In this sixth lesson, Pastor Dave Capoccia overviews what the biblical process of change toward greater Christ-likeness looks like. First, Pastor Dave takes a macro view of what should be the biblical expectation regarding change over one’s lifetime. Second, Pastor Dave takes a micro, more moment-by-moment view of how what one loves and worships in one’s heart leads a person either to sin or righteousness.
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Summary
We are reminded that true biblical change is not automatic, effortless, or instantaneous, but a lifelong process of progressive sanctification rooted in heart worship. This lesson examines both the macro and micro dimensions of how God transforms His people—exposing four faulty views of sanctification and revealing that sin at its core is idolatry, while true change begins when Christ is restored to His rightful place in the heart.
Key Lessons:
- Progressive sanctification is a lifelong cycle of sin, repentance, renewal, and growth that will only be completed when we meet Christ—not a second work of grace or a moment of perfection.
- Sin is a symptom of wrong heart worship: whatever we treasure, love, and desire more than God becomes an idol that fuels sinful attitudes, words, and behaviors.
- True and lasting change requires getting to the root—identifying and dethroning the false idol—and bringing the Gospel to bear so that Christ is restored as the heart’s true treasure.
- Sanctification is both our active striving and God’s sovereign work; we cannot grow in holiness apart from God’s Spirit, His Word, or the fellowship of the church.
Application: We are called to examine our own sin struggles, identify the idolatrous desires beneath them, and actively put off the old self and put on the new—drawing from Christ, the fountain of living water, rather than the broken cisterns of worldly idols. We are also called to help others do the same as biblical counselors in community.
Discussion Questions:
- Which of the four faulty views of sanctification (easy believism, Christian perfectionism, higher life, hyper-grace) most closely resembles how you actually live day to day—not just what you confess to believe?
- Think of a recurring sin struggle in your life. Using the framework from James 4, what idol or strong desire might be fueling it? What would it look like to dethrone that idol and return to Christ as your treasure?
- How does understanding progressive sanctification change the way you counsel or encourage a fellow believer who feels like they are failing or not growing?
Scripture Focus: James 4:1-4 reveals that conflicts and sins flow from idolatrous desires within the heart. Philippians 2:12-13 holds in tension our active striving and God’s sovereign work in sanctification. Ephesians 4:22-24 describes the process of putting off the old self and putting on the new as renewal of the mind. Matthew 6:19-24 and 22:37-38 establish that the heart pursues whatever it truly treasures and worships.
Outline
- Introduction
- Homework Review: Biblical Counseling vs. Psychology
- New Homework: Godliness Through Discipline
- The Process of Biblical Change: Overview
- Faulty Views of Sanctification
- The Biblical View: Progressive Sanctification
- The Micro Process: How Sin and Repentance Work
Introduction
Good morning, good morning. Welcome to Sunday school. Thank you for being here. Good to see you all again.
We missed you last Sunday, but it’s good to be back. Thank you for all of you who were praying for us while we were away. The Lord gave us a good, good time of vacation.
Let’s pray as we begin today’s lesson. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for bringing us back so that we can do more of the work of ministry and be with your people. Bless this time now as we learn more about how you change us, how your Spirit works in us—not just individually, but as a body—in Jesus’ name, amen.
Homework Review: Biblical Counseling vs. Psychology
Okay, let’s go over the homework. You had extra time to do it, so hopefully you’re able to complete it. Last time, along with Bible reading and prayer, I asked you to read an article by Aaron Cerrone with CCEF: “Becoming a Biblical Counselor: A Skeptic’s Journey.” I also gave you extra credit for another article by Dave Palinson.
What were some things that you noticed or had questions about from those articles?
Yeah, April?
Thanks, April. So talking about Aaron Cerrone’s article and how he came at it from a secular academic perspective while also learning about biblical counseling and wanting to come at it from a Christian perspective—you can sympathize with this struggle, right? Where he wants it to be more real, especially to his experience as a Christian, and yet his training was not that. Over time, he comes to see that there’s only so much that psychology can do.
What else?
Yes. I’m just pointing out that because of his training and his early negative exposure to biblical counseling, it was hard for him to move towards that. I think that is true for many people who, either because of their education, maybe some experiences in their lives, or just a negative experience of biblical counseling, say, “This is not helpful. This is not right.” But actually, this is the way that the Lord leads us to minister to one another.
By God’s grace, He helped Aaron, and hopefully He’s helping us to see: this is a superior answer. This is the supreme, sufficient answer from God for His people.
“This is a superior answer. This is the supreme, sufficient answer from God for His people.”
Now, one point I hope that you noticed in the article—and Aaron is keen to emphasize this—is that he doesn’t think that everything in psychology is bad or that his training was useless. That needs to be said.
Those who have been trained in secular psychology can offer some benefit to the people that they meet with. Really, it’s just an illustration of common grace. Even some of the principles of the Bible work this way: when you talk with someone, you get outside of yourself. You articulate some of your thoughts and ideas, and someone else can say, “Hey, man, that’s totally weird.” Or I’m sure that psychologist wouldn’t say it just like that, but they help you to see, “Oh, wow, I can actually move past this.” There’s some help in that.
But as Aaron also emphasizes, it can only go so far. You can’t get to the real root of many of the issues that people come to psychologists for.
So if you had a positive experience with a psychologist, I’m not discounting that. I don’t think Aaron is either. But just realize that they can only do so much.
What else?
Yeah, Grandpa?
That’s an interesting thought and observation, Glenda. He’s—and many—looking for the perfect meeting place between psychology and Christianity. But in one sense, while they might look like they meet in the distance, they don’t really. They come from totally different foundations and assumptions. There isn’t really a good way to combine them.
Again, not everything in psychology is wrong. But when you’re talking about theories of the person and their behavior, when you start from a standpoint that is opposite the Bible, you’re not really going to be able to combine them without radically changing one or the other. Usually it’s the Bible that gets changed.
That’s why integration often is a dangerous thing. This is not a new problem. I can’t remember how much I’ve emphasized it in this course, but you look in Christian history and philosophy, popular philosophy in ancient times. When people try to integrate it with Christianity, it usually hurt the church in some way or another. But people said, “Hey, this compliments this. This allows us to do ministry even better.” But it ends up actually doing harm to the church.
“When you start from a standpoint opposite the Bible, you can’t combine them without radically changing one or the other.”
So we want to be aware, beware of trying to integrate worldly ideas with Christianity. We could say more about that, but we have a lot more to talk about today, so I’m going to move on. We can talk also in conversation about that.
New Homework: Godliness Through Discipline
Let’s talk about your new homework. This clicker is not moving me forward, but I can still talk about it. Hopefully you all got a booklet if you are here attending today. One per family, yeah?
Homework for Lesson Six: This is the last reading assignment I’m going to give you. This is “Godliness Through Discipline” by Jay Adams. This is going to go a lot with what we’re talking about today about the process of biblical change, or the biblical process of change.
I want you to read it and write down five observations or questions. You’ve already met Jay Adams at this point.
For extra credit, I’m giving you a different kind of assignment: Bible memorization. You say, “Oh, isn’t that kind of basic?” But actually, the basics are really important. If you’ve done Bible memorization before, you know how helpful it is! It helps you to meditate more on the truths of Scripture, especially the truths that we’re talking about in this class.
It also helps you bring them back to mind in instances where you’re under pressure. We know that rehearsing the truth of Scripture to ourselves and believing it is actually part of our victory in times of temptation. It’s what the Lord did. It’s what we’re exhorted by the Scriptures to do.
“Rehearsing the truth of Scripture to ourselves and believing it is part of our victory in times of temptation.”
Here’s an opportunity for you. I’m giving you three verses for extra credit: Proverbs 4:23, Luke 6:45, and James 4:1. We’ll talk about those verses in the class today, at least most of them.
That’s the homework for Lesson Six.
The Process of Biblical Change: Overview
Well, today we are looking at the process of biblical change. This is the second half of the course. The first half was more apologetic—trying to clarify and defend the Bible’s sufficiency, the Lord’s sufficiency for bringing about heart change, true and lasting change in our lives.
But the second half is going to be a little bit more practical and instructional: How do we actually do this? How do we actually counsel one another?
Today, my agenda is to do two things. You see it also reflected on your handout: look at the macro process of change and the micro process of change. Two different introductory views here.
But to get us thinking a little bit along these lines, I have a little introductory analogy.
The Weight Loss Analogy: Heart Change and Repentance
One of the questions that keeps coming up in our society is about losing weight. “How can I lose and keep off extra weight?” There’s a whole industry devoted to this. Every other year, it seems like a newly discovered and marketed diet plan appears, offering Americans the secret to weight loss success: “Just eat these special foods, and you’ll lose the pounds in no time. Eat at these special times of the day, and you’ll easily lose weight.”
Yet the secret to losing weight is long known. In fact, it’s been known from ancient times. You go to your doctor and ask him how you might lose weight. He will tell you the secret. What is the long-known secret to losing and keeping off weight?
Diet and exercise. Eat less, move more.
It’s so simple. You don’t need a PhD for this. And that’s great news, right?
Yet most people don’t follow these recommendations. And they would perhaps even say that they cannot do so. “I can’t do that. Why?”
It’s too hard. There must be an easier way. I like food. This is inconvenient. It’s too hard.
Millions of people will seek change when it comes to food and their bodies, but they will never find it because they’re not willing to do what is difficult but necessary. We can sympathize, right? We also do not like pain, and we enjoy comfort.
What would be necessary, then, for a person to persevere and overcome the difficulty necessary for this change? How can anyone do it?
They have to have a fundamental change of mind. They have to say, “This is really important. The sacrifices are worth it. I’m going to do this.” They need to be changed in mind. They need to be changed in heart.
To say it another way: to persevere in the face of pain and hardship, a person needs a change in his inner man—his thoughts, beliefs, and desires.
“To persevere in the face of pain and hardship, a person needs a change in his inner man—his thoughts, beliefs, and desires.”
When it comes to dieting, food is not that important. This health goal is important. I’m willing to make the sacrifice.
What does the Bible call this kind of change? Heart change. What’s another word for it?
Repentance.
Repentance—a change of mind that leads to a change in action. What’s true for a limited value issue like weight loss, the Bible says bodily discipline is little profit, is actually also true for things that are more profitable—even the whole Christian life. Central to the process of necessary and important biblical change is repentance: a change of heart that leads to a change in action.
“Central to the process of biblical change is repentance: a change of heart that leads to a change in action.”
This is our topic for today: What does the process of biblical change towards Christ’s likeness look like?
We’re going to take two perspectives here. The first is macro—broadly. What should change look like across a Christian’s life?
Faulty Views of Sanctification
And there are a number of different views about this. What should your life look like when it comes to change? There are a number of popular views. But often the popular views are false, wrong views towards what sanctification—what the process of change towards Christ’s likeness—will look like in your life.
We’re going to examine four of them, and then the biblical view.
Easy Believism
And the first one is easy believism. Giving you space on your handout if you want to draw the graphic here. I put a little illustration of what easy believism expects.
If you can imagine the left side of the graph is your holiness, your Christ-likeness, and the bottom side of the graph is time, and the right side of the graph is the end of your life and going to be with the Lord in heaven. Easy believism basically says you don’t need to change. You don’t need to become more holy. All that matters is faith in Christ. Don’t expect that you’re actually going to progress.
On the graph it just kind of stays in the same spot—a little bit of functionality, but it doesn’t really change.
But the Scriptures are quite clear: this is a false view. This is a faulty expectation of what the Christian life should be.
Can you think of any Scriptures that would confirm that this is a wrong view?
Yeah, Steve? That’s right. Very good.
Right after Ephesians 2:8-9, that wonderful proclamation of salvation by faith, all of God—Ephesians 2:10 says, “But we were created for good works which God prepared beforehand for us to walk in.” It comes together.
What’s another one? Yeah, April? Very good.
Going to James: “Faith without works is dead.” Hebrews 12:14 also says, “Pursue peace with all men and sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord.” Jesus and John and many of the apostles talk about this: you say God, and you don’t walk a holy life? I’m telling you, you don’t know God, and you’re under the wrath of God.
Hebrews 12:14: “Pursue peace with all men and sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord.”
Easy believism—this is the wrong view of what sanctification looks like in a macro sense.
Christian Perfectionism
Let’s look at another one: Christian perfectionism, or entire sanctification. This is like the opposite view.
In this view, one can progress to such a level of godliness that you actually do not willfully sin anymore. You’re done with sin. This change is a second work of grace. You might make mistakes, but you no longer sin.
You say, “I’ve never heard of this.” Well, this view came out of the Wesleyan holiness movement of the early 1800s. John Wesley was actually a great evangelist in England in the 1700s. But he was Arminian, and he had certain ideas about whether Christians could become entirely perfect. He didn’t say that you could, but some of his followers took his ideas further and said, “Yeah, we can become perfect. We can be entirely sanctified.”
This view still exists even today. But it is a wrong view. We are never going to be entirely sanctified in our lives. We’re not going to experience a second work of grace.
And aside from simple life experience—I mean, come on. Somebody tells you that they’re entirely sanctified. Just observe them for a little while, and you’ll be like, “No, you’re not.”
Basically, you have to come up with a new definition of sin to hold to that.
But what Scriptures would contradict this view?
Yeah, Glenda?
I’m sorry, can you say that again? Where is that from?
Yeah, there are definitely statements all over the Scriptures. But I think Glenn is referring to one in First Kings: “There is not a man on earth who doesn’t sin.” Which sounds like Proverbs 20:9: “Who can say, ‘I’ve cleansed my heart and I am pure from sin?’” Rhetorical question. Nobody.
What else?
Yeah, Mark?
Yeah, very good. First John. Mark quoting from First John 1:8 and 10.
You say you don’t sin? You don’t have any sin? You’re calling God a liar. Which is interesting because John also says, “But if you live in sin, you also don’t know God.” We have those two things together.
And this example of Paul himself. Come on, as apostles, anybody more holy than Paul? But he says in Philippians 3:12-14: “I’ve not already obtained it. I’ve not become perfect. But what I do, I keep pressing on, forgetting what lies behind, straining toward what lies ahead. I press on for the prize, the upward calling of Christ.” And he says, “You should have that same view. Any of you who are mature—perfect, so-called perfect—it’s this view, not entire perfection.”
Philippians 3:12-14: “”I’ve not already obtained it. I’ve not become perfect. But I keep pressing on toward the prize.””
So again, this is a faulty view. That idea that that top line there is perfection, and that second cross there is that second work of grace.
The Higher Life View
Similar view, similarly false view, is the higher life view, or the Keswick view. Higher life movement view.
The higher life movement kind of followed on some of the foundation laid by those who believed in Christian perfectionism. Higher life specifically was centered in Keswick, England. This was also the 1800s.
This view sees the Christian life as containing two significant crisis moments. There’s the one where you experience justification—you believe in Jesus as Savior, and now you belong to Him and will go to heaven. But then there’s another later moment in your life—your moment of sanctification.
When a person commits to Jesus as Lord, according to the higher life teaching, these do not happen together. Some time in between.
And similar to the perfectionism view, the second moment of enlightenment, commitment that happens later in a Christian’s life, is a second work of grace, a second touch, a second baptism even of the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t necessarily result in sinlessness, but a higher life of holiness. And that’s what you see in the graph, right?
You really weren’t making much progress against sin, and then boom—second work. You’ve made a new commitment. You’ve been enlightened by the Spirit. And now you’re really not perfect, but now you’re really walking with God.
This view is also unbiblical. Aside from the verses mentioned already about how there’s no true salvation without true sanctification, the Bible also does not separate the moment of justification from the moment of sanctification, or rather the beginning of sanctification in a believer’s life.
Romans 6:22 says, “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome eternal life.” If you embrace Jesus as Savior, you embrace Him as Lord. You can’t split that.
Or Galatians 2:20. Paul again giving his own example. He says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God that loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
There’s not going to be a lapse in the Christian life of, “Okay, I believe in the Lord, but I’m not going to be sanctified. I’m not going to pursue sanctification or growing sanctification.” That doesn’t happen.
Romans 6:22: “”Having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification.””
Any who went along with this view and experienced that second work of grace probably experienced true salvation for the first time. They didn’t really come to know Jesus. Their recommitment was actually just coming to Christ also.
The Bible never describes as normative a second mighty work or baptism of the Spirit in a person’s life. You go to the book of Acts. Sometimes it does seem to be a separation between someone believing and special miraculous gifts. But there’s a reason for that: it’s God bringing in new peoples into the church, and He wanted them to be affirmed by special representatives—the apostles.
So when they laid their hands on certain believers, it’s only then that they spoke in tongues or exercised other miraculous gifts. But that was unique to that time.
You don’t see this two separate works of the Spirit as normative in the Christian life. When you’re baptized into Christ, at that singular moment of faith and repentance, the Spirit then begins and then continues from that point, working out your salvation through sanctification.
The Hyper-Grace View
One other faulty view is the hyper-grace view. Similar to the previous two views, I almost wondered whether I should create my own graphic for it or not.
This view has become popular again in the last few decades. In this view, your progress and holiness will become easy and automatic if you just embrace and hold on to certain truths about yourself and God. Maybe you just need to focus on your identity in Christ, or maybe you just need to focus on God’s love for you, or simply meditate on God’s grace.
The idea is that if you just focus on and dwell on the indicatives of the Bible, you won’t really have to worry about the imperatives because the commands will come naturally to you. If you’re just overwhelmed with offer Jesus, you won’t have to worry about the commands. You won’t even have to try hard. It’ll just come naturally.
In fact, stressing the imperatives of the Bible is the type of fair safe hypocrisy to be avoided. Really, if obedience is a struggle for you, it’s a sign that your heart is not in it and you’ve fallen back into legalism. The fact that you’re trying hard is a sign that you’re in sin. You need to repent of trying hard and just swim in the ocean of God’s grace and even let go and let God.
Now, don’t get me wrong. The indicatives of the Bible are important, and taking hold of them by faith is an important part of sanctification. There is such a thing as outward obedience to God without any real corresponding inward obedience. God hates that. He’s not pleased with that. That’s not real obedience.
But this hyper-grace view of sanctification is wrong, and it inevitably leads to antinomianism—that is, living without real concerns about the commands of God, living in sin. This is actually played out in the lives of many prominent hyper-grace teachers.
The Bible itself places heavy emphasis on the imperatives and the need to live a life in the holy fear of God.
Furthermore, though the true Christian will ultimately be victorious in his life in the process of sanctification, it will come by hard and persevering spiritual combat, motivated by faith in God.
Just listen to the way that Paul describes it in Ephesians 6:12-13. He says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the forces, the world forces 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.”
Is it ever going to be hard for you to follow God? Is it ever going to be hard to stay close to Christ? Yes. But you can do it by the Lord’s Spirit and by holding on to Him by faith. It takes endurance. It takes perseverance. You will only be able to remain if you believe the Lord and you believe His promises.
One way to describe it is that it takes discipline. Listen to the way Paul exhorts Timothy regarding the same truth in First Timothy 4:7-10.
1 Timothy 4:7-10: “But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. That’s not helpful. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. For bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For this we labor and strive because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.”
The Christian life is a life that contains striving, laboring, agonizing. But this is done in faith and even with joy. You say, “Lord, this is hard, but I’ll hold on to You. Keep me with You, God.” And He says, “I will persevere. Overcome.” There’s a reward. This is what He says in Revelation, right? “Don’t give up. Keep going.”
We should expect struggle in sanctification, but we should also expect that when we hold on to Christ, we will overcome.
Now, there are other faulty views. What I’ve attempted here in the graphic is that little moment where it goes up skyward. That’s the person just embracing the indicatives and he stops trying. It’s just automatic. But then he kind of forgets, and he starts to try again. He moves away from the indicatives, and then he falls right back down. Then he remembers again. He just starts swimming in the grace again, and then it’s easy.
This is the expectation of this view. But that’s not reality.
There are a number of variants to these views. I can’t possibly talk about them all, and there are other views. But these are four major views that I wanted you to be aware of.
The Biblical View: Progressive Sanctification
But what’s the biblical view? What should be a biblical expectation of change in our lives?
It’s the last graphic here: progressive sanctification. It’s what we say from the pulpit week after week. You’re not going to be perfect. It’s not perfection that God is looking for, but it is the direction of your life. Are you growing in holiness? That’s the biblical view.
It’s gradual. It’s progressive sanctification. You’re wholly justified in one sense. You’re already clean before God. But in a practical behavioral sense, you’re not yet fully clean. You must grow.
The truly Christian life, according to the Bible, is one of ongoing change and gradual growth in holiness as the believer practices a lifestyle of repentance. He becomes aware of sin in his life. He’s confronted over a sin. He says, “I need to change.” And he does.
If he truly belongs to the Lord, he doesn’t remain in sin. He repents. He turns away from that old pattern, and he embraces a new pattern.
This keeps on happening. He keeps on changing. He sees another area he needs to grow, and he grows.
My seminary counseling teacher, Dr. Street, described progressive sanctification in this way. I’ll give you this definition. I forgot to include it on your handout, sorry about that. But I have put it up here, and you can always get the slides afterwards via email.
Dr. Street says: “Progressive sanctification is a lifelong cycle of sin, repentance, renewal, and growth towards Christ’s likeness that will only be completed when we meet our Lord.”
“Progressive sanctification is a lifelong cycle of sin, repentance, renewal, and growth towards Christ’s likeness.”
You’re not going to have some moment, some second grace moment where you’re just perfect now. No. Perfection only comes when we meet Christ.
This process is accomplished through the active discipline of the believer himself, who trusts that the Holy Spirit is energizing his efforts.
Who does sanctification? You or God?
It’s both. God is doing it all. You aren’t able to do anything without God. And yet it’s not going to happen unless you do the hard work of sanctification. God has ordained that the means is that you actually strive.
This is the same view of sanctification articulated by the Reformers. I’ll read something to you. This is the Westminster Confession of Faith, composed in the mid-1600s by the most eminent pastor theologians in England, the Reformed pastors at that time.
Chapter 12, paragraphs 1 to 3, says this regarding progressive sanctification:
“They who are effectually called and regenerated, having a new heart and a new spirit created in them, are further sanctified really and personally through the virtue of Christ’s death and resurrection, by His word and Spirit dwelling in them. The dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified—that is, put to death—and they are more and more quickened—that is, brought to life—and strengthened in all saving graces to the practice of true holiness, without which no man will see the Lord.
“This sanctification is throughout the whole man, yet imperfect in this life. There still abide some remnants of corruption in every part. Once arises the continual and irreconcilable war: the flesh lusting against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. In which war, although the remaining corruption for a time may much prevail, yet through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part doth overcome. And so the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
That’s a great truth that gives us hope, right? We can change. We can change by God’s Spirit.
Growing Awareness of Sin
Now let me clarify. It is true—I’ll go back to the picture here—it is true that often our experience in progressive sanctification will be one of increasing awareness of sin, even while we are increasingly putting off sin and putting on holiness.
They say, “Okay, you’re saying I’m progressing, but I feel more sinful now than maybe when I was first saved.”
That is because we are like a man traveling to a lit cabin at night after falling into a mud puddle.
Imagine it’s night. This guy’s walking towards this cabin. It’s got the lights on. But he falls into a mud puddle. He gets back up and starts going towards the cabin.
Even as the mud increasingly falls off the man as he approaches the cabin, he also increasingly notices more mud on him because he’s getting closer to the light. There actually is less mud on him than when he started, but he just is aware more of what’s left.
So it is for us in our lives. As God sanctifies us and we actually do sin less and we walk in more and more holiness, we will actually see more and more sin and say, “Oh, I didn’t even realize this was there. Oh, I need Christ even more. Lord, help me against this sin. Help me against this area where I need to be sanctified.”
That’s our experience. But the Lord does sanctify us. And even as we say, “Lord, I still sin. Lord, I need Your help,” we can say, “Thank You, Lord, that I’m not the way I used to be. Last year to this year, I’ve grown. And this year to five years ago, I’ve grown.”
“As God sanctifies us, we will see more sin and say, ‘I need Christ even more’—yet we can say, ‘I’m not the way I used to be.’”
That should be our experience.
Living Out True Sanctification
Having overviewed those models, we should take a moment to ask: What is the functional model in which we operate in our lives? No matter what model we confess, we can say, “Yep, I believe in progressive sanctification. That’s biblical.” What mindset do we actually have for how we live?
Is it one of imperfect but progressively overcoming, walking with Christ by faith? Or do we settle merely for a life of transparency? We’re quick to confess how sinful we are to others, but we seldom repent and change.
Transparency is good. It’s good for us to be open to one another. But if all you do is confess your sin and don’t change, that is not good. That’s not sanctification.
Are we engaged in godly discipline for the Lord’s sake? Are we like Paul, hitting our body under the eye so we will not be disqualified? Or are we like those waiting around for some mighty divine event to overtake us? “I’m just waiting for God to banish temptation from my life. I’m just waiting for God to fill me with overwhelming love for Him so that it’s not hard anymore.”
Though we may decry “let go and let God” as unbiblical and antinomian, is that the way we actually live?
Do we think that merely listening to Bible teaching will automatically sanctify us? “Just plug more knowledge into my head. It’ll happen. No real hard work or persevering discipline required.”
Listening to the Scriptures is good. You need that as part of your sanctification. But that alone is not going to change.
James 1:22 says, “Prove yourselves doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”
We can substitute merely learning about God and learning the Bible for real sanctification. Your Bible study truly hasn’t profited you until you believe it and put it into practice in your life.
“Your Bible study truly hasn’t profited you until you believe it and put it into practice in your life.”
So our brothers and sisters, we need to make sure we understand and live out true sanctification, not only for our own benefit but also so that we can truly help others because that’s what we’re ultimately called to do, right? I told you we’re all called as biblical counselors. We need to help them with this. But we need to make sure we’re being progressively sanctified ourselves.
Philippians 2:12-13, I think, sums up in a mysterious balance much of what I’m saying.
Paul says in Philippians 2:12-13: “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Come on, strive. You got to do it. No one else is going to do it for you. You got to do it.”
Verse 13: “For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
How do those fit together? That’s mysterious. But we know they’re both true. You gotta strive. But you also have to rely on God. He’s the one doing it.
God uses the means—very practical means—as part of this process: the Word, the fellowship, the ministry of the church, prayer.
We should never embrace the mindset of sanctification apart from God’s people. “Hey, just me, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit, and maybe some John MacArthur sermons.” Not only will that be a much less joyful journey, but we will see very little progress in holiness.
You need the church, and the church needs you. God may put you in a place temporarily where you’re not fellowshipping with other brethren. You can’t say, “Well, because I’m not around, I guess I can’t be holy.” No. God will provide for you in that time. But the normal experience is you need the ministry and fellowship of the church and the gifts and the teaching and all the things that the church involves to grow in holiness.
“You need the ministry and fellowship of the church and the gifts and the teaching to grow in holiness.”
This is an exhortation not to stay away from church. You need to be involved.
The Micro Process: How Sin and Repentance Work
This is a macro view of the biblical process of change. Now let’s take a micro view. What happens on a more moment-by-moment basis to bring about either sin or repentance in our lives?
I’ve given you a short answer right on your handout. The short answer to that question is this: Sinful behavior ultimately comes from idolatry in the heart, with the heart thinking, desiring, and believing according to what is false.
There’s something wrong in the heart first before you can see the visible manifestation of sin. Therefore, true and lasting change only takes place when the false thoughts, desires, and beliefs in the heart are confronted and the false idol is dethroned and Christ is restored to His proper place of worship.
Let me explain this a little more fully. I’ve given you three points on your handout to illustrate that further. Let’s go through those.
The Heart Always Pursues Whatever It Worships
I’ll come back to that diagram. Number one: Here’s the truth. The heart always pursues whatever it worships.
One of the awesome and fundamental truths about man from the Bible is that man was made to worship. God designed us to love, serve, and find joy in something beyond himself. More specifically, man was made to love and worship God and to depend on God for joy, wisdom, and life.
This is actually part of the reason why God gave Adam and Eve that first forbidden command: “Don’t eat the fruit. Depend on Me. Trust Me. If you will follow My counsel, obey Me, fellowship with Me, then you will have abundant life. But if you seek to live apart from Me, you seek something besides Me, what will you find? Death. Seek your own wisdom, your own fulfillment apart from Me, you will find death.”
And that’s what they found. That’s what we’ve all inherited.
If this is the way God designed us, what is the foremost command given to man in the Bible? “Love God with your entire self.”
Jesus says it this way in Matthew 22:37-38, quoting Deuteronomy 6:5.
Matthew 22:37-38: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Not only is this our design, it is God’s decree. As the fountain of life, as the glorious, as the only glorious being, He is worthy of this. He will satisfy all those who come to Him and do it.
Those who come to God as living water will find refreshment. They will find eternal satisfaction.
But for those who stray to other fountains, what will they find? Jeremiah says broken cisterns that can hold no water. Looking for something else to worship, something else to satisfy you, secure you, enlighten you—you’re not going to find it. Just broken cisterns that can hold no water.
All of us, from our inner man, were made to seek and enjoy treasure. We want to find what’s truly valuable and enjoy it. The only true treasure, the ultimate treasure, is the one we were meant to enjoy from the beginning: God Himself.
Jesus urges this in Matthew 7:19-21: “Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth destroys it, where thieves break in and steal. But store for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Whatever you treasure, whatever you love, whatever you worship in an ultimate sense—that is what you pursue.
Jesus says this another way in Matthew 6:24: “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate the one and love the other. He will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
Whatever is your treasure, whatever you love, is what you serve. It’s what you seek. It’s what you pursue.
Whatever your heart worships is what you’re going to go after—not just in your heart, but even in your life.
“Whatever your heart worships is what you’re going to go after—not just in your heart, but even in your life.”
Jesus says you can’t go after something else and God at the same time. If wealth is your treasure, you will serve it and do everything you can to obtain it. But if God is your treasure, then you will serve Him and do everything you can to obtain and enjoy Him.
The Bible often talks about setting our mind on things and the need to set our mind on the things above, the things of heaven, the things of God, rather than the things of earth.
What does it mean to set your mind on something? Make it your focus. What you’re thinking about all the time. What is your dominating thought, mindset? It’s your focus. It’s your pursuit. “I’m going after that. I’m setting my mind on that or Him.”
We are creatures that must set our minds on something. We cannot endure purposelessness. We feel deep in our souls that we should pursue whatever is great. We seek treasure. We were made for that.
But the question is: What will we regard as treasure? What will we regard as great? And is it really great? What will we worship? Who will we worship? What will we pursue?
If we regard rightly who and what is true treasure, we will pursue God. We will worship God in our hearts. What will that lead to in our lives? Holiness, obedience, and also the blessing that comes with that because we are pursuing Him.
We’ll want to do what He wants us to do. We’ll want to be like Him because we want Him.
But if we regard something else as more or equally worthy to God, what will that lead to in our lives? It will lead to sin because now we are pursuing something apart from God, and that necessitates disobedience.
Sin Is a Symptom of Wrong Heart Worship
Thus, number two: Sin is a symptom of wrong heart worship.
There is an abundantly clear connection in the Bible between having wrong worship in the heart and acting out in sinful ways in the world. It starts in the heart first.
I’ve got a whole bunch of Scriptures here, but I’ll have to paraphrase them for the sake of time.
Paul says in Philippians 3:18-19, talking about those who are not true followers of God: “He says their end is destruction. Their god is their appetite. Their glory is their shame. Who set their minds on earthly things. They walk in sin because their god is their appetite, their desires.”
James 4 talks about the source of quarrels and conflicts in a very clear passage. I’ll read this to you.
James 4:1-4: “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Where do these fights come from? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members inside you? You lust and do not have. So what do you do? You commit murder. You’re envious and cannot obtain. Oh, I need that. I need that. That’s my true treasure. So you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives so that you may spend it on your pleasures. God, God, please give me this thing because I really want it more than You. You adulteresses. Verse 4: Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility towards God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
That is a hard-hitting passage, but very clarifying.
Notice how James accurately identifies the source of conflicts. We’ve all experienced conflicts, right? What is the source of conflicts? It’s our desires. It’s the things we love and regard as necessary treasures in our lives.
We want to enjoy these things. But when people get in the way of that, we think, “Hey, don’t I need that treasure? What are you doing? If you’re getting in the way, I’m going to have to deal with you. I have to punish you.” It’s only because of lust—that is, strong desire—that people will commit murder or the equivalent of murder. They will act in anger because of envy. They will fight.
What is the Old Testament equivalent to the term “lusts” or “strong desires”?
It is coveting.
Yes. But there’s actually a more tangible representation of it in the Old Testament: an idol.
Yeah, an idol. It’s an idol of the heart. The outward idols are just physical manifestations of the idols we have in our hearts.
It’s kind of obvious, right? You have the god of war, the god of love, the god of wealth. People were worshiping what those gods represent in ancient times. Now we just hide those. It’s all about those desires in our hearts.
James correctly identifies what’s really taking place when you get into conflict. He says, “When you’re fighting with one another, what you’re really manifesting is spiritual adultery. You have departed from worship of God in your hearts, and you’ve put something else there—some desire. You’ve enlisted with the world against God.”
This isn’t just marital infidelity. This is treason. You made yourself an enemy of God. Why would you do that?
The anger and the quarreling that takes place, even with believers—remember, James is writing to believers—it’s a symptom of a deeper problem. It does need to be dealt with, but it’s a symptom of a deeper problem: hearts believing that they need something other than God to be happy, to be fulfilled, to be secure. They need it just as much or more than God.
All our sin basically comes from the same source: idolatry, strong desires of the heart. That’s why we get angry. That’s why we worry. That’s why we get depressed. That’s why we do all manner of sins because we’ve moved away from what God designed us to do, which is to worship Him and find our joy in Him.
James describes the process in a similar way in the earlier part of his book.
James 1:14-15: “Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin.”
It starts internally. If you’re going to deal with the sin, you must deal with the lust that gave birth to the sin.
The Bible talks about this often in terms of fruit.
Jesus talks about our speech and our actions, our sinful actions. Where do they come from? They don’t come from outside of us. He says to His disciples, “You’re not defiled by the food you eat, by things outside you. The defilement comes from within. It comes from an evil heart. It manifests in the fruit of your life.”
Why do you speak evil things? Have you ever had that experience where you’re just going about your life, somebody does something, and all of a sudden these really rotten words come out of your mouth? Then you’re like, “Whoa, whoa, where’d that come from? I didn’t mean to say that.”
Actually, you did. It came from a heart that was devoted to some idol, that was caught up in wickedness. The heart wants to make itself known, and it often does in words. An evil word just spews out of your mouth.
It’s not just words. It’s our actions too.
Jesus says, “From within come fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting, wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All of these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”
Our sins are just the fruit of a tree with roots that are drawing from the wrong sources.
Therefore, if we’re going to deal with the sin, if we’re actually going to repent, if we’re going to proceed in the process of biblical change, we need to get to the root. What’s at the root? What are the false thoughts? What are the idolatrous desires? What are the proud demands?
Think about your own sin struggles for a moment. The sins that you frequently commit. Ask yourself this question: What kind of idol or strong desire is behind this sin?
Because until that desire, that idol, is dethroned, you will not see ongoing victory. You might be able to temporarily restrain it, but you haven’t gotten rid of the fuel. You haven’t gotten rid of the source. It will come back.
But if you do deal with that idol, if you do come back to the Lord and say, “No, He’s my treasure”—not only will your behavior change, but your wish will be acceptable to the Lord. That’s ultimately what we’re after, right? Not just changed behavior, but a heart that truly loves God.
We want to see people worshiping God rightly, part of Christ’s likeness.
Identifying the Idol Behind Your Sin
There are plenty of worldly treasures that we can pursue. I won’t try to mention the list. Consider some of the following descriptions to help you get a bead on that idol that might be in your heart.
If you are wanting or desiring something that God does not want or desire, it’s an idol.
If you’re wanting something that God also wants or desires, but you want it so much that you will become ungodly to get it or ungodly if you don’t get it, it’s an idol. Good things can be idols. I want a godly spouse. I want to be healthy. I want a successful ministry. Those are fine desires. But if you sin to get it or if you sin if you don’t get it, it’s a sign. It’s an idol. It’s now become more necessary to you than God.
And whatever God decides, you need. “I need to be treated well. They shouldn’t treat me like that. God is sovereign. He can take care of you. Others are obligated to follow after and obey God’s commands. But you don’t need people to treat you well. You don’t need to be respected. You don’t need to be popular. The Lord is enough.”
Being controlled by your own expectations and becoming ungodly in thought, word, or deed when those expectations are not realized—that’s idolatry.
Perceiving a deserved right and then following through with unholy thoughts, words, and actions to try and get that right when it is denied—that’s idolatry.
Believing in some standard or rule that is not of God and that leads to ungodly practices. This can be the case in so-called OCD and perfectionism. Becoming upset when you don’t meet that self-made standard—that is idolatry.
Having a mindset that is against the truth of God’s Word, such as self-confidence that leads to ungodliness in thoughts, words, and actions—it’s idolatry.
Basically, you can fill in the following to discover what’s the root cause of sin symptoms. And I have this on your sheet: “I must have or not have [blank]. That is what I worship.”
If I must have it or I must not have it, and it’s not God in that blank, that’s an idol. It’s a lust. It’s a strong desire. And it has to be dealt with.
“I must have or not have [blank]. That is what I worship.” If it is not God, it’s an idol.
So for ourselves and also for those we counsel, when we see them caught up in sin or we see ourselves caught up in sin, we want to find out the answer to this question: What is their idol? Their lustful motivation that is fueling the attitude, the speech, and the behavior that I see?
Sometimes it’s not that hard to figure out. Sometimes it takes some digging. But this is the basic way that our hearts work.
I have a bunch of illustrations, but I have to skip those because we literally have one minute left.
Restored Heart Worship Leads to Righteous Living
The goal is not merely to expose idolatrous desires, but to transform. Which is why number three says: Restored heart worship leads to righteous living.
This is where we bring the Gospel, the truth, to bear in people’s lives.
We say, “Okay, do you see, friend? This is what I observe based on what you’ve shown me, based on what you’ve told me, based on what I see in your life. This sounds like the root idol. This sounds like the thing that you desire more than God. But don’t you see? This can’t satisfy you. Don’t you see that this can’t secure you? But the Lord can. The Lord is better than this.”
“I know this circumstance is hard, friend, but the Lord—He’s enough for you through this. He can sustain you. He loves you. Every circumstance is perfectly designed by Him for your good. You don’t need this or that thing. You don’t have to be worried. You don’t have to be angry. You don’t have to be depressed because you’ve got the Lord.”
This is how hearts become transformed. This is the way God has designed it. This is His means: that we bring the truth about Him from His Word, not only to expose these idolatrous desires, but to uproot them and put Christ back where He belongs.
Say, “Don’t you remember the Gospel that you believed? It wasn’t about this. It was about the Lord. And He said, ‘Give up everything for Me. I can take care of you.’”
Now we’ll minister that in different, specific ways depending on the context and the person. But that’s what it comes down to.
If we want to see them walking righteously, if we want to see them worshiping God again, we’ve got to get that idol out of there. And we’ve got to get them to believe and love the Lord again.
It’s just coming back to the Gospel. It involves encouragement. It involves training. It involves accountability. And it involves coming up with practical strategies. That’s basically it.
You’ve got to deal with the root. Get them back drawing from the stream of Christ instead of the broken cistern of that idol.
“We bring the truth about God from His Word to expose idolatrous desires, uproot them, and put Christ back where He belongs.”
Now you can’t ultimately force someone to do that. But if they’re a believer, God is gracious. He will bring them back.
I’ll close with Ephesians 4:22-24. It describes the whole process in a helpful way.
Ephesians 4:22-24 says: “In reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self which is being corrupted in accordance with the lust of deceit. And that should be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And put on the new self which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
Paul is outlining what sanctification is to the newly converted Gentiles in Ephesus.
The Christian life is about putting off and putting on. You can’t simply put off. You have to put on. But where does that happen? It happens both on the outer man and in the inner man. And the inner man really is where it has to happen first.
You have to have your thinking renewed. As Romans says, you need to be renewed in your mind, washed in the spirit of your mind, away from the old futile thinking, ungodly thinking, ungodly worship, back to what is true, back to the Lord.
When you put off and put on there, then you put off and put on on the outer man—your behavior and speech. That’s what we’re after. That’s what God does.
Next week, we will talk about a few specific topics related to the process of biblical change that are often misunderstood: guilt, repentance, and forgiveness.
Let me briefly pray.
Thank you, Lord, for this time. Thank you that You do work in us. Continue that work, God, and expose these things. Lord, search us. If there be any unclean way in us, even an idol, Lord, that we love more or instead of You, show us that so we can get rid of it and come back to the fountain of living water in Jesus’ name, amen.
Thank you, everyone.