Tuesday: The Agent of Sanctification
What do 1 Corinthians 6:11, Titus 3:5, and Hebrews 13:12 tell us about sanctification?
Our sanctification is accomplished by faith (Heb. 11:6) through the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Thess. 2:13, 1 Pet. 1:2). The apostle Paul writes: “but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11, NASB).
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Jesus produces in us lifelong growth in holiness, bringing forth the fruit of the Spirit within us. Our being changed into His likeness “comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18, NIV).
Read Galatians 5:16-17. What does Paul tell us in these verses?
There is a battle going on in every believer. The tension we all face stems from the fact that sin dwells in us (Rom. 7:20). The apostle Paul knew about this battle when he declared toward the end of his life: “I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14, NASB).
Read Hebrews 12:1-2. What is the fight of faith that we are to wage against sin?
The battle we are called to fight is to fix “our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith” (Heb. 12:2, NASB). Too often we are self-centered in our religion. We focus too much on our victories and on our defeats rather than on God, who alone can give us victory over sin. When the Holy Spirit helps us to look unto Jesus, we will have no desire for sin and everything that so easily entangles us is put aside (Heb. 12:1). But when we focus on our sins and shortcomings, we look at ourselves and not to Jesus. This leads to easy defeat because, by beholding our failures, we can so easily get discouraged. However, by beholding Jesus, we will be encouraged and can live victoriously.
| If someone were to ask you, “How do I get the victory over sin that is promised to me in the Bible?” what would you answer, and why? Bring your response to class on Sabbath. |
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According to the Bible, I am a saint and holy... ....and same you are! ?
-If the above rise your eyebrows, I challenge you to find the Bible verses where God Himself -through His Word- states that you indeed are holy and saint... and God doesn't lie, so, believe it! ?
What is a saint? Is a saint a person who does not sin anymore? Absolutely not! A saint is a person who has claimed, by faith, the merits of the precious spilled blood and righteousness of God's Son Jesus to stand in place of his or her sinful unrighteous self and life and who from there lives every day fully committed to blessing others and strives with the help of God's Holy Spirit to stay in the path of holiness, at times making mistakes and at times having wonderful success, at times falling flat on the face and at times being full of God's peace and God's joy and love and having their heads held up high in His Goodness and Mercy because of Jesus, God's dear Son.
According to my Bible I'm dead in frespasses and sins and, therefore devoid of Holiness until I allow the Holy Spirit to bring His Holiness into my experience. Then there is no condemnation and I walk according to Holiness.
Eli, every promise has an "if", or condition to meet. We are told to "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?"(2 Cor 13:5)
Hello Robert, I'm not implying that we are saints and holy just out of sheer existence. Of course, I agree with you; there are conditions. Period.
My attempt to those who got eyebrows raised, was to encourage them to search those Bible verses stating that we indeed are hoy and saints, and as result, the conditions will pop up. Have we searched for those Bible verses? ...made a list of them? ... and studied them?
To gain victory over sin in this earthly life is impossible on our own - we must 'die daily' and live 'moment by moment' with Him to have any chance of rising above the temptations of the evil one.
By looking to Jesus, and not focusing on our sins and sinfulness, we can be filled with the joy and hope that we are forgiven and sanctified.
I need Him every hour of the day and as I walk by His side I pray that He will see me through.
God bless all.
God has ever since said that He is the only one who sanctifies us. How does He accomplish this work sanctification?
Cyrus, how did God create the world? How does He resurrect the dead?
The only obstacle between us and sanctification is: US. Through unbelief we make our sanctification impossible, through faith, God is able to create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within.
Let your every thought be fixed upon Jesus, during all hours of the day. When I finally realised that God is not just interested in what I do at church but more so what I do at work and during my social time. God is an expert in all that we do in our lives so why not have him involved in it. I ask Him to help me to perform the best presentation at work, or to be the best motivator to my family and friends through the life that I live. To also seek any opportunity to share with others what God has done for me, rather than having to refer to what God has done for the prophets of old. To have victory over sin is by giving no room to it in our lives and having God as the only dominate influence. This is my recent experience in life, may I continue in it until Christ's soon return.
I am glad that victory does not come from me! Victory comes from the same One who gave me life! I can only take myself to the grave. But He overcame death! He defeated death. And it is in Him that I have to put all my hopes!
Justification is an instantaneous act of grace when God makes a repentant sinner righteous by the blood of Christ, and righteousness is victory over sin. Then Sanctification is the means in which God sustains and defend the title of being a victor in you. We became victors when we realize the merits of Christ, and it is by grace that we partake of his victories. How can l get victory over sin then? by accepting Christ Lordship over my life, victory is GIVEN NOT ATTAINED. We already have victory over it through the deeds and merits of Christ who now through his Spirit has imparted on us. lndeed we are free, John 8:36, now that we are freed from sin shall we continue to live in sin, Romans 8:9 'he who is of Christ has the Spirit of Christ' and the Spirit of Christ will keep us from sinning. Oh Lord fill me with your Spirit
I can't get victory over sin, Jesus has got victory over sin and if we join His army we will be on the winning side.
None of us can overcome sin, we can only turn to Jesus to overcome. We can rely on the Holy Spirit to work in us and overcome sin.
If we turn to Jesus and plead with him to overcome sin in our lives the moment that temptation presents itself, the Holy Spirit will work in us to overcome daily sin. We will be rewarded with a relationship with Jesus as we feel His power in our lives.
Amen and praise the Lord! We can rely on the Holy Spirit to be our Comforter and sanctify us in this wicked world.
It is by focusing on Christ and having faith in Him that helps us gain the victory over sin. If we keep looking at self we will fail every time. Our strength is in the Lord.
My God is my strength though I may stumble many times God is always there to pick me up,by beholding His precious promises and effortly walk to His footstep daily,surely I will find myself transform to the image of God.
My answer to the question @ the end is; (look up, do not focus on improving your self esteem, rather focus on your God esteem, for by be holding you will become changed. You may focus on your self worth, for you are worth the son of God in his eyes. Our heart goes in the direction we look.)
May God help us as we thrive for Holiness.
We are naturally under the power of the driver of selfishness. This causes us to sin. The Holy Spirit produces the driver (motivation) of Love in us. If we continue to sin it is because of our selfishness. If we want to stop sin we must give permission for God to give us His Holy Spirit for our motivation. This will cause us not to even want to sin and to have complete supernatural power over all sin in our lives where we invite Him to do His work.
He is ready, willing, and able to do this for us NOW! We must allow it NOW!
Hmmmmm! The duty is easy,we jst need to trust Him n give it all to Him.
One of the main problems we have with the notions of holiness, perfection, victory over sin is that we think of them as a status. When we arrive at being holy, reach perfection, or gain the victory over sin, we have arrived. It is much more meaningful if we think of these ideas in terms of a relationship. We are holy because Christ is holy and we maintain that relationship with him. The destination is less important that the commitment to the journey.
As a somewhat flawed analogy that makes sense to some of us. When you study for a degree, what is the most important thing; the diploma at the end of the course, or the experience you develop on the way?
Holiness is a dynamic learning experience, not a certificate to hang on the wall.
Maurice, how do you explain verses such as Rev 19:8?
To answer your question concerning the degree, what is the employer interested in?
Isn't the diploma a testimony of your experience and knowledge? Would your previous "relationship" be adequate without the diploma?
I should also ask, is there a standard of Holiness to be met or not? Didn't Jesus give us a hint in Matt 5:20? Or Paul in Phil 3:14?
A relationship is needed, yes, but it is more than a mere relationship, but rather, it is the result of it, which validates the relationship.
In the end, every soul on earth will have a relationship, with either the Lamb or the beast(Rev 13:8), though many will be thinking their relationship is with the lamb, until Jesus tells them: "Depart from me you workers of iniquity". This is why the apostle tells us to "Examine yourselves...".
I think most of what you are saying is already implied in my original comment.
Robert, the wise employer is mostly interested in your knowledge, experience, and your ability to do the job well. Your diploma means very little if you don't have the ability to do the job he needs done.
To gain victory over sin, which is surely promised to me, I have to kill self and live according to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. At times, it is really hard and scary but in the end sweet victory is surely yours! CLAIM IT!!!!!!!!!!
Taking hold of Christ, His word, His love and perfect sacrifice there's nothing but victory for us.
In answer to the question posed above: “How do I get the victory over sin that is promised to me in the Bible?” I believe the Bible presents several different resources to aid us in our daily efforts to overcome sin. With God’s help, and by following the principles of His Word, we can progressively overcome sin and become more and more like Christ. The first resource given to us to live a victorious Christian life is the Holy Spirit. In Galatians 5:16-25 we are called upon to walk in the Spirit, yielding to His control (Ephesians 5: 18 - 21) and choosing to consistently follow the Holy Spirit's prompting in our lives. Secondly, we need to immerse ourselves in God’s Word (Colossians3:16), so that we may chose to walk in obedience to God’s commands. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Word of God is able to penetrate our hearts in order to root out sins of the heart and mind. The Bible is an essential tool the Spirit uses in our lives (Ephesians 6:17), to fight our spiritual battles (Ephesians 6:12-18). Thirdly, prayer is a critical resource that Christians have to help us prepare for spiritual battles (Ephesians 6:18). Prayer is simply acknowledging our own limitations and God's inexhaustible power and strength unleashed for us to do His will.
Just a side note on my first comment above regarding what constitutes A SAINT. There is a coined phrase that goes something like this: "The Church is a hospital for sinners not a haven for saints." I can understand this statement in the light of ones concept of what a saint is. If ones concept of a saint is a flawless, sinless, perfect representation of unfallen heavenly beings, then yes this statement fits. But if ones concept of a saint (which I believe that this is the true and Biblical concept of saint,)is a flawed, sinful, redeemed by the blood of the lamb, striving to be holy human being, sometimes falling and sometimes victorious over his or her defects of character, then the coined phrase should read: "The church is a hospital for sinners and redeemed saints."
I like the definition of “holiness” as “constant agreement with God.” This definition is consistent with Holy Bible, Holy Spirit and Holy Angels (as well as with Hebrews 12:14; Romans 12:2).
This would also be consistent with Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8 where 3 mentions of “holy” may be referring to the Three Persons of the Godhead, Who are in perfect and constant agreement.
I like this "Constant agreement with God," idea of holiness. I would further add that this side of Jesus Second Coming, all his followers will always need every PROMISE that is in GODS' WORD and that includes 1John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." every single day of our lives.
Yes, Sieg, you are straight to the point. Salvation is as dynamic as time is continuous. NOW is the only time we can be "HOLY." We cannot touch yesterday or tomorrow. NOW IS THE TIME OF OUR SALVATION.
It's our choice NOW if we will accept the gift (Spirit) of our Loving God. Every NOW is another step into the future.