Common Errors Regarding Sanctification (Part 1)

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ, based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

Welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth and it is, in real time, October 28th. I did just drive about an hour to go see a highly recommended chiropractor. I have my own chiropractor that I like, but this is some kind of special thing because this back, shoulder, C4, C5, T-something, I mean, for a month, it�s not been killing me.

The pain seems like it. Anyway, I got a little relief, so I�m in a pretty good mood. I also got this on No Compromise Radio, this email, and I�m going to read part of this email to you. But before I do, don�t forget, if you need anything, info at nocompromiseradio .com.

Spencer can help you. We�ve got some new stickers. All you have to do is send a self-addressed stamped envelope, we�ll send you a free sticker. I also have another design for a sticker, but that�ll be the next one.

Israel moved to 2022, February. You can email me if you want information about that. We�d love to have you go. We had some no-co listeners wanting to go in 2021, but that�s not going to work. By the time you get this, I�ll have been back from Community Bible and John Tucker for the conference there.

Before I get into the topic at hand, here is an email from Dana. I�ll just read this because it�s encouraging and it�s exactly what I want you, the listener, to pick up by listening to No Compromise Radio.

I guess you can watch them on the Facebook private group. Let�s see. I wrote to you last time. I might have been after another episode on the tongue. Both were very convicting to me in the kind of way that drives one back to Christ in gratitude for grace and forgiveness.

Isn�t that interesting? That is very interesting to me because that�s what I�m trying to do. Of course, we need to be convicted. Let�s see. What is this? Somebody is just texting me. That would be bad if I�m just reading my text.

I was reading a text from John Tucker. But that�s what I�m after. I want you to be driven back to Christ for grace and for forgiveness. This person said something else. And then she said, �I so love the pastoral way you gravely admonish with sincerity and relatability punctuated by random humor.

Laughing at your own jokes. She didn�t say that. Faithfulness to something, typo, always brings us back to the gospel. Your faithfulness to always bring us back to the gospel strengthens my heart and lifts me back to walk the road, desiring to do so with more patience and less grumbling.

Thank you also, and dear Tuesday guy, too, for the first segment on husbands love your wives. I�m anxious to hear part two. This topic is so necessary and helpful as the overcorrection against real or perceived feminism in the Moscow crew continues to rise and gain momentum.

Praying for you and your family and Steve. Actually, that�s exactly what I�m after here. I want people to be admonished. Admonished, of course, we�re to admonish, put sense into people, right, to put into their mind with sincerity.

I want to preach with sincerity. I think regularly when I watch people who preach who don�t seem sincere, I�m like, who would listen to that for very long? And then I tell parents, when you�re teaching your children the Bible, you better act sincerely, right?

It�s not an act. I mean, you know, you better be sincere. And then it says, �Punctuated by random humor. Obviously, I think way too many people take themselves way too seriously, so we can just laugh at ourselves.

After all, we are sinners saved by the grace of God. It always brings us back to the gospel. That�s what we want, and it strengthens my heart. That is actually Romans 16, the gospel strengthening, right?

Paul starts off with the gospel in Romans 1 and ends it in Romans 16 as well. And that is the person and work of the Lord Jesus, gospel, good news. And therefore, Dana, Dana, Dana, thanks a lot for that.

It took some time to write, and I am very, very thankful for that kind of input. Yes, I like to be encouraged, but I specifically, in particular, I almost put those two words together, would like to be encouraged this way.

If that�s the message that No Compromise Radio gives, we admonish with sincerity, relatability, punctuated by random humor, driven back to the gospel for strength and gratitude, grace and forgiveness, then that�s worth it.

Man, that is really, really encouraging. So today on No Compromise Radio, after that long intro and the look there on the John Tucker text, I want to talk today about sanctification. After all, I�m going to Ohio to talk about sanctification, so it is on my mind.

And today�s format, along with the next week and maybe the week after, is going to be Common Errors Regarding Sanctification, because that�s a good way to teach what the positive side is, what really sanctification means, what it is, and how we should think through it.

Now for the first time ever, I�m going to put this microphone down in a different way, because for 2 ,500 shows, I�ve scooched up, is scooch a word? I�ve scoochend up, escoochend, escoochar? I was leaning forward, and now I�m trying to protect this bad back neck thing that is really, ouch.

Oh, I know what I�m supposed to do, I�m supposed to take some Tylenol here, so we�ll do that in between shows. Common Errors Regarding Sanctification. It�s not really, you know, verse-by-verse exposition kind of thing.

I�m just going to go through in no particular order. However, some are pretty rapid-fire, just to get you thinking, rightly, about sanctification, because it is an important topic, right, and there�s a lot written about it, and there�s different viewpoints and debates going on, and so, therefore, we need to know about sanctification.

The Wrong Definition of Sanctification

First error that I want to talk about on No Compromise Radio is error number one, the wrong definition. Definition. That�s easier for me to think than say. By the way, after a couple minutes of this show today, I almost stopped and restarted over again.

I just thought, �Oh, it is what it is, you get what you pay for as one man said. The wrong definition. So, that�s one of the first errors we have, is we don�t even have the right definition. If I were to ask you, and you can do this out loud because I can�t hear you, �What�s your definition of sanctification

Okay, come on. Come on. Don�t be afraid. My guess is, if I ask you about sanctification, most of you would talk about the holy living of a Christian, how a Christian is supposed to live a holy and upright life.

Okay? Is that right? For the record, I want you to live a holy life if you�re a Christian. If you�re not a Christian, you can�t live a holy life, right? That should show you your need of who Jesus is.

But, is living a holy life at the center of sanctification? Is it the definition of sanctification? In other words, what�s the focus of Scripture when it comes to sanctification? Let me just read you one verse and see if you�re tracking with me.

Leviticus 20, verse 8, �Keep my statues and do them. I am the Lord who sanctifies you. Now, see, if your default is, �Oh, yeah, keep my statues and do them. Okay, that�s good. All right. And Israel was to do that.

And we are to obey God as Christians. Not to get in, not to stay in, but because we�re in, but we are still to obey, right? But then it says, �I am the Lord who sanctifies you. Hmm. Let me give you a couple definitions, reformed definitions, confessional definitions that might help.

Westminster Shorter Catechism, number 35. Right? So this is like for kids, right, kids? What is sanctification? Sanctification is the work of God�s free grace whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God and are enabled more and more to die unto sin and to live unto righteousness.

Did you get that? It�s the work of God�s free grace whereby we are renewed in the whole man after God�s image, that�s God�s work, and are enabled, that�s God�s work, more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness.

Here�s the first error. We wrongly define it in a man-centered fashion. I will go on to say at this show or the next show that obviously there�s some type of response that we must have, right? But the definitions that we come up with, our definitions are too man-centered.

That should not shock us that we regularly have a man-centered definition of something versus on God who sanctifies. How many of you out there know Colin said God is the one who sanctifies and enables and produces da-da-da-da-da?

I don�t think many. Some probably did, and I�m glad for that, and I rejoice with you. How about the Westminster larger catechism? Question seventy-five. My back hurts. That�s not a question, and that�s not question seventy-five.

This is the relatability. How many of you have bad backs? What is sanctification? Sanctification is a work of God�s grace whereby they whom God hath or has before the foundation of the world, chosen to be holy, are in time through the powerful operation of his Spirit, that�s God�s work, applying the death and resurrection of Christ unto them, that�s God�s work, renewed in their whole man after the image of God, that�s God�s work, having the seeds of repentance unto life and all other saving graces put into their hearts, that�s God�s work, and those graces so stirred up, increased and strengthened as that they more and more die unto sin and rise unto newness of life.

Hmm. You want to change your definition? If you look up the New Testament word sanctify or sanctified, I wonder what you�d find. John 17, 17, Jesus said, �Praying to the Father of the Father�s work, sanctify them in truth, your word is true.

John 17, 19,. �And for their sake I consecrate myself that they also may be sanctified in truth. Acts 20, 32,. �And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

The work of God. Acts 26, 18, I�ve just typed in sanctify, sanctified in my little ESV app, this is what I got. �To be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

That�s the work of God. How about 1 Corinthians 1, 2, �To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus. That�s the work of God. 1 Corinthians 6, 11,. �And such were some of you, but you were awashed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by, you�re sanctified by the Spirit of our God, capital S.

That�s the work of God. 1 Thessalonians 5, 23,. �Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. Whose work is that? Hebrews 2, 11, �For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.

Now you could be saying, you know what, some of that is positional sanctification, so God saves, and what we might call justification, that positional sanctification, that�s what he�s talking about, especially here in Hebrews.

And you know what, I think we�re right there. I have no problem. What about the focus though on practical sanctification, it�s also discussed in Hebrews, �For by single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified ongoing.

Right? If I looked up the word sanctification in the New Testament, I wonder what I would find. It�s a little bit more focused on human responsibility, for this is the will of God, your sanctification that you abstain from sexual immorality.

So I would not say that when I�m talking about sanctification, if I talk about sanctifying, do you sanctify yourself? Sanctify yourself. All right. You�re like Avendroth, you�re rambling. We get the wrong definition because I think we put the emphasis on the wrong syllable.

If you want to say sanctification has to do with our response to God�s work, obviously I�m with you. If you want to say sanctification has something to do with what we do, it�s our role in holy living, that�s where I�ve got the problem.

So when we think about sanctification, I think it�s best, it�s scripturally best, to put the emphasis on God�s work in sanctification. That�s all. That�s all I�m asking. 2 Thessalonians 2, 13, �But we always ought to give thanks to God for you, brothers, beloved by the Lord, because God has chose you to be the firstfruits to be saved through sanctification by the spirit belief in the truth.

1 Peter 1, 2, �According to the foreknowledge of God in the sanctification of the spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood, may grace and peace be multiplied to you. Therefore, when it comes to definitions, a common error in defining sanctification is to move it to the side of human responsibility at the expense of the divine work of man.

God graciously sanctifies, and we do actually respond with good works, right? What�s the result of sanctification? Fruit and evidence, right? This is the reformed doctrine of sanctification. God initially justifies, and he graciously, progressively sanctifies.

So, I want to keep the focus there. Our good works, do we do them ourselves? Well, we do them, but we don�t do them by ourselves. The fruit comes from being attached to a tree, right? That�s an easy way to think about it.

One writer said, �It is not complex, but it is mysterious because we cannot exactly say how or when or to what degree the spirit presently at work in us, and yet we know that he is. Our sanctification is as much a matter of faith as our justification, and the good works that issue from it are just as mysterious.

Praise God for the mystery of our salvation, for the gospel mystery of justification, the gospel mystery of sanctification, and for the good works for our neighbor and for the glory of God that issue from them.

So, the first thing today on No Compromise Radio, when it comes to common errors about sanctification, I want to make sure you talk about sanctification in a God-centered way, okay? So far, so good.

You�re like, �Well, Mike, you�re an antinomian. It�s all about God and God sanctifies. Therefore, you don�t have any good works. It�s a layback and let God. Is it? What�s our role? So, error number two.

Human Responsibility in Sanctification

Any guesses what I�m going to have for error number two? Error number two. There�s no human activity in response to God�s sanctification. Layback, let God. If God is the sanctifier, what�s our role? Okay?

I think that�s fair. We�re kind of building here. Some of the other ones don�t build upon one another, but fine. So, if you look at your Bible, it says in Philippians 2 .13 and 2 .12, this is the one that everybody defaults to.

I think too soon, maybe, but that�s okay. And by the way, you could look up God, the one who sanctifies, God, the sanctifier in the Old Testament, lots of verses. Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Now, one of the things we understand with the word salvation is it�s not just initial salvation, but it�s an ongoing progressive salvation called sanctification, right?

Is what we might call it theologically. And this is a God-driven salvation that�s worked out in a progressive manner by Christians alone. He�s the one doing the work. He�s the one receiving the honor.

And so, we have to remember that even though God, I would like more of a focus on God-centered sanctification, gospel-centered sanctification, Jesus-centered sanctification, I don�t want to make you think you just kind of lay there and do nothing.

That�s not right. That would be totally wrong. Jerry Bridges said, God has given us heart, mind, and will with which to respond to his work in us, with which to cooperate with his Holy Spirit in the process of transforming us into the likeness of Christ.

He intends that we understand his will with our minds, that we yearn to do it with our hearts, and that we actually make choices of obedience with our wills. We are to make every effort to be holy. We are to train or to discipline ourselves to be godly.

We are to put to death the traits of our sinful nature and clothe ourselves with the traits of godly behavior. It�s not a passive lay back and let God. Is it one of dependence? Is it one of discipline?

What do we do? That�s his big dilemma that Jerry Bridges talks about. If the work of God�s transforming us into Christ-likeness is the Holy Spirit�s ministry, where does our responsibility fit in? How can we be simultaneously responsible for pursuing holiness and totally dependent on the Spirit?

That�s a really good question. And he said in his book, one of his books, so he tried to analyze that because he�s an engineer and he wants to know where one starts and one stops and where one stops and when the other one starts and try to figure out that exact relationship.

He was thinking about two gears kind of like going together and how do they mesh and all that. And then I like what Jerry Bridges said. He said, �I finally gave up. Not to live a holy life because if you met him, you�d realize he lived a holy life.

But he gave up trying to figure out this. I mainly wanted you to understand it�s a God-centered way to talk about it. And even there, then I think that would drive you to prayer more than the other man-centered way.

We know it�s a mystery and we can�t explain how it works. But we do have those verses in Philippians 2. We work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. And God�s working in us. We know both of those.

Therefore, on No Compromise Radio today, we�re talking a little bit about there is a responsibility. And then he gives things that we�re supposed to do. We are supposed to have a renewed mind, right? Don�t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.

That�s one of the things we�re supposed to do. We are supposed to guard against temptation, Bridges says. I think that�s excellent. We�re supposed to make choices to obey instead of disobey, right? That�s there.

We are to actually pray, be steadfast in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. That�s all true. Sanctification, J .C. Ryle said, the watchwords would be different than justification. If justification, the watchword, was believe, in sanctification, the watchwords would be watch, pray, and fight, right?

And so the error is that since God�s divinely working in our lives, then we don�t have to have any effort. So let�s try to stay away from that error. Let�s think about faith working through love. Yes, sanctification is a supernatural work of God, but there is a response to the working of God that is mysterious.

So anyway, my name is Mike Ebendroth. This is No Compromise Radio. We�re talking about errors in sanctification, because there�s lots of different errors that are floating around, and you can find these antinomian errors, you can find neonomian errors, you can find all kinds of things.

That�s errors number one. We did number one and number two, and we�ll do the rest next time with No Compromise Radio.

No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Ebendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life-transforming power of God�s Word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We�re right on Route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.