 |
A COMBINED
EFFORT BIBLE READING: 2 Peter 1:3-9 SUNDAY 10TH OCTOBER, 1999. CAPTAIN ALISTAIR VENTER
INTRODUCTION: There is a story about a pastor who found great joy working in his garden. On one of the days that he was off, one of his deacons happened to come around to see him, and said: "My, the Lord sure gave you a beautiful garden." The pastor responded: "Well, thank you very much, but you should have seen it when God had it to himself!" I want to tell you today that God has given us everything that we need to live a godly life (2 Peter 1:3), but he will not do for us what he has told us to do! Some people expect God to do all the work, and they want to reap all the benefits. We are told specifically in the Bible that God wants his children to be holy, to be sanctified. Something or someone who is holy is set apart for a specific purpose, and that purpose incorporates the need to become more and more like God. You and I as sons and daughters of God are holy because of the fact that we belong to him – not because of anything that we have done. When God created man, he created him in His own image – but sin has somehow come into the world, and that image has been tarnished, damaged, spoilt. God went to great lengths to send Jesus to this earth in order to reverse the situation. Jesus came that we might be able to start to become people who reflect the image of God once again. When we received salvation, that was the start of what I would like to call progressive growth in Christ. We do not work for our salvation – as some of the sects will tell us – but it is necessary that we work out our salvation – work out what God has borne in us. How do I know that God wants me to be holy? How do I know that God wants me to be pure? Listen to Eugene Peterson’s translation of 1 Peter 1: 14-16 "So, roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourself be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said; "I am holy; you be holy". Listen to Romans 6:22: "Now that you have been set free from sin and have become the slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life." A rather revealing verse comes to mind that emphasizes the fact if we are not holy, we will not see eternal life. The verse that tells me that is Hebrews 12:4 "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness, no one will see the Lord" Fortunately, we are not required to become holy all on our own. It is a combined
effort, and in the next few minutes I will try to show you the various roles played by God
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and also what our role in sanctification is. First of
all, let us look at: God is the primary agent of our sanctification, because he is the only source
of life, righteousness, holiness, love, truth and so on. In fact, sanctification is the
process of God sharing his life with and through us. Paul prayed in 1 Thes 5:23.24 What has he done? I am just going to give it to you directly from Scripture – that God Himself may speak directly to you: 2 Peter 1:3-9 What God has done: His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very best and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires". What we must do: For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins". God has given us everything we need for life and godliness. He has equally distributed Himself to all His children because every Christian has been made a partaker of the divine nature. Someone has said: "Yes, but what about spiritual gifts. He has not given us all the same spiritual gifts or talents. God will not make us less effective in being holy people by withholding spiritual gifts from us. I think those are a bonus – I guess it is the fruit that He wants to see first in our lives. Just note one or two other things that God plays a part in in His role in sanctification. We are told that we are God’s workmanship according to Ephesians 2:10, and in Ephesians 1:19 we are told that "his incomparable great power" is at work in us to produce a new creation. God disciplines us that we might become holy. Hebrews 12:7,10 says; " Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?.. Our fathers disciplines us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness!"We look secondly at: John 10:10 says that Jesus came that we might have life. To make that possible, he had to first die for our sins. At the moment of salvation, believers are joined to Christ so that He is their life. Perhaps if we recall what Jesus said it might be easier to understand this concept. Jesus said; "Without me you can do nothing". We sing that chorus which is based on Scripture that says; "Its no longer I that liveth, but Christ that liveth in me.." There are an abundance of verses of Scripture that state that you are in Christ, and Christ is in you. I don’t know how to explain it, but I do think that we do accept that fact. Because we are in Christ, and Christ is in us, satan is powerless to do anything about it. However, being the liar that he is, he often convinces the believer that he is not in Christ, and that Christ is not able to do this and that, and we end up sinning. Always live in an awareness that Christ is in you and you are in Christ. What is Jesus role in helping us to live a holy life? He is kind of our protection against the evil one. He is our interceder between us and God, for he ever lives to make intercession for us. When life gets too much, he invites us to come to Him to find rest, to find strength. He suggests that we become yoke fellows with him when he said; "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden light." (Matt 11:28-30)Thirdly, we see: There do not seem to be many references in the Bible that explicitly teach that progressive sanctification is done by the Holy Spirit. Yet it is clear that Paul does directly attribute the continuing process of sanctification to the Holy Spirit. For example, the fruit of sanctification, of a holy life is said to be produced by the Spirit in Galatians 5:22, 23. The love of God is poured into our hearts through the Spirit acc to Romans 5:5. It is by the Spirit that we put aside the misdeeds of the body. Romans 8:13,14 say; "For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, for those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God".Jesus was concerned that we all still live in a fallen world, and in John 17, we find him praying for us when he said; "My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; you word is truth". But we are also told that the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth, and that the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. So I firmly believe that the Holy Spirit is actively involved in helping us to live a holy life. Lastly, what is Do we simply let go and let God? Surely if the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are doing such a great job already, why must we do anything? The Bible clearly shows that it is a combined effort, which we need to be involved in. In Leviticus 20 the people were told to sanctify themselves and to be holy. Philippians 2:12,13 tells us to continue to work out your salvation. "Work out" means to bring about, to produce or create. Paul spoke about his experience as being a like a race, and he has to strain and apply himself to press on towards the goal. The goal or the prize, I believe, is the completion of our sanctification, or our being like Christ. In our homes, there are many appliances which we have. Every appliance is created for a specific purpose, but none can accomplish anything without electricity. They come in all shapes and colours, but they will never fulfill their purpose unless they receive power. They are nothing more than ornament – useless ornaments without the power. But with a flip of the switch, the dishes are washed in the dishwasher, the clothes are dried in the tumble dryer, the toast is toasted, the cheese is grated, the water on the stove boils, the freezer preserves the food. No one appliance is better than the other, for they all do different things. That is true for all of us as Christians. We need to get plugged into God, as it were. We have a work to do, but are pretty powerless without God’s assistance. We all need to do for God what we are good at, that He might receive glory, and others might come to know him through our actions, our love, our lifestyle. What is our role further in sanctification? Put on the armour of God… Deliberately be obedient to God in all we do. Present yourself as a living sacrifice to God. Work on that love relationship with God, that we might continually be in tune with Him. We need to respond appropriately to all that God initiates.
CONCLUSION: Our position in Christ makes us holy people – he tells us that we are just that. Just like the temple is holy because God resides there. The things that were in the temple were Holy because they belonged to God. However, holiness or sanctification has to be lived out by God’s people. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit have done more than their share in enabling us to be a holy people – but are we doing our part? Do we deliberately strive to live as God would want us to live, to do as he would do? That is a question that no one but you can answer – but I want to leave the challenge with you today. God said; "I am holy – you be holy!" |