Being Made Wholly Holy

Silicon Valley Reformed Baptist Church

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Well, the preaching this morning will be from 1 Thessalonians 5, and just two verses there, verses 23 and 24, as Paul, bringing this letter to the

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Thessalonians to a close, begins to sum up some of the things that he has been bringing to them in this letter, his points that he's made in terms of their conduct, the will of God for them, and he says earlier in the letter, for this is the will of God for you, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, sanctification being the theme of the two verses

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I will read in a moment, and we will study this out and understand God's purpose for us in sanctification, our part in growing into the image of Christ, which is the process of sanctification and receive from God this instruction.

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So if you would stand please just for these two verses, the word of God.

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Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of the

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Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do it.

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God bless the reading of his word, now its proclamation. Please be seated. You know, as we look at these two verses, what

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I want us to come away with, and I'm going to give you the takeaways right up front, is to understand God's part and our part in this process, this subject of sanctification, and we're going to study sanctification in some depth.

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We're going to make it a bit of a lecture because we need to understand it because that's God's purpose for you, and to understand God's purposes, we need to understand what this subject is.

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If God's purpose is sanctification, we need to understand what sanctification really is, and especially in the context that we have it here in 1

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Thessalonians 5. I want you to understand your part and God's part in sanctification, and as I said, to understand this, we need to understand what sanctification really is, and as a result of hearing this and understanding sanctification and your part and God's part,

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I would have us come away here all the more determined to strive and be strenuously striving towards this goal, which is

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God's will for you, sanctification. I want us also to look forward to sanctification's ultimate goal, which is to be in the image of the

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Lord Jesus Christ, and I want you to understand that God's work of sanctification in you is a holistic work, and holistic sounds very 21st century, but as we will see as we go through this, it is right here in the

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Scripture, it's part of Paul's prayer here, may the God of peace sanctify you completely.

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So that brief introduction, let us delve into this beautiful prayer that Paul makes for the

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Thessalonians and for us, that we be sanctified, that we grow into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ as God does this work in us.

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Back in the early 1800s, a man named Abraham Booth wrote this about this idea of sanctification and growing into the image of Christ, and I would like to start us out with this.

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It says, For we cannot easily form a more exalted idea of the business and blessedness of heaven than that of contemplating the glory of God and of making continual advances in likeness of Him.

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Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ? What he's saying here, and I think he hits the nail right on the head, there's nothing more blessed, there's nothing more glorious, there's nothing more productive, nothing more important, and nothing more beneficial than to grow in likeness of Him, by which we mean

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God in the flesh who is Jesus Christ our Lord, as Conley just taught in the catechism question.

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God became man in the flesh, and in Jesus Christ we see the image of God, He's the image of the invisible

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God, the exact imprint of His nature as the Apostle of the Hebrews says, and it is

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Him into whose image we must grow. So let's understand what

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Paul is saying here in this context of growing in sanctification, this important, this productive, this beneficial goal that God has for us.

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Let's first understand who it is who's being spoken of here, and what

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Paul means when he calls Him this unusual name, the God of peace. Now may the

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God of peace Himself sanctify you completely. Now in the Greek, it is more emphatic

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Himself, that's the first word, Himself, the God of the peace, may

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He do this work of sanctification in you, Himself comes first, it's emphatic, it's

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Him, it's God, it's He alone who can do this work, it's He alone who has predestined this work.

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It is God Himself who does the sanctifying work within His people.

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He calls Him the God of peace, the God of peace. Peace with God is a declaration of God, where the enmity between Himself and sinners has ended because of Jesus Christ and His work on the cross, again as was explained a few minutes ago through the catechism question, what

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Jesus Christ did on the cross, dying and suffering God's wrath for your sins brings peace between the repentant sinner, who in faith in Jesus Christ and trust in what

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He did on the cross, goes to Him for forgiveness of sins, and by that forgiveness conferred upon you, if your faith is in Christ, God declares peace.

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This is Romans 5 .1, where it says, therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our

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Lord Jesus Christ. Now justification and sanctification, sanctification being our subject this morning, they do have some relationship.

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Now you start on the process of sanctification, growing in holiness, becoming more and more like Jesus Christ on the basis of this justifying faith.

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Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God. You have not peace with God without having been justified.

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You are not justified except your faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ and His cross. So justification is that declaration, a one -time declaration.

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You don't grow in justification, it's something God declares. And in a like manner, in a very similar way, so is sanctification a declaration of God.

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When you come to Jesus Christ, the Holy One of God, you are sanctified. You're called a saint.

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Saint derives from the same word as sanctified or sanctification. And Paul can speak of those who are saved and are being saved.

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He can call you saints and those who are becoming more and more saints. It's a declaration of God that you are indeed sanctified.

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And yet unlike justification, sanctification is something you must grow in.

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Because sanctification is holiness. It's the same word, sometimes translated sanctification, sometimes translated holiness, and not very often translated consecration.

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It all comes from the same base word. So the

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God of peace Himself, the God who has declared peace with you because of your faith in Jesus Christ Himself, the

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God of the peace, may He sanctify you completely. Now if I asked you what is sanctification, most of you would have an answer that would be accurate.

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You would say, well, sanctification is holiness, so if God is going to sanctify us, we're going to grow in holiness.

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We're going to become better people. That's a simple answer, and that would be a true answer.

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That would be an accurate answer. But sanctification has more meaning than just that.

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I read in one theological dictionary, I believe it was Baker's dictionary, a very good definition of sanctification.

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And it said that the generic meaning, the generic definition of sanctification is for something to fulfill the purpose intended by its owner or its maker.

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So in that sense, and this is the example from that theological dictionary, it said eyeglasses then are sanctified when they're used to improve your eyesight.

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Tools are sanctified when they're used for what the tool was made for. My father was not one who understood this idea of sanctity of tools.

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If he needed to turn a screw, even a small delicate brass screw on an old carburetor or something, and the only wrench he had was a pipe wrench, he would, in an unsanctified way, grab the pipe wrench and turn that little brass screw and wonder later why the carburetor didn't work because the brass screw got crushed by this great big pipe wrench.

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But for something that sanctifies there is a difference to use the right tool. And that tool is sanctified when it's used for the job and the purpose the owner intends.

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And so sanctity, growing in sanctification here, what Paul prays for the God of peace to do in you is to make you more and more a vessel of the purposes that he intended you for.

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You fulfill your purpose, your purpose in Christ Jesus, the purposes for which

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God sent Christ Jesus, which is to die for sinners and to bring them to himself, to make sons and daughters for him, an inheritance.

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That's the purpose. And we'll go into more detail in that. But I want you to understand that sanctification, growing in holiness, is more than just becoming a better person ethically and morally.

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It is that. Don't leave that behind. It is that. But it means also to grow more and more into fulfillment of the purposes which

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God has for you. So now may the God of peace himself sanctify you.

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May he bring you more and more into his purposes, his predestined purpose for you. Romans 8 .29

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says he predestined you for what? To be conformed to the image of his Son. To fulfill that purpose.

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And he says sanctify you completely. And I said before in the introduction, we use the word holistic.

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It sounds very 21st century. But this word completely is holotelos.

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Holo, where we get holistic, complete, something being done in complete, for all the parts, all the necessary components are being affected by this process, whatever it is.

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And then telos, which means purpose, the end game, the end goal.

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And so this is very consistent with what I gave as the definition of sanctification. Sanctification is to be brought into purpose, be made more and more a vessel of the purposes that God intended for you.

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And he does that completely, completely. Holotelos, holistically bringing about the telos, the purpose, the end game that he had in mind for you.

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Which again, Romans 8 .29, is to be conformed to the image of his Son. So himself, the

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God of the peace, may he do this work. It's a prayer, it's what we call an optative, it's a prayer.

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It's like a wish almost, but he's certain that he will do it. We'll get to that in the last verse, which

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I read. He who calls you is faithful, he will surely do it. So it's not a wish like wishing upon a star.

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But it is an optative, it is a wish, it is the Apostle's heart to this people, to this church even today, for you,

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Christian, to be conformed into the image of Christ by this work of God in sanctification.

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And he does it completely. He leaves nothing out. And we'll come to that in the next phrase.

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So himself, the God of the peace. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And let's move on and understand this process that we're speaking of here.

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And may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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And I need to take a moment, a brief excursus, because when I read that, may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless, some of you are going to wait, are expecting me now to talk about how mankind is made up.

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Are we bipartite or tripartite? If we're bipartite, we're body, that's the corporeal, the physical aspect of our being.

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And then there's soul slash spirit, those being synonyms for another, and that's the incorporeal, the spiritual side of us.

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Are we bipartite, two, body, soul slash spirit, or are they three?

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As Paul says here, are those distinct? Is that our nature? Where we are body, the physical part of us, nobody disagrees that we have a physical existence.

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And then is spirit and soul two different things? Are you wondering about that?

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Was that one of the things you're curious about if you're familiar with this verse and the controversies and the different theories around it?

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Well, watch your pastor dodge that question. Because that is not the Apostle's point.

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The Apostle's point is that you be completely transformed in the image of Christ.

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That this work of God, this sanctification that's drawing you into His purposes, which is to grow you into the image of Christ, be done completely.

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That He does this in a holistic way that brings about the purposes that He intended. And so He says your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our

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Lord Jesus Christ. He's speaking of all of you. He's speaking of your entire existence.

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Now I've thought and thought about this. Spirit and soul and body. And this God of peace. What is

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Paul speaking of here? I think it's a Hebraic way of thinking. The God of peace. What is the

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God of peace? This is shalom. This is wholeness. This is wellness. This is soundness in your being.

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Confidence in your way of life. Because your way of life derives from the scripture, from faith in God. Peace.

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This confidence in God and His work in you. This shalom as we pray at the end of every service when we give you the

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Aaronic blessing at the end. And may God, may He give you peace, shalom, wholeness, and completeness.

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I think it's spirit, soul, and body. Where does the Apostle Paul, this former Jew, this former

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Pharisee, makes me think back, and I hope you will think back with me, to what

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Jesus said was the great command. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

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Three aspects of our life. Heart, the inner man. Soul, that aspect of you that relates to God.

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Strength, your life, your body, the things that you actually do. All of you, holistically if you will, loving

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God completely. The God of peace who sanctifies you completely. Spirit, soul, and body, all of you, given over to this transformation into the image of Christ Jesus.

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So if I dodge the bipartite and tripartite question, what does he mean by being kept blameless?

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What is blamelessness? Well, blameless is not a word that's used real often in the

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Bible. Back in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, it has to do with sacrificial animals. Being without blemish.

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As God says, you shall bring a lamb or a bull without blemish. Without any blame upon it.

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And of course, in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the New Testament, this transfers to this blamelessness in our life.

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Not we as animals, not having a hair out of place, not having a blemish on our skin that would make us an unworthy sacrifice.

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It's speaking of your ethical and moral life. It's speaking of the way we follow the

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Lord Jesus Christ in life. Blamelessness is not perfection. It just means to do really good, if you want to look at it that way.

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Paul said that as a Pharisee to the Philippians in chapter 3, he says, I was blameless. There's no one who had more zeal in keeping the law according to the

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Pharisaic traditions in which I was raised. He was advancing more in Phariseeism than all of his other colleagues.

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Even though he was young, he was going further. He was blameless. In that sense, he followed. He did what he said he believed in.

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That, of course, was the Pharisee Saul, who became the Apostle Paul.

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There's one more example in Genesis chapter 17. Before God gives Abraham the covenant of circumcision, he says,

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I'm the Lord your God who called you out of Ur of the Chaldeans. Walk before me and be blameless.

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That's this word. Be blameless. Be ethically and morally excellent. Follow my ways.

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Conduct your life in accordance with the Scripture, with my will. May your whole spirit and soul and body be kept that way.

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Be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, that introduction.

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That was really kind of a long introduction, but I got a lot of points out to you, so we understand what the Apostle Paul is saying, what some of these words mean.

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What do we have here? We have a movement called

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Keswick, K -E -S -W -I -C -K. The higher life movement.

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They have a motto, which is based on not just this one verse, but verses like this and elsewhere.

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We're not going to go through them all. And they look at this and say, okay, you know what we're taught here? We're taught here, let go and let

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God. Okay, it's all up to God. The God of peace is going to do it.

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He's going to do it completely, and I'm going to be kept blameless at the coming of our

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Lord Jesus Christ, so let go and let God. I didn't make that up. I didn't say it pejoratively.

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That really is their motto. To get out of the way. And when I think about that, I think, well, first of all, it's wrong, but what does it remind me of?

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When I say let go and let God, it sort of reminds me of an Eastern style, maybe a Buddhist style of meditation, where you rid your mind of all thoughts of self, you empty yourself so that you're open to all influences.

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It sounds like that. We're just getting self out of the way. When the apostle is saying spirit, soul, and body, he wants you in the way.

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He wants you a part of this. It's not let go and let God, nor is it, well, let's go and help

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God. Let's roll up the sleeves and let's get busy and do our part. We often think of cooperating with God, and we say that in justification, we are passive recipients of the faith

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God gives us and the justification he confers upon us. But in this process of sanctification, we cooperate with God.

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This is where we take some part in it. Well, we do take a part in it. We're going to talk about that a little bit in this message, but I don't want you to think of it as cooperating with God.

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It just kind of makes me shudder a little bit to think of puny humans cooperating with God.

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It just sounds too much like we're helping him along. Let's think of it more as the same process of our responsibility to grow in the image of the

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Lord Jesus Christ, to do things rightly according to his scripture, to become more like Jesus Christ every day, to have this progress.

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But instead of thinking of it as cooperating with God, think of it as submitting to God.

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Think of it as us submitting to the will of God. This is the will of God for you, your sanctification.

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Again, the abstain from sexual immorality. We could add to that list from many other places in scripture.

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No, it's not cooperation. God doesn't need our cooperation. But he demands our submission.

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King Saul, Israel's first king, learned this the hard way when he gave the unlawful sacrifice. He says,

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God would have more regard for obedience than for all the cows and bulls and sheep that you could bring in.

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You can read about that in 1 Samuel 15. So spirit, soul, and body, be kept blameless.

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Be guarded as blameless. This is God's work in you, keeping you blameless as he is doing this work of sanctification as you're growing more and more in the image of the

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Lord Jesus Christ. It's a lifelong effort.

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It's something that you are never going to be done with so long as Jesus tarries or doesn't call you home.

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Because there is no perfection. There is no completion of this. God is bringing about his purposes and tell us, as we had earlier, holotel us completely.

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Sounds like, okay, he's going to make it, you know, he's going to bring it to an end in this life. He is not. It's impossible.

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We do not have complete sanctification now. It is a lifelong effort. It is a good effort.

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It is a growing effort, but what does it look like to us? This growing in holiness. Well, it's the desire that you get from the new birth if you're in the

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Lord Jesus Christ. It's the change of heart, that's Ezekiel 36.

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It's the law of God, Jeremiah 31, that's written on your heart. God gives you the desire to follow his ways.

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God gives it all. It's like Augustine famously prayed, command what you will and then provide what you command.

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Make me able to do your will. Ephesians 1 .19 says that the power of God with which he worked in Christ to resurrect him from the dead is the same power that works toward us who believe.

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It gives you each other, the communion of the saints, the scriptures, the

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Holy Spirit. He does provide what you need. It's a lifelong effort that he has made possible for you.

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Now what does it look like, though? To grow in this blamelessness, to grow in this sanctification.

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I think of Psalm 19 where he speaks of the law of the

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Lord is perfect, enlightening the soul. And he goes on to speak about how the law of God shines everywhere.

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It's like the sun because nothing is hidden from its light. And then he says something very interesting. He says, keep your servant back from presumptuous sins.

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Keep your servant back from sinning in those things that I know when I do them, I shouldn't do them.

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Listen, do you ever have to ask yourself, is this right or wrong? This decision, this thought, this motive.

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And you have to stop and think it through for a moment and say, okay, now what does the scripture say and what did my mom teach me and when did

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I get spanked for this when I was a kid? Is this good or bad? Is this right or wrong? Listen, as soon as you enter into that discussion, you know the answer.

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God's word is clear enough in almost every decision, in almost every motive. It reveals to us our motives.

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The word of God is powerful and active, sharper than any two -edged sword, and it reveals the motives and intents of the heart.

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As soon as we have to stop and ask ourselves, is this a good or bad thing?

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Really, be honest. You know the answer. Don't go there. If there's any question about it, don't go there.

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And if there is a question about it, most of us know that that's because we're trying to justify the wrong side of it.

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We want to do what's wrong, and we're trying to justify it. We're trying to find a circumstance. We're trying to ultimately blame it on God.

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It's a providential thing that I have to go this way or that. Now, keep back your servant from presumptuous sins.

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The heartfelt cry of someone who's in Christ Jesus and is submitting, not cooperating with, but submitting to God and growing in His image.

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God has declared you sanctified, holy.

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This is a precious bestowment upon you. Jesus Christ on the cross died on the cross for your sins in order that you can be called this, that you can be called sanctified or a saint or even holy.

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Do you understand holiness and what a gift it is? Turn, if you will, in your

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Bibles to the book of Haggai. It's one of the last books in the Old Testament.

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Haggai, Zechariah, the Malachi. Haggai chapter 2. And beginning at verse 11, and I want us to understand something about this holiness we're speaking of, this thing that we have to grow in, this bestowment that God places upon you.

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Haggai speaking to the people of God, recently returned exiles. They came back from Babylon, returned by Cyrus to rebuild the temple.

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And here they are trying to get things going again. And Haggai was one of the two prophets who were preaching to them during this time.

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This is during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, the priest and the governor trying to restore Jerusalem and the temple.

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Haggai was one of the prophets in that day. In chapter 2, verse 11, he begins this lesson about holiness, sanctification, consecration,

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God's purposes, if you will. Chapter 2, verse 11, he says,

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That is the correct answer. If you're carrying something holy, this is back in Old Testament days, and you've got something that's been consecrated properly according to the law and word of God, and it touches something that is not holy and sanctified, does that unholy, unsanctified thing become holy?

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No. No, it doesn't. The bread or the stew or the wine or the oil was not holy, but it was common.

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There's nothing wrong with it. Common, everyday things meant by God to be taken with grateful hearts. When they contact something ritually pure, does the holiness transfer from one to the other?

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It cannot. That's the right answer. Holiness is an attribute of that which has been properly sanctified, set apart, made holy.

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The next question, if someone who is unclean, verse 13, by contact with a dead body touches any of these things, does it become unclean?

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The priest answered and said, it does become unclean. What do we get from this?

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How does this relate to 1 Thessalonians 5, 23 and 24 and the holiness that we're to strive for, working strenuously towards the image of Christ?

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It says that the holiness that God has granted you by the faith you have in the

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Lord Jesus Christ, that which makes you holy is yours and yours alone.

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You can't transfer it to somebody. You can be an example to others. And someone might say,

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I want to live a holy life like she or he does. And we should be that example to one another.

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But the conference of holiness itself is God and God's work alone, by Jesus Christ and him alone.

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Conversely, what can be transferred? Profaneness.

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Unholiness. If something is unclean, contacts with something else, does that thing that it contacts become unclean?

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Yes, it does. So we strive for the image of Christ as we work in submission to God in this growth.

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What does it tell us about the holiness from Haggai chapter 2? Well, Paul sort of addresses this to the

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Corinthians when he says that company corrupts good morals.

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The company we keep or the example you set can pass on the opposite of holiness.

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It can pass on uncleanness. This is something we have to be very careful of as Christians in the

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Lord. Because you don't know who's looking at you and saying, well, this one's a mature

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Christian. She or he really seems to know the Bible. And they really seem to live a life that looks holy and by all outward means looks like it's just spot on.

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This is what God would have. And yet, if we're setting the wrong example, if we're not living that life, what can be passed on?

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Well, not your holiness, but the corruption, the deceptions, the hypocrisy.

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Even if everything on the outside looks good, what does God look to? God looks to the heart.

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So a short example from Haggai, and it relates to 1 Thessalonians 5 .23, is that your holiness is a grant from God.

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You are holy. You are sanctified. You are set apart, even as Jesus Christ is. She can't pass that on.

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On the other side, our example, our lifestyle, those who are looking at us, we can pass on the opposite.

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And so the whole spirit and soul and body, our thoughts, our intentions, that aspect of ourselves that relate to God, our body, those members with which we reach out for the forbidden fruit, with which we perform the iniquities that we try so hard to justify, even knowing better, those can pass on.

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Those can pass on. We need to be careful. Holiness cannot be transferred.

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Unholiness can. So where does this leave us?

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The God of peace himself sanctify you completely. May your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless.

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Blameless, morally, ethically excellent. What does this tell us?

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Well, when thoughts and desires that are unholy, that are against God's word, those ones where you have to say, is it right or wrong?

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Well, it's wrong. Stop. Don't go any further. When these things rise up against us and we know that they're wrong, we know that they're sin, what do we do?

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Well, the first thing I would suggest to you is don't make too little of it. When this thought rises up, when this conflict between two choices comes upon you, you can't quite figure it out, don't make too little of it.

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You thought of it because God is working sanctification in you. May the God of peace himself sanctify you.

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May God do this work. He's the agent of all holiness. And if you have to pause to consider, well, first of all, on this horizontal plane, this practical plane, wisdom says you already know the answer.

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But on a more important plane, on the spiritual plane, the very conflict you may be feeling is

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God working sanctification in you. Don't make too little of it. Don't think it's too small or passing so you don't stop and confess and repent right then and there because that might be your first step to even greater heights and strides towards the image of Christ Jesus.

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Maybe that teeny little sin is the first grain that becomes the base of mighty Mount Everest or that first drop from the spring thaw that becomes a rushing river of living waters.

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I speak a little bit poetically, but I mean it. Maybe that little sin that God is working sanctification in you by bringing that to your mind is the one where you need to stop right now, right then, repent of it.

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And by repentance, know once again God's forgiveness and restoration.

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And by that, grow just that one more step into the image of the

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Lord Jesus Christ. Don't make too little of it. Don't make too little of it. Second thing, this is gonna sound funny to you, don't make too much of it.

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I don't mean there's grades of sin. There are grades of sin, but that's a point for another lecture or another sermon.

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What I mean is, don't tuck it away until you have an hour to pray. Don't make it so big and so dramatic that you cannot deal with it until you get home from work, find a quiet place, take your shower, have your dinner, spend an hour meditating and looking at the scripture, and finally get on your knees and confess your sin to God.

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Because when we make so much of it like that, we forget about it. And by the time we get done with work and the kids and dinner, we've thankfully forgotten what it was all about.

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Keep short accounts as we like to say. Don't make too little of a sin so that you just say, well, this is just a small thing.

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I don't need to take care of that one. No, take care of it then and there. Remember, Nehemiah turned to God in just a moment.

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So I prayed to the God of heaven, I turned to this man, I said to him, it could be just that quick and just that easy.

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Well, not easy. Jesus Christ paid for that forgiveness that you're asking for. Don't make too little of it that you just ignore it.

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And don't make it so big that by the time you get to it, you've forgotten what it is. Keep short accounts.

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Don't let the moment pass. And don't make it such a grand occasion that it might never come or be forgotten.

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Well, how do we get this going? God is the one doing the work.

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And Paul gives assurance that this purpose God has for you, this holotelos, this holistic purpose that God is working in you completely.

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And that word completely is prefixed by the same word holo where we get holistic. And then kleros, which is where you get inheritance or portion.

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He's working completely in you, that portion that he intends for you. And verse 25 gives us great confidence.

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Excuse me, verse 24. It tells us who's going to do this work. And it tells us who the agent of the work is and the only way it can get done.

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And Jesus Christ who said, without me you can do nothing. Paul says, he who calls you as faithful, he will surely do it.

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Again, not a let go and let God, not I've got to get myself out of the way now, empty my mind and just let

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God have his way with me. No, it's submission to God. But it's confidence that God is the one doing the work and that God will continue this work and God will complete this work.

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He who calls you is faithful. The calling of God, the gifts of God, Paul says, are without repentance.

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They're irrevocable. Once God starts this work in you, he will indeed do it.

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He who calls you is faithful. Have you been called by God? Do you know the

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Lord Jesus Christ? He's called you out of this world and into his kingdom.

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Do you know this blessing? Is your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? He has called you.

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It's this same God who called everything into existence from nothing that existed before he called it.

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It's this God who called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans and was with him every step of the way.

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And it's God who brought him along. It's Abraham who did the walk. It's Abraham who went to battle against all those kings.

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It's God who did the work. It's God who called him. It's God who called the apostle

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Paul out of his madness and his persecution against the church and turned him into the apostle

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Paul. It's God who called you. So he who calls you is faithful.

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And again, in the Greek, there's an emphasis that we don't quite get in the English because the word faithful comes first.

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Faithful. Sure. Certain. Confident.

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Competent. Throw all those words in there. Faithful is he who calls you.

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He who calls you to Christ. He who calls you to be more and more like Christ. He will surely do it.

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There's no doubt who the agent of this work is. It's God our Father through the agency of the

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Holy Spirit because of the work of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will surely do what he has promised to do.

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You're involved in a Trinitarian work here. Do you realize that? This idea of sanctification?

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Because God the Father who called you to be in his Son, Jesus Christ, he who calls you is faithful. He's placed you in his

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Son. You have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know you've been forgiven. You know his blessings.

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His calling has been proven to you. And how did that happen? Because of the

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Holy Spirit of God who gives you a heart to believe, who changed your nature, as it were, and shed glory on the

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Lord Jesus Christ by opening your eyes to him. And all that because of the work and the person of the

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Lord Jesus Christ. It's a Trinitarian work we're involved in. This is the process that the

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Apostle Paul speaks of here. Growing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 8 .29

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says that God predestined us to be conformed into that image. Who is this

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God of peace? He's the God of shalom. He's the God of wholeness. He's the God of wellness.

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He's the God who called you to the Lord Jesus Christ and he will sanctify you completely.

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Our part is to be sanctified. Without God, we cannot do anything.

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What is our part? Study the scripture, to pray, to become more and more like Jesus Christ each and every day, and to know that it is

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God who is doing the work in you. When the small sins come to mind, know this.

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It's not just something you remembered. It's God who will surely do it, bringing it to mind and bringing you to repentance.

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And by that repentance, one more step closer to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is faithful.

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He will surely do it. And we can conclude this by reminding ourselves that we're going to be kept blameless, that moral and ethical excellence, blameless at the coming of our

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Lord Jesus Christ. This whole year has been awaiting Christ.

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Been studying eschatology in our home groups. Been preaching through First Thessalonians and this whole idea of Jesus Christ and his sure and certain return.

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God will surely do it. God will sanctify you. God will send his son. Jesus Christ will surely come back.

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And what are we to be found doing? Blessed is that servant whom his master finds so doing, said the

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Lord Jesus Christ. He's speaking of praying. He's speaking of faith. What are we to be found doing?

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Reaching out for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. He will surely do it.

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He will surely bring us into that, into conformance with the image of Christ as long as we are on this world, in this world, before Jesus Christ comes.

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He will surely do it and he will surely send his son. And may God be pleased with what he finds his children doing as they await him.

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Amen? Heavenly Father, we thank you again for this day for the sureness that we have in Christ Jesus, our

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Lord, that he indeed will accomplish the work that you send him out to do in us and that by your

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Holy Spirit, Lord, we grow more and more like him. And so we pray that you continue to accomplish this in us.

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Pray that you continue to make us more and more like Jesus Christ. And we give you all the thanks and the praise and the glory for it.