us on this webinar and it's great to meet together in this online format to again study the Word of God and to be further trained in the ministry of biblical counseling. I hope and trust that you're all doing well in the Lord and that you're enjoying the blessings of Christ and we just rejoice in your faithfulness as you work through these essays.

We're praying for great fruit from this time as we dig deep into the Word of God and as we study these precious topics. We do hope that you'll be encouraged in your own walk with Christ and also that you'll be equipped to minister these truths to others. Tonight we are looking at the ACBC Theology exam number 16.

It is the subject of justification and sanctification by faith. And in our study tonight, we're going to be making a transition from the doctrine of justification to the subject of sanctification. Now as I mentioned previously in the seminar classes that the subject of sanctification is really where we live and where we breathe as biblical counselors.

We are helping people with the issues of sanctification and so it's very important that we are well equipped to think through the doctrine of sanctification and also apply this doctrine to our lives and to the lives of others. So ACBC has at least three, if you kind of consider it broadly, there could be an argument that four or five of these essays deal with the subject of sanctification, but at least specifically speaking, three of the essay exams deal with the subject of sanctification and that's because of the great importance of this doctrine to the ministry of biblical counseling.

So in theology exam number 16, we're making that transition from the doctrine of justification to the doctrine of sanctification and I do hope and pray that your study of this topic will bear much fruit in your life and stir up a passion in your own life to pursue sanctification and holiness in your walk with Christ.

For tonight's devotional, I'd like to take us to Romans chapter 6 verses 1 to 4. This is a wonderful passage of scripture that I've used in my own life and in my own counseling ministry to encourage counselees who are struggling with sanctification and by the way, I would just include, I would just mention that that should include us all, the broad category of those who struggle with our sanctification should include really all Christians because we learn from scripture that sanctification is a battle, it is a fight, it is a war and it is indeed a struggle.

If you look at the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 7 and you see him saying, "I do what I don't want to do and I don't do what I want to do," even the Apostle Paul wrestled with his sanctification. Galatians chapter 5, the spirit sets itself against the flesh, the flesh sets its desires against the spirit and so you do not do what you please.

There is always this internal battle, this internal struggle in relation to sanctification. So when I say that I use Romans chapter 6 verses 1 to 4 to encourage believers who are struggling with sanctification, I'm talking about a very large category of people. I'd be very concerned with the believer who says that they have reached some level of spirituality where they are no longer battling for their sanctification, they're just kind of coasting their way to holiness.

I'd be very concerned about that believer that there would be a defective understanding of sanctification. But Romans chapter 6 has really good news for anyone who is in the battle for their sanctification and let me just read this text for us. It says there, "What shall we say then?

Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means. How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death.

In order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father, we too might walk in newness of life." And let me just skip down to verse 7 of that passage where Paul says, "For one who has died has been set free from sin." Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once and for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Then in verse 12, Paul says, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and your members to God as instruments for righteousness." And here's the good news, verse 14, "For sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under law, but under grace." So as I've said, I've used this passage in counseling ministry to encourage believers who are doing battle for their sanctification, and the key thought that I just want us to think about tonight is simply this, and we're making, again, the transition from the doctrine of justification to the doctrine of sanctification.

The key thought is this. Justification is by the grace of God. We understand that, we've studied that, we've learned that. It's not through works of the law, it is purely by God's unmerited favor alone. And then the additional thought is that sanctification is by God's grace as well. So we have good news to proclaim to the unbeliever who is dead in sins and trespasses.

We say to that unbeliever that your sin can be forgiven on the basis of what Christ has accomplished through his work on the cross and his glorious resurrection from the grave. But we also have good news to proclaim to the believer, the believer who has received justification but still struggles with sin in his sanctification.

And the good news that we have to give to the believer is that Jesus died not only to free you from the penalty of sin, but Jesus died in order to free you from the power of sin. Jesus died on the cross and he rose from the grave so that you may no longer live in bondage to sin.

You are no longer a slave to sin because Jesus lived and he died and he rose again. That's good news and that's the good news that we have for our counselees. I've sat with those in counseling ministry and just those who struggle with anger, who struggle with laziness, who struggle with anxiety, who struggle with depression.

Before I get into the practical applications of how they need to put off ungodly behavior and put on godly behavior, what I want to do is give believers hope. I want to give my counselee hope. And I've said to many counselees that I have hope that you can change.

Your tomorrow doesn't need to be the same as your yesterday. You can be different. You can grow. You can change. And I'm saying that not because I have confidence in you so much, but I have confidence in Christ and his saving work in you. I have confidence that through your faith in Christ, you have been delivered from the power of sin and you are no longer a slave to sin.

Whatever the issue is, whatever the sin issue is, you are not a slave to sin. You can grow and change. And I say that on the authority of God's word. And I just want to give counselees hope that they can change on the basis of what the scriptures say.

And I ground that in the teaching of Romans chapter six, Jesus died so that you may no longer live in bondage to whatever this sin issue is. And so you make the transition from the doctrine of justification, imputed righteousness to the doctrine of sanctification, imparted righteousness. So going back to Romans chapter six, verse one, Paul is just a detail, an explanation of the doctrine of justification in Romans chapters three to five.

He has said that we have been justified by faith. We have received this imputed righteousness by grace alone through faith alone on the basis of Christ's work alone. We have peace with God. Romans five, verse one, we have this standing in grace. We exalt in the hope of the glory of God.

We received all of this by God's grace alone, not by any works that we have done, not by any work of the law that we have completed. And then he says in verse one of chapter six, what shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?

Martin Lloyd-Jones has made the observation that that is a surest test that you are preaching the gospel rightly. If you preach the gospel rightly and you proclaim a gospel of grace alone, the question is going to come. Do you really mean that because it's by grace alone that we can go ahead and sin?

Because the more we sin, the more grace we receive. He's going to give an answer to that question, but Lloyd-Jones is just saying that if that question arises as you preach the gospel, that is an indicator that you're doing it right. If you safeguard the gospel of grace alone, someone's going to come along and ask the question, do you really mean Dan that we're saved by grace alone?

Does that mean that I can continue to sin? Look at Paul's answer. He uses the strongest Greek emphatic negative possible by no means. May it never be. One translation puts this absolutely not. The King James versions translates this phrase, God forbid. The paraphrase JB Phillips says, what a ghastly thought.

May we never think that the doctrine of justification by grace means that we can continue to live in sin instead. In verse two, the apostle Paul says this, how can we who died to sin still live in it? Paul says that when Jesus died on the cross at Calvary, that you and I were united to him in his life, death, and resurrection so that when he died, we died.

And when he rose, we rose. And I've said this to counselees and counseling ministry, cause you personalize it in the counseling session. Did you know that when Jesus died on the cross, 2000 years at Calvary, you know that when he died, that you died with him, you were united to him in his death so that you died to your old life.

And did you know that when he rose from the grave on that glorious Sunday, that you rose with him to live a new life in Christ, that you are a new creature, new creature because of your faith in Jesus Christ. Paul uses the imagery of baptism, not water baptism, but the concept of immersion, being fully immersed into Christ's life, death, and resurrection.

He says, do you not know that all of us who have been literally immersed, baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father, we too might walk in newness of life.

That's what we want for each of our counselees. Right there, verse four, we want them to walk in newness of life. That's what we want for ourselves. This is what I want for you as counselors in training. This is what we want for our families, our loved ones. We want them to experience the joy and the satisfaction of walking in newness of life, to be filled with all of the good blessings of God and to walk in holiness and in sanctification.

And so justification is by the grace of God and sanctification is by God's grace as well. So a helpful work that has helped me think through this. And again, I'm trying to introduce this whole idea of in this essay, you're making the transition from the doctrine of justification to the doctrine of sanctification and a really good work that I would commend to you is Jerry Bridges book, transforming grace.

This is a book that I read when I was pretty early on in my Christian life and it really had a formative influence upon my thinking of the Christian life and of the doctrine of salvation. And he makes a point there that justification is being declared righteous before God through faith in Jesus Christ.

It's a point in time event. It's the time in our lives when we are saved. It is the Ephesians two verse eight experience for it is by grace you have been saved through faith. And then he transitions to sanctification. He says, sanctification is our growth in Christ likeness. It is a progressive experience covering our entire Christian lives from salvation to glorification.

This is glorification occurs at the time we depart from this life to be with Christ. Now note Bridges observation and his thesis in this book. I think it'll be helpful to you. He says all true Christians readily agree that justification is by grace through faith in Christ. And if we stop to think about it, we agree that glorification is also solely by God's grace.

Jesus purchased for us not only forgiveness of sins justification, but also eternal life glorification. With sanctification, the entire Christian experience between justification and glorification is another story. At best, the Christian life is viewed as a mixture of personal performance and God's grace. So he goes on to say that our view of the Christian life could be illustrated by the following timeline, justification is based on grace.

Sanctification is based on works or human performance. And then glorification is based on grace. According to that illustration, our concept of the Christian life is a grace works grace sequence. He's trying to bring out the idea that this is how we tend to view our Christian lives. Instead, the principal thesis of this book, the truth I hope to demonstrate is that the illustration should look like this justification based on grace, sanctification based on grace, glorification based on grace.

Dear biblical counselors in training, can I just encourage you and ask you to evaluate is that your view of the Christian life? Do you believe that sanctification is entirely based upon the unmerited favor of God given to us through the work of Jesus on the cross? Or somehow have you come up with a method of sanctification that bypasses grace, bypasses Jesus and bypasses Christ's sufficient work on the cross?

Because if you embrace the biblical view of sanctification, which I believe is represented in this table, what you then do is you bring into the counseling session with your counselee a message of hope and a message of encouragement that God is going to give his grace to you as you work through this sanctification issue.

His grace will be sufficient for you. Christ's work on the cross is to be applied to this particular counseling issue and empowers you to grow and to change in Christ. By the way, dear friends, this is why we in the biblical counseling ministry offer to our counselees what no secular system could ever hope to offer.

Secular psychology cannot offer this message of grace and hope that is based upon Christ's work on the cross and him alone. And we need to be equipped to apply this message of grace to the counseling issues that we encounter in our ministry. Now with that said, let me pray briefly.

I'll get into our essay topic for tonight, but I do hope that was a good primer from the doctrine of justification to sanctification, which we're going to be focusing on in this session and then in the sessions to come. We're going to be right there in the middle of that table there.

We're going to be looking at sanctification, which is based on the grace of God and his grace alone. Let me pray for us. Father, we thank you that we come to you by your grace, by your mercy, through the work of your son, Jesus Christ, and because of that, we have hope for change in our lives and change in the lives of those whom we minister to.

We believe that we are not in bondage to sin. We are not slaves to sin. We praise you for that. We praise you that whatever the counseling issue is, either in our lives or in the lives of our counselees, that your all sufficient grace is enough. It is sufficient that we have the power to grow and change.

We thank you for Christ and his perfect work, and we thank you that we are no longer living with sin as the cruel master over our lives. We just pray that we would make that truth a reality in our own practical living and that you would help us to minister this truth to others.

So we give you our time together in Jesus name. Amen. Okay. Okay. We're looking at theology exam number 16 tonight, and on your first page of your handout, you have the question there to define faith in biblical terms, explaining its relationship to justification and sanctification. So we're making the transition from justification to sanctification.

I would break this essay up into three parts. What the essay exam is asking you to do is first of all, to define faith in biblical terms. The second thing that the essay is asking you to do is explain the relation of faith to the doctrine of justification. And then the third thing that the essay is asking you to do is to explain the relation of faith to the doctrine of sanctification.

So if you were to take this question and break it up, what are the things that they're asking you to do? They're asking you to define faith in biblical terms, explain the relationship of faith to justification and then explain the relation of faith to the doctrine of sanctification. So here's the good news with this exam.

The good news is that you've pretty much already studied the first two aspects of this question. If you have completed theology exam number 14 and theology exam number 15, then you've covered the first two aspects of this question. You've studied it. You should know it. What you need to do in this exam question is really just summarize the content of theology exam number 14 and 15.

So the first aspect there to define faith in biblical terms, you've already written on that subject, and that will be a review of theology exam number 14. You'll remember from that exam you wrote on the components of what faith is, that there's an intellectual component of knowledge, just knowing the truth of Scripture.

There is the emotional aspect of faith, which is being convicted or convinced of what the Word of God is and how it applies to your life, and then there is the volitional aspect of faith, which is actually placing your reliance or your trust, your confidence in the finished work of Jesus Christ for your salvation.

So you should have already written on that topic. You should be acquainted with that topic, and if you need some review, you can go back to our session on theology exam number 14. So a good strategy for writing this essay, theology exam number 16, is to go back and then summarize in one paragraph some of the main features of what faith is in biblical terms.

So you wrote like a page and a half on this topic. You're going to take just some of the salient points of that material and summarize it in one paragraph. That would be a suggested way to address the first aspect of this essay exam. If you're repeating any material as you work through the theology exams, you can use the writing device, quote, "As already discussed in theology exam number 14, faith is blank," and then end quote of that material.

So you can use that writing device to say, "As I've already explained in theology exam number 14," and then go ahead and you can repeat some of that material but summarize it in a much more condensed fashion for this essay. You don't have to use that writing device. You can go ahead and just summarize it and just put the material again, but some students feel like some of these essays, they're kind of repeating things that they've written before, and if you want, you can use that writing device and say, "As I've already discussed or as already discussed in a prior essay," and then go ahead and repeat some of that material.

The second aspect of that exam is asking you to explain the relation of faith to the doctrine of justification. That's going to be a review of theology exam number 15. Again, you can use that writing device. As already discussed in theology exam number 15, justification is by faith alone apart from works of the law or something like that.

You can go ahead and summarize some of that. But a good approach to this essay would be to go ahead and address the first aspect in a paragraph, address the second aspect in a paragraph as well. For this essay, you're really focusing in on the fact that justification is by faith.

It's not by works of the law. You don't need to get into all of the issues of double imputation and imputed righteousness. You really want to focus in on the key scriptures which distinguish biblical justification from the idea that you can become righteous by performing works of the law.

But you should have already studied that material from last week, and you should already have a really good head start on the second aspect of this essay. The real new material that you're going to be developing in this exam question is in relation to the third component here, explain the relation of faith to the doctrine of sanctification.

That's the new ground that you're going to be covering in this essay. Again, as I mentioned, you're going to be writing some additional essays on this doctrine of sanctification, so save some of your firepower. This essay exam is not designed for you to write everything that there is to say about sanctification.

It's really designed for you to introduce the subject of sanctification, to distinguish sanctification from justification, and talk about how sanctification is by faith. It's not to get into everything that there is to say about sanctification, as we will see in further sessions. Just to make that note, there's a lot you can say about sanctification.

We're really here interested in two aspects, I'll give you the two bullet points here under component number three. We're really interested in the issue of how does sanctification relate to justification, and then we're interested in passages dealing with sanctification by faith, or the crucial issue of faith in our sanctification.

You're going to want to hit those two sub points in this essay, and so this would be just a suggested strategy to write the essay, is to find faith in biblical terms, explain the relation of faith to the doctrine of justification, and then explain the relation of faith to the doctrine of sanctification.

That's a three to four paragraph essay, if you want to do it that way, but I would use the first two paragraphs to summarize the material from Theology exam 14 and 15, and then break some new ground in talking about how does sanctification relate to justification, and deal with the passages which concern sanctification by faith.

So if you look at your handout, I have some suggested material there on reading that's going to help you do this, Wayne Grudem and Paul Enns are some helpful works that will help you think through justification and sanctification, and then I really want to encourage you to read J.C.

Ryle on this subject. He's got some very good material, he has a chapter on sanctification from the larger book called Holiness, and by the way, if you want to spend some money, $10 or so, get the whole book, J.C. Ryle, Holiness. That is just an amazing, excellent read that has made such an impact on my life, and it's just one of those books that every Christian should read, J.C.

Ryle, Holiness. Well, he has one chapter in that book that they've actually posted online, so if you don't want to spend any money, you can just look at it online and get that from the link there. That's going to help you think through what is sanctification, and how does it relate to justification, and then there's another work that's been placed online as well that's available for free, and that is justification and sanctification, how do they differ, and that is a very helpful work that's also available online.

Now let me move to page two of your handout there and just give you some thoughts on this as it relates to a definition of faith. As we noted, that's the first element of this essay is to summarize a definition of faith, and so this is just going to be a brief review from Theology Exam number 14.

Charles Ryrie says that faith means confidence, trust to hold something as true. Just make the note there that the terms faith, trust, believe are really synonymous. They're used interchangeably in scripture, and so faith means to place your confidence in something or someone, to place your trust in something or someone, and then as it relates to saving faith, Wayne Grudem writes that saving faith is trust in Jesus Christ as a living person for forgiveness of sins and for eternal life, and we mentioned that there are three components to saving faith.

There is the intellectual aspect, a person must have knowledge, Paul Enns writes this involves the intellect and emphasizes that there are certain basic truths that must be believed for salvation. So Romans chapter 10 verse 14, how then will they call on him in whom they have not believed and how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard and how are they to hear without someone preaching?

So there must be knowledge of objective truth in order for a person to be saved, and yet as the scriptures teach us, knowledge alone is not enough to save. James 2 verse 19 says you believe that God is one, you do well, even the demons believe and shudder. So even the demons have an intellectual understanding of who Jesus is and they have an intellectual understanding of the Bible.

So knowledge is necessary, but knowledge is not enough. There must also be number two, the emotional aspect of faith, which can be labeled as conviction. So a person with intellectual knowledge says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. A person who has conviction says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and I am a sinner and I need salvation.

Paul Enns explains helpfully that conviction involves the emotions. This element emphasizes that the person has not only an intellectual awareness of the truths, but that there is an inner conviction of their truthfulness. As it says in Acts chapter 2 verse 37, now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do?

Now I've experienced this, haven't you? The word of God just so pierces your heart that you're convinced and convicted of your need to change, your need for repentance. It's not just, yeah, I know that that's true for everyone in the world, but it's, this is true for me and I have come under the conviction of God's word.

Zacchaeus, the tax collector, didn't just say, well, intellectually, I agree that everyone is a sinner, but he said in Luke chapter 19 verse 8, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold. And Jesus said, today salvation has come to this house for the son of man came to seek and save the loss.

Zacchaeus intellectually understood his need of salvation, but then emotionally he had come under conviction that he needed this grace, he needed salvation, and he needed to repent of his unjust dealings with people. So there is the intellectual aspect, the emotional aspect, and there is number three, the volitional aspect, the aspect of trust, faith, trust, believing, those terms are used interchangeably in scripture, you can intellectually understand, you can emotionally respond, but until you volitionally place your trust in Christ and rely on him for your salvation, you will not be saved.

It's one thing to look at a chair, to know that it can hold you, and it is another thing to sit in the chair and allow the chair to bear the weight that you bring upon it. And this is the aspect of the volitional aspect of salvation. You understand who Christ is, you are convinced of your need for him, but have you trusted him?

Have you renounced your reliance on your self-righteousness and placed your trust in Jesus for your salvation? So a good essay on this subject is just going to review some of this material of the definition of faith. You have the relationship of faith to salvation. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, for by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing.

It is the gift of God, not a result of work so that no one may boast. We are saved by faith and faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone. It always produces the fruit of good works, verse 10 goes on to say, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

We're not saved by our works, but we are saved unto good works. So move to the next page of your handout. You have a review of theology exam number 15, the doctrine of justification by faith. Man is justified by faith alone, apart from the works of the law. The Westminster Catechism says justification is an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardoned all our sins and accepted us as righteous in his sight only for the righteousness of God imputed to us and received by faith alone.

And then I've listed numerous references there in the book of Romans, which really emphasize the fact that justification is the free gift of God received by faith alone apart from any works of the law. I'll mention briefly Romans 3, verse 20, for by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight since through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. As we've mentioned, faith itself is not a meritorious act. It really is the declaration of spiritual bankruptcy.

Faith says, "Nothing in my hands I bring, only to thy cross I cling. I've nothing to offer, nothing to add to my salvation. All of my works are but filthy rags." Person with faith declares spiritual bankruptcy. Jesus described this as the beatitude attitude, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." And it is not the greatness of our faith that saves, it is the greatness of the object of our faith that saves. So faith is not some kind of meritorious act that somehow earns our way into God's favor. B.B.

Warfield has said, "It is not, strictly speaking, even faith in Christ that saves, but Christ that saves through faith. The saving power resides exclusively not in the act of faith or the attitude of faith or nature of faith, but in the object of faith." I think that's a very good point, and it is well said.

Tim Keller has observed, "It is not the strength of your faith, but the object of your faith that actually saves you. Strong faith in a weak branch is fatally inferior to weak faith in a strong branch." And I'm so glad that is true. So in this portion of the essay, you want to summarize the teaching that justification is by faith apart from the works of the law, and then let me move you to the next page of your handout.

Let's talk through the issue of sanctification by faith, sanctification by faith. Now, again, you're not going to say everything that could be said about sanctification in this essay, but you are going to cover some key truths, and here's some things I want to kind of lay before you and ask you to think about and to write about in your essay for exam number 16, and the first would be the distinction between justification and sanctification.

The distinction between justification and sanctification, as we mentioned, justification is imputed righteousness, it is God crediting to our account the righteousness of Christ at the moment of conversion. God gives us the perfect record of Jesus Christ as a gift, and we receive it in full at the moment of conversion.

So we are never more justified than we were on the day we were saved. Our sanctification does not improve upon our justification, we're not more justified as we grow more sanctified. Our justification is complete, it is final, it is perfect. But then sanctification deals with imparted righteousness or practical righteousness.

The two must be distinguished but never separated. So let's pick that statement apart. If you fail to distinguish between justification and sanctification, you end up with a Catholic view of justification and sanctification. The Catholic view is that justification is not a pronouncement, justification is a process. The Catholic view of salvation and the Christian life is that you become more justified the more you become sanctified, and that causes all sorts of confusion in the Christian life.

So we must take pains to distinguish justification, a completed act, from sanctification, an ongoing process. J.C. Ryle has written this, "Justification is the reckoning and counting a man to be righteous for the sake of another, even Jesus Christ the Lord. Sanctification is the actual making a man inwardly righteous, though it may be in a very feeble degree.

Justification is a finished and complete work. Sanctification is an imperfect work comparatively and will never be perfected until we reach heaven. Justification admits of no growth or increase. Sanctification is eminently a progressive work and admits of continual growth and enlargement so long as a man lives. Sanctification gives us our title to heaven and boldness to enter in.

Sanctification gives us our meatness, an old word for suitability for heaven, and prepares us to enjoy it when we dwell there." Ryle says, "It can never be too strongly impressed on our minds that they are two separate things. That they cannot be separated, and everyone that is a partaker of either is a partaker of both.

But never, never ought they to be confounded, and never ought the distinction between them to be forgotten." So if you fail to distinguish justification from sanctification, you end up with a Catholic view of the Christian life and of salvation. But if you fail to hold them together, if you somehow separate them so that sanctification is an optional add-on to justification, if you somehow buy into this idea that a man can be justified without also being sanctified, then you end up in the error of antinomianism, which is a critical theological error, which basically says that a man can be justified and then live however he wants.

Paul says, "May it never be. God forbid. The two must be distinguished, justification and sanctification, but they must always be held together. They are inseparable." In other words, no one is justified without also being sanctified, at least to some degree. No one just receives the grace of justification without also receiving the grace of sanctification.

So Ryle is taking pains. I would really encourage you to read those two works that are placed online. He's taking pains to hold these two expressions of grace together while at the same time distinguishing them so that a person does not labor under the idea that I've got to be more sanctified because I'm afraid that I am not justified, when the reality theologically is that it's the very opposite.

It's because we are rejoicing in our justification that we are empowered and we are motivated to pursue our sanctification. Our justification is not in doubt. So that leads us to the second point here, the necessity of sanctification. Letter B, Paul moves on from justification in Romans chapter five to sanctification in Romans chapter six.

We covered this passage in the introductory thoughts here, but the key idea here is that grace not only pardons the sinner, but grace empowers the sinner to live a holy life. Grace not only forgives sin, grace also transforms the believer so that the believer no longer loves his or her sin but desires to live in holiness and in righteousness.

John Calvin has said this, "Christ justifies no man without also sanctifying him. These blessings are conjoined by a perpetual and inseparable tie. Those whom he enlightens by his wisdom, he redeems. Whom he redeems, he justifies. Whom he justifies, he sanctifies. Although we distinguish between them, they are both inseparably comprehended in Christ." First Corinthians 1 verse 30 says, "And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption." So, let me move you to the next page here on your handout, and I think I've shown you this table before, but in justification, you have positional righteousness, sanctification, you have practical righteousness.

Justification is instantaneous. Sanctification is progressive. In justification, we're free from sin's penalty. In sanctification, we're free from sin's power. In justification, Paul deals with justification in Romans chapter 3 to 5, and then sanctification in Romans 6 and 7. But the thing that the two have in common is that justification is by faith, and then to the point of this essay, sanctification is by faith as well.

So, letter C, a definition for sanctification, I'll just briefly touch on this and then we'll get into the last portion of this teaching. But Anthony Hokema has a great work called Saved by Grace. It's a book that's written on the doctrine of salvation, soteriology. That's a work, again, if you've got $10 or so, I would highly encourage you to have that on your bookshelf and to read through that.

But he has a chapter there on sanctification, which has a really good definition. He says, "We may define sanctification as that gracious operation of the Holy Spirit involving our responsible participation by which he delivers us from the pollution of sin, renews our entire nature according to the image of God, and enables us to live lives that are pleasing to him.

Sanctification empowers us to think will and love in a way that glorifies God, to think God's thoughts after him, and to do what is in harmony with his will." I'll just make a note there that we're going to come back to this definition in the later essays as we deal with the issue of synergistic sanctification, how man works and God works in sanctification.

We work out our salvation with fear and trembling before it is God who has worked in us to will and to work for his good pleasure. We're going to deal with the issue of past, present, and future sanctification. Those are topics which are to come. But just note here that that's a really good definition that we're going to refer back to in our study.

I think it captures a lot of the biblical teaching on sanctification. For our purpose in this essay, Theology Exam #16, we just want you to grab a hold of the simple definition that sanctification is the process of a believer becoming more holy. The idea of being holy needs to be set apart.

The believer is practically being set apart from sin and consecrated unto God. We'll talk through the past, present, and future aspects of that. We have been, in the past, sanctified. We'll find that in the Scriptures, that this word "sanctification" is used in the past tense, that we have been sanctified.

There has been this decisive break from sin and sin's power that has occurred at the moment of our conversion. But because we have been sanctified in the past, we are being sanctified in the present. We are continually, on a daily basis, being conformed to the likeness of Christ and being made more holy, more consecrated on a practical level to the purposes of God.

And then one day, we will, in the future, be perfectly sanctified, perfectly or ultimately completely set apart from sin and sin's influences and consecrated unto God's purposes. But for this essay, we just want you to get a hold of the idea that sanctification is the process of becoming more holy.

It's the present, if you look at the present aspect of sanctification, it is the process of becoming more holy in our Christian lives. A number of passages there, but I'll just mention 1 Corinthians 1 verse 2. I love this statement written to the church at Corinth, which had a lot of issues with their practical sanctification, as you know.

But Paul says there, "To the church of God that is at Corinth, to those sanctified, haggiazo, in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, haggios, together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours." We are called to pursue sanctification because we are the saints.

Sainthood is not some second level of spirituality that is earned through the Christian life. It is the status of every believer in Christ, that you are a saint because you have been set apart unto God. For this essay, we just want you to introduce the subject of sanctification and just get a hold of that idea that sanctification is the process of becoming more holy in the Christian life.

Now, let me move you to the last page and I'll spend a few minutes on this as we wrap up our time together. The role of faith in our sanctification. Now, I just find this to be incredibly encouraging as well as, I think, a necessary balance in a lot of the ways that we think about sanctification.

And I'll just ask you tonight to evaluate in your own life. When you think about becoming more holy, when you think about growing to overcome sin, growing to be like Christ, when you think about the process of becoming more godly, how often do you think of that process in terms of growing in faith, growing in your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ?

Do you tend to think of the process of becoming more holy in terms of doing more disciplines or doing more duties, or do you think of it in terms of growing in faith, growing strong in faith, learning to grow in your trust and your reliance and your confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ in all that he has done for your life and for believers?

Do you think of the process of becoming more sanctified in terms of faith, or do you think of it in terms more of doing things? Now, don't hear me wrong because nobody grows in faith apart from growing in discipline or engaging in what some have called the means of grace.

No one grows in faith apart from an active engagement in spiritual discipline, so don't hear me wrong. But the crux of the matter really is that we will grow to be more holy, we will grow to be more sanctified as we walk in faith, as our faith grows stronger, as our faith is purified and refined through the course of life.

Sanctification is a faith issue. Jesus said to his disciples, when they were behaving in wrong ways, what did he say? Did he say, "O ye of little discipline?" That's not what he said. He would address them frequently from the standpoint of, "O ye of little what? Little faith. You are little faiths," and that was the crux of their problem.

That's why they were despairing when they came across impossible situations. That's why they were anxious for their daily needs. That's why they experienced this ineffective experience in ministry. They were powerless in ministry in certain situations because they were little faiths. Faith was the issue. And Jesus even said to them that you're unable to cast out a demon because you have little faith.

Jesus said in Matthew 17 verse 20, "For truly I say to you, if you have faith like the grain of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you." So he's highlighting the central aspect of faith in living for him and doing effective ministry.

And I just want to encourage you tonight as you write this essay to think about the aspect of faith as central to the sanctification process. Now again, use the synonyms, believe, to trust. I think you might be able to see it more clearly if you use those synonyms. Isn't it true that in every issue of life that we face today, that God is calling us to trust him more?

God is calling us to grow in our faith, in our reliance, our confidence in him and all that he has promised to do for us. Isn't every issue of life simply an issue that drives us to this question, are you going to trust God for your life, for your ministry, for your future, for every issue in your life, or are you going to trust yourself?

Are you going to trust someone else? Where is your confidence, your reliance? And we grow in our sanctification as our faith grows. Now disciplines are a means to feed that faith. You go to church and you hear God's word, so you can feed that faith. You read the Bible every day, so you can feed your faith.

We're not discounting the importance of that, but the issue in sanctification is where is your faith, where have you placed your trust or your reliance? Listen to Jeremiah 17 verse five, the classic biblical counseling passage that says, "The Lord cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord." Now that's a word for this election season, and I have made a commitment.

My mouth is sealed when it comes to politics. I'm not going to speak on politics because that's not my role as a pastor, but I will say this, if your trust, if your reliance, if your confidence is in any political leader to be your strength or your confidence, then you are placing your trust in man and you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

This is why the day after the election, I'm resolved not to be overly elated nor overly disappointed or despairing because my trust is in the Lord, not in any man. Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength. Verse seven, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust," it's a trust issue, "whose trust is in the Lord.

He is like a tree planted by water that sends out its roots by the stream and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit." That's the issue of faith, trust, belief.

Faith in the New Testament is used to describe not only a past act of when you came to faith in Jesus Christ and received the blessings of justification, but also the ongoing process of walking with God and trusting Him, placing your reliance upon the living God rather than on finite man who is here today and gone tomorrow.

So many passages here, and I'm going to try to wrap this up, but just so many wonderful passages here talking about the central aspect of faith. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5 or 6, "So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body, we're away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight." That's the present continual reality of our daily walk.

Hebrews 10, verse 37, "For yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay, but my righteous one shall," here it is, "presently live by faith." Not only talking about faith is the day you came to Jesus Christ, you exercise faith, but we live by faith.

We walk by faith. We draw near, Hebrews says, in full assurance of faith. What is faith? Hebrews 11, verse 1, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Verse 6, "And without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him." The examples of faith in Hebrews 11, "By faith, Noah, by faith, Abraham, by faith, Sarah, by faith, Isaac, by faith, Moses, by faith, Rahab." And then you jump to Hebrews 12, verse 1, "Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our," what?

Our faith. I mean, the central role of faith in the sanctification process. So the practical thing is this, and let me just draw this to a close. If all that you give to your counselees, when they come and they're struggling with anger, they're struggling with their purity, or they're struggling with anxiety, or they're struggling with resolving conflict, if all that you do is give them, "Well, here's how you should behave and here's how you should not behave." And you never feed their faith.

Where is your trust, where is your reliance, where is your hope placed in? If you never feed their faith by taking them to the person and work of Jesus Christ, who is the author and perfecter of faith, then the issue would be, can you call that truly biblical counseling?

You may use some scriptures, but have you captured the whole theme of scripture, which is to lead us to faith and to strengthen our faith, to strengthen our reliance and our confidence in the living Christ? And can I add one final thought on that, is that one of the reasons why God allows us to go through seasons of trial and of suffering is to do what?

Is to purify our faith, is to show us where our faith really is. That's 1 Peter 1, verse 6, "In this you rejoice, but now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." How do we help people grow in faith?

We're back to the intellectual aspect. We get people into the Word of God. We get the Word of God into them. We place into people's minds the truths of God's Word. There's the emotional aspect. We pray. Can I say to you biblical counselors in training, this is why biblical counseling is, it's more than just dispensing information.

We labor in prayer on behalf of our counselees, that not only they would understand the scriptures, but that they would be convinced, that they would be convicted, that they would be cut to the heart. We pray. I personally prayed for husbands who are selfish in their marriages and being mean to their wives and just labored in prayer, "Lord, God, take the truths of your Word and break this person's heart and convict him so that he will live a godly life and love his wife as Christ loved the church." It is laboring in prayer that the Word of God would bring conviction upon those whom we minister to.

And then there is the volitional aspect. We use the word "you," the second person "you" a lot in counseling. Will you believe this? Will you trust this? Bob or whoever it is that I'm counseling, this is what the Word of God says to you. Will you trust this Word over against your own opinions or your own thoughts?

And we call counselees not only to hear and to be convicted, but to respond volitionally, to place their trust in Christ and His Word. This is why biblical counseling offers what no secular model can offer. It offers the Word of God, which causes us to grow in faith. And as we walk in faith, we are indeed sanctified.

Okay, friends, I have used up all my time tonight. I've gone over time, but I hope that was helpful and had a lot to say and to cover. I want to thank you all for joining us on this webinar. I hope this was helpful in working through this essay topic.

Again, hit the main points of defined faith, cover a brief summary of justification by faith, and then deal with sanctification, distinguish sanctification from justification, and then talk about the central role of faith in sanctification. And then future essays will do more study on sanctification and work through that topic as well.

So thank you all for joining us tonight. I do hope you have a wonderful week. We're going to be back right at the same time tonight, next Sunday at the five o'clock Pacific time we'll tackle the issue of repentance next week. So there's no easy topics in our study of God's Word, but we do hope you'll join us next week.

Let me pray for us and we'll close our time. Father, I do pray this for each of my brothers and sisters, each of my friends here tonight. Pray this for my own heart and pray this for those whom we minister to, that you would help us to grow in faith, that there would be a greater understanding of your Word, a greater conviction of heart and mind as we come under your Word and a greater willingness to place our trust in your Word and in Christ rather than ourselves or our opinions or what other men might say.

Pray that as we grow in faith.