FBC Adult Bible Study

All right, so Last week we finished We finished a series on the heart.

We're studying the different aspects of the heart and this morning I'm the the series we're going to get into today beginning today in a way really kind of the whole series on the heart segues into this because We're gonna we're gonna begin a

I don't know how long it'll take a series on the subject of holiness now right away That might just oh, well

Here we go but really this is very important very important subject because we're told to keep our heart with all diligence and the idea of Holiness really has to do with that keeping of the heart.

It's an outflowing of The keeping of the heart and and so we're gonna we're going to focus on that The basis of this study is a is a book that's recently come out

Entitled a radical and comprehensive call to holiness. It's by two Really good authors one of them

Michael Barrett was one of my professors in university and in seminary and Appreciated much his influence in my own life and and the other author the other author is

Joel Beeky and both of these guys very very Very well read and very good and thorough in their study

So this is gonna be a good series, and I hope that you'll hope you'll learn much from it

So several years ago. I was an assistant pastor of a church, and I had the responsibility in that role of Being in charge of that church's bus ministry, and they didn't have a they didn't have like a huge you know bus ministry, but there were a few buses that went out and one of my jobs was to go out with different people of The worked on the bus routes once a week and just do some like prospect calling to encourage children to ride on the bus so I went up to this one house and And it was like a duplex kind of house knocked on the door and this woman came the door.

She's probably Maybe 30 and looked looked pretty rough like she'd had a rough life thus far and Could see evidence in the yard of children being there, so I knocked on the door.

She answered the door and Said you know we're from community Baptist Church And we have a bus that goes through that that area and would like to know if her children would like to ride the bus

And she said oh you know I rode on a bus when I was when I was a child and Yeah, and so I I got to talking with a little further and She she claimed that when she was riding on that bus as a child that she got saved

That's the way she put it. She said I got saved and I said oh, okay.

Well. What's your life been like since then? Did you did you get become a part of that church no you know

I I stopped going after a while and Then she told me more of her story that you know she got into some drugs and all that kind of thing and Had three or four children.

I don't remember offhand each from a different father and Wasn't now married wasn't you know she had a different guy now

And so on and so forth and she had not been to church had no real interest in going to church and Didn't really have much interest in changing her life hadn't been to church since she got saved many many years earlier

Now I tell you that story because of the way Beaky and Barrett open their open their book introduced their book, and they made they make this statement quote

Grace never leaves a man where it finds him grace always transforms the sinner into a saint a holy person

Grace never leaves a man where it finds him it transforms the sinner into a saint not overnight to be sure

And not in this life Totally accomplished

But nevertheless great in that first part of the statement is what's what we're gonna focus on grace never leaves a man

Where it finds him? The basic premise of the series that we're getting into is that it is

God's will for his people to be holy Let's look at a couple of passages that bring that out one of them is in Ephesians chapter 2

Ephesians 2 you're this is not an unfamiliar passage to you. I'm sure but in Ephesians 2 8 and 9

Paul talks about about that grace of salvation He says by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves.

It is the gift of God Not of works lest anyone should boast But then look at verse 10.

All right, so this grace of God saves you and He gives you that gift of faith that you you might you might be saved

You might be redeemed but then verse 10 says for we are his workmanship

Created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them

We are his workmanship grace doesn't leave a man where it finds him Grace always transforms the sinner into a saint the saved person.

God has has So ordained that he is to be his workmanship.

We are his workmanship Created in Christ Jesus unto good works now another passage that brings us out again familiar to us is in Romans chapter 8

Romans 8 verses you're familiar with Romans 8 20

Romans 8 28 We know that all things work together for good to those who love

God to those who are the called according to his purpose They've been the recipients of his grace

But then there's this chain. You call it the golden chain of Salvation says for who for whom he did for know

He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son

That he might be the firstborn among many brethren for moreover whom he predestined

These he called whom he called he justified whom he justified.

He also glorified so there's a there's a process that ends in his glorification and verse 29

Talks about the process that leads to and results in the ultimate glorification and that is whom he foreknow

He predestined to be conformed to the image of his son It is God's will for his people to be holy to be conformed into the image of Christ.

So both of these passages Romans 8 28 29 30 and Ephesians to speak of God's electing grace and God in his electing grace his

Objective his objective in this is to make us like his son Jesus Christ Now here's the thing.

It takes us back to that story of Of the woman who got saved when she was riding a bus 15 years earlier

The genuine believer in Christ Wants that Christlike holiness

Regardless of how far short he or she falls of it of that holiness

He wants it he wants God to do that work of grace of Ongoing grace in his life.

He wants to be Holy, even if he doesn't know how to articulate it and even if he doesn't do a very good job pursuing it

There is in the truly regenerated individual a desire for that Objective that God has in saving a soul to be accomplished now there's a challenge in this whole subject of holiness in the pursuit of it and the challenge is that it doesn't come either passively or easily

Now, what do I mean by that? By by saying that it doesn't holiness doesn't come passively

I mean that this isn't something where you just say I'm going to let go and let

God you know, let go and let God as if I have nothing to do with the matter of Holiness development of holiness in my life and God's gonna do it all like he's just going to do some kind of magical zapping

So it's not passive and it's not the the pursuit of holiness is not easy

It is not going to be free from struggle Here's some of the quotes that I thought might be helpful for us to understand that and you get this

You who are Christ you understand this you you you can relate to this this resonates with you the external enticements to sin

So effectively appeal to the inner impulses of our own carnal desires you have in dwelling sin you are redeemed you have in dwelling sin and There is there is within you these internal sinful desires and There is a

There is a very effective connecting point a synapse almost if you will between the external enticements to sin and those internal impulses that are generated by our own carnal desires that makes the the pursuit of holiness a challenge

Here's another one every victory. We every victory that we win over sin

Seems only to increase the intensity of the next battle Anybody say amen to that Every victory over sin seems only to increase the intensity of the next battle and then thirdly just illustrating the struggle

That is involved in the challenge of holiness every defeat Every defeat weighs so heavily on our conscience as we wonder if God will forgive us again

Ever been there You know you There I think

I think probably every one of us. Well, we do we have besetting sins there every one of us have unique to us

Not that nobody else has the same area of temptation or struggle but you know you have this particular area of struggle and you

You deal with it you battle you do battle with it and you know you sin if you're tempted and you sin you're convicted of it you go to the

Lord in repentance and Faith and you turn from it and you say, you know,

I do not want to do this again. I by God's grace I will not do it again and you claim first John 1 9 if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and by faith you accept that and you are

Forgiven you believe it you receive it 24 hours later

Oh Falling right back into that same sin and You you you're like what what happened, you know,

I would 24 hours ago I did not want to I was not going to I pray

I I begged God not and all the rest of this stuff and Here I here I am. Here we go again

Here we go again Can God forgive me? You've experienced that so that struggle

Begs a couple of questions one of them is How can I achieve victory over sin and successfully live the

Christian life? How can I do this? And the second question is Is it even possible is victory even possible and And that that struggle then leads to some other

Potentially leads to some other problems One of them is I can give up I can just give up I can conclude that I can't be holy because I can't quit sinning and I give up and you know what

I think that that that decision or conclusion can affect our

Relationships so Well, I could go on with that, but I don't want too much to cover you can give up second problem

That can come from this is that you're you're on a constant quest looking for some kind of new idea some kind of new fad

Maybe there's another fad book that has been written about how you can live the perfect life

And so you chase after that some book with a guaranteed formula For success in living the victorious

Christian life a third problem is that you can substitute virtuous character for genuine holiness

Give me an example of what I'm what I'm getting at here. I So the years of ministry that I've the years

I've been in ministry All but our years here

In Sterling, I have been directly connected to a Christian school

And in each of these Christian schools, I think in all of them the

The school in different different grades and so forth. They had a Christian character award some of you might remember this if you've had experience with Christian schools the

Christian character award and what's really Interesting to me is how many times

I've I've seen witnessed through the years the child the student

That achieves the Christian character award I mean all the teachers the the teachers vote on this and the administration votes on this who is to get the

Christian character Award and the person who gets it gains the you know has gotten the most number of votes and so they look at all the kids in school and and they look at the

Evaluate the character of kids in the school and so forth and they come to a decision and it's amazing to me how many times

The student that that received the Christian character award ends up being a spiritual zero

After they graduate and they move on They become a rebel. They leave the church

They don't really have anything to do with it the church or the don't live much of a

Christian life if any after that What what in the world happened? well, there was a substitution of Christian character for genuine holiness and the problem of course is that We can equate the two we can assume that because somebody is honest and they're polite and they're kind and they're diligent

And they're hard -working and they're truthful and all that they are therefore holy Really they may just have good character and they're not the same a fourth problem that can come from this is that you you can look at a it's some kind of a at some

Bible character and strive to be like that Bible character or some

Christian hero in in the contemporary church you might look at some some of some pastor or teacher and and Conclude that that person is that person is holy that person is godly

I need to be like him or I need to be like her and I wonder well,

I do know of a lot of people in the last year that were just spiritually devastated when they heard about the scandal of rabbi

Zacharias It just blew them away Well, here's this godly

Christian apologist who certainly was a role model of holiness and It looked up to him as such and then to find out the the other life that he was living behind in secret it just devastated many individuals and then another problem is that your

Christian life can degenerate into the drudgery of Doing this and not doing that It's just like, you know keeping a bunch of rules that you know,

I have to do this I can't do that and that's the Christian life. That's the life of holiness

That's not genuine holiness but Barrett and Beakey point this out successful Christian living and victory over sin are

Possible if we stick to the path that God has laid down for us in his

Word and They make this point and this is the point we're going to develop that the key to happy holiness not the drudgery of Do this don't do that, but the key to happy holiness is the gospel of Jesus Christ that's the key to happy holiness and This brings up the the doctrine that is connected with the whole subject of holiness the biblical doctrine of holiness, which is sanctification sanctification now 1st

Thessalonians 4 verse 3 says this this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus even your sanctification

Sanctification is God's will for every one of you who named the name of Christ.

It's God's will for you and Doing the will of God is Your duty, right?

It's your duty to do the will of God. All right now watch Don't miss this duty must flow from doctrine

Duty must flow from doctrine and here's the thing Here's the point about that with sanctify with the doctrine of sanctification the more we understand the doctrines of the gospel the more we can do our duty and It's not a drudgery thing the more we understand the doctrines of the gospel the more that we can do our duty

Happily do our duty now as I kind of indicated in Romans chapter 8 that that passage we read in Romans 8 the gospel involves a chain of inseparable links you cannot you cannot

Isolate these links from one another they are interconnected. There is this chain of inseparable links and here it is.

There's election Regeneration conversion

Union Justification adoption Reconciliation sanctification

Glorification Now you I know I rattled those off if you're trying to write them down you couldn't do it

But but get this that these links are interconnected They can't be broken apart and it is the interconnection of these inseparable links that enables us to Do our duty understanding these doctrines or these links of the gospel are

Is is incredibly important again the links election? Regeneration conversion union that is union with Christ Justification adoption

Reconciliation sanctification Glorification That's not important to know all

I mean to get all that down now, but it's just to realize that Sanctification isn't a separate idea or entity that is disconnected from those other chains in links in the chain

Successful sanctification Successful sanctification depends upon how you see

Sanctification Coupled with the other gospel links in the chain

So sanctification is God's will for us secondly Sanctification is the application of the gospel in everyday life.

Here's what I mean by that. All right The the the links the links in the chain again

You've got you've got election. You've got Regeneration you've got conversion justification

Union adoption all of these things, right? the only one of those things that That is applied in everyday life that is visible or real in everyday life is

Sanctification here's what I mean by that Election is something that took place before the foundation of the world

The Bible tells us that you were chosen in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world Regeneration is something that God the

Spirit does to you inside of you You don't even you don't even know that it's happening necessarily

It is that impartation of life. That's what regeneration is Justification is a judicial thing.

It's it's It's like in the courtroom of God if you will you are

Declared righteous. This is something that God declares. It's a declaration of just of righteousness justification

Adoption you are adopted into the family of God. Do you feel that? Do you see that?

No, you don't it's it's a statement of fact. It's a statement of reality. You are adopted into the family of God Conversion is something that happens instantaneously and You you may or may not

Have an emotional response connected to that there will be After -effects from conversion, but those after -effects of conversion enter into the subject of sanctification

Conversion is a is the turning around It's the turning around Union with Christ, that's something that again it happens

Behind the scenes if you will you are baptized into Christ Jesus by the

Holy Spirit You become a part of the body of Christ by the baptism by the

Spirit of God baptizing you into the body of Christ and So what but when we come to sanctification?

Sanctification is the application of all of those other links in the chain in everyday life everyday life

Now get this Don't miss this Holiness is not the prerequisite for salvation

It's the evidence of it It's the evidence of it in other words

Sanctification is the essential and certain effect of the gospel so go back to the

Girl that got got saved on the bus No evidence whatsoever of a changed life no evidence of sanctification

No no growth in holiness righteousness interest in spiritual things whatsoever

Conclusion that you can draw after 13 or 14 years of her Praying a prayer on a bus

She wasn't genuinely converted She was not genuinely saved.

Did she pray a prayer? Yes But was she regenerated? Was she justified?

Was she converted? Was she joined with Christ was she adopted into the family of Christ, how do you know?

You don't know because she prayed a prayer, you know by virtue of sanctification the evidence of Regeneration the evidence of all those other aspects links in the chain it is

Sanctification is a certain and essential effect of the gospel then thirdly

Sanctification is both radical and Comprehensive What what do we mean by those two words?

All right by radical we mean that it deal sanctification deals with the root of your being

Which is what class? Your heart yes

For out of the heart flow the springs of life spring forth all of the things the fast facets of life so holiness or sanctification deals with the root of your being the word radical is

It comes from a root word radix which means root I wonder if that's why radish is called a radish because it's a root fruit you think anyway

So it's radical and then it's also and that came to my mind because we have a bunch of volunteer radishes growing in our garden

It's like they're all over the place and these little pink bulbs are showing up above the top of the ground Anyway radical and then it's also comprehensive

Sanctification is comprehensive. In other words, it involves every facet of your life every facet of your life

Fourthly sanctification is essentially separation Essentially it's separation and there's a we can put it this way a negative and a positive side to this separation

Negatively, it's like two poles on a battery right positive and negative pole they go together

Negatively sanctification involves being separated from sin

Positively it involves being separated being set apart Unto God being conformed to Jesus Christ So there's a negative and a positive sign the side of sanctification and then fifthly

Sanctification is three -dimensional. It's three -dimensional Remember if if sanctification is

Essentially separation being set apart unto God set apart from sin There's three dimensions to this one is positional positional

This has to do with justification Justification when you are justified when

God when you're justified before God You have been sanctified

That's a past tense thing You have been sanctified you read that in 1st

Corinthians 1 verse 2 and chapter 6 verse 11 You who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus?

It's a past tense thing. It's a done deal your positional sanctification which takes place at Justification is a thing done in the past this look watch.

This is where you are Set apart unto God You're set apart unto

God it is where you are separated from sin

Judicially Judicially, what do I mean by that? Think of a courtroom

All right, you come into the courtroom. You are charged with a capital penalty a capital offense

That capital offense is sin the wages of sin is

Death all right, so you're charged with this capital offense of sin, but God in his grace has

Quickened you he's regenerated you he's opened your eyes the eyes of faith and you you have seen

Jesus as God the Son God who became flesh Who died on a cross to take the pen who to become sin for you?

So that you might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and you receive

Christ as you call upon Jesus to save you you receive Jesus as your Savior and Your There's conversion and all the rest of that and that justification here in this courtroom.

You're standing before God the judge Who's also the

God who? Justifies The God who died for you see

Jesus you're standing before God the judge and the accuser says this one is guilty of sin that is demands the death penalty and God the

Son opens his hands and Shows the wounds in his hands and his side and he says for this one sin.

I have died and This one is Justified this one has been converted.

This one has been regenerated This one is saved and you are on the basis of the work of Christ you are declared

Righteous you are justified You are no longer subject to the penalty of sin

You are set apart from that sin set apart from its penalty. You have been

Justified and furthermore you are declared righteous Because the righteousness of Jesus has been imputed unto you you stand

Justified before God. So this is this is the positional dimension of sanctification

You have been sanctified But then there is secondly the practical dimension of sanctification this is the process and So, let's look at a couple of a couple of verses that bring out the process first Thessalonians 5

Verse 23 first Thessalonians 5 23

Says now may the God of peace himself Sanctify you completely and May your whole spirit soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of the

Lord Jesus Christ. May the God of peace himself Sanctify you completely.

Well, wait a minute. I thought I was sanctified when I got justified when I was justified.

Yeah positional sanctification But there's the process of sanctity is the second dimension the process of sanctification whereby

God is sanctifying you Jesus prayed in John 17 17

Sanctify them by your truth Your word is truth so Jesus is praying for the ongoing process of sanctification by the means of God's truth and Another verse that brings out this process of sanctification is

Hebrews 10 verse 14 Which says for by one offering?

Jesus has perfected forever Now get the connection here between Positional and prank to practical sanctification.

Here's the positional right? By one site by one offering Jesus has perfected forever

Those who are being sanctified There is the there's that practical aspect the ongoing sanctification process

So three dimensions to sanctification positional practical and then perfected perfected this is another term for the perfected

Perfected sanctification is glorification glorification

So in 1st John 3 verse 2

John talks about the The future

Climax of sanctification Where you shall be sanctified he says beloved now right now.

We are the children of God But it has not been revealed what we shall be

All right. Do you do you know what you're gonna look like? In in eternity.

Do you know what you're gonna look like? Do you know what you're going to be like when you stand face -to -face with Christ your

Savior? What will it be? Hmm when with rapture

I behold him There in eternity. What will it be like? I Don't know.

I don't know I do know that what it will be like it's not like now see

I I am by God's grace because he has Sanctified me in the past.

I know that by his grace. He is sanctifying me in the present But I know that I am

NOT now Christ like I'm Growing in that Christ likeness, but I am

NOT like Christ But first John 3 2 says this But when but we know that when he is revealed

We shall be like him for we shall see him as he is

So he's looking us out he's putting us out into the future he's causing his our eyes to look out into the future and to anticipate this third dimension of Sanctification we call it glorification when we shall be like him

Fully completely like him when we see him as he is

Notice the next verse if you're there with me in first John 3 verse 2 the next verse takes us back to practical sanctification

He that has this hope in him does what? purifies himself

Even as he is pure so that third dimension of Sanctification being held out for us

Lifted up for us shown to us as the ultimate end of our

Christian life and experience glorification being like Christ holding that out for us serves as a motivation for this ongoing process of sanctification

Now I'll just get into this Third main point on your handout in the

New Testament the idea the subject of holiness is Usually wrapped up in the word godliness

So number three here on your handout the present ongoing process of sanctification is growing in godliness

Growing in godliness. This is the the primary New Testament concept

That is brought out in other words to live holy is

To live godly to live godly. What is godliness? What is godliness?

well The writers in a book just describe it this way to find it this way is this it is the sum the sum of piety practical holiness or true religion

Godliness is the sum of practical holiness. Let's put it that way and then they make this statement godliness includes the idea of awe or fear in the presence of the majestic God But it goes beyond that It goes beyond a mental awareness to stress the worship and obedience

Generated by that reverence in other words you think of Isaiah Isaiah's Vision in Isaiah chapter 6 where he sees the awesome majestic majestic holiness of God this thrice mentioned holy holy holy holy is the

Lord God Almighty right and the prophet sees this and He doesn't just say

Wow That's really cool. And He is therefore godly

What does he do? He falls to his knees and he realizes just how

Different he is from what he sees that majestic Holiness of God Oh Woe is me for I am undone.

He says I'm a man of unclean lips and I dwell among among a people of unclean lips he sees himself as unholy

But it doesn't leave him there. So he doesn't he's not he doesn't stay there God in his grace touches his lips and and works in his life and Transforms him.

No godliness godliness doesn't leave one in a in a just in the in the place of awe at the majestic holiness of God It it begins the

Transformation process it begins the the growing in godly in Christ likeness process.

This is godliness Godly, this is godliness now I'm gonna give you just the first proposition regarding godliness there on your handout and Then we will we'll we'll pick it up from here next week

But the first proposition is that godliness is focused on Jesus Christ It's focused on Jesus Christ So Paul writes to Timothy in 1st

Timothy 3 verse 16 He says without controversy great is the mystery of godliness and Then what is the whole?

Focus of this mystery of God and mystery doesn't mean oh Can I ever discover it like it's something hidden a miss mystery in the

New Testament is the the revelation Of something it's God revealing something to us.

That was prime That was previously unknown or unseen and could not be known apart from God's revelation

All right. So this mystery of godliness, what is it? Here it is God was manifested in the flesh justified in the spirit seen by angels

Preached among the Gentiles believed on in the world Received up in glory in other words

Jesus Jesus is the perfect example of true piety of True fear of God of true holiness

The point here is this that godliness is not something godliness is not the following of a bunch of rules and principles

Godliness is being like Christ Now that doesn't mean you don't have it. You don't follow any rules you do it so on so forth

But no, my focus is not on a list My focus is on a person you say it's on a person

That person is Jesus Christ All right. We need to end here come back to this next

Lord's Day and go from here So our Father in our God, I pray that our eyes would be on Jesus the author the perfecter of our faith