Wednesday, March 8, 2023 PM

Sunnyside Baptist Church

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For a believer, at some point, you know,

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God does an amazing work and brings this person to the new birth, and they are born of the

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Spirit, born again.

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In John chapter 1, it says, the true light was coming into the world that enlightens every man.

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He came into the world. The world was made by Him. The world did not know Him. He came to His own, to His own people, and His own people did not receive

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Him. But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name,

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He gave the authority to become children of God, who were born not of blood, not of the flesh, not of the will of man, but born of God.

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When a person becomes a Christian, he is born of the Spirit of God.

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This is a one -time event. It happens once, and it's called justification.

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This person is now justified before God. His sins are all forgiven. He's pronounced not guilty.

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He's righteous before God, in Christ. You see, born of the

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Spirit, the Spirit he is born of is the Spirit of Christ, the one who reveals the

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Son of God, Christ. That is justification. Then, at that point, this person begins to grow as a

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Christian, as a new creation, and he's headed for Christ -likeness, to the glory of God.

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Now, at this point in this person's life, you might notice this little box down here.

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This person has one nature.

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If you want to look at 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14, the natural person does not accept the things of the

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Spirit of God, for they are folly to him. He is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

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For this person to come to the new birth, his eyes have to be opened to see the light of Christ, and that's the work of the

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Spirit. In Ephesians chapter 2, this is also described as, beginning in verse 1,

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And you were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked, following the course of the world, following the prince of the power of the air, the

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Spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

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But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, that's here, made us alive, that's here.

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He brought us to the new birth. He made us alive together with Christ.

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By grace you've been saved, and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace.

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I hope you notice at the top, it's grace all the way across, even over this.

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For by grace, verse 8, you have been saved through faith.

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And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of work, so that no one may boast.

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For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.

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That's here. We're made for good works. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which

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God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Now, this business of sanctification, this is a process.

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You should note that on your sheet. Born of the

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Spirit is a one -time event. Sanctification follows, and it is a life -long process.

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Now, again, at this point, this person has one nature, the physical nature.

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When he is born of the Spirit, he now has two. He's born of the

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Spirit, and he now has two natures. He has two natures.

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In Scripture, called the old man and the new man, or the old self and the new self, or the old nature and the new nature, the one born of the flesh, the other born of the

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Spirit. Throughout the rest of his life, this person has two natures, and the

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Scriptures speak of those two natures quite often. For example, in Colossians chapter 3, verse 1, if then you have been raised with Christ.

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At this point, who are those who are raised with Christ?

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Those are the ones who have been born again. If then you've been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above.

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You see, we're growing upward. Seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

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Set your mind on things that are above, not on things on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

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It says here, for you have died, that's your old nature, and from the perspective of God, it's dead.

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But from your perspective here on the earth, it's still kicking. You know it very well.

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For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

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Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you. So this person, from this point on, is to put to death what is earthly.

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Now, at this point in his life, that's all he knew. That which is earthly.

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What is that? Well, check out the next verse. Put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you.

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Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

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On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. And these you, too, once walked when you were living in them.

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That's back over here. These, too, you once walked when you were living in them.

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But now, you must put them all away. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk from your mouth, do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices, and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

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You see, this is the old self that this person is now to put off.

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And he is commanded to put on the new nature, created after the image of Christ.

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Put on the new nature. Here there is not

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Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free, but Christ is all and in all.

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Put on, then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another, and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the

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Lord has forgiven you. So you also must forgive. And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

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And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body.

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And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

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And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the

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Father through him. Okay, so from this point on, this person is being sanctified by the

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Spirit of God. And this person is to be in cooperation with God as he works internally in the life to make this person after the image of Christ.

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And he is to put off the old nature with all of its practices.

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Those are listed there on your sheet.

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I think quite often in scripture, this is represented either directly, grow up into Christ, or it's represented by attributes, like put on these characteristics, humility, meekness, kindness, gentleness.

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Okay, you see what I'm saying here? So the new nature is described either directly as Christlikeness or in attributes.

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Now within this box, okay I haven't put anything in here, but on your sheet it should be listed, this growth process, this sanctifying, sanctification process is described in a number of ways.

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For example, it's described in Ephesians as physical growth.

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In Ephesians chapter 4, starting in verse 11,

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Christ has given to the church, if you will, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers to equip the saints.

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Okay, now all of these are in that box, okay? To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the

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Son of God, to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

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Now you see the description there is one of growth from a child to mature manhood, and likewise there are similar descriptions in other places of the scriptures.

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It is also described as learning, or school, or increasing in the knowledge of God.

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Okay, that's the second one here. Jesus said in Matthew 11, verse 28,

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Come unto me, all you that labor under heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

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Put on my yoke and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.

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Put on my yoke and learn of me. You see, from this point on we are to learn of Christ.

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We are to grow in Christ. That's sanctification. My favorite scripture dealing with that is

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Psalm 32, verses 8 and 9.

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It starts out, I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go.

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I will guide you, I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

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Be not like a horse or a mule which lack knowledge and must be curbed, or they will not stay near you.

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Be not like a horse or a mule, but pay attention.

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Let the scriptures seep into you, soak into you deeply and learn of Christ.

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It's also described as a journey or a walk or a way.

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Often in Ephesians chapter 4, 5 and 6 we're told how to walk.

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Chapter 5, verse 2, walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

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In verse 8, walk as children of light. Verse 15, look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise.

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You see the word walk here, this is a word used quite often for how we live our life.

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Be careful how you walk. Walk in the light, walk in love, walk in faith, walk in those good works that God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

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It's like a journey. We're traveling together as pilgrims. In one sense it's a business trip.

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We're to be about the Father's business. It's like immigration.

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We're citizens of heaven. It's like a tour group.

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We're all in this together, traveling towards glory. It's also like, you know, some people take a trip to go exploring.

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And believe me, we are exploring the mysteries of Christ. It's like going home and the trip is prepaid.

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You know what I mean. Okay. You know it's described as a journey or a walk or a way.

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And again, the beginning of the journey is Christ. The end of the journey is Christ.

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Okay. He is the author and the finisher of our faith. And the journey itself, you know, is

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Christ. He says, I am the way, the truth and the life.

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Okay. The Christian life was described early in the church in the book of Acts, you know, as the way, the way.

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And Jesus says, I am the way. Okay. This sanctification is also described as a battle, a battle.

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And close to the end of Ephesians chapter 6, we are told to put on the whole armor of God.

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Okay. That we can stand against the enemy.

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Okay. It's described as a battle. It's described as construction.

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In 1 Corinthians chapter 3, Paul says, let each man be careful how he builds.

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Should I build with wood, hay and stubble or gold, silver and precious jewels?

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We're building a building. We are each, let's see,

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Peter calls us living stones. Okay. Living stones.

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We're also described as a garden or a field. You are

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God's building, Paul tells the Corinthian church. He said, I planted, Apollos watered and God gave the increase.

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It's also described as an athletic pursuit.

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In 1 Timothy 4, starting at verse 7, have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths.

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Rather, train yourself for godliness. For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is a value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

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Train yourself for godliness. Godliness is another way of describing sanctification.

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Two other words for sanctification are consecrate and sacred or growth in holiness.

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As we become more and more holy, we become more and more like God or, if you will, it says here, train yourself in godliness.

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Physical training is of some value in this life, but training in godliness will benefit in this life and the life to come.

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I'll stop right there. Are there any questions about this chart?

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Do you see the difference basically between justification and sanctification?

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Justification is a one -time event born of the

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Spirit of God. Sanctification is a lifelong process and we have two natures, the old and the new.

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Because we have the new, we can please

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God. Remember last time we met,

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I asked you, do you know how you can please God? Ephesians 5, verse 10 says that we should try to discern what is pleasing to the

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Lord. We should be looking out for things.

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How can I please the Lord? What can I do to please the Lord? When I take on the

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Spirit of God, I have a whole new perspective on life and I now have a new desire.

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One of those desires is how to please my new master, otherwise known as the

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Lord Jesus Christ. And all throughout the New Testament, he tells us what we are to be about.

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He tells us how we should be walking. Let me give you one example.

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Philippians chapter 4, I have received, this is verse 18,

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I have received full payment and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, this is from the church probably in Macedonia, the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.

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When we give, when we give either of our talents, our energies, our efforts, our gifts, our finances, when we give help to others, this is pleasing to God.

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It's a pleasing, sweet smelling aroma. It also mentions that in Hebrews chapter 13, when we give to others, when we share what we have, when we help others, it's a pleasing sacrifice to God.

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Also, when children obey, it's pleasing to God.

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So when we are obedient, it's pleasing to God. This person cannot in any way, shape or form please

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God. This person can. Why?

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Because he has the new nature, the very spirit of God. Okay, I better close there.

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Okay, let me pray. Father, I thank you again for your great love and mercy as shown to us through your son, the

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Lord Jesus. And I pray for each of us that we might continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of your son, the