“Walking Towards the Light”
Recap
- Authentically Christian
- Step one – Surrender
- Step two – Realize that there is help
- Step three – turn your will and your life over to the care of God
- Step four – Take stock of your life.
- To that end, we’ll talk about sanctification and how we can participate in it.
- To truly be Christian, one needs to take an inventory of your present life.
- The first step towards solving any problem is to recognize that you have one.
Introduction
- Measuring talent according to one standard when another is far more appropriate.
- What if we were to consider judging a flying contest and somehow a bear got into the contest?
- The bear wouldn’t do well, would it?
- In a similar way, if we measure ourselves by the standards of the world around us, we can come up with
- The measure we Christians evaluate ourselves is through comparison to Jesus.
- The Christian is called to the ongoing work of self-evaluation in order to be sanctified in the power of the Holy Spirit.
- What if we were to consider judging a flying contest and somehow a bear got into the contest?
Sanctification
- It may surprise you but the goal of the Christian life isn’t to make it into heaven.
- Instead, the goal is to expand our relationship with Jesus Christ
- Jesus Christ IS life
- John 1:4 – “In him was life, and the life was the light of men
- John 10:10 – “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
- Sanctification is a never-ending process.
- Origen – There is always more of God to know and love (He’s infinite)
- Justification and sanctification
- Being made holy – set apart for God.
- Different than justification – that is the means by which God in Christ moves us out of the darkness and into his glorious light
- Justification is entirely the work of God.
- Jesus “justifies us” through his death and resurrection
- We are “Set right” with God
- Romans 5:18 – “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.”
- Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit occurring within us.
- Now, make no mistake about it, it FEELS very much like we’re doing all the heavy lifting, but we are being powered by God.
- Calvin once wrote that where there is no spirit of sanctification, there may not be justification.
- We are “Set right” with God
- Jesus Christ IS life
- Instead, the goal is to expand our relationship with Jesus Christ
God is going to make Holy those who He has saved.
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