A People Who Pursue Sanctification

The following is taken from a sermon note-sheet and bulletin insert designed to go along with a message preached by the pastor of Martin Baptist Church on 1/29/06. Posted by permission.

A People Who Pursue Sanctification

Hebrews 3:12-14 “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”

Introduction

• Justification = God declaring us “innocent”–by faith alone in Christ.
• Sanctification = God transforming us gradually–by faith alone in Christ.
• Justification = the root. Sanctification = the fruit.

Observations from the Text

• Each of us is vulnerable to hardness of heart.
• This hardening takes place when we turn away from God in unbelief, and pursue the deceitful pleasures of sin.
• This is a frightening thing, because if hardness of heart remains unbroken, it leads straight to Hell, proving we were never born again after all.
• Therefore, we should be earnest about cultivating tender hearts of faith and hope in Christ–thereby proving the reality of our conversion.
• God has ordained that this struggle be a group effort of daily Christ-centered conversations with one another.

The following questions and answers were developed from real life questions and scenarios Dave has encountered in his ministry.

What about Eternal Security?

Eternal Security is real and biblical [vs. 14; Rom. 8:30; Phil. 1:6]. But God’s Word repeatedly warns us against presumption and self-deception [Matt. 7:20-23; Luke 8:4-15; 2 Cor. 13:5; Gal. 6:7-8]. Yes, “once saved, always saved”; but salvation is life-changing [2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 5:24]. So if your life doesn’t change, if there is little evidence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in you–then the Bible calls upon you to diligently “make your calling and election sure” [2 Pet. 1:10].

What about Assurance of Salvation?

Assurance of salvation, according to the Bible, has less to do with a past event or decision in your life [since these things always have the potential of being fabricated by Satan–Matt. 7:21], and more to do with the present awareness and evidence of the Holy Spirit’s influence in your life [Gal. 5:22-23]. Jesus told us, absolutely, that if we love Him, we will obey Him [John 14:15]. There can be no assurance of salvation without genuine obedience to Christ [1 John 2:3-6]. There are obviously different levels of growth and obedience [Rom. 14:1; Gal. 6:1-2]–and God does ordain seasons of great struggle and little assurance, so that we would be further propelled to look to Christ and follow hard after Him [Psalm 43, 51; Rom. 8:23; Heb. 12:1-3, 12]. But at the end of the day, our assurance of salvation is rooted in visible acts of faith and love which spring from the deep hope we have in Christ [Col. 1:3-5; 1 thess. 1:4-6].

Isn’t this Works-Salvation?

No! We do not persevere in order to gain a share in Christ; rather, we make evident that we already have come to share in Christ–if we do indeed persevere in faith unto the end [vs. 14; Matt. 24:12-13; John 15:8]. We do not “work for” our salvation, but we do “work out” our salvation [Phil. 2:12]. We are told to “take hold of eternal life” and “fight” the life of faith [1 Tim. 6:12]. We do work vigorously, passionately, and reverently–but all along we attribute every good work in us to the power of the Holy Spirit and the sovereign grace of God [Gal. 2:20, 3:3, 5:22; Eph. 2:10; Phil. 2:12-13; 1 Cor. 3:6, 4:7, 15:10; Heb. 6:3].