Answers Bible Curriculum Year 3 Quarter 4 Lesson 10
This week in Sunday school, we’re taking a closer look at what the New Testament epistles have to say about the Christian’s growth in holiness. What is the difference between positional and progressive sanctification? How is your own effort key in the process of becoming holy? Why is the battle for holiness in the Christian life so important? Please join us as we consider these crucial questions and more.
Our main texts for this lesson are 1 Peter 1:13-16, Philippians 3:12-16, and Ephesians 6:10-20.
Auto Transcript
Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.
idea of children of God being a child of God and then there’s also the term slaves one who has been bought by Christ wholly belonging to him fully serving him that’s another way to describe Christians but one of the most common terms if not the most common term is actually the term saint now biblically what is a saint if someone tell me it’s another term for believer but it’s the idea of holy one it means someone who is holy or set apart so a saint is a holy one and the term is used throughout the New Testament and even the Old Testament to describe believers and the meaning of this term has become mutilated a bit through the ages today in a Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches a saint is someone who’s been formally recognized and voted on canonized as a super holy person he does he’s done miracles he or she and he has earned great religious merit before God and so these churches the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches they believe that Christians should venerate and pray to these superhero Christians these things supposedly because of their great standing with God they are able to intercede for regular believers lower believers with God and cause God to provide for the needs of those those Christians of course these beliefs are wrong at multiple levels but they have effective what our society thinks of when it comes to Saints to most people a saint is someone who is super holy who has arrived to a level of godliness that mere mortals dare not even dream and even if someone insists that he’s a good person he will say but I’m no saint no one would want to claim to be a saint and yet I think as you’re already familiar listen to how the Bible uses the term Saint a Roman 1615 Greek fella lukas and julia nereus and his sister and olympus and all the saints who are with them or Ephesians 1:1 Paul an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God to the Saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus Ephesians 3:8 to me the very least of All Saints this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ or Ephesians 4:11 to 12 and he gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the Saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ or Hebrews 13 24 actions these first three commands and reactions have to do with holiness well notice the latter two commands these second are these fourth and fifth commands they’re introduced under the metaphor of the family Peter says as obedient children children to whom about children to God here again we see that theme we’ve talked about previously as Christians we have become children of God and therefore ought to be obedient to our Father what does this obedience look like the two commands that follow clarify that for us and they both have the idea of conformity on the one hand Peter says do not be conformed to the former lusts in your ignorance I’m not the passive verb here that Peter uses do not be conformed so the actor is not the Christian it’s someone else trying to conform the Christian the Peter’s indicating there are forces or people or entities trying to conform you to your old lusts that characterized you in your ignorance now when we’re Christians ignorant and conformed to their old lusts what what was this former state this characterized the person before he believed in Christ this is the person before salvation Peter says don’t sit by and let forces try to push you into that old mold of what you were before you were saved don’t be conformed back into the image of your previous life where you followed your lusts and ignorance instead gird up your mind be sober grasp your short hope don’t let yourself be pressed into the old image of sin and slavery to your fleshly desires and notice the term ignorance that Peter uses he’s making clear for us that this old way that we lived this is before we understood the truth before we understood a reality before we understood what life really is before we actually encountered God Peter says don’t go back that way don’t be conformed into the image or the mold of that old way now if he has to say this that implies that there’s a need for this command this says this is a problem for Christians we’re going to experience this these forces trying to do this to us we can’t just sit by it we can’t just be passive or else we’re going to be at the mercy of these forces we see then that and that’s the sanctification process that is really being discussed here there’s not one where the believer can afford to be passive he must actively resist conformity to his old life and this fits with that idea preparing your minds for action you’re gonna have to actively resist being pushed back into the old mold but it’s not just resistance because notice the second part says do not be conformed to your former way but be holy yourselves in all your behavior be holy be set apart be pure be righteous and what parts of Lux in all parts because he says in all your behavior this is to be comprehensive well why notice the answer that Peter gives we have a new pattern of conformity don’t be like your old evil ignorant self led away by unthinking desires but be like what be like the holy one who called you be conformed to the image of God this has always been the pattern of God’s people Peter ends this little section by saying by quoting you shall be holy for I am holy now where does that appear in the Bible that concept appears in many places but it goes all the way back to the Pentateuch most famously in Leviticus God gives these various commands about cleanness and uncleanness or now what is right and what is wrong for the people of visual to do and then he follows it up by saying be holy for I am holy I am the Lord your God I am holy therefore you are to be God’s designed for his people has always been an is always that they should be conformed to his image not to the image of the world not to their old image that they followed when they were ignorant in their lusts they are going to be conformed it’s the image of his holiness I would made these observations let’s now take some of these details we have observed and try and answer some questions of interpretation what is the revelation of Jesus Christ in verse 13 this is not referring to the Word of God in the sense of the Bible this is referring to the second coming of Christ when he is revealed because he appears on the earth Peter says set your hope on that that’s the grace at that time you’re going to be experiencing the grace the vindication the blessing the redemption the glorification because Christ himself will come he will be revealed to all the world that’s what Peter’s talking about there and you can see the connection to apocalypse is very apt actually in that sense second question why the emphasis on the inner man in these verses what does that have to do with the topic at hand says gird up the loins of your mind be sober and set your hope this is instructive because it shows us that sanctification even progressive sanctification is a process that must be led by changes in the inner man you have to orient your thinking in a certain way if you’re going to proceed forward on the path of holiness this corresponds well with what Paul writes in Romans 12:2 Romans 12:2 Paul says and do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what the will of God is that which is good and acceptable and perfect we’re going to be holy it’s got to start in the inner man I’ve got to start in our minds hearts Souls those are all terms that describe the inner man the inner person so Peters exhortations to that end they’re very important for us now what is the true standard of holiness for mankind in this passage we can see that it is God Himself being holy or set apart does not mean really becoming good in the eyes of man or meeting some man-made standard what does it even mean fulfilling various Old Testament and New Testament commands you can fulfill certain commands in the Bible and still not be holy because to be holy really means to be like God God is the standard of what is holy and right and good joy if you want to know what God wills for you how he designed you to think believe feel say and do as one of his followers and you must ultimately look to God himself he is the pattern he is the standard this by the way is the reason why all of us are condemned outside of Christ none of us can reach the standard of God he’s perfectly good all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God as Romans says this is why we need a substitute to protect us from God’s wrath he’s too holy he’s too good to accept anything that fails to meet his own standard cannot be with unholiness because he is so holy if he did he would compromise himself but God is not only the standard of holiness the goal of our sanctification is to be transformed into the very image of God he’s not just the standard by which we assess ourselves he is the goal he is the endpoint of our transformation we we desire we are designed to resemble it to become like the very image of God this is very similar to what Paul writes in 2nd Corinthians 3:18 so Corinthians 3:18 speaking of Christ Paul says but we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory just as from the Lord the spirit what is the goal of our progressive sanctification it is to become like God it is to become like Jesus we are to resemble we are to reflect the image of God and wasn’t that our original design at creation we go back to Genesis 1 we hear that God made man in God’s image man is an image bearer of God he is to reflect the glory the nature of God he is a monument to display the Lord but that image bearing function was marred by the fall and by sin we couldn’t we couldn’t properly manifest the image of God because we had rebelled against God but through Christ as we are saved we are restored to that image bearing function we again can show God’s glory to the universe as we resemble God and as we seek progressive sanctification before God and as we’ve already seen that is our ultimate end what is the hope that John the Apostle directs us to in first John 3 he says when we look about what if when we look at consider our destiny in the future we don’t know what we will be but we do know that we will be like God why because we will see him as he is and that’s something to motivate believers one day we will be conformed fully to the image of God and His image is a beautiful image and we want to reflect it now bearing the image of God means that holiness should be an increasing reality in our lives but who’s responsible for this who’s responsible for our being conformed into the image of God from this passage what’s the answer we are we are responsible to be conformed into God’s image yes all the powers from God he’s the one who’s at work he’s the one ultimately he is conforming us into his image but our obedience our wills our striving is the means otherwise Peter wouldn’t be giving these commands he tells us you’ve got to buckle up your mind you’ve got to think soberly you’ve got to set your hope on Christ’s appearing so that you can pursue the hard work of progressive sanctification you have a responsibility in this if you sit back do nothing and wait for God to transform you you’re not going to be transformed into God’s image you’re going to be conformed back into the old image of your flesh because those forces are already at work against you if you do nothing to conform yourself into God’s image and the forces that are against you will conform you into your old image you see sanctification is not like recovering from an illness we’re resting and inaction is the key to getting well no sanctification as is made clear throughout non some of the metaphors the Apostles use sanctification is like athletic training strenuous activity is the way to your goal you must build up the muscles you must exercise you must strive if you’re going to be well so brothers and sisters at Calvary don’t let yourselves be conformed into your old image of sin but as God’s child be conformed into God’s image as you pursue holiness in your life this is something that you must do now if your own effort is key you might be asking can I strive enough to reach perfection or if not if I can’t become perfect no matter how much I try what point it’s the goal is to be like Christ if I can’t actually reach that goal then why even try well let’s now hear from Paul turn over to Philippians chapter 3 believers chapter 3 verses 12 to 16 we’ve been in Philippians lately so you might remember what this letter is all about it’s a letter of commendation and encouragement from Paul to the church at Philippi there’s a great relationship with this church Paul’s in prison but he’s commending them encouraging them also exhorting them to be unified and humble service and with the humble attitude of Christ there were some conflicts and divisions in the church that Paul wanted to address and in Chapter three of Philippians Paul warns the church against false teachers who want to add good works and ritual observance to the gospel of faith Paul counters in the beginning of the passage and right before our text true salvation only comes by faith in the righteousness of Christ on the believers behalf moreover Paul goes on to say that he himself has sought to get rid of anything and everything in his mind and in his life that prevents him from knowing Christ and being conformed into the image of Christ I’m laying everything aside so that I can be conformed into the image of Christ I want to know him and his power the power of his resurrection and the Fellowship of his sufferings and right after that is our text so look at verses 12 to 16 Philippians 3 verses 12 to 16 not that I have already obtained it where I’ve already become perfect but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus brethren I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet but one thing I do forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus let us therefore as many as are perfect have this attitude and if and anything you have a different attitude God will reveal that also to you however let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained let’s observe a few things on about this passage as we noted Paul has just been speaking about his desire to know and be conformed to Christ but Paul immediately in the beginning of our text denies that even he a chosen apostle great worker for the cause of Christ he denies that he has fulfilled his desires to become perfect he does not know Christ perfectly he has not been conformed to Christ image person perfectly three times he expressly denies that we might say oh how depressing not even you Paul you’re not conformed to the image of Christ perfectly what hope is there for the rest of us but notice Paul’s reaction to this he does not say yeah it hasn’t happened so I’m just gonna give up no we don’t see that from Paul we don’t see him become jaded we don’t seem become depressed we don’t see him become frustrated instead notice is firm resolve and incessant action verse 12 I press on verse 13 forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead verse 14 I press on why Paul watch so much effort if you can’t reach full perfection well he gives us some reasons verse 12 so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold up by Christ Jesus but verse 13 for the prize of the upward call of God and Christ Jesus he’s got reasons to keep going and he will keep going he will press on that’s pretty intense but someone might say Paul maybe it’s just you maybe he says if you have a different attitude God’s gonna show you and let’s keep living by the standard we’ve already attained so we’ve observed these things from Paul let’s ask some interpretation questions now Paul says he presses on to lay hold for the very reason that Christ laid hold of Paul so we should ask why did Christ lay hold of Paul he didn’t have a plan for his life what is Jesus’s plan for Paul’s life that he would suffer and be a witness right in holiness Jesus’s plan his purpose his goal in laying hold of Paul was to make Paul an image bearer of Christ who was going to display God’s glory through Paul is going to display salvation through Paul and he was gonna kind of form Paul into Christ’s image and this goes right along with some of the teachings that we see from Paul and others in the New Testament we were saved unto good works we are saved or being glory – glory to God we are saved to be conformed into Christlikeness that was the reason that Christ laid hold of Paul Paul says for that same reason I want to press on Paul says Christ purposed in saving me was so that I could display him be conformed to him I want to fulfill that same purpose not contempt to stay as I am Christ wasn’t content for me to stay as I was he saved me he began this process of sanctification and I want to continue in that process I wanted to fill the purpose for which I was called and for which Christ laid hold of me plucked me out of darkness I press on for that same reason and he also says forgetting what lies behind what lies behind for Paul to answer this question we need to remember what came before in the context when Paul says I have laid aside everything I counted all loss the sake of Christ now what was included in that certainly his old sins his failures his inability to reach God’s standard in the past he lays that aside but also his seeming successes his external achievements his his Jewish pedigree he lays that aside to his whole old life is being laid aside so that he might reach forward to what goes ahead what lies ahead anything that gets in the way of pursuing Christ Paul lays aside there’s no point Paul Paul indicates there’s no point in dwelling incessantly on the past either in its victories or in its failures the mind must continue to look forward onward is the heart cry not I can’t believe I did that terrible thing or I missed the good old days that’s not Paul’s attitude I press on he says for what lies ahead part of what lies ahead is the goal for the prize of the upward call now what is this Paul says he he strains ahead for the goal for the prize of the upward call well Paul’s goal was already stated again in the previous context he wants to know Christ and be conformed to the image of Christ that’s his goal but this goal is itself a prize he strains towards this goal strains forward to this goal of Christ’s likeness he wants that he desires that he sees great joy in that but there’s more you see the concept of reward for faithfulness to Christ is all over Paul’s letters as it is indeed all over the New Testament for pursuing Christ’s likeness there will be a reward you may remember Jesus’s words in the Sermon on the Mount he’s talking about the difference between a religious hypocrite and a truly righteous person and he says your heavenly Father who sees what is done in secret he will do that and then he will reward you when you don’t look for the reward of men you will be rewarded by God Hebrews 11:6 goes so far to say and without faith it is impossible to please him that is God for he who comes to God must believe that he is that his God is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek Him he who comes to God must believe that God is and that God is where water of those who seeketh that’s basic to being a Christian and to following Christ you stream forward for the reward that is with God what is their reward New Testament describes it in various ways as does the Old Testament various aspects to this reward there’s Christ’s commendation well tell him good and faithful servant their crowns of victory white robes rule with Christ forever that’s all part of it and of course being made into the very image of Christ and seeing Christ as he is having a seat at the table with Christ all of that is part of the reward that’s what Paul’s striving for he not only presses on in gratefulness for Christ’s saving him and not only presses on in a desire to fulfill the original purpose of his being saved but he also presses on in the process of progressive sanctification that he might obtain the great heavenly reward as with Christ the maximum reward so as Paul runs ever forward in the Christian race the eyes of his mind are always looking upward toward Christ and toward Christ reward now what is Paul getting at in verses 15 is 16 these verses are a little puzzling there are a couple different ways we can interpret them my view in these verses that Paul is being a little sarcastic because you see we’re in the context of dealing with false teachers and false teachers often claim that they are able to attain perfection either through unlocking some secret knowledge or by strict adherence to some law or to various rituals we can become perfect if we just try hard enough or if we have this secret knowledge the Paul says look if you guys were really perfect if you guys were really mature if you were really at a high level of faith and righteousness you would understand that this is the attitude that you are to have this is the way you should think and behave you should be following my example don’t tell me you’ve reached some special enlightenment and that you no longer need to pursue holiness that’s not what God’s mature people do and don’t tell me you’ve already reached sinlessness if you think you’re all if you think you’re sinless just wait for God to show you that you’re not him that you really just need to you need to get back to basic adherence to God’s standard look back to what you’ve already attained and just try and do that you’ll see that you’re not perfect Paul goes on to urge in verse 17 we didn’t read it but it comes right afterwards he says join and following my example and the example of those who think and act like wise follow the pattern you see in me and in those who are like me so then when we think about our own progressive sanctification today we see here our attitude should be the same as Paul’s we should be saying just as he did I’m not perfect yet I’m not where I want to be or even need to be no one can ever be perfect or fully sanctified in this life but I can progress I can fulfill more my calling in Christ therefore I’m not just gonna sit around I’m pressing on I want to please Christ I want to receive the prize I have no time to be caught up in my past successes or failures if those things are going to trip me up get me distracted I can’t state it I have to press forward now press on reach forward to what lies ahead I want to become more like Jesus that is the attitude that we are to have now just to reiterate progressive sanctification is not instant yes salvation is instant we are once and for all regenerated we are once for all save we are once and for all made holy by Christ there’s even an aspect of once for all in our repentance we lay aside the old way our our own kingship of our life but sanctification is a process of putting sin to death casting off wedding tangles and putting on righteousness it’s something that takes time and it takes much effort we’re going to need time to uncover the idolatrous desire and thoughts that are in our heart things that we didn’t even know we had but as we see them we we recognize them for what they are and we cast them away it’s gonna take time it’s gonna take effort to actually learn what is the Lord’s will for us and we learn that in the scriptures it’s gonna take time and effort to unlearn habits of sin and evil patterns of thinking that have become so ingrained in our lives because that’s the way we formerly live or we never had confronted those things before so they’ve become the automatic ways that we react to certain situations we have to unlearn those things and conversely or complimentary to that we need to become trained in righteousness if you look up the term training in the New Testament it’s instructive because you see that that’s that describes the progressive sanctification process we must become trained as disciples of Jesus and when we are fully trained we will be like him Jesus says we have to establish new patterns new righteous habits new righteous patterns of thinking that’s gonna take time that’s gonna take learning and that’s gonna take effort we need help it’s gonna take time and effort to seek the help of those who have understanding and experience and godliness they give this counsel in our walk it’s gonna take time to learn to pray to learn to be dependent on the Lord to learn to trust God in faith and to act on that faith it’s gonna take time for us as we do each one of these things to see Christ and His glory more clearly now that’s not to discourage us from proceeding on the path of progressive sanctification but it is an important reminder that it’s not gonna happen all at once it’s gonna take effort it’s gonna it’s gonna take you doing just as Paul did press on they’re gonna have to keep pressing on but you have God’s full resources to do this God has given you his body the church God has given you his word God has given you his spirits do these things that otherwise be impossible but we have these sources from God so that we can actually press forward we can make progress but the question is do we take advantage of the resources God is the evidence I fear that all too often we are too busy with life and we are too caught up in our own indulgent pleasures to truly pursue sanctification too often we do not have Paul’s attitude of laying aside all those things that untangle and pressing forward we don’t have that attitude and therefore we become ensnared and soon we afflict ourselves with many sorrows we miss out on Christ’s blessings we miss out on eternal rewards and some even become shipwrecked in faith brothers and sisters we have to understand that progressive sanctification is not optional it is not something for just all right that’s the pastor’s thing or that’s what the merit you know certain special Christians do know this is for each one of us you must proceed in this sorrow and joy is for alone blessing but so many sorrows and afflictions that we will experience if we do not you see sanctification is serious business and to emphasize that point a little bit more let’s go to our last passage turn over to Ephesians fusions chapter 6 verses 10 to 20 this isn’t somewhat famous section of Scripture where we hear the armor of God described but these verses are very worth very much worth another look you can close your look now this pastors a little bit longer than some of the other ones I won’t be able to analyze it to the same depth but I do want to point out a few things to you after we read it remember the context of Ephesians Paul is exhorting the Gentile believers in and around Ephesus to live in a way worthy of their great salvation and to overcome the powers of darkness set against them in chapter 6 Paul is giving his final exhortation and applications to this letter and the very last section of application is the one that we’re going to read verses 10 to 20 let’s read it Paul says finally be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil for our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers against the powers against the world Force’s of this darkness against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places therefore take up the full armor of God so that you will be able to resist in the evil day and having done everything to stand firm stand firm therefore having girded your loins with truth and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace in addition to all taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God with all prayer and petition pray at all times in the spirit and with this in view be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints and pray on my behalf that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth to make known the boldness and make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in Chains that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly as I ought to speak that’s nurse the two things about our passage here in Ephesians the main command over arching hovering over this whole passage is be strong in the Lord and in his strength you will not have sufficient spiritual strength on your own Paul says you need the Lord’s and gaining the Lord’s strength and involves putting on the full armor the full set of armor of God this is armor supplied by God it is armor that comes from God and it is for his people but why do we need this strength why do we need this armor Paul lays forth a very sobering situation in verses 11 to 13 we need this strength and armor because we need to be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil you mean the devil is scheming scheming against you and me scheming against various believers yes he is and I think we often forget this as conservative evangelicals we have a tendency to downplay the devil and the demons because on the one hand we live in a science obsessed society that sees anything involving the spirits or the supernatural to be naive superstition and to because we do know and we’ve heard of certain Christians who become so obsessed with the supernatural that and even the demonic that they cower in fear or they pursue outrageous acts that are never advocated in Scripture trying to exorcise demons are trying to bind Satan and do various things and we don’t want to be part of that and so we we downplay the demonic but brothers and sisters we’ve got to listen to the scripture it tells us here Paul tells us here the devil is scheming against us and notice he has schemes plural doesn’t have just one scheme or even two but many he has multiple angles of approach multiple angles of attempt he’s honed his craft over many centuries his different tried and true ways of getting at believers in fact Paul urges us to consider the real nature of our struggle in verse 12 he says it is not against flesh and blood a flesh and blood that’s just another another way to refer to people our struggle is not against people this is another thing we forget right our struggle is not against bad presidents evil dictators Muslims mass shooters abortionist fornicators political parties homosexuals or even religious skeptics yes they’re involved in our spiritual struggle but according to Paul those people are not our real enemies against whom is our struggle Paul says our struggle against the demonic rulers of this world the evil potentates the exalted spirits that are the ones moving the people of darkness in our world who are in control of this evil world system spirits so exalted in power and authority that they even dwell in heavenly places doesn’t necessarily mean in heaven itself but in though those exalted spheres in the heavenlies in the spiritual aspects in spheres of the universe these are very powerful and exalted beings and they are against us they are the enemies that are ready to assault us in the evil day they desire to ensnare us and they desire to rob us of all our salvation blessings they want to kill steal and destroy they want to deceive us I want to make us ineffective as Christ people and they are very active in their pursuit so what are we going to do we’re just gonna sit back twiddle our thumbs watch TV no we can’t afford that let’s get ready for battle we even must seek to become strong in the Lord we’ve got to put on his full armor you can see how this same truth is connecting to our other passages you cannot afford to be passive there are forces working against you so if you do nothing they will succeed we must become strong in the Lord so that when the evil days come well we do experience days of temptation intense assault we are pushed to doubt and to be discouraged and to be tempted away from the Lord we will not go that way but we will stand firm we will not yield the ground to the enemy we must become strong in the Lord and put on the armor of God now what does it mean to put on the armor of God we don’t have time to look at each piece specifically but I would say it’s a two-fold twofold truth the put on the armor of God means on the one hand to appropriate the gospel of Christ into your life you gird yourself with the Lord’s truth you gird yourself with the Lord’s peace Christ has made me a peace with him you gird yourself with the Lord’s righteousness I am fully righteous in the righteousness of Christ you gird yourself with the Lord’s body of faith you gird yourself for the Lord salvation he has saved me and you gird yourself with the Lord’s word so in one hand is appropriating the gospel of Christ to yourself but on the other hand it is the practical application of the Lord’s gospel in your life through sanctification it’s not only applying the indicative of Scripture to yourself but it is also applying the imperatives you gird yourself with truthfulness also because of the Lord’s truth you become truthful yourself you good yourself with a peacefulness you maintain peace in your relationships especially in the church you gird yourself with a life of righteousness you gird yourself with trust in God you gird yourself with faith you gird yourself with that confidence in the Lord salvation in every trial and temptation I know the Lord won’t tempt me beyond when I’m able to bear and he will provide the deliverance you gird yourself with the very wielding of God’s Word as a weapon against the lies of the devil you respond just as your Lord did when you see these here these think needs encounter these false statements made against God just as Jesus did in the wilderness you responded with Scripture and belief in that scripture you say no I’m not gonna rely on myself completely I know my own responsibility but the scriptures say I’m to live on the very words of God I’m to wait on the Lord’s provision I’m to be dependent on him so this both of these aspects that are involved in putting on our armor we trust Christ and we live out that trust in practical sanctification and in that way we were made able to stand against the devil’s schemes he’s not able to rob us of our blessings he’s not able to rob us of any of the joy that is following Christ the devil and his Co minions they will have to flee from us when we do this and we are able to stand firm even against their power because the power of God is with us now all of this must be coupled with and we see this in verses 18 to 20 and must be coupled with desperate constant and all-encompassing prayer and petition to God you know it’s really interesting and verses 18 to 20 there are no main verbs in the Greek they’re all participles they’re all ing verbs to use the English equivalent which means they’re only describing the way that we do the above actions that we become strong in the Lord and that we put on his armor this is not a separate act these things actually go together as you’re doing these things so that you can stand against the evil one you are to be praying and not just for yourselves you’re to pray for your brethren and to pray for your leaders notice Paul a specific prayer for himself it might be like what Paul come on your apostle you’ll need our prayers noises please pray for me pray that I’ll be bold mara Paul’s a prisoner at this time he knows that he has had many opportunities to speak forth boldly even before governors and he probably will be able to speak before Caesar says pray for me I need your help against the spiritual forces and this is true today too you know that your leaders your teachers they are a special targets or they are especially targeted by the enemy if you can take down the sergeant’s and the captain’s and all the other soldiers will be be discouraged and be hurt so Paul says pray for me we need to pray for our leaders and we need to pray for our brethren you know we sometimes forget when we use the battle analogy we think about the armor of God we think of it in a very individual fashion and it is individual to some extent we have a responsibility as individual soldiers each one of us must stand firm but you know what soldiers almost never fight by themselves they fight together with their comrades that’s what makes them secta fighting unit that’s certainly the way that the Roman soldiers worked it’s the same for us too we don’t fight alone we fight together with our brethren this is how we stand firm and so we’ve got to pray for one another if a brother falters we are going to be affected but for brother stands firm then we ourselves are going to be strengthened we’ve got to pray for one another continually and realized we don’t go into battle alone you can see why I say sanctification is serious business Paul tells us this is the reality our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the spirits of wickedness we need the Lord strength we need the Lord’s armor we need to pursue sanctification so let’s sum up what we’ve seen today from 1st Peter 1 verses 13 to 16 we saw that we can call to conformity to the image of God and this conformity comes through a reorientation of mind leading to wholly action from Philippians 3 verses 12 to 16 we saw that we’re never to end our pursuit of holiness though we have not and will not ultimately reach perfection until we see Christ we are called for the sake of the prize of Christ the sake of the purpose by which we were saved in the first place to be conformed more and more to the image of Christ and from Ephesians 6:10 2:20 we see that sanctification is serious it’s an ongoing war against the devil and his hosts we desperately need the Lord’s strength the Lord’s armor and the Lord’s ear in prayer if we are to stand firm against every evil scheme and keep hold of every blessing that is ours in Christ through salvation so what should be your application based on these fruits let me give you a few thoughts the form of questions for you to be thinking about as we close number one do you recognize your calling to pursue ongoing sanctification in your life God’s will is for each one of you to be more and more conformed into the image of his son do you confess such to be true and then does your life reflect that is this the reality of your life proceeding onward become more like Christ number two do you recognize that your own agonizing effort is critical in fulfilling God’s will for you yes we all want to avoid doing things in our own strength but one avoid legalism we want to avoid self-righteousness that’s good but that doesn’t mean that we just lay aside all effort if we believe God then we will trust the Lord and then proceed forward in obedience we trust that God is I go out to the battle you will provide the strength and you will provide the victory this is the same way that God worked with Israel in the Old Testament he said I’m gonna fight for you I’m gonna be the one that delivers you from your enemies but you need to go out to the battle sometimes he did it but after you going up and most the time he had them go out sometimes they went out and did nothing because then God intervened sometimes they went out and they they were wielding their swords and spears that’s the way it is for us our effort is God’s means of making us more like himself that comes from God it’s Hugh is that work in US but we must recognize our need to strive number three if you’ve reached a roadblock or a dead-end in your sanctification what do you think the Lord wants you to do you say I just keep struggling with the sin I can’t find any victory against it I just try and try and try and nothing ever changes what do you think the Lord wants you to do use the resources that he’s given you not just his word not just a spirit but his church God gave you all these other fellow soldiers to help you in the fight will you not take advantage of that say oh I don’t want to look bad in front of them I don’t want to discourage them listen which is more important you maintaining a facade of your own perfect righteousness everything being perfect in your life are you actually being faithful to God your Lord you’re saving don’t let pride prevent you from progressing the sanctification reach out to your brothers and sisters in the church and say it look so what’s going on my life I need some counsel I need some help show me what are some things that I can do to be free of this struggle or to make progress in holiness God gave us the church we ought to take advantage of it and if we don’t we’re just gonna keep afflicting ourselves listen keep afflicting our families now God’s gonna let that happen sometimes it says until you learn I’m gonna let this happen we need to humble ourselves before the Lord so that he can lift us up and of course this is all worth it but do you see that each one of the passages we looked at today sets progressive sanctification in the context of our great salvation what is already taking place and what will take place that’s to motivate us and to say yes I want to proceed in this no matter how painful or difficult or how how much hurt I must experience in order to progress it’s worth it but do you see that will you pursue holiness in your life with all your mind well you pursue Christ in your life with all your mind that’s what God made you for that’s why you saved you that’s it for this week but I do urge you to keep meditating on this next week become the last subject of our of our curriculums teaching in the last part of our chronological study of the Bible and that is we begin to look at the return of Christ so I hope you’d be with me next week let’s praise me close Lord this is this is serious truth or you have called us to be Saints to be set apart one’s to be holy once this is not something we can accomplish by ourselves I need you to accomplish this work but God we know that we are to have the same attitude as Paul to get ready for action to press on to lay aside all that entangles so god I pray that you would do that among the people at Calvary and all those listening today in Jesus name Amen no I’m went a little bit over extra today so I think you for your patience but I wasn’t like see you next week