:49:16.180 | to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption."
00:49:22.580 | So, let me move you to the next page here on your handout, and I think I've shown you
00:49:30.860 | this table before, but in justification, you have positional righteousness, sanctification,
00:49:39.380 | you have practical righteousness.
00:49:44.100 | Justification is instantaneous.
00:49:47.060 | Sanctification is progressive.
00:49:49.460 | In justification, we're free from sin's penalty.
00:49:51.860 | In sanctification, we're free from sin's power.
00:49:55.640 | In justification, Paul deals with justification in Romans chapter 3 to 5, and then sanctification
00:50:02.500 | in Romans 6 and 7.
00:50:04.980 | But the thing that the two have in common is that justification is by faith, and then
00:50:10.940 | to the point of this essay, sanctification is by faith as well.
00:50:17.660 | So, letter C, a definition for sanctification, I'll just briefly touch on this and then we'll
00:50:27.700 | get into the last portion of this teaching.
00:50:32.100 | But Anthony Hokema has a great work called Saved by Grace.
00:50:38.140 | It's a book that's written on the doctrine of salvation, soteriology.
00:50:44.060 | That's a work, again, if you've got $10 or so, I would highly encourage you to have that
00:50:49.820 | on your bookshelf and to read through that.
00:50:52.460 | But he has a chapter there on sanctification, which has a really good definition.
00:50:57.380 | He says, "We may define sanctification as that gracious operation of the Holy Spirit
00:51:03.740 | involving our responsible participation by which he delivers us from the pollution of
00:51:08.420 | sin, renews our entire nature according to the image of God, and enables us to live lives
00:51:14.020 | that are pleasing to him.
00:51:17.100 | Sanctification empowers us to think will and love in a way that glorifies God, to think
00:51:22.100 | God's thoughts after him, and to do what is in harmony with his will."
00:51:27.140 | I'll just make a note there that we're going to come back to this definition in the later
00:51:32.060 | essays as we deal with the issue of synergistic sanctification, how man works and God works
00:51:43.080 | in sanctification.
00:51:44.780 | We work out our salvation with fear and trembling before it is God who has worked in us to will
00:51:51.000 | and to work for his good pleasure.
00:51:53.820 | We're going to deal with the issue of past, present, and future sanctification.
00:52:01.080 | Those are topics which are to come.
00:52:03.140 | But just note here that that's a really good definition that we're going to refer back
00:52:06.700 | to in our study.
00:52:09.300 | I think it captures a lot of the biblical teaching on sanctification.
00:52:15.620 | For our purpose in this essay, Theology Exam #16, we just want you to grab a hold of the
00:52:22.380 | simple definition that sanctification is the process of a believer becoming more holy.
00:52:30.980 | The idea of being holy needs to be set apart.
00:52:36.700 | The believer is practically being set apart from sin and consecrated unto God.
00:52:44.180 | We'll talk through the past, present, and future aspects of that.
00:52:49.780 | We have been, in the past, sanctified.
00:52:54.340 | We'll find that in the Scriptures, that this word "sanctification" is used in the past
00:52:59.980 | tense, that we have been sanctified.
00:53:02.840 | There has been this decisive break from sin and sin's power that has occurred at the moment
00:53:09.900 | of our conversion.
00:53:12.020 | But because we have been sanctified in the past, we are being sanctified in the present.
00:53:18.360 | We are continually, on a daily basis, being conformed to the likeness of Christ and being
00:53:24.000 | made more holy, more consecrated on a practical level to the purposes of God.
00:53:30.460 | And then one day, we will, in the future, be perfectly sanctified, perfectly or ultimately
00:53:37.540 | completely set apart from sin and sin's influences and consecrated unto God's purposes.
00:53:46.840 | But for this essay, we just want you to get a hold of the idea that sanctification is
00:53:51.600 | the process of becoming more holy.
00:53:56.040 | It's the present, if you look at the present aspect of sanctification, it is the process
00:54:01.160 | of becoming more holy in our Christian lives.
00:54:07.180 | A number of passages there, but I'll just mention 1 Corinthians 1 verse 2.
00:54:13.820 | I love this statement written to the church at Corinth, which had a lot of issues with
00:54:21.220 | their practical sanctification, as you know.
00:54:25.120 | But Paul says there, "To the church of God that is at Corinth, to those sanctified, haggiazo,
00:54:31.420 | in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, haggios, together with all those who in every place
00:54:36.620 | call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours."
00:54:42.460 | We are called to pursue sanctification because we are the saints.
00:54:49.220 | Sainthood is not some second level of spirituality that is earned through the Christian life.
00:54:57.460 | It is the status of every believer in Christ, that you are a saint because you have been
00:55:04.940 | set apart unto God.
00:55:11.060 | For this essay, we just want you to introduce the subject of sanctification and just get
00:55:18.400 | a hold of that idea that sanctification is the process of becoming more holy in the Christian
00:55:25.580 | life.
00:55:26.580 | Now, let me move you to the last page and I'll spend a few minutes on this as we wrap
00:55:31.300 | up our time together.
00:55:35.740 | The role of faith in our sanctification.
00:55:43.660 | Now, I just find this to be incredibly encouraging as well as, I think, a necessary balance in
00:55:53.940 | a lot of the ways that we think about sanctification.
00:55:58.340 | And I'll just ask you tonight to evaluate in your own life.
00:56:03.940 | When you think about becoming more holy, when you think about growing to overcome sin, growing
00:56:12.500 | to be like Christ, when you think about the process of becoming more godly, how often
00:56:20.700 | do you think of that process in terms of growing in faith, growing in your trust in the Lord
00:56:31.660 | Jesus Christ?
00:56:34.880 | Do you tend to think of the process of becoming more holy in terms of doing more disciplines
00:56:44.120 | or doing more duties, or do you think of it in terms of growing in faith, growing strong
00:56:53.680 | in faith, learning to grow in your trust and your reliance and your confidence in the Lord
00:57:01.440 | Jesus Christ in all that he has done for your life and for believers?
00:57:09.480 | Do you think of the process of becoming more sanctified in terms of faith, or do you think
00:57:16.800 | of it in terms more of doing things?
00:57:19.520 | Now, don't hear me wrong because nobody grows in faith apart from growing in discipline
00:57:26.000 | or engaging in what some have called the means of grace.
00:57:32.120 | No one grows in faith apart from an active engagement in spiritual discipline, so don't
00:57:37.760 | hear me wrong.
00:57:39.720 | But the crux of the matter really is that we will grow to be more holy, we will grow
00:57:45.000 | to be more sanctified as we walk in faith, as our faith grows stronger, as our faith
00:57:54.240 | is purified and refined through the course of life.
00:57:59.720 | Sanctification is a faith issue.
00:58:04.000 | Jesus said to his disciples, when they were behaving in wrong ways, what did he say?
00:58:10.320 | Did he say, "O ye of little discipline?"
00:58:14.960 | That's not what he said.
00:58:18.560 | He would address them frequently from the standpoint of, "O ye of little what?
00:58:25.200 | Little faith.
00:58:27.740 | You are little faiths," and that was the crux of their problem.
00:58:31.200 | That's why they were despairing when they came across impossible situations.
00:58:35.440 | That's why they were anxious for their daily needs.
00:58:40.100 | That's why they experienced this ineffective experience in ministry.
00:58:48.980 | They were powerless in ministry in certain situations because they were little faiths.
00:58:54.940 | Faith was the issue.
00:58:57.740 | And Jesus even said to them that you're unable to cast out a demon because you have little
00:59:04.820 | faith.
00:59:05.820 | Jesus said in Matthew 17 verse 20, "For truly I say to you, if you have faith like the grain
00:59:10.740 | of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move
00:59:14.460 | and nothing will be impossible for you."
00:59:17.180 | So he's highlighting the central aspect of faith in living for him and doing effective
00:59:24.260 | ministry.
00:59:25.260 | And I just want to encourage you tonight as you write this essay to think about the aspect
00:59:32.980 | of faith as central to the sanctification process.
00:59:37.220 | Now again, use the synonyms, believe, to trust.
00:59:42.660 | I think you might be able to see it more clearly if you use those synonyms.
00:59:47.460 | Isn't it true that in every issue of life that we face today, that God is calling us
00:59:55.220 | to trust him more?
00:59:58.300 | God is calling us to grow in our faith, in our reliance, our confidence in him and all
01:00:06.300 | that he has promised to do for us.
01:00:11.740 | Isn't every issue of life simply an issue that drives us to this question, are you going
01:00:17.940 | to trust God for your life, for your ministry, for your future, for every issue in your life,
01:00:28.260 | or are you going to trust yourself?
01:00:29.260 | Are you going to trust someone else?
01:00:31.140 | Where is your confidence, your reliance?
01:00:34.660 | And we grow in our sanctification as our faith grows.
01:00:39.580 | Now disciplines are a means to feed that faith.
01:00:43.180 | You go to church and you hear God's word, so you can feed that faith.
01:00:46.860 | You read the Bible every day, so you can feed your faith.
01:00:50.700 | We're not discounting the importance of that, but the issue in sanctification is where is
01:00:56.520 | your faith, where have you placed your trust or your reliance?
01:01:01.900 | Listen to Jeremiah 17 verse five, the classic biblical counseling passage that says, "The
01:01:08.700 | Lord cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns
01:01:13.740 | away from the Lord."
01:01:16.900 | Now that's a word for this election season, and I have made a commitment.
01:01:24.100 | My mouth is sealed when it comes to politics.
01:01:26.780 | I'm not going to speak on politics because that's not my role as a pastor, but I will
01:01:34.020 | say this, if your trust, if your reliance, if your confidence is in any political leader
01:01:43.960 | to be your strength or your confidence, then you are placing your trust in man and you
01:01:50.500 | are setting yourself up for disappointment.
01:01:55.780 | This is why the day after the election, I'm resolved not to be overly elated nor overly
01:02:01.840 | disappointed or despairing because my trust is in the Lord, not in any man.
01:02:09.740 | Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength.
01:02:15.660 | Verse seven, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust," it's a trust issue,
01:02:21.020 | "whose trust is in the Lord.
01:02:23.220 | He is like a tree planted by water that sends out its roots by the stream and does not fear
01:02:27.200 | when heat comes, for its leaves remain green and is not anxious in the year of drought,
01:02:31.540 | for it does not cease to bear fruit."
01:02:34.420 | That's the issue of faith, trust, belief.
01:02:38.820 | Faith in the New Testament is used to describe not only a past act of when you came to faith
01:02:44.900 | in Jesus Christ and received the blessings of justification, but also the ongoing process
01:02:50.720 | of walking with God and trusting Him, placing your reliance upon the living God rather than
01:02:57.860 | on finite man who is here today and gone tomorrow.
01:03:04.380 | So many passages here, and I'm going to try to wrap this up, but just so many wonderful
01:03:09.700 | passages here talking about the central aspect of faith.
01:03:13.380 | Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5 or 6, "So we are always of good courage.
01:03:17.420 | We know that while we are at home in the body, we're away from the Lord, for we walk by faith,
01:03:22.980 | not by sight."
01:03:25.740 | That's the present continual reality of our daily walk.
01:03:30.660 | Hebrews 10, verse 37, "For yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not
01:03:35.780 | delay, but my righteous one shall," here it is, "presently live by faith."
01:03:42.140 | Not only talking about faith is the day you came to Jesus Christ, you exercise faith,
01:03:46.540 | but we live by faith.
01:03:48.060 | We walk by faith.
01:03:51.420 | We draw near, Hebrews says, in full assurance of faith.
01:03:56.380 | What is faith?
01:03:57.380 | Hebrews 11, verse 1, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things
01:04:02.440 | not seen."
01:04:03.440 | Verse 6, "And without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near
01:04:08.900 | to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him."
01:04:13.260 | The examples of faith in Hebrews 11, "By faith, Noah, by faith, Abraham, by faith, Sarah,
01:04:21.260 | by faith, Isaac, by faith, Moses, by faith, Rahab."
01:04:29.180 | And then you jump to Hebrews 12, verse 1, "Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud
01:04:33.500 | of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin which clings so closely
01:04:38.900 | and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder
01:04:44.060 | and perfecter of our," what?
01:04:47.300 | Our faith.
01:04:48.300 | I mean, the central role of faith in the sanctification process.
01:04:53.680 | So the practical thing is this, and let me just draw this to a close.
01:05:00.280 | If all that you give to your counselees, when they come and they're struggling with anger,
01:05:05.720 | they're struggling with their purity, or they're struggling with anxiety, or they're struggling
01:05:10.920 | with resolving conflict, if all that you do is give them, "Well, here's how you should
01:05:17.640 | behave and here's how you should not behave."
01:05:21.740 | And you never feed their faith.
01:05:25.280 | Where is your trust, where is your reliance, where is your hope placed in?
01:05:32.300 | If you never feed their faith by taking them to the person and work of Jesus Christ, who
01:05:38.740 | is the author and perfecter of faith, then the issue would be, can you call that truly
01:05:46.740 | biblical counseling?
01:05:49.040 | You may use some scriptures, but have you captured the whole theme of scripture, which
01:05:54.400 | is to lead us to faith and to strengthen our faith, to strengthen our reliance and our
01:05:59.920 | confidence in the living Christ?
01:06:04.600 | And can I add one final thought on that, is that one of the reasons why God allows us
01:06:12.640 | to go through seasons of trial and of suffering is to do what?
01:06:19.800 | Is to purify our faith, is to show us where our faith really is.
01:06:28.000 | That's 1 Peter 1, verse 6, "In this you rejoice, but now for a little while, if necessary,
01:06:33.520 | you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith,
01:06:42.360 | more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result
01:06:46.800 | in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
01:06:55.560 | How do we help people grow in faith?
01:06:57.680 | We're back to the intellectual aspect.
01:07:00.240 | We get people into the Word of God.
01:07:02.760 | We get the Word of God into them.
01:07:05.080 | We place into people's minds the truths of God's Word.
01:07:08.840 | There's the emotional aspect.
01:07:10.480 | We pray.
01:07:11.480 | Can I say to you biblical counselors in training, this is why biblical counseling is, it's more
01:07:18.480 | than just dispensing information.
01:07:20.280 | We labor in prayer on behalf of our counselees, that not only they would understand the scriptures,
01:07:25.960 | but that they would be convinced, that they would be convicted, that they would be cut
01:07:30.240 | to the heart.
01:07:31.240 | We pray.
01:07:32.240 | I personally prayed for husbands who are selfish in their marriages and being mean to their
01:07:37.400 | wives and just labored in prayer, "Lord, God, take the truths of your Word and break this
01:07:44.760 | person's heart and convict him so that he will live a godly life and love his wife as
01:07:53.160 | Christ loved the church."
01:07:54.680 | It is laboring in prayer that the Word of God would bring conviction upon those whom
01:07:59.680 | we minister to.
01:08:01.200 | And then there is the volitional aspect.
01:08:06.160 | We use the word "you," the second person "you" a lot in counseling.
01:08:11.320 | Will you believe this?
01:08:13.480 | Will you trust this?
01:08:17.240 | Bob or whoever it is that I'm counseling, this is what the Word of God says to you.
01:08:22.280 | Will you trust this Word over against your own opinions or your own thoughts?
01:08:28.840 | And we call counselees not only to hear and to be convicted, but to respond volitionally,
01:08:37.320 | to place their trust in Christ and His Word.
01:08:43.040 | This is why biblical counseling offers what no secular model can offer.
01:08:50.440 | It offers the Word of God, which causes us to grow in faith.
01:08:54.240 | And as we walk in faith, we are indeed sanctified.
01:08:57.240 | Okay, friends, I have used up all my time tonight.
01:09:01.720 | I've gone over time, but I hope that was helpful and had a lot to say and to cover.
01:09:06.960 | I want to thank you all for joining us on this webinar.
01:09:09.760 | I hope this was helpful in working through this essay topic.
01:09:14.560 | Again, hit the main points of defined faith, cover a brief summary of justification by
01:09:20.800 | faith, and then deal with sanctification, distinguish sanctification from justification,
01:09:28.400 | and then talk about the central role of faith in sanctification.
01:09:32.640 | And then future essays will do more study on sanctification and work through that topic
01:09:38.800 | as well.
01:09:39.800 | So thank you all for joining us tonight.
01:09:41.680 | I do hope you have a wonderful week.
01:09:43.440 | We're going to be back right at the same time tonight, next Sunday at the five o'clock Pacific
01:09:50.640 | time we'll tackle the issue of repentance next week.
01:09:55.200 | So there's no easy topics in our study of God's Word, but we do hope you'll join us
01:10:01.760 | next week.
01:10:02.760 | Let me pray for us and we'll close our time.
01:10:05.600 | Father, I do pray this for each of my brothers and sisters, each of my friends here tonight.
01:10:14.920 | Pray this for my own heart and pray this for those whom we minister to, that you would
01:10:20.480 | help us to grow in faith, that there would be a greater understanding of your Word, a
01:10:27.680 | greater conviction of heart and mind as we come under your Word and a greater willingness
01:10:36.680 | to place our trust in your Word and in Christ rather than ourselves or our opinions or what
01:10:42.800 | other men might say.
01:10:44.160 | Pray that as we grow in faith.