5/22/12- The Benefits of Growth

The path of the just is a is as the shining light, that shines more and more into the perfect day.  (Prov. 4:18)

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. (John 15:5,6)

Q. 36. What benefits in this life accompany or derive from justification, adoption, and sanctification?
A. The benefits that in this life accompany or derive from justification, adoption, and sanctification are: the assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, and growing and persevering in grace to the end of our lives.


Thoughts: One of the benefits of justification, adoption and sanctification is growing.  Growth or progress for its own sake is not necessarily good. Yet, it is a benefit to be able to grow- for growing is living.  If we stop growing in life, we are either stumping our growth, or we are beginning to die. Part of the benefits of being a believer is growing in grace.  Part of the good news is we can grow in grace all the way to the end of our lives.  The Christian life, contrary to popular opinion, is not a static/boring life, but an ever-growing, ever-changing life.  The illusion is that real life is golf, or real life is sports, or real life is a house on the beach.  But all the riches of the world cannot compare to real love.  The poorest person can live an enriched life- full, growing, purpose-filled, loving til the end. 


Prayer: Let me love growing in you and your grace, Lord.  

5/21/12- Peace and Reconciliation Now

Romans 5:1. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 14:17. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Q. 36. What benefits in this life accompany or derive from justification, adoption, and sanctification?
A. The benefits that in this life accompany or derive from justification, adoption, and sanctification are: the assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, and growing and persevering in grace to the end of our lives.

Thoughts: There are benefits that come from salvation- not just in the life to come, but also in this life.  There are two kinds of benefits- one kind are fruits of the Spirit- joy, peace, and hope/assurance.  The other kind is the fruit of living a purposeful life.
     When we know we are God's and He is ours, there is assurance of that love and that relationship. There is peace with God where once there was struggle and rebellion.  There is joy because of that peace and love that no one an take away.  Reconciliation with God does not begin after we die, but now.
     When the Father was reconciled with the Prodigal Son there was assurance, peace, and joy.  When a couple reconciles with each other there is assurance, peace, and joy between each other.  So with God, when we are saved and know it, we are reconciled to Him and experience assurance, peace, and joy as a foretaste of what is to come.
     Christians are not just Christians for what is to come.  Eternal life and its benefits begin now.

Prayer: May I find my hopes fulfilled in you- not only in the life to come, but in this life you have given me.

5/20/12- Images of Sanctification

I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, Be holy for I am holy.  (Lev. 11:45)

⁹ For we are co-workers in God’s service;you are God’s field, God’s building.

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.¹⁴ If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

¹⁶ Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? (1 Corinthians 3:9-16) 

Q. 35. What is sanctification?
A. Sanctification is a free gift of God by which our whole person is made new in the
image of God, and we are made more and more able to become dead to sin and alive to
righteousness. 

(Picture of LMPC Men making a new sidewalk at church office)

• We are building the church. Brick by brick. Every time we attend worship. Every time we pray. Every time we do something for God instead of for ourselves. And we will also find we are building ourselves up- living for a purpose in the process.  Sanctification is the process of building.  It is described in the Bible as a process- like a plant growing (so abide in the vine); like a building being built (so rely on the cornerstone); like a runner running a race (so keep your eye on the prize); like a fighter fighting the good fight (working for the crown to come).  Sanctification is just a word to describe what happens after we get into the ring, into the race, start the building, start living as a Christian.  It is a mysterious, wonderous, and glorious pilgrimage through this life God has given us.  Sometimes God surprises us by causing us to grow through hardship and suffering.  Sometimes there is joy in the journey.  

  Prayer: Help me, Lord, to answer your call to grow, bear fruit, to love you in response to your love for me, to reach out to my neighbor for you have reached out to me.  Keep me from being complacent or growing cold in my love for you. 

5/19/12- Sanctification means growing

⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:6,7)

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (John 15)

Q. 35. What is sanctification?
A. Sanctification is a free gift of God  by which our whole person is made new in the
image of God, and we are made more and more able to become dead to sin and alive to
righteousness.

Thoughts: As a tree grows, we are called to grow in Christ.  We are to sink down our roots into Him, living in Him, growing/built up in Him, strengthened in Him, and then bearing the fruit of thankfulness.  If we are not growing, then we are dying.  Part of growing is remaining in Him.  If we drift off on our own, we cut ourselves off from Him.  We remain in Christ as we worship, have communion with each other, read-study-hear the Word, pray, serve and witness.  As we remain in Him, we start bearing fruit in Him.  The fruit of sanctification- remaining in Him are the fruits of the Spirit, the fruit of reproducing our faith in another. 

Prayer: Help me to abide, stay, remain in you, O Lord.  May my life bear fruit for you. 

5/18/12- The Point of Sanctification

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life...¹¹ Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:1-4, 11-14) 

WLC Q. 77: How do Justification and Sanctification Differ?  Although sanctification is eternally tied to justification, they are different in the following ways:
1) God clothes us in Christ's righteousness in justification; in sanctification God seeps grace into us and enables us to use His grace. 
2) In justification sin is pardoned; in sanctification it is subdued. 
3) Justification perfectly frees us from God's wrath so we are not condemned; sanctification is not equally distributed in all, nor perfect in this life, but ever-growing toward the goal of perfect holiness. 

Thoughts: The great thing about justification is that it is given to all who ask- whether they are believers for a long time or a short time.  Thus the thief on the cross is justified though he was a believer at the last minute, while a long-time believer is give the same grace.  Sanctification is at different levels for different people.  Some may wonder- if we are all justified alike, what is the point of sanctification?
    Sanctification is joy in the journey, it is growing to be more like Christ.  Sanctification is becoming more and more what we were designed and directed to be.  The point of sanctification is pleasing God, glorifying Him, pointing toward Him. Luther spoke of wanting to honor God because we are grateful for what He has done for us.  Sanctification, is not for what we get out of it only- it is primarily to do what we are supposed to do- to fulfill our purpose to glorify and enjoy God.  

Prayer: Help me to grow in my love for pleasing you- so that pleasing you, O Lord, is my first love.  Help me to love pleasing you more than pleasing others or pleasing myself.  

5/17/12- Difference Between Justification and Sanctification

¹¹ And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Cor. 6:11)


¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14)

(Measuring growth)


WLC: How do Justification and Sanctification Differ?  Although sanctification is eternally tied to justification, they are different in the following ways:
1) God clothes us in Christ's righteousness in justification; in sanctification God seeps grace into us and enables us to use His grace. 
2) In justification sin is pardoned; in sanctification it is subdued. 
3) Justification perfectly frees us from God's wrath so we are not condemned; sanctification is not equally distributed in all, nor perfect in this life, but ever-growing toward the goal of perfect holiness. 


Thoughts: Justification and sanctification are two different things in scripture.  Justification is an instantaneous acceptance and pardon.  Sanctification is a gradual process of growing in holiness.  If we see them as the same thing- then we confuse getting in the race with running the race; or getting in the car with riding in the car.  Both are parts of salvation.  Paul says he presses on toward the goal- this pressing on toward the goal is sanctification.  Some emphasize justification to the neglect of sanctification- as if we start but the Christian life and growth is meaningless; while others emphasize sanctification to the neglect of justification- as if the Christian life's start is not significant. Justification is almost a judicial declaration of non-guilt, but sanctification is growing in grace by dying to self and living to God. 


Prayer: Lord, help me to press on toward the goal, growing in my sanctification. 

5/16/12- Inclusiveness and Sanctification

¹⁵ Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. ¹⁶ For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷ The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17)

(The Balance in Sanctification)


WSCQ. 35. What is sanctification?
A. Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace by which our whole person is made new in the
image of God, and we are made more and more able to become dead to sin and alive to
righteousness.


Thoughts: What does holiness mean?  "Holy" means "other" or "separate."  We are told in the passage today to separate ourselves from love of the world.  In our day, many want to say that the only thing that matters is inclusiveness and tolerance.  If getting along is our only goal in life, what happens to holiness?  Biblical holiness is balanced by Biblical love.  Truth and love balance each other out.  But if inclusiveness is our main value, truth becomes secondary to including others.  If inclusiveness is the only value, is there any reason to stand up to a Hitler?  If inclusiveness is our only value, how do we include the intolerant?  Certainly prejudice is a sin.  It is an important sin we are called to avoid.  Jesus spoke of the Samaritan loving the wounded Jew.  He healed both the sinner and the saint- the Gentile and the Jew.  Jesus saw the self-righteous Pharisee and Sadducee as wrong, but also the sexually indulgent and decadent Herodian.  Jesus had a balance that we need to get back.  He balanced holding the truth in humility, with a willingness to reach out.  Those who value inclusiveness to the neglect of other values need to ask, what do I value as truth- and how do I know truth?    When we begin to call what God has said is "evil"- "good"- is not that a sign that we have somehow gone astray?  Calvinism reminds us to doubt our self-knowledge our self-righteous thinking.  Inclusiveness taken to its ultimate end becomes a runaway self-righteousness in and of itself.  Sanctification includes inclusiveness, but it is far more than that.  Sanctification is also "holiness" being "other" than the world.  Sanctification is defined not by ourselves, but by God.  God is inclusive, but He is also "holy other." The definition of sanctification really depends on your definition of God.  If God is seen most clearly even defined by Jesus Christ-the Word made flesh- then we should be able to see he calls us to repent into an "other" way of life, but He also reaches out in love.  For Him love and holiness balance out. 


Prayer: Help me to find your balance, your balance of inclusiveness, unity, and holiness.  Keep me from having an ideal that stops my ears to your Word.