Understanding Sanctification: The Journey of Christian Life

In the 17th chapter of The Gospel According to St John and in the 17th verse sanctify them through or in thy truth Thy word is truth that is clearly therefore an indication of the method of sanctification as it is taught in the scripture now the question arises at once what truth is this sanctify them in thy truth well our Lord answers the question Thy word is truth what word well the whole of the word in in other words everything that is in the Bible ministers to our sanctification. [00:00:31]

The Apostle is here out to show the utter impossibility of a Christian's continuing in sin and he says that it is impossible because of the nature of the Christian salvation you see he puts it in that question what shall we say then shall we continue in sin that Grace May abound God forbid that's it how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein that's the theme the impossibility he puts it as strongly as that as I want to show you of the Christian continuing in sin. [00:03:38]

The whole character and nature of the Christian salvation makes that quite impossible indeed if you like we could say that the theme of Romans 67 and 8 is this is to denounce with horror the tendency of people to separate justification from sanctification that's the whole message of chapter 6 7 and 8 of Romans to say that if you think you can stop at justification you are doing something which the Apostle says is so terrible that he can say nothing about it but God forbid that anybody should think such a thing or ever draw such a deduction. [00:04:45]

In chapter 8 Paul is not describing some special Christian who's had some Second Blessing he's describing any Christian every Christian If any man he says have not the spirit of Christ he is none of hiss if you haven't got the spirit of Christ in you says Paul you're just not a Christian at all and he says of these people they are not carnal they are not in the flesh they are in the spirit they were before conversion in the flesh but the moment you're converted you're no longer In the Flesh or in the spirit. [00:07:02]

Our Salvation in Christ is not a partial Salvation it's an entire salvation it's a complete salvation and what he sets out to do in this in this great passage in chapter 6 7 and 8 is just to work out that theme and to prove it now then the great text in my opinion is the 14th verse in the sixth chapter here it is for sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under grace that's the text observe what he says he doesn't say that sin ought not to have dominion over you he says sin shall not have dominion over you. [00:12:14]

The fundamental principle is our Union with Christ read again the second half of chapter 5 when you go home and you'll see that the argument is as we were in Adam so we are in Christ we've reaped all the consequences of what Adam did we have reaped all the consequences of what Christ has done that's the parallel what does this mean well we are joined to him in every respect let me put it negatively by putting it like this we are not only joined to the Lord Jesus Christ in some respects we are joined to him entirely. [00:15:18]

We are not only dead to the law but we are also dead to sin as far as we are concerned he says sin is no more we are dead to it he's got a great argument to prove that in the next chapter the argument of a woman married to a husband and the moment the husband is dead she's free that's his own illustration he puts it in the sixth chapter in for in the for in the form of this argument that uh you're a slave and you're owned by a but another one comes and buys you out and then you don't belong to the first you belong to the second. [00:21:31]

In our Christian salvation at this moment my spirit is entirely redeemed my body is not let me give you my evidence for saying that according to this teaching our bodies are still subject to sin our bodies are still dominated by sin and ruled and governed by sin our bodies I am not because I'm dead to sin I finished with it but my body still is under the Dominion of sin Christ has redeemed my spirit perfectly that's the new men but my body Still Remains under the throm of sin as the result of the let me give you the evidence. [00:23:03]

I am as a Christian my spirit is already redeemed but my body is not and what I'm waiting for is the day which is coming when my body shall be redeemed as well as my spirit because of sin and the fall of Adam I've gone down spirit and body Christ has come in he's already saved my spirit the body is not yet redeemed I'm waiting for the adoption to with the Redemption of my body well what is our position he ask does that mean therefore that as Christians we are condemned to a life of hopeless struggling and misery and failure and wretchedness in this world. [00:29:26]

The Holy Spirit Works Upon Our Wills he creates desires after Holiness he reveals sin to us in all its foulness and ugliness and creates aspirations after Purity and the life of God not only that he gives us strength and power and enabling to do what we I want to do what else well as Paul tells us in the 14th verse of the 8th chapter as many as are led by the spirit of God they are the sons of God and that is true again of every single Christian the spirit is in him and he is led by the spirit in the way I've just been describing. [00:35:27]

We are to see that we are already redeemed as spirits that the problem remains in this body we are to see that even that eventually is going to be delivered what do we do in the meantime well he shows us reckon yourselves indeed to be dead under sin but alive unto God he gives this assurance and confidence and certainty of ultimate Victory I no longer feel defeated I know that I'm on the Victorious side and that I must just go on then he gives an appeal to me he says let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. [00:44:07]

There is a day coming when this process of redemption started in Me by Christ which has already delivered me as a spiritual being and has made me dead to sin there is a day when my body shall be equally dead to sin and I shall be perfect and entire faultless and blameless without spot and blemish standing face to face with God they love J who agrees entirely with Paul beloved now are we the sons of God now it does not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he does appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. [00:49:33]