Your Role in Sanctification

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Welcome to have you not read a podcast seeking to answer questions from the text of Scripture for the honor of Christ and the edification

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Of the Saints before we dig into our topic. We humbly ask you to rate review and share the podcast.

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Thank you I'm Andrew Hudson and with me are Michael Deere and Chris Kiesler Well, we received a few questions via our website.

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We're gonna handle this in probably a two -part manner What does God require of Christians what does he expect of them particularly regarding sanctification

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Is it to send less and less? Well, what is my role in sector sanctification and then also related?

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How do Christians biblically understand and deal with guilt over sin? What do you got for us

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Michael? All right, so this is a good question to both of them are good questions They're obviously related.

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This is often something that Christians will be thinking about be meditating on especially when having difficulty when having given into temptation when wondering if They're doing what they're supposed to be doing

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Wondering if they are laboring hard enough for the Lord whether they are making enough changes very often

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These questions will come up in times when as a believer in my own life You know these questions come up personally as I hear about this

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Saint over here and look at all they did Here's their daily routine and here's what they were known for and then of course the question slips into the mind

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You know, am I doing enough? Am I? Following God's will for me close enough, you know, am

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I measuring up? Sometimes those questions can come in other times After falling into temptation and failing and sinning the question comes, you know, am

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I actually progressing in holiness? Am I growing in the faith and then many many Christians have these questions about how am

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I supposed to feel about the fact that I've? I've sinned. What am I supposed to think about that? How am I supposed to handle that?

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What now? So these questions are excellent. They really hit at the heart of a lot of the

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Christian experience and I think it's important that we Consider a few passages from the

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Bible that will help us and the promises of the scriptures are that the

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Lord is going to Succeed, right? We have the promises of Christ concerning himself as the

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Good Shepherd Regarding his sheep that of all whom the Father has given to him. He will not lose one

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So ultimately there is the sense of a victory The Christ is going to achieve the end for which he died and was was raised from the dead

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There's inheritance of nations where by his life death and resurrection He will successfully and fully and completely save his people so it's good to start with those promises and to Root ourselves there as we begin to think about the variety of passages that lead us into considering What does

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God expect of us? How are we supposed to progress? What does it look like in the Christian life to be growing in maturity to no longer be infants?

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But to be growing up and being more mature What does that look like and so I think we start with the promises that that is

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Christ's business he's going to be washing his bride with the water of his word that he's going to Succeed that though we may be weak that he is strong.

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And so we start with those promises then we move forward So what does God expect of us?

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Well, I think that the answer to that would be that we would look at Christ What does God expect of us?

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Look at Jesus, you know There is a genuine concern in the life of the believer that we would be holy that that we would live holy that we would turn our attention to the priorities of our

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Lord who has purchased us at such a Costly price knowing how much our

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Lord loves us and how God has saved us In our love for God, we love him because he first loved us and in our love for God We're concerned about the things that he's concerned about what we want there to be a pleasing change in our lives to the

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Lord We really do want to follow through on these things. Yeah in that there are a lot of pitfalls

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You know, I think of some of the pitfalls that John Bunyan put into Pilgrim's Progress there was all these opportunities to go the wrong direction to think the wrong way to make the wrong pursuits and at the end of the

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Second chapter in Colossians, there's a list of some of these things and in verse 16 of Colossians 2 after Affirming the the fullness of our salvation in Christ Paul says so let no one judge you in food or in drink or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths those are all

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I mean, that's just kind of a Handful of the variety of different concerns of holiness in the

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Old Covenant, okay, it would make sense that Those who had been converted out of Judaism those who had been led to Jesus of Nazareth who is the

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Messiah that they would be very interested in the scriptures very interested in These aspects of the

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Old Covenant which were associated with holiness about a people of God being set apart Made holy unto him and he wanted them to be holy and set apart and so he he gave them all of these things and the temptation is for them for these

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Christians in Colossae and Truly, it's a strong temptation today I've observed is to look at these aspects and to begin to adopt them and to bring these rituals and kind of lay them upon ourselves in an effort in a

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Sincere desire to grow in holiness and to be closer to God and to be more about his ways

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But Paul says don't let anyone judge you concerning these things He says these things are a shadow for 17 a shadow of things to come but the substance is of Christ So and the word he uses for substance is the

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Greek word for body, right? So there's a light shining on a body and then what is cast from that body is a shadow okay, so the light of God's revelation is shining on Christ who brings about the new covenant and that Casts a shadow throughout the entirety of the old covenant and Paul is saying the point is not to adopt the customs of the shadow

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But the shadow leads you to Christ. So so don't get caught up with the shadow stuff be

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Captivated with the body the substance Christ verse 18 says let no one cheat you of your reward

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Taking delight in false humility and worship of angels. Well, hey, those are some things that are attractive right in terms of holy

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What does God require of me? Well, there are there's there's false humility, isn't there for sure?

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There's some virtue signaling that could occur. There's all sorts of things Yeah, pretending to be human humble is not real holiness worship of angels and getting into those those weird mystic areas of you know

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I'm a really spiritual person. No, that's not where holiness is found He says intruding into those things which he has not seen vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind and not holding fast to the head

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Again, he's saying holiness Spiritualness Maturity these things that the

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Christians desire. This is not found in Being vainly puffed up in the mind having a bunch of Experiences or a bunch of claims to knowledge that but not holding fast to the head

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And that's capitalized there in that verse who is Christ From whom all the body nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments grows with the increase that is from God It is a good thing that Christians are concerned about holiness and spiritual life spiritual growth

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What does it come from it comes from holding fast to the head? Verse 20 therefore if you die with Christ from the basic principles of the world

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Why as the living in the world do you subject yourselves to regulations? And so I call the box of do -nots do not touch do not taste do not handle

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Which all concern things which perish with the using according to the commandments and doctrines of men

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These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in Self -imposed religion false humility and neglect of the body but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh

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Again, what was the hope? I'm gonna fight against the indulgence of the flesh. So what's a good thing to do?

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Well, I'm gonna go out and get me a box of do -nots Okay, I've got a dozen do -nots here as long as I follow these dozen do -nots.

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I'm gonna be holy Paul says Sounds good doesn't actually work. Well So I find that the end of Colossians 2 and again we could talk about Colossians 3 as well

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But the end of Colossians 2 is a great way to begin to talk about kind of all those false starts That we commonly have so what does

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God expect of us? I think Andrew you had a passage you wanted to read when reading this question

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My mind was taken to a place that I had studied recently in Ephesians chapter 4

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I will begin in verse 11 and he himself Christ gave some as Apostles some as prophets some as evangelists some as pastors and teachers

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To equip the Saints to the work of ministry that is to build up the Saints for the work of ministry sorry to build 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 a mature person the full measure Attaining the the measure of Christ's full stature.

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We are becoming like him and He's a vine.

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We are the branches. Yes. So our our spiritual growth our sanctification. What's our role in it?

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There are these offices that are discussed but we are to be doing the work of ministry

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It's not a cooperating as you might hear discussed it's a

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Laboring for the sake of Christ knowing that your works are not in vain. You're not laboring to get

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These checkboxes filled of do -nots. You're following your master and that's it.

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And the promise is that We are going to attain the fullness Over time

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He have verses 15 and 16 of that chapter says but but speaking the truth in love we see this it's a gracious agency of how we

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Of how we grow but speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things into him.

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Who is the head Christ? From whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effect of working

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By which every part does it share grow it causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself and love so Christ gave to the church to his body all that is needed for the body to grow up into his full measure and This includes all of those who are speaking the truth in love.

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So this is What he expects I guess my question is and maybe this is more of a personality thing

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There's the lists of the do -nots and then there's the do unto others, you know

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One another's yeah, so there's the put off and put on yeah, I know for myself and I wonder if maybe for others

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I gravitate towards the do -nots as if well, those seem more attainable and that The things that I'm supposed to do are harder

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Because it's easy to say. Okay, don't don't do this thing. Don't do these and that's what he was just talking about Don't gather all these lists of things do not handle do not taste do not touch but that's tends to be kind of what you hear

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Christians talking about when I like where you want to live a holy life and Don't you know drink smoke or chew or go with girls the dude, you know, here's a list of things that you don't do

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Why why do you think that's that seems to be kind of the mindset?

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Why do we gravitate towards the negative instead of the positive? Well, I think we can sometimes You know, our hearts are idle factories sometimes we just we look at the as Paul says these things which perish with the using

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These perishable items. These these are easier for us to to isolate easier for us to Comprehend, you know, and again, we're gonna move over to Colossians 3 and there are some

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Warnings are some there's a list of things to avoid but it's not You know, you need to avoid decks of cards

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Right. It's not you need to avoid wine bottles, right? You know, that's what we're talking about in the in the box of do -nots

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Okay in chapter 3 what it gets at it gets at our Relationship with Christ and in light of our relationship with Christ, you know

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It does not make sense for those who are alive to embrace death It does make sense for those who are alive to embrace life

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All right, so listen to Colossians 3 if then you were raised with Christ because we understand our

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Are you union with Christ through faith unites us to his life and his death and his resurrection?

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and our own new birth our own spiritual resurrection is

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Caught up with Christ's resurrection from the dead because he was raised from the dead So we are raised to newness of life and we have a physical resurrection ahead of us

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So if then you were raised with Christ seek those things which are above where Christ is Sitting at the right hand of God You know,

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Jesus said seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you And what were they concerned about?

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What am I going to eat? What am I gonna wear? Well, what is the person concerned about holiness? sometimes

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Unfortunately concerned about well what I eat and what I wear Right, if I eat the wrong things, then

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I'll become unholy if I wear the wrong things I become unholy, but that's the box of do -nots and a lot of that's cast forward from the shadows of the

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Old Covenant Right. So instead of that set your mind on things above not on things on the earth

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For you died and your life is hidden with Christ in God and that right there Shows us our security, right?

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We are Preserved Our life is hidden with Christ in God. We no one's gonna snatch us out of Christ's hand.

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No one is going to snatch us out of the Father's hand Christ and the Father are one This is what

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Jesus says in John our life is hidden with Christ in God that has already been established So when

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Christ who is our life appears then you also will appear with him in glory So the beginning of our life the security of our life is established

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The future of our life is established Where our seating with Christ Our union with him through faith is established concretely and our future.

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Hope in Christ is established concretely Now what right so in light of this every wave of sanctification that breaks upon the shore of our lives comes from the ocean of justification

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Right so that this is how we grow in our holiness by our deepening understanding Appreciation are engaging with realities of our full and complete salvation.

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So verse 5 says therefore therefore, you know in light of this Thinking about this keeping your attention upon Christ Therefore in light of your life with Christ therefore put to death your members which are on the earth

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These parts of your life that that manifest right so yet there's fornication uncleanness passion evil desire and Covetousness, which is idolatry

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Why because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them now earlier in Colossians we're told you we were we were taken out of the dominion of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of God's Son.

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All right, so this is no longer our Identity no longer our realm no longer.

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We're no longer Domineered by all of these things He's that might say well, you know You're not much of a

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Christian if you have fornication uncleanness passion evil desire and covetousness, which is idolatry in your life

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Right. It says put to death these things which means that they're making a stink and you need to bury them

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They're causing a problem and you get rid of them It makes me think of Paul when he says I do the things I don't want to do and I don't do the things

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That I want to do. It's not as if they're not there at all He's he is actively seeking to put those things off because they don't represent

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Christ Exactly, and the spirit opposes those things. Yeah now the difference what's the difference then?

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Is the fact that we now are against these things we want to war against them We we hate them we resent them and we know how to attack them and we know what to say about them, right?

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first John 1 5 says this is the message we have heard from him and declared to you that God is light and in him there's no

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Darkness at all if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness We lie and do not practice the truth

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What just what just happened there? Sometimes we hear that God is light and we say well that means he's he's pure and holy which he is

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Of course, there's no sin in him. Well, that's true If it's very true, but in this context when it says

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God is light and in him there is no darkness It is followed up with when we walk in the light with him

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It means that we practice the truth But if we walk in darkness, it means we lie.

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So this expression of God is light means that it's perfectly true He's perfectly true and all things are seen clearly when it comes from God's perspective

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Yeah, what do we do with the light we turn on the light to see everything clearly So it says verse 7 if we walk in the light as he's in the light

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We have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ. His son cleanses us from all sin right, so it's not that we walk with God in the light because we have

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Escaped all of our sin We walk in the light because we're speaking the truth and we have

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Jesus Christ who is cleansing us from sin We have Jesus Christ who by whom we have forgiveness of our sins Which is the very next passage if we say that we have no sin

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And again, John is writing to Christians if we say that we have no sin We deceive ourselves meaning what we walk in darkness, right?

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And the truth is not in us, right? We can't walk in fellowship with God if we walk in darkness if we're lying and say that we have no sin

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The way we walk in fellowship with God is that we walk in the light and we say the truth Hey, the fact of the matter is

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I do have sin and if we confess our sins verse 9 He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness

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If we say that we have not sinned we make him a liar and his word is not in us So what does God expect of us when it comes to our sin when it comes to our sin and our guilt?

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He wants us to say the truth Confess homilica. Oh the same words say the same thing about our sin that he says about it including not only the reality of the sin itself but also the reality of Christ's death upon the cross for our forgiveness

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To satisfy the justice of God as our propitiation so Putting to death our members here in Colossians all of these things

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Putting those to death includes what walking in the light saying what they are telling the truth about them confessing them

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Seeking to be cleansed from them by the power resurrection power of Jesus Christ verse 8 says

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But now put you yourselves are to put off all these things anger wrath malice blasphemy filthy language out of your mouth

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Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man

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Who is renewed in knowledge? Okay, speaking the truth in love right according to the image of him who created him the image of him who created him

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Well, who is the image of him who created him? but this is the this is Christ Christ is the image of the invisible

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God and We are being renewed into his image Ephesians says we're being built up into him who was our head right to his full status of maturity

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So and this is where there is neither Greek nor Jew circumcised or uncircumcised barbarians get the enslaved nor free

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But Christ is all in and all in other words our whatever we used to identify as No more, right, whatever we used to identify as no more

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Christ is all in all, you know, I belong to him I'm being renewed into him and That's what

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God expects of us as Christians to become more and more like Christ more renewed into his image more conformed to our

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Savior When it comes to the things of the old man to things of death Well, it makes no more sense to to stay with that.

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So we put it off. My Example is Lazarus. Okay, when Jesus came to Lazarus tomb, he says, you know open

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Open up the tomb and everyone's complaining. It's like that's not a good idea, right? He's decomposing now.

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It's too late It's gonna stink. And so he said no just open it up And then he says

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Lazarus come forth when Lazarus does that Jesus has further instructions, you know unbind him

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Because why he's all wrapped up in all these Grave clothes now, it doesn't make any sense at all when when

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Jesus calls Lazarus, you know come forth It raises him from the dead It makes no sense for Lazarus to you know to sit up, you know and kind of realize where he's at and said well

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This is kind of homie, you know stay here in the tomb, you know You know He's feel kind of snug and I feel cozy and I'm gonna make the best of it here in this tomb in these clothes

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The tomb is death. The clothes are death You know He's this is all about death and he's not supposed to stay in the tomb and he's not supposed to keep wearing these clothes

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It would make zero sense and it makes no sense at all for Christians to continue to engage in the things of death

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And that's why we're told time and again reckon yourselves as dead indeed to sin But alive to God and Christ Jesus is our

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Lord Romans 6 So given the fact of our resurrection in Christ our new life in Christ our birth in a new birth in Christ It makes no sense to continue in this sin makes no

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Sense to continue in with this death and you were going to reckon to put it off reckon it as death Call it what it is

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Confess it say say about it what God says about it and turn away from it and embrace life It's like Andrew you were saying it's about following Christ going towards him

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Disciples are trying to be like their master. They've learned they learn from their master. They do what their master does

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They say what their master says we want to be like him. He's it's called Christianity for a reason

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It's it's all about him. Yeah, and I even think there's the act of Putting off sin not doing those things but then when the believer

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Finds themselves having Committed those sins what you just said is not to focus on that you confess it

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You say that's death and I'm walking in the light. I'm with Christ. He cleanses my sins

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I'll only find freedom from it by not focusing on it, but by walking with him

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Yeah, that's where we get our forgiveness and freedom to continue to walk Is it we're told to confess the sins and godly sorrow is praised

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We are to be broken about our you know, we are to have a sorrow about our sins That's that but it's a godly and in fact, it's a

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God word Sorrow, so it's a sorrow not focused on the self not a self word sorrow Which never is which is worldly and doesn't really produce true repentance

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But it's a God word sorrow a God word brokenness, which is the off -ramp, you know,

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I'm going the wrong way There's a broken as I get off I'm gonna turn around go the other way because I'm gonna I'm gonna call these sins what

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God calls him Okay, and I'm gonna repent from them those are all good things These are all the grace of God at work in our lives.

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The trap is That when we realize we're going the wrong way

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We pull over turn on the hazards and give up You know, look how far off the track

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I got and we're gonna sit here and think about that for a long time I'm gonna turn off and turn off the car to turn on the hazards, you know, this is terrible instead of you know recognizing the fact that You know, hey in the grace of God, you know, where am

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I'm hid with Christ in God at the right hand of and my future is totally secure and You know, this is you know, this is

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God's grace at work in my life. You know, I do need to flee from this This is death. You know, this is awful.

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You know, God has revealed that to me. God is faithfully Calling me to follow him and so and then

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I'm gonna go ahead and turn around and head the other way But not to get trapped in that and only think about that So the scriptures would have us confess our sins, but we were told to confess our sins to repent from them

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God be sorrow is a good thing But the kind of you know self -loathing introspection, you know,

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I'm never I'm nothing but a worm That's all that I ever am and I'm gonna sit here my wormyness

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Okay, right and and some of the Puritans are really good at that and that's not a good example to follow the other

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Error to go the other way is to be very Lackadaisical be very careless and uncaring about our sins and fail to confess, right, you know not agreeing with God about the

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Wretched nature of sin the loathsome nature of this sin and this death and just kind of like oh, well, whatever

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You know, that's that's the other error that of course We are not commending is that connected to a

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Christian perfectionism or or anything like that? Yeah, it can be I think there's you know,

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Jesus Jesus knows who we are He just is such a good Shepherd such a good

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Savior He said come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn from me for My yoke is easy and my burden is light and what is he saying there?

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Why are we so often burdened Why are we so often heavy laden worn out and weary?

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Well, it happens when we when we're not coming unto Christ following Christ looking unto

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Christ when we're looking to the self in Any fashion we're going to be weary and heavy laden right, there is no hope for my sanctification in my

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Peering deeply into my navel right the ground that I till by myself produces brambles

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That's a very good point, right? I think that we've got a lot of examples in the scriptures It's not a trite thing to say to keep our focus upon Jesus and to follow

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Jesus not try at all That's at the very heart of what it means to be a Christian So we have lots of examples in the scriptures to encourage us along those lines and indeed

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Indeed, this is how the Savior saves us I think of his promise in Philippians 1 6 he says

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I'm sure of this that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ So to focus on our sin is to miss what he's saying

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I started this and I will bring it to completion Yes, having those promises

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Anchoring us in the fullness of our actual salvation in Christ It is finished

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Christ said in fact that he's at the right hand of the Father and then that's on the one hand on the other hand, we have the absolute confidence in hope of the

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Fullness of our salvation to come and then we live in the meantime walking by faith not by sight

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Thank you for your question. What are we thankful for? Well, I am very thankful for We're in my birthday season in my house.

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And so oh, yeah, we've got we've got like six birthdays And and my anniversary six birthdays an anniversary within a 10 -week span

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And so it's just a it's a celebratory season, you know, of course, we throw Christmas in there, too it's just there's just a lot of celebration going on and In reflecting we're just kind of reflecting on the last year

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God's faithfulness many answered prayers I just think of each one of my children as they're growing up one more year and I find myself more and more just just thankful for the

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Lord's work in their lives the Lord's faithfulness and goodness I'm thankful for Just the knowledge that God has a plan and even if I don't know every step of the way that He's guiding my steps putting godly men in my life

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Putting me where where I am in my job my church all of those things that that's not an accident and I have to Figure it all out right now.

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I think during this crazy season I've changed jobs recently and so just trying to get things figured out where am

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I going? What am I doing and all of that kind of stuff, but then just to rest and say just be faithful Just trust the

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Lord and then his plan He'll reveal his plan when it in his timing and I don't have to know it all right now

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So I'm grateful for for that My wife and I were sat down the earlier today and Looked at a budget for this next year as well as you know

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Well, what were our expenditures from last year? And so we were going over one of the months you could probably focus on lots of things during that time

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But what struck me was just being I'm very thankful for that. He provided his provision for my family all of 2022 so I don't have to worry about 2023.

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I'll be a good steward But he's the one who gave the increase. So we're very very thankful for that in my household.

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I recently retired and so There was some interruption in pay during a period of time which

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God has resolved that situation and We're very very grateful and rejoicing whenever we heard the news

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And that wraps it up for today We are very thankful for our listeners and hope you will join us again as we meet to answer common questions and objections