Romans 12:1-2

• “The Road of Sanctification” (Romans 12:1–2)

  Theme: Who are we in Christ? Sanctified, transformed, and renewed.

  Key Points:

  • Our Nature and Corruption:

    • We are body and soul, created by God.

    • The soul—comprised of mind, will, and affections—was corrupted by the Fall.

    • Salvation regenerates the soul, initiating change.

  • Sanctification Defined:

    • Not how we are saved, but how we live as saved people.

    • Westminster Shorter Catechism: “Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace…”

  • Pattern of Sanctification:

    • Mortification: Put off the old man (Colossians 3).

    • Vivification: Put on the new man—righteousness, kindness, humility, love.

  • Renewal of the Soul:

    • Mind: Renewed in knowledge (Romans 12:2).

    • Will: Freed from slavery to sin, now able to choose righteousness.

    • Affections: New desires; we love holiness and hate sin.

  • Means of Sanctification:

    1. Union with Christ (John 15).

    2. The Holy Spirit’s indwelling (Romans 8:13).

    3. The Word of God (Psalm 19, John 17:17).

    4. The Lord’s Supper.

    5. Prayer and Fellowship (Hebrews 10:24–25).

    6. Suffering and Trials (1 Peter 1).

  • Motivations for Sanctification:

    1. Glorify God with body and soul (1 Cor. 6:20).

    2. Live out our identity in Christ (Romans 6).

    3. Reflect our Father’s character (Ephesians 5).

    4. Express love for Christ (John 14:15).

    5. Prepare for heaven (Hebrews 12:14).

  • Application Challenge:

    • Ask others if they see the fruits of holiness in you.

    • Encourage and receive correction with humility.

“Be Transformed: A Study on Sanctification”

I. Foundations of Sanctification

• Primary Texts: Romans 12:1–2, Colossians 3:1–17

• Discussion:

  • What does it mean to be a “living sacrifice”?

  • How is the mind renewed in Christ?

II. The Nature of Sanctification

• Confessional Insight:

  • WSC Q.35: “Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace…”

  • WLC Q.75: Emphasizes lifelong transformation after the image of God.

III. Putting Off & Putting On

• Key Scriptures: Ephesians 4:17–32, Colossians 3:5–14

• Reflection:

  • List areas in your life needing mortification (putting off).

  • What specific virtues does God call you to “put on”?

IV. The Role of the Soul in Sanctification

• Faculties of the Soul:

  • Mind: Discern truth (Eph. 4:23, Rom. 12:2)

  • Will: Reject sin, pursue righteousness (Rom. 6:12–14)

  • Affections: Love God, hate sin (Gal. 5:22–24)

V. Means of Grace for Growth

• Practices:

  • Regular Bible intake

  • Participation in sacraments

  • Private and corporate prayer

  • Fellowship and accountability

  • Embracing trials as refining tools (James 1:2–4)

VI. Union with Christ

• Scripture: John 15:1–8

• Catechism Tie-In:

  • WLC Q.66: Explores benefits of union with Christ, including sanctification.

VII. Holiness and Heaven

• Scripture: Hebrews 12:14

• Discussion:

  • Why is holiness necessary for seeing the Lord?

  • How does sanctification prepare us for glory?

🛠 Practical Application

• Identify one “put off” and one “put on” area to focus on this week.

• Memorize Romans 12:1–2.

• Ask a trusted believer for honest feedback on your growth in holiness.

Will you please turn with me in your Bibles to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12. And we'll read verses 1 and 2. If you're using the New King James Pew Bibles provided for you, you'll find that on page 1008. As we flip over to Romans chapter 12, just a reminder, we're going through this topical sermon series of who are we? Who are we? We've talked about us being a body and a soul, the importance of our body and how God knit you together in your mother's womb and how he made you a living soul. And in that soul, it's a spiritual substance. And that soul is described in your heart and in your thinking and in your willing of things. We talked about our corruption though, falling from the first estate wherein our parents were created. And the corruption that happened to our souls, the twisting in every way of our thinking, of our affections and of our will. But then God's saving us. God making us born again. And from that renewed heart, from that regenerated born-again state, something starts to change in your soul. And that's what we look at this morning. What is changing in your soul because of what God has done to you? With that in mind, let's turn to Romans 12, verses one and two. I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Let's pray. God, we thank you for your word. My father, you know how easy it is for our eyes to be darkened, how hard our hearts can be. Even us who have been redeemed, given hearts of flesh, Lord, we often have calluses. Father, we pray that you would push by your spirit through those things, that you would renew our minds, that your spirit would help us to hear, to understand, and to do. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. I had the blessing when I was in Pittsburgh at seminary, there was a guy I went to school with, he had a really neat testimony. He was in prison, And he didn't know why, but one day he was in prison and he didn't have anything else in his prison cell, but he did have one thing that was in there. And to be honest with you, this guy had been not so fond of anything Christianity, but for some reason, there was a Gideon's Bible in his prison room. And so he picked it up. Didn't know why he picked it up, but he picked it up and he read. And he said it was like somehow something in him gave him life. And he just started reading and reading and reading and reading. He had nothing else to do in his jail cell but to read. And I met this man a couple years later while he was at seminary. And it was amazing to me as you could see on his body the marks of his previous life. As you saw the tattoos and you could see the wear. The Lord had changed him from the inside out, and to everyone else looking, you could tell that he was a changed man. But even if you talked to Philip, and you had said that to him, he would answer, yes, but there's still so much sin I need to deal with in my life. that there's so much sin I still need to deal with, I still fail in my thoughts, I still fail in the things I say, I still fail in the things that I do. Brothers and sisters, that failing is a struggle with the old man. And the putting to death of that old man and putting on holiness is called sanctification. That's a $5 theological word, sanctification. Sanctified just means holy. It's the Lord who said, be holy as I am holy. And one of the things that God does in our lives by the power of his spirit is he shows us the depths of our hearts, shows us areas, thank the Lord he doesn't do this all at once. But he does this throughout our entire lives, showing us there's still areas to be holy. There's still sin to be put to death. There's still the old man who's gripping on in these areas. And out of a love for Christ, we get to put away that old man and we get to live unto God. And so I'm gonna go through five different parts of the sermon. So I first described to you what is that? What is this sanctification? The Westminster Shorter Catechism says it this way. Sanctification or this progress of becoming more like Christ, more holy. Sanctification is the work of God's free grace whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God and are enabled more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness. Our walk in this Christian life, becoming more holy, this idea of sanctification is progressive. It's an ongoing work of God's spirit. And I need, this is my one time I'm gonna say it, I'm not gonna hound on it here, right? This is not how you become saved. If you ask most people in the world, how do you know you're getting to heaven, they will tell you a series of good things they've done or compare their sins to somebody else's and say, well, I'm not as bad as them, I'm good enough. None of that's ever gonna get you to heaven. By grace you have been saved through faith in that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, or else we would brag about it. We would boast, we'd be prideful, but it's God's gift in us. But if he has made you a new creation, if he has breathed life into your soul, if he has taken out your heart of stone and given you a heart of flesh, then you are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works. You have to be recreated, you have to be reborn, and out of that then you do good works, but it's never to save you. It's to bring glory to God. So please do not confuse how you are saved from how you live as being saved. This is God's work in us and through us. So what does sanctification look like? Number two, the pattern of sanctification. It's an on-off. If somebody was to come to you and you were a sewer worker and you walked into the house, your wife would not want you walking around after crawling around in the sewers with your nasty boots and your stinky clothes on. What would your sane thinking wife say? You take off those dirty, nasty clothes, take a shower, and go put on good, clean clothes, and then you're welcome to come to the dinner table. That's just putting off of the filthy deeds of the flesh and putting on of righteousness. This putting off is also called mortification or putting to death. Look with me at Colossians chapter three. You can flip through in your Bible. I printed some of these verses in the outline. Colossians chapter three beginning at verse five. Therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth. Fornication. uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now you yourselves are to put off all these anger, wrath, Malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with his deeds. Do you see, you still have that old man, the flesh in you that's fighting against you, and you're to put these deeds to death, because they were a part of your old life, part of your old identity, but you are no longer that man, so we put off, we put to death. Now, I need you to pay very careful attention here to what it said. Therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth. You can't play with sin as a Christian. There is no having a hobby horse or a pet sin that you wanna just keep encouraging. You must, Christian, God is commanding you by the Spirit to have grief and hatred for your sin. Your sin, my sin, is the reason why our Lord and Savior was pierced in his hands. He suffered and died on the cross for our sins. We must not dare to think we can continue to love sin. God is so holy, he cannot even stand to look upon sin. And if you are born of him, we ought to see our sin and grieve over it and want to put it to death. It is mortal combat in our lives. And so we put off those sins, we put them to death, we mortify them, but then we don't just do that. It's not just about putting bad things away, but it's replaced with what's good and what's holy. Put on the new life. Theologians call this vivification. We continued on in Colossians chapter three. and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him. We put on a new thinking, we put on a new understanding, we put on a new life. And if we went through the rest of Colossians chapter three, starting at verse 12, you would find a whole bunch of examples of what you do to put on. If you look in Colossians chapter 3 and 4, you're going to find you put on tender mercies. You put on kindness. Christian, in sanctification, you put on humility, meekness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, love, peace, thankfulness. We sing psalms and admonish each other as a fruit of sanctification. Wives submitting to their husbands is an act of sanctification. Husbands loving their children and not embittering them is a point of putting on in sanctification. Children, if you are in the Lord, putting on obedience to your parents. Husbands loving their wives. Slaves obeying their masters. Masters putting on justice and fairness to those who serve them. Christians praying, us walking in wisdom, us redeeming the time for the days are evil, and even us speaking with grace. In Colossians, this is not a list of, well, don't do these bad things because they're bad, and do these good things because they're good. It's not just ethics lists. It's not just legalism. Saying you were remade for this. God made you a new creation. He made you to walk in the light. He's empowered you by his Holy Spirit to live a new life and this is what it looks like. And this isn't just in Colossians chapter three, you can go to Ephesians chapter four and see the exact same type of things. Right, like him who steals, steals no longer, right, so you're putting off that stealing, but instead what are you doing? You're working with your hands that you might be able to give to those who are in need. All right, speak no corrupt word. But instead, what do we have to do? We put away those caca words, we put away those words that tear people down and do nothing but rip other people up, and what do we do? We speak words that build others up and impart grace to those who hear. It's about turning away from sin and turning to life. Do you know what that's called? Repentance. Repentance means you are walking in one direction towards death and you turn around and at 180 degrees about face and you walk towards life. You are walking towards the pit of hell and fornication and idolatry and sexual immorality and all the other things that Paul said. You're walking straight towards judgment instead. Now you walk straight towards heaven. Because God changes our souls. This is the third point. He changes the faculties of our soul in sanctification. As he makes us more holy, who you are in your soul begins to change. And from that, even how you live in your body changes. So we've talked about these three different faculties of the soul before. You have a mind. You think. That happens in your soul. You have a will. You choose from your soul. It really is you who chooses things. And you have affections. You have the height of all emotions in your soul. But in sanctification, all those begin to change. So in the mind we put off the futility of our thinking, of our ignorance and even of our falsehoods. Ephesians 4, 17, I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind. Change your thinking is what the Lord is saying there. We know that we were futile. This is what Romans chapter 121 said, because although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful because they became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. We need to find those futile thoughts in our minds that are still holdovers of the old man. And we need to put them away. We need to put them to death. And in their place, what do we put on? We put on the knowledge of God and renewed understanding. Colossians 3.10, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him. Ephesians 4.23, and being renewed in the spirit of your mind. In Romans 12 too, and do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. There is nothing more dangerous in the Christian life than to fool yourself into thinking that your thinking is always right. If you think that your thinking is always right, you have no more place in your heart for God's correction, or for any of your brothers and sisters who may come to you and encourage you with God's word to turn away from a foolish way you're thinking. So have your mind renewed. Sanctification involves the changing of our minds. I remember when I was at college, I got out of the Navy, I was only a Christian for like a year, and my first year going to the community college in California, I wasn't very smart and I was really struggling because I hadn't gone to college, I hadn't done high school, but there was one thing I found out really fast. As my English class was required to go to the mosque, And as my other English class, we had to write about all the glories of a specific political candidate, I just thought, I don't think these are the people I should be learning from. And I realized I need to go and actually be discipled in my mind by Christians. I needed to know how to think, because I didn't know how to think Christianly. I didn't know how to think Biblically. I didn't know how to take every thought captive unto the obedience of Christ, and that's how I ended up at Geneva College. Not because I was RP, but because I desperately wanted discipleship in my mind. Be renewed in your mind. But your soul also changes in its second faculty, in your will, in what you choose, And so we ought to put off, as Christians, slavery to sin. Again, make no doubt about it. Every single time we sin, it's because we want to sin. We sin because that's what we want to do and we will to do it. Now, sometimes we're so sinful that we don't even realize it. There are times when I've, hurt Olivia with words that I've said, or attitudes, or things that I'm doing, and I didn't realize that they were like knives to her heart. But make no doubt about it, the choices that I made were my choices. Whether I was knowing that they were hurting her or not is another story, but I was making those choices. We choose to sin. And this is why in Romans chapter 6, 13, the Lord says, and do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. How do you choose to use your body? You choose every word that comes out of your mouth. You choose. whether or not you let your mind linger on different things. You choose the actions that you do. You are making those choices. So when you find that those choices you are making are not loving to God and not loving to others, you have a choice. Will you wallow in your sin? Will you soak up the, pleasure that might be there for a moment. Or will you choose holiness? Put on obedience, submission to God's will. As the spirit works in your heart, Romans 6, 18 goes on to say, and having been set free from sin, you become slaves of righteousness. Christian, I hope that you hear that. We talk about total depravity as Calvinists, a whole bunch, where people will talk about, right, we're bad to the bone, we're radically corrupt, but you do not have to sin, Christian. You can love your wives' husbands. Children, you can obey your parents. Wives, you can do the totally counter-cultural thing and you can submit to your husbands and let your feminist neighbors chew rocks. You can choose to do what is righteousness. You can choose to honor your employer by being honest and hardworking. You can choose to walk in righteousness. You do not have the shackles of sin and being slavery upon you. So the choice is yours and your renewed soul. What will you choose? Make no doubt about it, holiness doesn't happen by accident. You must choose to walk in the light. Again, God is the one who did the amazing work of changing your heart so you can do that. But the question is, are you resisting or are you working with God in sanctification? This is gradual. Our lives are freed from sin's reign gradually because we need to be trained for righteousness. Hebrews chapter five verse 14 says, but solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. There's food for babies, it's called milk. But eventually kids grow up. and they eat solid foods and eventually they'll eat meat. And so the question is, where are you in that path of sanctification? Have you lingered just being okay with the sugar and with the milk? Or are you desiring a robust diet that'll nourish and strengthen your soul? But I think at the height of all of this and at the root of all of this is one of the, is the last faculty of the soul, your affections. God changes you, not just by you becoming a stoic and you willing things into existence. It's not just self-actualization. But what God does in our souls is changes what we love and changes what we hate. He changes our desires, we're to put off disordered loves and sinful passions. That's what Colossians chapter three, five was getting at. Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth. Fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness which is idolatry. And then in First Peter, he says, Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against your soul. Why does this world walk in darkness? Because it loves darkness and hates the light. Such were some of we. We were the same. And we know that in our souls, every time we find the darkness, that for some reason we don't understand it, we're drawn towards it. We're tempted in our own hearts. Whether that's we're watching something on TikTok, or on YouTube, or on TV, or listening to the radio, or reading a book, we see those things, and we hear those things, and we, for some reason, are attracted towards darkness. But as I talk to older saints, they still struggle with sin, but it's amazing to me. For those who have walked in the light for years and years and years, their love for those things of the darkness die more and more. They actually become sensitive, more and more sensitive towards certain sins. Sins that I would think, oh man, I don't know. And they'll point out things, like I'll never forget when I was first reading Jerry Bridge's Respectable Sins. He was talking about how he was struggling with this respectable sin of lack of self-control. I just give in to indulgence just a little bit. And he had a habit, and I very much like this habit. I think it's, in my natural flesh, I think that's my type of guy. He would have a bowl of ice cream every night. And I thought, there's nothing wrong about eating ice cream every night, that's wonderful, I like that. But his point was, he realized he was being controlled by that love of ice cream. He realized in his heart he was being controlled by something else and not controlled by the spirit. And so even though everybody else might look at his life and say, oh, that's not that big of a deal, Jerry, you're just, come on, get over it. No, he realized it was a symptom in his life of a lack of self-control. And because he loved God more, and he knew that a fruit of the Spirit was self-control, he knew he had to put to death that lack of self-control, and even deny himself of a lawful good thing, and say, no, I'll just have ice cream on Sundays. I'm not sure if that's what he did do, but I think it's a good idea to have ice cream on Sundays. But God changes our loves. God changes the things that we're angry at. God changes the way we think about sin, and even those things that we once loved, we begin to hate. So we put on love. We put on love for God and love for neighbor. That's the whole point of what Paul said in Galatians chapter five with the fruits of the spirit. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. As your heart and your affections are realigned towards Christ, as Jesus becomes more and more precious to you, as you love your Savior more and more, sin will become more odious, stench, putrid to your smell. And to the senses of your soul, you'll begin to loathe it rather than love it. Put off in your heart those things that would love the darkness and instead love the world, or love the light. But how do we do this? How does God do this? I've given you six different means. This is by no means exhaustive, but six different ways in which God sanctifies us. The first and most important is our union with Christ. Our union with Christ is that we are in Christ and Christ is in us. This is what we talked about last week with regeneration. Our life is hidden in Christ. And it is out of that union with Christ that we bear good fruit. This is what Jesus himself said in John chapter 15. Abide in me as I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine. Neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. Your union with Christ is the first means of sanctification. I must ask you, are you in Christ? Are you in Jesus? Is he in you? You cannot bear good fruit unless you are in him. Some of you may be very moral people. I talk to people all the time in Iowa. It was one of those interesting things for me as I would ask people when we moved to Iowa, well, are you a Christian? And do you know what they would answer? They say, yes, I go to church. And by that they meant I try to be a moral person. I try to be a good person, so I go to church. You will never be a good person until you are united to Christ. Because even if you have all the good works in the world, but you are not united to Christ, God looks upon all your good works, and do you know what he sees? Filthy rags. Are you in Christ? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is your Lord? Do you confess that with your mouth and do you believe that God raised him from the dead? Is he your only hope in life and death? You must be united to Christ. The second means is ascending of his Holy Spirit. God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit, he is the one who gives you the ability to actually put to death sin and to put on righteousness. Romans chapter eight, verse 13. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. You are not strong enough to will sin to death in your life. You must depend upon the Holy Spirit. And then cooperate with the Holy Spirit in putting to death sin. The foe is too big for you. This is why Paul said in Galatians chapter five, I say then walk by the spirit and then you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. You must walk first by the spirit if you are to mortify the flesh. So okay, you're united to Christ, you have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but what does God do? How does he pull this off in your life? What means does he use? Well, he uses the word. He uses the scriptures as an instrument of renewal. This is what we sing about in Psalm 19. Right, God's word is sweeter than honey, more precious than gold. One of the things that I love about meeting new Christians is it's like they tasted honey for the first time. And they might say, I have all these different plans, I'm gonna put them all to the side. It's amazing, like you hear different people's testimonies. One that comes to mind right now is R.C. Sproul, right? And when he first became a Christian, what did he do? In a period of just a few weeks, he read through the entire Bible. Why? Because he was going to school and learning all this philosophy and all these books that he was reading, but when he found the book of books, it became a treasure to him. It became sweet to him. It became gold in his pockets. And he wasn't gonna let anybody take it out. Do you still love God's word? Are you utilizing the means of grace that God gives you? Or has it been collecting dust on your shelf? Now some of you are good readers and you read very quickly. Some of you, like me, you get bored very easily. I have to switch up my reading plan every year or else I know I'm gonna get off. Some of you are able to read huge swaths of scripture the whole time. This is not about the necessary, the quantity. But I'm asking you, are you thoughtfully and spirit-led in the word, receiving it and laying it up in your heart that you might practice it in your life? Jesus prayed for his disciples the night he was betrayed and he said, sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, brothers and sisters. This is a path towards sanctification, an instrument God uses. But he also uses, fourthly, the Lord's Supper. Make no doubt about it, when we come to the Lord's table, it is a means of grace. God is, not just by the administering of it, not just because you put bread in your mouth or drink a little cup of juice, that's not gonna sanctify you. It's only gonna give you like 13 calories. But what he does when you spiritually discern what's happening there is you fellowship with Christ. When you actually hear the warnings at the Lord's table that you need to put away sin, that you need to go reconcile with your brothers and sisters, that you need to rightly discern the body and blood of Christ, when you actually take the Lord's supper seriously and you eat and drink by faith, God does so to convict you of sin and nourish your soul and assure you of his love and of his second coming. That's what the sacrament is for. That's why he instituted that meal to happen regularly in our lives. But fifthly, prayer and fellowship. God uses prayer and fellowship as a means of grace in our lives. We were talking at session meeting where the elders were meeting on, I think it was Tuesday night. It's been a long week already. And as we were meeting as a session, we were talking about the elders' role, especially the ruling elders' role in reading the word and in praying. And I can't tell you what a blessing it is to come to the house of the Lord and pray to one another, to hear Jim Pilling's prayers this morning for us. and us getting to pray with and for one another. God uses that to build us up in our faith. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. God blesses us to get to come into his palace, into his courtroom, into his throne room and stand before his throne of grace and to pray and we know that he hears us. when we get together, especially as a corporate body, there's a huge blessing. That is why during COVID it was so dangerous when all of us were in our homes and it was just like watching online and stuff like that. We knew inherently that that wasn't right and it couldn't last forever and we needed to get back together because there's something true that happens when we are two or three together in Jesus' name. This is why the author of Hebrews writes in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 24, let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some. But exhorting one another and so much more as you see the day approaching, as we get together and we fellowship and we pray for one another, we remind each other that there's good work to do. There's love to be shown. There's sin to be put to death. We're able to encourage and exhort each other. We need one another. Very few people will have a strong faith apart from a local church body they are a part of. as I'll read stories about martyrs. And as they languish in prisons, do you wanna know one of the things in their writings time and time and time again that they long for? To sing with God's people. And to pray with and for God's people. The loneliness of their jail cells become a time in which they start to pray for other Christians and long in their hearts for fellowshipping and praying with them. But number six you may not like. God uses another means to sanctify you, suffering. God uses suffering and hard providences to make us more holy. This is what first Peter was getting at when he said that you were going to go through the furnace of sanctification, that through various trials and sufferings, but that the pure gold might be left. God uses hard things in your life so that you may long for those things which are true and eternal and unchanging and perfectly good. Some of you are going through real difficulties in your life. Many of you are in pain. There's aging, there's ailing. There may come a day when the economy takes a dump. There may come a day in which your 401k loses half its value. God may have made you to be in relationships in your life that you can't get out of, and they are painful and hard for you, whether that's with your family, or whether that's with your coworkers, or whether that's in the community, or even within the church. He's even brought relational trials in your life to sanctify you. How else do you think you're going to learn patience unless people annoy you? God uses these things. He uses your family, He uses your children, He uses your spouse, He uses your coworkers to show you the depths of sin and to show you the path that leads, or the path of light. So instead of thinking, oh, there's suffering happening in my life, something must be wrong. No, examine your life for sin. Maybe you're suffering because you're sinning. Or maybe you're suffering because God wants to teach you a deeper level of obedience. So why? What's the motivation? Why should we walk this road of holiness? Well, first, to glorify God. We walk this road of sanctification to glorify God in body and soul, 1 Corinthians 6.20. For you were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. Your body, Christian, was redeemed by the blood of Jesus. So why should you live a holy life in your body? Why should you abstain from sexual immorality? Why should you not be a glutton or a drunkard? Because God loved you so much that he paid the price of his own son for your body. Why should you not ponder and think about those things that make you bitter, or those thoughts of lust that might run into your mind, or that covetousness where you want your neighbor's stuff. Why should you not think about those things? Because God redeemed you from slavery to those things. God redeemed you for his glory. Secondly, why we've walked this road of sanctification is to live out who we are in Christ. Romans 611, likewise you also reckon yourselves dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Do you want to be like Christ? Do you long to be made more like Jesus? Do you long to walk after the path of Jesus? Though you have not seen him, do you love him? And if you love him, do you not want to walk in his ways? Do you want to follow in his footsteps of righteousness? That is a mark of sanctification. That is a heart that loves God. Thirdly, we want to reflect the character of our Father. Ephesians 5, verses 1 and 2, therefore be imitators of God as dear children. and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us, an offering of a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. It's really cool when kids start acting, especially like when little boys start behaving like their dads, as watching something on social media one day, I forget what it was, or what platform it was on, that doesn't matter, but the point is, there was this kid and he was at a Mecum auction, And the boy had a seed hat on, like one from the vendors. And he had a plaid shirt on, tucked in, Wranglers and boots. And he's looking at a tractor, got his hands in his waist belt, and he's rocking back and forth between his toes and his heels, like his dad and his grandpa, talking to this 50-year-old man about this tractor, saying, I don't need anything more than 85 horsepower for our farm. He wants to be like his dad. He wants to be like his father. You have been adopted, and by his spirit, you have been put into your heart, Abba, Father. We want to be holy as he is holy, because that's who he's made us to be. Fourthly, we want to follow along this path of sanctification, because we love him who first loved us. For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge this, that if one died for all, then all died. And Jesus himself told us, if you love me, keep my commandments. We don't walk this road of sanctification out of a slavish fear of God, but because we love Jesus. Because he first loved us. And lastly, why do we follow this road of sanctification, of holiness, living? Because holiness prepares us for heaven. Holiness prepares us for heaven. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 14 says, pursue peace with all people and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. Sanctification is the fruit that shows that you are moving towards glorification. Now we're not perfectionists. You will never in this life, as long as you are sucking air in your lungs this side of Jesus' second coming, be perfect in your holiness. But as God sanctifies you more and more, guess what you're being prepared for? a holy eternity before a holy God, so why would we not want to be more and more holy in this life now in preparation for it? We want to see God. And so in this life, we prepare to see him. So who are you? Who are you, Christian? As you look at your life, Do you see sanctification? I'm gonna just leave you with a homework challenge. Now when you ask this question, you need to do so in the spirit, and not get defensive. Maybe you should go home and ask your kids, or ask your spouse, or ask your parents. Do you see me thinking God's thoughts? Do you see me loving the things that God loves and hating the things God hates? Do you see me choosing to walk in holiness? Or do you see in me choosing to walk in darkness? Spend some time just encouraging each other with that. Use it as an encouragement time. I'm giving you this homework hopefully as an encouragement. ask others, where do you see that I could be encouraged in my holiness? And when there's sin that's brought up, don't become defensive, but ponder it in your heart, wrestle with it, and resolve to do something about it in the Spirit. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that you indeed have saved us and are sanctifying us. Lord, we are sinful people. Even now we still find that old man clinging to the darkness, clinging to the ways of the flesh. We cannot sanctify ourselves autonomously. So Father, we pray that even now that your spirit would be at work in our hearts. turning us towards you. God, and if there were sinful, errant, or wrong things that I've said up here, would I pray that even then I would be corrected in love, repent, and turn towards you. None of us are perfect. Thank you for your perfect son. God be with us, we plead. In Jesus' name, amen.

• Why is human righteousness insufficient before God? Human righteousness is insufficient before a holy God because, as Romans 3:10-12 and Genesis 6:5 highlight, we are all inherently sinful. Our thoughts, intentions, and actions consistently fall short of God's perfect standard. We are prone to evil, and even our best efforts are tainted by selfishness and pride, meaning we cannot achieve a state of righteousness that would satisfy God's justice. This demonstrates the dire need for an external source of righteousness.

• What is meant by 'substitutionary atonement' in the context of Jesus' suffering? Substitutionary atonement refers to the concept that Jesus, who was completely righteous, willingly took the punishment for our sins upon himself. As Isaiah 53:4-6 and 2 Corinthians 5:21 show, he suffered and died on the cross as a substitute, bearing the consequences of our wrongdoing. This act of love and sacrifice satisfied God's justice, allowing us to be reconciled to him. Christ's suffering was not merely a demonstration of love but a means of payment for the penalty that we deserved, hence the "just for the unjust".

• How does Christ's resurrection impact our hope and justification? Christ's resurrection is vital because it proves the completeness and success of his sacrifice. Romans 5:1-5 and Philippians 3:9-11 describe how it demonstrates that God has accepted Jesus' atonement. It signifies not only the forgiveness of our sins but also our restoration to a right relationship with God. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, the believer has been given an "alien righteousness", one that was not earnt by them, but imputed to them by God through faith. It is through Christ's resurrection that we have the hope of eternal life, having been both acquitted of our sin and declared righteous in God's sight.

• What does it mean for a Christian to be "blessed" in suffering for righteousness? According to 1 Peter 3:13-17, suffering for righteousness is a blessing because it means our lives are aligning with Christ's teachings, and we are participating in His suffering. When we are persecuted for our beliefs, it is not a sign of God's disfavor, but rather a testament to our faith and a confirmation that we are following Christ's example. It gives us a unique opportunity to testify to the hope we have in Christ. Instead of fearing such suffering, we are to view it as an honour and an opportunity to glorify God.

• How should Christians respond when they face evil or persecution? Christians are called to respond to evil or persecution not by retaliating, but by exhibiting compassion, humility and love. 1 Peter 3:8-12 says, instead of returning evil for evil, we should bless those who persecute us. We are to seek unity and pursue peace, trusting that God is ultimately just and will avenge us. The focus should be on reflecting the character of Christ, showing grace even when facing injustice. This includes being gentle and respectful when defending our faith.

• Why is the concept of Christ's finished work so crucial for Christians? The "finished work" of Christ means that Jesus' sacrifice on the cross and his resurrection were all sufficient for our salvation. This means our righteousness is not based on any personal achievement, but a gift given freely by God. As the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms point out, Christ's obedience and sacrifice fully satisfied God's justice. Because of this, we can have full assurance of our salvation. There's nothing more we can or need to add to what he has already accomplished. This frees us from the burden of trying to earn our salvation and establishes Christ as the sole foundation for our relationship with God.

• How should the assurance of Christ's finished work influence our daily lives? The assurance of Christ's finished work should lead us to live with a deep sense of gratitude and confidence in our relationship with God. Knowing we are righteous because of Christ, not ourselves, should cultivate humility and motivate us to pursue a life that is pleasing to him. We should seek to display unity, peace, and love in our interactions with others. In our lives, we must seek to give a defence to others for the hope that we have in Christ, in meekness and fear. This should inform the way we approach every aspect of our lives.

• What is the practical application of the phrase "the just for the unjust" in our lives? The phrase "the just for the unjust" highlights the central tenet of Christian faith: Jesus, being perfectly righteous, took the punishment that we, being unrighteous, deserved. This realisation should foster a spirit of gratitude and humility. We must acknowledge we have no merit of our own, and our salvation comes entirely through grace. The just one took our place so that we might be brought into the presence of God. The application is that we can never rely upon ourselves for our own righteousness, and so must place our full trust in Jesus. This should lead to living lives that honor God's grace.

• Justification: God's act of declaring a sinner righteous in his sight through faith in Christ, not through their own good works or merits.

• Imputation: The act of crediting or transferring something, in this context, God credits Christ's righteousness to believers.

• Atonement: The reconciliation between God and humanity through Christ's sacrificial death, which covers the debt of sin.

• Substitutionary Atonement: The doctrine that Christ died as a substitute for sinful humanity, bearing the punishment and penalty for their sin.

• Righteousness: Moral perfection and conformity to God's law. In Christian theology, it's seen both as a standard and a gift of God through Christ.

• Sanctification: The process of being made holy, where God works in believers to transform them into Christlikeness over time.

• Passive Obedience: Christ's willing submission to suffering and death as part of his obedience to God's will, not limited to simply his active obedience to the law.

• Alien Righteousness: A righteousness that is not inherent to the individual but comes from an outside source. In Christian theology, it refers to the righteousness of Christ imputed to believers.

• Reconciliation: The restoration of a relationship to harmony, specifically, the bridging of the gap between God and humans through Christ.

• The Spirit: In the context of this study, refers to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, who is believed to give life and bring about spiritual regeneration.