Running the Race: Becoming More Like Jesus

Sanctification is God working in a person to make that person more and more like Jesus, so that life can be lived according to God’s plans and purposes. The Ferrari image shows the problem clearly: an F1 car can still be running in a muddy field, but it is not living for what it was designed to do. Sin is that mud, the stuff that entangles and pulls life off the track God marked out.

Genesis shows that Adam and Eve were made very good, perfectly on track before sin entered the world. Sin brought a built-in desire to leave the track, and no person can get back by trying harder or becoming a better version of themselves. Jesus, the second Adam, ran the perfect race, defeated sin, death, and Satan, and crossed the finish line declaring, “It is finished.” Faith in Jesus brings a person out of the mud and onto the track.

Justification means forgiven, sanctification means being formed, and glorification means complete. Justification happens when a person trusts Jesus and is made right with God. Glorification comes when death or Christ’s return brings the believer into eternal life with a glorified body. Sanctification is the whole stretch in between, where God works by the Holy Spirit to make a child of God increasingly like Jesus.

The Holy Spirit is not a distant team boss shouting instructions from the wall. The Spirit lives in believers, empowers them, encourages them, and shows them how to run the race. The flesh still wants to go back to the mud, which is why the battle with sin remains real. Paul’s own struggle shows that fighting sin is not proof that faith has failed. The hatred of sin, the repentance after sin, and the desire to get back on track show that God is at work.

Sanctification does not earn God’s love. God loved people while they were still wrecked in the mud, and God does not love them more once a broken part gets fixed. God’s love is the reason He refuses to leave His children as He found them. Sanctification makes life freer, faster, and more able to love God and others.

Sanctification calls for participation. The race requires turning the steering wheel when God says turn, braking when God says stop, identifying the corners where sin keeps spinning life out, and building habits of prayer, confession, and accountability. Jesus’ pattern becomes practical in everyday life through loving God, loving difficult people, obeying God, trusting His wisdom, and giving thanks in every circumstance. The race is not merely about finishing. The race is about finishing well.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. God brings racers out of mud [09:24] Justification is not self-improvement or a reward for getting life together. Jesus meets sinners in the mud, pays for sin at the cross, and puts them on the track by grace. Sanctification begins only because God has already acted in mercy. The race begins with forgiveness, not fear. [09:24]
• 2. The struggle proves there is a fight [19:08] Sanctification does not mean temptation suddenly disappears. The flesh still pulls toward old patterns, but the Spirit gives a new hatred for sin and a desire to return to the track. A person who grieves sin is not beyond hope. That grief can be evidence that God has made the heart alive. [19:08]
• 3. God’s love is not earned [21:38] Sanctification is not a way to make God love someone more. God loved His children when they were broken, stuck, and far off track. Growth matters because sin damages freedom, love, and usefulness, not because God’s affection must be purchased. The Father heals what is broken because He loves His children. [21:38]
• 4. Grace calls for active participation [24:50] God works in His people, but God also calls His people to work out what He is working in. Repentance, wise boundaries, confession, and accountability are not attempts to replace grace. Those practices are ways of cooperating with grace. The racer still needs to turn when the Spirit says turn. [24:50]
• 5. Jesus shapes ordinary everyday life [26:36] Sanctification reaches business, singleness, marriage, unemployment, finances, and retirement. Jesus is not only the example for church life but for every ordinary corner of life. Love, obedience, trust, and thanksgiving become the visible shape of becoming like Him. God’s purpose is freedom to live each part of life as Jesus would.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:37] - What Sanctification Means
• [02:07] - Ferrari in the Mud
• [04:06] - Running the Race Marked Out
• [06:07] - Sin Takes Humanity Off Track
• [07:40] - Jesus Runs the Perfect Race
• [10:07] - Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification
• [13:43] - The Holy Spirit Guides the Race
• [15:13] - The Ongoing Battle With Sin
• [20:01] - God Fixes What Is Broken
• [22:38] - Why God Sanctifies His Children
• [24:33] - Working Out What God Works In
• [27:13] - What Sanctification Looks Like Daily
• [33:24] - Cooperating With God’s Work
• [34:44] - Prayer for Freedom and Perseverance

Bible Reading

Hebrews 12:1-2
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and 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 faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” [04:15]

Romans 7:18-19
“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” [16:21]

Philippians 2:12-13
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have 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.” [24:47]

Observation questions

1. In Hebrews 12:1–2, what are believers told to throw off, how are they told to run, and where are they told to fix their eyes? [04:15]
2. What picture does the Ferrari in the muddy field give of a life that is not being lived according to God’s design? [02:56]
3. According to Romans 7:18–19, what conflict does Paul describe between what he wants to do and what he actually does? [16:21]
4. In Philippians 2:12–13, what two kinds of work are described: the believer’s work and God’s work? [24:47]

Interpretation questions

1. Hebrews calls believers to run with perseverance while fixing their eyes on Jesus. Why is looking to Jesus different from merely trying harder to become a better person? [04:53]
2. Paul describes an ongoing struggle with sin in Romans 7. How can grief over sin and the desire to repent show that a believer is being changed rather than abandoned by God? [19:08]
3. Philippians says believers should work out what God is working in them. What does this reveal about the relationship between God’s grace and a believer’s choices, habits, and obedience? [24:47]
4. If God’s love is not earned through spiritual progress, why does it still matter that a believer grows in holiness and turns away from sin? [21:32]

Application questions

1. What “mud” most often pulls you off track—such as anger, greed, unforgiveness, pornography, dishonesty, or something else? What usually happens just before you drift toward it? [17:32]
2. When you sin, are you more likely to hide, excuse it, or quickly turn back to God in repentance? What could help you hear the Spirit’s invitation to “get back on the track”? [18:06]
3. Is there a particular situation, place, relationship, time of day, or online habit that repeatedly becomes a difficult corner for you? What wise boundary or change could help you take that corner differently? [18:26]
4. Who is one trusted Christian with whom you could be more honest about an ongoing struggle? What might confession, prayer, or accountability look like in a practical and healthy way? [18:40]
5. In which ordinary area of life—work, money, singleness, marriage, parenting, unemployment, or retirement—do you most need to ask, “What would it look like for Jesus to shape this part of my life?” [33:24]
6. God’s commands come from His love and wisdom, not from a desire to make life smaller. Is there an area where you know God is calling you to obey but find it hard to trust Him? What would one faithful next step look like? [31:09]