to see you all on this online webinar, and thankful for your faithfulness, and thankful for the opportunity that we have to study God's Word tonight. We're gonna be looking at Theology exam number 20 tonight, and it's a topic of sanctification, specifically dealing with the issue of present-day progressive sanctification, and I trust that this will be a wonderful study for all of us.

So thanks so much for your faithfulness. My wife and I had a great vacation last week, and just a good time recharging batteries and getting some rest up in the mountains, and thankful to be back with you tonight, and we're gonna make a strong finish to the Theology exams of this class.

So we're looking at tonight Theology exam number 20, the issue of synergistic sanctification, which means that basically we cooperate with the grace of God in actively pursuing sanctification. I am gonna do a little bit of critique on that term "synergistic" tonight, and talk a little bit about the issue of monergistic versus synergistic sanctification, but I do think that the concept that we are dealing with tonight is plainly taught in the Word of God, and that is simply this, that the believer in Christ is called to actively pursue sanctification.

We are called to actively battle for our sanctification, to be disciplined, to train ourselves for the purpose of godliness, to not be passive, to not be lazy in the pursuit of sanctification, and we're gonna see the balance in the teaching of what the Scriptures say, that we are called to pursue sanctification, and to exert diligent effort in pursuing Christ-likeness, and yet all of that is simply the expression of the grace of God working in our lives.

And so this is a topic that I think is going to be helpful for all of us. We do need to be aware of some of the imbalances and some of the theological errors as it relates to sanctification, and so I think this study will be helpful to us.

A couple of passages, just these aren't on your notes, but just to open our class with, Paul said in 1st Corinthians 15 verse 10, "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me." So you read that text and you ask the question, which is it, Paul?

Was it God's grace working in your life that produced spiritual fruit and produced effective ministry, or were you the one who was doing the work? Was it you working hard, or was it God's grace working in you? And Paul would say, according to this verse, that the answer is yes to both.

I was working. I worked harder than any of them, he said. I didn't just sit back and wait for the grace of God to work in me. I didn't just passively expect God to do a work in my life. I worked hard, and I was working, and yet he immediately adds after making that statement that it was the grace of God working in me.

So which is it? Was it God's grace working in you, or was it you working? And Paul says yes to both. I was working. I was working hard, but I was working because God's grace was working in me. That's the concept, basically, of synergistic sanctification. God's grace is the one that does the work.

God's grace is working in us. The Holy Spirit is working in us to make us more like Jesus Christ, and yet the grace of God working in us does not produce a passive approach to spiritual life. The grace of God working in us produces a Christian who works hard, who actively and diligently trains for godliness, who actively pursues sanctification.

That's basically what this essay topic is about, this concept of synergistic sanctification. I am working. God's grace is working. I am working because God's grace is working, and the truth is that my working out my salvation with fear and trembling is evidence of God's doing His work in my life.

So I do believe this is a very important topic tonight, and one that I trust will be helpful in your studies. I've been a pastor now for 25 years. I have seen aberrant views of sanctification come and go in the church. I have seen how wrong views of sanctification affect people's lives.

I've seen wrong views of sanctification affect the church, and just the trends come and go, and it's really important that we understand the doctrine of present-day progressive sanctification and hold those truths in balance, that we are called to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, always with the confidence that it is God who is doing His work in us, and that He will be faithful to complete the work that He began in us.

So I trust that this will be a good hour of reflection on that theme. Let me pray for us, and let's devote this time to the Lord. Let's pray. Well, Father, we do thank You that You are always working in our lives. We thank You that You are the one who has begun the work in us, and that You are the one who will be faithful to complete that work at the day of Christ Jesus.

We thank You that You are working to make us more like Your Son, Jesus Christ. We thank You that You are working to make us more holy. We thank You that You are working through the trials in our lives, through the disappointments, through even the heartaches and the difficulties, through the various trials that we encounter in this life.

You are working through it all to make us more like Christ. We thank You that it is because You are working that we are able to work out our salvation with fear and with trembling. And so we pray that we would understand the doctrine of sanctification biblically, and that we would be able to make application to our lives.

And we would pray that even for this hour of study, that both dynamics would be true of even this hour, that we would work hard, that we would work hard to understand, to clarify, to read, to be precise about what Your Word teaches regarding sanctification. And yet, our working hard would be simply the expression of You performing Your work in us.

Do Your work in each of our hearts tonight, and bear fruit, we pray, for Your glory. And so we give this time to You, in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Well, let's read the question together, and then we're gonna dive into our notes tonight. Again, we're looking at Theology Exam number 20.

The question is, "Explain the synergistic nature of sanctification, being sure to describe the relationship between God's grace and moral effort in the Christian life." So, the question wants us to deal with the synergistic nature of sanctification, and then to describe the relationship between God's grace and moral effort. And a key verse in that discussion is, as I just mentioned, 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 10, as well as Philippians chapter 2 verses 12 and 13.

So, you will remember that this is the second question on the ACBC Theology Exams, which deal with the subject of sanctification. You'll remember that Theology Exam number 19 asked us to explain the biblical categories of past, present, and future sanctification. So, we looked at that last time that we met, that there is a past aspect to sanctification, which theologians refer to as definitive or positional sanctification.

That we have been sanctified at the moment of conversion. There was a decisive break between the believer and the power of sin. The believer has been united with Christ in his life, death, and resurrection. And so, we have been set apart in the past. We have been sanctified in the sense that we are no longer living as slaves to sin.

We are no longer under the dominion of sin. And so, each of us can rightly be called saints. We are saints because we have been sanctified. And so, that is the truth of past sanctification. We move then to the present aspect of sanctification, which theologians refer to as progressive sanctification.

Having been sanctified and having gained the identity of being saints, we now pursue sanctification in our daily lives. Each of us as believers are in the process of becoming practically more like Jesus Christ in our daily lives. And so, little by little, day by day, we are becoming more like Jesus Christ.

Sometimes, that sanctification seems slow. Sometimes, we feel that we are not making the progress that we ought to. Sometimes, sanctification is two steps forward, one step back. And yet, little by little, over days, over months, over years, we are progressively conformed to be more like Jesus Christ. And that is the work God is doing in our lives.

So, we have been sanctified. We are being sanctified. And then, we looked at the issue of future sanctification, which can also be called ultimate or perfective sanctification. The truth that one day, we will be perfectly sanctified. In the words of 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 23, we will be completely sanctified.

We will be like Christ. 1 John 3, verses 1 to 3 says, "For we shall see him as he is." So, we look forward to the day and live in the hope that one day, we will be perfectly sanctified. One day, there will be no more struggle with sin.

There will be no more battling temptation. We shall perfectly be like Jesus Christ. And we long for that day, the future aspect of our sanctification. We have been sanctified. We are being sanctified. And one day, we will perfectly be sanctified. So, we looked at that, those three categories, last time we met.

And in this essay, Theology exam number 20, we're zeroing in on that second aspect, the present-day sanctification that each of us are engaged with in our Christian lives. We're really zeroing in on what is progressive sanctification. How does sanctification work in our present-day lives, as we are progressively being made to be more like Jesus Christ?

The question is, is it God's grace, which is doing the work in our lives, or are we doing the work in studying the Scripture, seeking the Lord in prayer, attending church, and serving in church ministry? Is God's grace doing the work, or are we doing the work? And we will find that Scripture affirms both.

We are working because God is working. And that is the concept that is really summarized under the idea of synergistic sanctification. So, I think this question is really designed to guard against two unbalanced views of sanctification, and I'm putting this on the slides. This isn't on your handout, but let me just note this here, because I think this is helpful for us, and I think this will really give a rationale as to why we should write this essay and why devote ourselves to the study of this subject.

There are really two unbalanced views of sanctification that we want to guard against in our understanding of progressive sanctification. The first unbalanced view is the quietistic view of sanctification. The quietistic view. This view basically says that the believer is passive in sanctification. This is the view which is commonly summarized by the statement, "Let go and let God." John MacArthur writes this, "Quietism tends to be mystical and subjective, focusing on personal feelings and experiences.

A person who is utterly submitted to and dependent on God, they say, will be divinely protected from sin and led into faithful living. Trying to strive against sin or discipline oneself to produce good works is considered not only futile but unspiritual and counterproductive." So, this is the quietistic approach to sanctification.

The idea that you're just passive or you've reached a level of spirituality or spiritual maturity where you don't need to pray anymore, you don't need to read the Bible anymore, you can kind of just coast your way to greater sanctification. Now, dear friends, you see the problem with this is that it's not only unbiblical, but this approach to sanctification does not work.

No one is sanctified apart from active, diligent devotion to the biblical means of sanctification. No one just coasts their way into holiness. Paul even described his ministry in this way in Colossians 1, verse 29, where he says, "For this I toil, I labor, I work to the point of exhaustion," is the meaning of the original Greek word.

"For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me." So, that's another key verse that you might want to note down. First Colossians 1, verse 29. God is working. God is powerfully working in the Apostle Paul, and the expression of God working in his life is that he is toiling.

He is working to the point of exhaustion, all because God is performing God's work in Paul. So, the quietistic view is basically you can be passive, let go, and let God. You can see why this view is very popular. There are forms of the quietistic view that show up in every age and in every season of the church.

Believe me, the quietistic view of sanctification is very well and alive today in the modern-day church. You will find that this view will show up in your counseling sessions with people that you counsel. Just kind of this passive approach. "Why am I not growing? Why am I not becoming a more godly person?

Why am I not becoming more spiritually mature? Why am I not experiencing more spiritual victories?" And you get into counseling sessions, and you find that this person is not reading the Bible, is not praying, is not attending church, is not in fellowship, and yet there's this sort of idea that the Holy Spirit's gonna do this work in my life.

Apart from those means, apart from my diligent devotion to those means, I can kind of let go and let God and the Holy Spirit supposed to do work in my life. That's the quietistic view of sanctification. And that leads to the second unbalanced view of sanctification, which is the opposite extreme.

This is the pietistic view of sanctification. The pietistic view of sanctification. As John MacArthur writes, "This unbalanced view of pietism often leads to an overemphasis on self-effort to the virtual exclusion of dependence on divine power." So, on one hand, the quietist says, "Do nothing and you'll be sanctified." The pietist says, "Do everything.

It's all on you. You have to make it happen. It's all up to you if you're gonna be sanctified." As MacArthur observes, "As you might expect, pietism frequently leads to legalism, moralism, self-righteousness, a judgmental spirit, pride, and hypocrisy." So, I love what C.H. Spurgeon said. He said, "Work as if it all depended on you, and then pray as if it all depended on God." And I think that's the balance between quietism and pietism.

Pietism is not a biblical view of sanctification. It may look impressive because a person is really working hard at their Christian life, but there is not the accompanying dependence upon the grace of God, a healthy dependence upon the Holy Spirit, a realization of what Jesus said to his disciples that, "Apart from me, you can do nothing." Pietism oftentimes looks like a high-performance type of Christianity that is fueled more by pride and self-reliance than upon a reliance upon God and a reliance upon the Holy Spirit.

And we do meet pietists in the counseling ministry. They may not call themselves pietists. They may just call themselves high achievers or those who are devoted to a standard of excellence, but when you talk to a pietist, you will often find that there is this absence of peace in their Christian lives.

There is this anxious sort of toil, this anxiety and fear that is really driving this performance, and it often leads to exhaustion and burnout. You see, the pietist neglects to emphasize the truth that, in the end, sanctification is completely the work of God. Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

1 Thessalonians 5 verse 23 says, "Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Pietism neglects to hold on to that truth that it is God who has begun the good work in me, and it is God who will complete it at the day of Christ Jesus.

Now just a pastoral note here that I've seen the destructive effects of both quietism and pietism in the church and in individual Christians lives, and I've seen how both quietism and pietism appeal to the flesh. Both erroneous approaches to sanctification appeal to self, appeal to the flesh in different ways.

Quietism appeals to the flesh by saying you can be lazy and you don't need to work hard in order to be sanctified. Quietism says, you know, you see all those people in the church that they're reading their Bibles and they're going to church and they're taking the Lord's table and they're engaging in ministry.

You don't need to be like them. You can kind of just be the exception to the rule, and you can be sanctified apart from those activities. But pietism appeals to self by saying, you know, you can do it. Sort of the American spirit, you know, you can do it, you can make it happen, you can achieve, you can work hard, you can be an excellent Christian by your own efforts.

And if you just work really hard and just really get serious about your Christian life, you can achieve higher levels of sanctification and spirituality. And that approach to sanctification neglects the healthy dependence upon God, the healthy dependence upon the Holy Spirit, and the acknowledgment that says that are from Christ I can do nothing.

So how do we avoid both of these extremes? How do we avoid both pietism and quietism in our pursuit of sanctification? How do we emphasize both the grace of God in our lives and our dependence upon God's grace and His power in our lives, as well as emphasize our responsibility to engage in diligent pursuit of spiritual maturity and holiness?

Well, that's why this topic is so important, and I hope this would fuel your motivation to write this essay. Let me just note on your handout there just some helpful resources on this topic you have listed on page 1, the reading from Wayne Grudem, Heath Lambert, and Anthony Hokoma.

Those are all good resources on the topic of sanctification. And then just a few blog posts that I want to encourage you to read. There's a couple blog posts there by Mike Riccardi, who is a pastor at Grace Community Church. Just some really excellent material on the subject of sanctification.

I'm going to refer back to his works in just a moment. Just very balanced, biblical, insightful, helpful, pastoral, and practical. I just so appreciate Pastor Riccardi's work on sanctification, and it's available on the Cripplegate blog. And then a blog post on sanctification by Kevin DeYoung, who is a very insightful writer on a number of topics, and he deals with the subject of synergistic sanctification.

Now, you're going to find that both Mike Riccardi and Kevin DeYoung take issue with the term synergistic sanctification, and I'm going to take the same issue as well. I don't want to get off topic here because my purpose here is not so much to critique the question, but I will say at the outset that I don't believe the term synergistic sanctification is wrong.

I don't believe that it is erroneous, but perhaps it is a little bit of a clumsy way to describe the biblical dynamic of sanctification. And if you read Riccardi and DeYoung on the subject, they basically point out the fact that the terms monergistic and synergistic were initially used in church history to define the doctrine of regeneration.

Regeneration, which is the granting of new life in Christ. And theologians took pains to define regeneration as being monergistic in nature. The work of one literally. Regeneration is monergistic because there's no way for a dead man to make himself alive. Man cannot cooperate with God in regeneration because, as Ephesians 2 verse 1 says, man is dead in his sins and trespasses, and so a sinner can do nothing to cooperate with the work of regeneration.

Regeneration, therefore, is monergistic in nature. So in reference to the doctrine of regeneration, the terms monergistic and synergistic are helpful terms. But what both Riccardi and DeYoung are basically pointing out is that we've taken these terms which are helpful to define the doctrine of regeneration and then tried to use them in relation to the doctrine of sanctification.

And in the discussion of the doctrine of sanctification, the terms monergistic and synergistic are less helpful. So again, I don't want to get off topic, and I was telling my wife this morning that my poor class is gonna have to bear with me a little bit tonight because my purpose is not so much to critique the term synergistic sanctification, and I would just say that your purpose in writing these essays is not to critique the term synergistic sanctification, but I do want to point out that I'm very helped by these insights into the term monergistic and synergistic sanctification because believe it or not, I have struggled over the last ten years to understand the terminology monergistic sanctification versus synergistic sanctification, and in my own studies and in my own heart, I've kept wondering, "Is sanctification monergistic or synergistic?" And I kept coming up with biblical texts which seem to indicate that it is monergistic in the sense that it is ultimately the work of God, and it is synergistic in that we are involved in exerting moral effort, and I've always struggled to understand that terminology, and those two blog posts were very helpful for me.

So I want to commend those to you, and I hope that'll be helpful reading for your study. So all that to say, don't write your essay on critiquing the term synergistic sanctification. Write your essay on the subject of how God's grace is working in our lives to sanctify us at the same time we are working and actively engaged in sanctification, and you will do fine, but I do want to just share that point because I think it's been helpful to me, and hopefully helpful to you as well.

So let's talk about synergistic sanctification. Again, I think it's a little bit of a clumsy phrase, but I do think that the heart of it, the main idea that's captured in that phrase is what is taught in Scripture. God's grace is working, and we are working. So just on your notes on page 2, under synergistic sanctification, letter A, we do observe that God's people are to be marked by passion for holiness.

We covered some of this material two weeks ago. I just want to emphasize this because it is so crucial just on a practical note. I'm teaching this session not only to equip you to write a good essay on this topic, but also to remind you that as biblical counselors, we need to be marked by a passion for sanctification and holiness.

This ought to be what people see when they observe our lives, not a perfect person or a perfect counselor, but a counselor who is daily repenting of sin, a counselor who is daily seeking the Lord in prayer, a counselor who is devoted to the means of grace in the local church, a counselor who takes his or her own personal holiness very seriously.

I'm reminded of the minister who said that my people's greatest need is my personal holiness, and that is true of each counselor as well. Your counselee's greatest need is your personal holiness. God blesses sanctified vessels. Again, this will never be something that we completely attain to, but it ought to be the passion that marks our lives.

We are called to engage in this this pursuit. 1 Peter 1 verse 14, "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conducts, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" The meaning of holiness is to be set apart.

God has called us to be set apart from the world, to be set apart from sin, to be consecrated unto him. That involves the pursuit of moral purity, but it's a broader idea as well. It involves the complete consecration of heart, soul, mind, and will to the Lord and to his purposes.

When people look at our lives, they ought to see someone who has been set apart unto the Lord and set apart unto his purposes, and that is the idea of sanctification. Now, jumping down to letter B on your handout, we see that sanctification affects more than a person's external morality.

So sanctification is more than external behavior. Matthew 23 verse 25, Jesus said, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. You also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." So we observe there that sanctification is more than external morality.

It's more than external behavior. Sanctification must transform the heart, the will, the desires. Sanctification must result in a new affection, a new purpose, a new passion to live for the glory of Christ. As Charles Hodge has written in his systematic theology, "Sanctification does not consist exclusively in a series of a new kind of acts.

It is making the tree good." Now remember, those of you who took ACBC year one basic training course with me, remember all the trees that we drew throughout that course. It's a biblical concept that's reflected in these theological writings. We're not here to merely trim weeds or to trim thorns on the external behavior that's represented by the outside of the tree.

We're here to dig at the roots. We're here to transform hearts. And so Hodge writes that sanctification is making the tree good in order that the fruit may be good. That could have been written from a biblical counseling textbook. He says it involves an essential change of character, just as regeneration is a new birth, a new creation, a quickening, or communicating a new life.

So sanctification in its essential nature is not holy acts, but such a change in the state of the soul that sinful acts become more infrequent and holy acts more and more habitual and controlling. Michael Cardy agrees. He says the believer's growth in holiness is fundamentally internal and supernatural. The term metamorpho, translated transformation, describes the inner transformation of the essence of a person, an inward change in fundamental character.

Holiness does not simply mean bringing our outward behavior into conformity to an external standard. Hypocrites can do that. The inward transformation of the mind, which is to say the character or the affections, will indeed work itself out in external behavior, but the transformation begins internally. So when you minister to your counselee, you need to pray more than that their behavior changes.

You need to pray that their hearts will change. You need to target your prayers to the heart of the counselee and ask that God would change your counselee's hearts through the Word of God, and that is my prayer whenever I minister God's Word, and that should be all of our prayers whenever we minister God's Word.

Lord, change your people's hearts through your precious Word, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. So let me move to the next page there and just get to the issue of is sanctification synergistic or monergistic? I've already made some comments on this. I won't belabor the point, but just introduce the terms.

Monergistic means literally the work of one from the word mono meaning one and erg meaning work. Synergistic speaks of man's cooperation in sanctification using the term sin, which means with. As I've noted, this essay asks you to write about the synergistic nature of sanctification, yet it is interesting the term synergistic is not found in the ACBC Standards of Doctrine, and it's also not found in the doctrinal statement of my church, Kindred Community Church.

As we've noted, the term synergistic sanctification is commonly used to describe a view of sanctification which emphasizes the believer's active pursuit of godliness, yet there are some reasons why synergistic may not be the best term to describe the concept. So please indulge me for a moment. This has been a 10-year journey, and I put some notes down here even though I don't think this is really the focus of the essay.

I hope this might be helpful in a broad understanding. You'll note here that Heath Lambert does use the term synergistic sanctification in his work, A Theology of Biblical Counseling. He says that sanctification is a synergistic process, meaning that God and man cooperate in the work. Human effort is involved.

Other aspects of salvation, like regeneration and justification, which we discussed previously, are monergistic. The word monergism means that God alone does the work to bring about these results. Sanctification is a synergistic work. It involves our effort, but this effort is made possible by divine enablement. Our striving is made possible by divine grace.

Now I think that's a good statement. I think that's a fine statement. I think if you quote that statement in your essay that your essay will pass. I do think that synergistic sanctification as defined in that way, that it involves human effort, but human effort is the expression of divine grace working in a person's life, that that is, as far as it goes, a good and a fine definition of sanctification.

I do think that the concern with the term synergistic sanctification is not so much in what it teaches as in what it might open itself up to. The term synergism might leave open the question, "Do you mean then that sanctification is 50% up to God and then 50% up to me?" I don't think the term necessarily teaches that, but it might leave open that misunderstanding, and that's why I say it's not so much an incorrect term as it might be a bit of a clumsy one.

So listen to Kevin DeYoung on this subject, and maybe this isn't interesting to anyone but me, but it is incredibly interesting to me, so let me proceed. Kevin DeYoung discusses the term synergism and monergism in relation to sanctification, and he writes, "I think it is best to stay away from both terms.

The distinction is very helpful and very important when talking about regeneration, but these particular theological terms, that is synergism and monergism, muddy the waters when talking about sanctification. Synergism sounds like a swear word to Reform folks, so no one wants to say it, and yet monergism is not the right word either.

Those who say sanctification is monergistic want to protect the gracious supernatural character of sanctification. Those who say sanctification is synergistic want to emphasize that we must actively cooperate with the grace and sanctification." So here it is. Here's the main point, what DeYoung is saying and what I agree with.

These emphases are both correct, and yet I believe it is better to defend both of these points with careful explanation rather than with terms that have normally been employed in a different theological controversy, that is, the controversy over regeneration. And so DeYoung concludes that sanctification is both a gracious gift of God and it requires our active cooperation.

And what he's saying there is instead of using these terms, it might be better to do the hard work of just explaining the texts that deal with this subject, and that's the approach that I took when I wrote this essay. I didn't use the terms monergistic or synergistic. I just dealt with a text, just went to Philippians 2 verses 12 to 13, 1 Corinthians 15 verse 10, the passages which call for moral efforts, such as 1st Timothy chapter 4 verse 7, and just deal with the text, explain the text, and if you take that approach, you'll do fine.

Listen to Mike Riccardi on this subject, and I just so appreciate his writing on sanctification. He says, "On the one hand, we want to give the credit of our sanctification, the actual progress of becoming increasingly like Christ, where it belongs to God." I mean, would you say an amen to that?

I mean, we want, in the end of the day, if there's any progress made in my spiritual life, if I'm in any way made to be more like Christ, I don't want people to pat me on the back. I don't want to pat myself on the back. I want to give all glory to God.

It was God's work in my life which enabled me to grow in Christ. And so Riccardi is saying that's the desire of every Christian. We want to give all glory to God. So he says, "The term monergistic seems attractive, especially to us Calvinists who want to take no credit for the good in our spiritual lives and give all glory to Christ.

On the other hand, though, we don't want to discount our role in our sanctification and give the impression that we are completely passive." And we would also say amen to that. We want to hold fast to the biblical exhortations which call for moral effort and the active pursuit of godliness.

So Riccardi says, "I believe the answer is to recognize the unhelpfulness of using either of these adjectives to describe the sanctification process. The terms monergistic sanctification and synergistic sanctification are both misnomers and are therefore unhelpful. It might not be as neat and tidy to explain, but if we are to be biblical, we have to maintain the truth of both realities in Philippians 2 verses 12 to 13, even if it means more words of explanation." So Riccardi is saying basically the same thing DeYoung has written.

Just go to the text of Scripture, explain what's there. It may take more words and a little more effort, but if you deal with the text of Scripture, you will do fine on this subject. Okay, I'm gonna get off my hobby horse here and devote the rest of this time to helping you actually write this essay.

So what are the key truths regarding sanctification that you need to be able to handle under the umbrella of synergistic sanctification? Truth number one is that sanctification is a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification is a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. This ought to give everyone who is struggling with sanctification hope.

This ought to give everyone who is struggling with a specific sin issue in their life great encouragement that ultimately sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit. You may not feel like you can grow in this area. You may not feel like you can overcome this sin. You may not feel up to the task of overcoming temptation, but by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in you, you can grow and you can be sanctified.

Now dear friends, I've used that conversation in counseling ministry to encourage believers to say the hope is not in you or in your abilities or in your knowledge or your strength, but I believe that the Holy Spirit lives in you and by his power, because he is producing his fruit in you, I believe that you can grow and you can deal with this issue in your life.

Ultimately, sanctification is not the work of man. It is not merely the work or the product of more discipline, more effort, getting more serious. Ultimately, sanctification is the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life to conform that believer to the character of Christ and why does the Holy Spirit want to conform us to the character of Christ?

It is because the Holy Spirit loves Christ. John 16 verse 14, he does all things to glorify Christ. Have you ever thought about the fact that your sanctification is ultimately not about you? You're just caught up in this inter-trinitarian love relationship that the Father has sent the Son to redeem a bride, the Spirit has come into the world to glorify the Son, and the Spirit is active in bringing sinners to new life and then actively conforming those believers to the character of Christ all for the glory of Jesus Christ.

It's because the Spirit desires to glorify Christ that the Spirit is active in your sanctification. John Owen puts it this way, "The Lord Christ sends his Holy Spirit into our hearts, which is the efficient cause of all holiness and sanctification, quickening, enlightening, purifying the souls of his saints. In the end, that is my hope in sanctification.

I have hope for myself because the Holy Spirit lives in me, and I have hope for other believers because I believe in the power and the ministry of the Holy Spirit." John Murray puts it this way, "It is necessary to be reminded that in the last analysis we do not sanctify ourselves.

It is God who sanctifies. Specifically, it is the Holy Spirit who is the agent of sanctification. It is imperative that we realize our, and underline these words, complete dependence upon the Holy Spirit. That is the idea of dependence and yet active involvement in the sanctification process. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13, "But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved through sanctification by the Spirit." And then many other verses there emphasizing the Spirit's work in sanctification.

Let me move to truth number two. If sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit, then do we just let go and let God and just let the Holy Spirit work and just passively expect the Spirit to work in our lives, as Paul would say? May it never be.

Truth number two is that the Spirit uses means to sanctify the believer. The Spirit uses means to sanctify us. So an example of this, I might say that, you know, the Holy Spirit helped me or led me to love my neighbor. The Holy Spirit led me to ride a car to my neighbor and to give a nice gift and leave it on my neighbor's porch.

The Holy Spirit led me to do that. But what do I really mean when I say that the Holy Spirit led me to love my neighbor? Do I mean that the Holy Spirit just sort of zapped me one day and all of a sudden I felt this love for my neighbor?

Or do I mean that on one Sunday I went to my local church and I sat in church service and I heard my pastor preach a message on loving my neighbor, and then I wrote down notes as I heard the message, and then I went to lunch with other Christians and we talked about the message and how it might apply to our lives.

And I went home and I reviewed my notes and I read the passage again, and I prayed for God to help me to be a doer of His Word and not a hearer only. I went to my small group where we discussed the sermon and we discussed how we might apply it to our lives, and it is through my attendance at my church, and it is through the fellowship of the saints, and it is through reflection and study and prayer.

It is through those means that the Holy Spirit worked in my life and led me to love my neighbor, and as a result, my neighbor received a nice card and a nice little gift on his or her porch. Sanctification is a work of the Spirit, and yet the Spirit uses means to produce that sanctification, the means of study of God's Word and prayer and persevering through trials and fellowship and encouraging one another in the local church.

And we see that the primary means that the Spirit uses to sanctify believers is the Word of God. Ephesians 6 verse 17 says that the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. And so, sanctification is a work of the Spirit, and yet the Spirit uses means to sanctify the believer.

Let me move to the next page there and look at truth number three. The Spirit works through means to make us more like Christ. So truth number three is that the believer is called to diligently pursue sanctification. The believer is called to diligently pursue sanctification. Many verses there that you can read on your own, but we know that the Bible does not excuse laziness or passivity in our sanctification.

In other words, if you and I are not being sanctified, if we're not growing, don't blame the Holy Spirit. Don't say that, well, it's the Holy Spirit's fault that I'm not growing, because the Holy Spirit, it's His job to sanctify me. The reason why you and I are not being sanctified, it's not the Holy Spirit's fault, it is that because we're not fulfilling our responsibility to read God's Word, to be part of the local church, and to take the Lord's table regularly, and to be involved in the one another's of the local church.

We're not enduring trials with joy. We're not actively involved in the spiritual disciplines. That is why we are not growing. It is not the Holy Spirit's fault that we are not growing in Christ. 1 Timothy 4 verse 7 says, "Have nothing to do with irreverent silly myths, rather train yourselves for godliness." Verse 10 says, "For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hopes set on the living God." And then I'll just highlight 1 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 25, where Paul says, "Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.

They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." The believers call to diligently pursue sanctification, and we found that this is true.

John Calvin says, "It is an arduous work, and of immense labor, to put off the corruption which is in us." He bids us to strive and to make every effort for this purpose. He intimates that no place is to be given in this case to sloth, and that we ought to obey God, calling us not slowly or carelessly, but that there is need of alacrity, as though he had said, "Put forth every effort and make your exertions manifest to all." The more your discipline, the more you train, the more you will be sanctified.

Now does that mean that sanctification is dependent on us? May it never be. That discipline is simply the expression of God's grace working in us. When I set my alarm, and when I wake up in the morning, and when I read my Bible, and when I'm disciplined to train myself for godliness, that is the expression of God's work in my life, even though I am the one who is waking up in the morning.

Moises Silva gives this explanation of the balance. He says, "Sanctification requires discipline, concentration, and effort, as is clear by the many exhortations of Scripture, especially those where the Christian life is described with such figures as running and fighting. On the other hand, men must always resist the temptation to assume that they in effect sanctify themselves, that spiritual power comes from within them, and that they may therefore rely on their own strength." Silva acknowledges this is a difficult tension, though no more puzzling than the paradox of prayer.

Yet perhaps the real secret of holiness consists precisely in learning to keep that balance, relying thoroughly on God as the true agent in sanctification, while faithfully discharging one's personal responsibility. I'm reminded of John MacArthur's statement that he lives his life in a state of relaxed desperation. I like that statement.

Relaxed desperation. He is relaxed because he knows that it is all up to God. He has a sense of desperation because he understands what is at stake in every situation, and there is that difficult tension of fulfilling my responsibility before the Lord, and then in the end, leaving it up to God and trusting Him for the results.

So that leads me to truth number four, and we'll conclude with this. The believer's pursuit of sanctification is evidence of God's work in that believer. In the end, here's the reason why you need to understand this doctrine. In the end, God receives all the glory for every step in our progress toward Christlikeness.

In the end, it's not about how hard I worked, or how much I was disciplined, or how much I progressed. In the end, it is about see how faithful God has been to me, and see how God has been faithful to complete the work He began in me. And this brings us back to the key passages I introduced at the beginning of this session.

Philippians 2 verse 12, "Therefore my beloved, as you've always obeyed, so now not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." That one statement guards against both quietism and pietism in the view of sanctification.

And 1 Corinthians 15 verse 10 says, "By the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me." John Murray puts it this way, "God's working in us is not suspended because we work, nor our working suspended because God works.

God works in us, and we also work. But the relation is that because God works, we work. All working out of salvation on our part is the effect of God's working in us, not the willing to the exclusion of the doing and not the doing to the exclusion of the willing, but both the willing and the doing.

And this working of God is directed to the end of enabling us to will and to do that which is pleasing to Him." Jonathan Edwards says, "We are not merely passive in it, nor yet does God do some and we do the rest, but God does all," and note this, "we do all.

God produces all, and we act all, for that is what He produces, our own acts. God's only proper author and foundation, we only are the proper actors." Sanctification is a sovereign work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit uses means to sanctify the believer. We are called to diligently pursue sanctification, yet that pursuit is evidence of God's work in us.

I hope you will see the necessity of having a full and robust understanding of the doctrine of progressive sanctification, synergistic sanctification, not only understanding the big picture of past sanctification, we have been sanctified, future sanctification, we will be sanctified, but present day we are in the process of being sanctified, and I pray that you will live in the confidence that as you pursue sanctification in the Lord, that God will finish the work that He began in you, that you'll be equipped to address both pietism on one hand and the anxious toil of some who believe that spirituality is all dependent upon their efforts, and that you will also be equipped to address quietism, a passive approach to sanctification which is unbiblical and produces no fruit.

And I do pray that in each of our lives that by the power of the Spirit we will grow in holiness, we will overcome sin, that we will become more like Christ, and so we will be effective instruments in the Redeemer's hands to lead others and to minister to others as they deal with battles in their own sanctification.

And so, write a good essay here. Just a note there, I did spend some time giving, I hope, a gracious critique on synergistic sanctification, the term there, but please just use that as background. That's not really the main thrust of this essay. I think the main thrust of this essay are found in the four truths regarding sanctification, and if you handle those well, you'll guard against both quietism and pietism.

And I think what ACBC is really wanting you to do is to describe both sides of sanctification being completely the work of God and also the side of our calling to be working out our salvation with fear and trembling. So I trust that you'll write a great essay on this topic.

Let me end with the words of 1 Peter 5, verse 10, which says, "And after you have suffered a little while, the God of grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be dominion forever and ever.

Amen." Let me close us in prayer. Father, thank you for this study. Thank you for the truth that you are at work in our lives. Thank you that you have sanctified us, you are sanctifying us, and you will sanctify us. And so, Father, help us to be faithful to our responsibility to actively fight the good fight of faith, to discipline ourselves for the purpose of godliness, to diligently and faithfully devote ourselves to the means of grace, which the Holy Spirit uses to make us more like Christ.

I pray for our counseling ministries, that they would be filled with counselors who are sanctified, that ACBC as an organization would have a reputation of producing counselors who are like Christ, who repent of sin, who bear the fruit of the Spirit, and that there would be an undeniable reality to our spiritual lives, so that those who are in need would want to come to see a counselor who is filled with the fruit of the Spirit, who not just dispenses correct information, but who is able to minister out of a living, vital relationship with Christ.

We can't do this on our own. We can only plead for your grace and ask you to do this work in our lives. So, I thank you for our time of study. Thank you for each of my brothers and sisters who've devoted this hour to us, and we pray that you would bear fruit through this time.

In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Well, amen. Well, hey, have a great rest of the week. God bless you.