Sanctification: The Will of God, Pt I

This post has been long in the making, mainly because of my apathy. However, a good while ago I was inspired to write on this topic in response to personal conviction, disgust, and a Biblically-based conviction for all believers. Namely, I believe that it is crucial for the believer to radically pursue purity because it is our Scriptural mandate, our spiritual worship, and solemn responsibility.

I will start with and base my thoughts on 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8.

           

            “Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God..”  (ESV, vs 1-5)

In the lives of young Christian men and women, the question “What is God’s will in my life?” is one that notoriously frequents the stage, but often exits unanswered. In this case, it is a relief to see God’s will for the believer so adamantly proclaimed: our sanctification is the will of God.

In this matter then, we are without excuse. We who claim Christ have been changed; we are a new creation. “The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Cor 5:17b What’s more, we are called to be renewed in the spirit of our minds, putting on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Eph4:23-24) We do this because of Christ, for His death and resurrection has liberated us, and by His power we are strengthened and propelled to continue in this renewing process. We are called to sanctification. And in regards to 1 Thessalonians 4, we are called to be sanctified in terms of purity: that we abstain from sexual immorality.  This call to purity requires radical action, which Lord willing I will cover in Part 2. In this first part I wish to cover 3 main points concerning our sanctification.

1. Our Scriptural Mandate

Our Scriptural mandate is clear from 1 Thess 4 alone, but this issue is embellished throughout the Bible, especially in Ephesians 4-5. As Christians saved by grace, we are exhorted to walk in a manner worthy of our calling by…

4:29 keeping corrupting talk from our mouths, speaking only to build up and to give grace.

5:3   not naming sexual immorality and all impurity unnamed.

5:4   abstaining from filthiness, foolish talk, and crude joking.

5:8b walking as children of light, abstaining from the unfruitful works of darkness.

2. Our Spiritual Worship

^ These verses provide the need for radical change in our lives, undoubtedly requiring vigorous labor on our parts. But this is not a begrudging task, nor should it be pursued for the wrong motives. Scripture also states in Romans 12 that the purpose for radical change is for our spiritual worship.

            “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (vs 1-2)

Transformation by the renewal or our minds is vitally linked with the worshipful presentation of our bodies as living sacrifices to God. The pursuit and preservation of purity is a part of our sanctification process, and it should be approached as a means of worshiping God as holy, living sacrifices.

3. Our Solemn Responsibility

It is our solemn responsibility to pursue purity in our sanctification because it is God’s will for us. Occasionally we will stumble and fall, and God will be faithful and just to forgive us, (1 Jn 1:9) but this will always be the goal. To consciously indulge ourselves in this area is a solemn offense for two main reasons.

In doing so, we disregard God. Continuing in 1 Thess. 4:6-8 , the will of God is our sanctification:… “that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.” 

In doing so, we spurn Christ’s sacrifice.

            “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before Him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard..” Colossians 1:21-23

We have been reconciled for the purpose of our sanctification (indeed our glorification) in Christ, and we must continue in our faith undaunted by the world. To willingly stray from this cause would be to spurn Christ and betray our reason for spiritual existence.

Thus Scripture is clear that the pursuit of purity and sanctification is the command and will of God. But it can’t end with head-knowledge; it must be practically applied, and radically so. Yea, violently so. Hence, by God’s grace, part 2.

Not My Own

2 Cor 5:15 “And He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

God has been working a lot on my heart recently. It has all been very sudden, convicting, and even painful; it’s natural for us to think that we have things under control, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth, and hence come the need for hard, control-shattering lessons that point us back to Christ. I’d like to think that by now I’d have things together- that I would be able to handle these situations Biblically the first time; but instead I prove myself to be more a debtor to God’s grace every day. This goal is still what I strive for, but so long as I am being turned to look to Christ in my failures, like Israel looked to Moses’ serpent (John 3:14), then proving to be a debtor in turn proves to be fruitful. In light of failures and fruitful lessons, then, God has brought my heart to some convictions that I’d like to share. Among the foremost of these convictions, is that I am not my own.

Immediately, many would quickly reference 1 Corinthians 6 and other similar passages with the common theme of, ‘You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.’ The fact that Christians are not their own is a commonly known concept. I have professed it for years from my head knowledge. But there was something about standing confronted and condemned in my foolish desire for control of my life, that made my head knowledge click with my heart. I, truly, am not my own.

This is evident in the theme of this blog. Christ died for us, so that He could redeem us from sin, make us His own, and glorify Himself through the complete transformation of our lives. We no longer live for ourselves, but for Christ, because of what He has done for us. We do this both as a willing sacrifice, and as a mandatory calling. Rom 12:1, 2 Cor 5:15, Eph 4:1.

Therefore, we are ‘not our own’ on several levels.

First of all, we are not our own because we are, by nature of being creation, property of our Creator. In application to all men, God owns us because He created us physically and has given us the breath of life; something neither we nor some pre-historic evolving blob could do. God owns our bodies and our life because He created them. Gen 2:7-8, Ps139:13-14. Furthermore, we as Christians are not our own, because we have been created specifically in the spiritual realm: we have been given spiritual life. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Eph 2:10.

Secondly, we are not our own because we have been bought, through the work of Jesus Christ. The price of our ransom was no more and no less than the blood of Christ- perfect man, unfathomable God. Acts 20:28, 1 Peter 1:18-19. NBD. :)

Having been spiritually redeemed, we are also given a permanent, life-changing calling.

Titus 2:14 “[Christ] gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works.”

1 Peter 4:1-2 “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking… so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.”

I need not continue. Scripture is clear, and well we know, that we are not our own. However the point I’m trying to make is that this knowledge has active application, which recently clicked with me in light of God teaching me to trust Him, and to make Him the sole source of direction in my life. John Piper, in his passion to avoid a wasted life, describes a tragedy in the making: what many of us would call the American Dream. He says, “You’d be satisfied… if you could just have a good job with a good wife, or husband, and a couple of good kids and a nice care and long weekends with good friends…That is a tragedy in the making. A wasted life.” What makes this statement stand out is that all of these things are good. Work, marriage, and family are ordained by God and are good; friendships are good; technology is good; earthly blessings are good. But these things are only good- if Christ is the blazing center of your world, around which everything revolves. The reality is that there is no satisfaction, no joy, no comfort, no blessing, or no good God-ordained thing that can be enjoyed without the prerequisite that ‘To live IS Christ.’ (Phil 1:21).

So, the end of the matter: I, along with most other human beings, can want to be assured with a good job, to be blessed out of my mind with a good wife, a family, home, friends, paycheck, and etc., but I CANNOT pursue these things outside of God’s will for my life. I am not my own. I must first settle with my God what He requires of me,- doing justice, loving kindness, walking humbly before Him, obeying Him, and following Him unconditionally- before I let myself pursue anything other than Him. (Micah 6:8) Since the beginning of this school year, my desire and assurance for being a pastor have grown tremendously. I cannot escape thoughts about it; along with Jeremiah I feel “in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.” (Jer 20:9) I am not my own, and I devote the entirety of my passion, life, and career to loving Christ and proclaiming Him to the ends of the earth. I do not know how God will work out the details; though there are definitely good things on earth that I desire to glorify God in, I am content in all things to wait on the Lord my King, whom I know will work all things to my good as I pursue Him, my joy.

My apologies for the lengthy blog post. Thank you for reading.

Soli Deo Gloria

For the Love of Christ Pt.1

I have chosen to title this blog ‘For the Love of Christ’ in reference to a single passage; namely, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15. Although this blog and possibly others will directly refer to this passage, I also wish to blog about other passages that God lays on my heart, and I believe that the theme of this verse is the umbrella under which I write.  Therefore I want the theme of this “For the love of Christ” ‘umbrella’ to permeate the entire blog and its future content. I write because I feel constrained to do so; may my passion ever lie in and for the love of my Savior.

 I first stumbled across 2 Cor. 5:14-15 sometime during my junior year, and ever since I have been impacted by its life changing truth. The passage states the following:

      “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised.”

For the moment, I will summarize what these verses have meant to me without looking at the cultural, historical context. The big hammer that I believe this passage has is the very significance of the conclusion made. The ‘that one has died for all’, and following, is pretty much the bare bones of the gospel. The ‘we’ of this passage concludes that the gospel is real; that Christ the Son of God died, sacrificially for the sins of the world, for His own glorification through His resurrection from the dead and His victory over physical and spiritual death, and for the eternal purpose of restoring sinners to eternal fellowship. The ‘we’ also concludes that there are several compelling factors of Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice, some namely stated that saved sinners are no longer constrained to sinfully serve themselves in the flesh, but are freed and even compelled to joyfully serve their Savior, Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the ‘we’ concludes that holding to the entirety of the above conclusion is directly proportional to a significant change on their lives, stated as being controlled by the love of Christ. They proclaim that the gospel, as we would call it, is real, binding, and eternal; and because of this reality, they are controlled by the love of Christ.

I plan to write more on looking deeper into the implications of exactly what it means to be controlled by the love of Christ and why it is important; but for now I will stop with my conviction and exhortation. As a Christian, it is because of the gospel that I live, both spiritually and purposefully. Part of what impacted me when I first contemplated this verse was the resolve and passion behind the conclusion that the gospel is real. The reality of what Christ has done for us is worth conclusion and resolve. Secondly, the reality of what Christ has done, for those who claim Him, is life changing. I cannot claim to love Christ and have Him as my Savior without a drastic impact on my life.

As Christians, we have been given an entirely new life that is completely free from the bonds of sin. Our debt has been paid, our slate eternally wiped clean. Col 2:14

In our new life, we have been given a direction and focus; to no longer live for ourselves as we used to, but to live for the one who paid our price, and presently owns us. We are not our own, for we are bondservants of God. Romans 6:18

In our new ‘slavery’, we are not forced against our will, for we are filled with and compelled by the love of Christ. Our service and worship of Him is selfless and joyful, because of the gospel.

Because of the gospel, then, Christ has died in my place and I am no longer my own; He died so that I would no longer live for myself in sin, but for Him in righteousness. I have concluded that the gospel is great and true; I conclude that Christ’s sacrifice is real, and I believe in Him as my Savior. Because of Gods saving work in me, to be theologically accurate, I am filled with the Holy Spirit who changes me into His image and sanctifies me to want God’s wants. I stand in awe of Christ’s love for me, and I am filled with love for Him. Therefore, because of the gospel, I am filled with and controlled by the love of Christ. I cannot help but to seek my greatest joy in Him, and to let His love control my life as I attempt to worship Him in it. I am resolved to live a life ‘For the love of Christ.’ God help me.

Resolve with me, dear reader, to live for Christ in light of what He has done for us.

~Soli Deo Gloria~

So it begins

Hello! My name is Jacob. I don’t really need introduction here, seeing as I assume only people I know will care to read this; however if anyone I don’t know reads this and wants to talk about anything, feel free to contact me on Facebook.

I have decided to start this blog for the sake of my own edification; and although I hope others are encouraged by it, my goal is to get into the habit of analyzing Scripture, presenting my thoughts & personal convictions on it, and opening myself up to the correction and accountability of those who decide to read said thoughts. I do not mean to mount a pulpit and 'preach' here; but I do mean to preach at my own heart, and to let such sermons be known.outside of preaching to my own heart. All in all, I write for the love and glory of Christ.

Lord willing, my first actual post will come soon. For now I would like to encourage you, dear reader, that if indeed you have “tasted and seen that the Lord is good” and have experienced His glorious salvation, you will also “long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation” through sanctification. 1 Peter 1:2-3

I would encourage you to long for the Word. To hunger for spiritual meat. For how can you expect to live a life for Christ, sloshing His glory and grace on all near, if you are not first exposing yourself to Him? Again, I preach to myself; for I cannot blog, Facebook post, witness, encourage, or fulfill any other Christian calling effectively if I am not marinating myself in the Word and in prayer.

Resolve today to live a Scripture driven life!