condensed theology lecture 36

8/6/2019 Condensed Theology Lecture 36

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Condensed Theology

A Primer in Systematic Theology


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Soteriology:

The Doctrine of Salvation

What does the Bible teach about

salvation?


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Sanctification: Toward a Definition

Sanctification refers to the believers

holiness of life and conductset apart byGod and behaving likeGod.

Definitive sanctification

Progressive sanctification

Can anyone define these two terms?


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Definitive Sanctification

Review of Definition


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Definitive Sanctification:

Toward a Definition

Definitive sanctification is a once-for-all actof God that cleanses and purifies us fromsin, which act is the product of our union

with Christ in his life, death, burial, andresurrection.


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Toward a Definition

This means that Christians are actually and trulyholy in Gods sight. It is not that God looks on

us as ifwe are holy.

Unless we are actually and truly holy, we canhave no access to God. Jesus work does not

open up the way for sinners to have access tothe holy of holies; rather, his work changes the

very nature of those united to him such that theycan enter the holy of holies.


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Toward a Definition This is why I do not like the language that is

sometimes used to refer to this aspect ofsanctification; namely, positional sanctification.

The language of positional sanctification implies

that there is not an existential change that takesplace in the Christian as a result of his havingbeen sanctified. It is simply hypothetical.

What the Bible teaches is that our sanctification

is nothypothetical; it is actual. We areholy andblameless. Once we were not holy; but nowthrough union with Christ in his death, burial,and resurrection, we are.


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A Confusing Doctrine?


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Clarifying Confusion

The Bible equivocates on the termsanctification.

Sometimes it refers to the once-for-all,

irrespective of faith kind

And other times it refers to theprogressive, consequence of faith kind.


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Clarifying Confusion What this means is that on the surface it will seem as if

the Bible makes contradictory statements.

1 Cor 6:11: Such were some of you; but you werewashed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in

the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of ourGod.

1 Thess 4:3-5: For this is the will of God, yoursanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexualimmorality, that each of you know how to possess his

own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustfulpassion, like the Gentiles who do not know God.


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What this means isthat on the surface itwill seem as if the

Bible makescontradictorystatements.


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1 Cor 6:11says, You are

alreadysanctified.


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alreadysanctified.

1 Thess 4:3-5says, You

need to besanctified.


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alreadysanctified.



This isdefinitive

sanctification.


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alreadysanctified.



This isdefinitive

sanctification.

This isprogressive

sanctification.


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Clarifying Confusion Dont be too nervous about the Bible using one term with

different nuances. Take the will of God, for example. Dan 4:35: All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted

as nothing, But He does according to His will in the hostof heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And noone can ward off His hand Or say to Him, What haveYou done?

1 Thess 4:3-5: For this is the will of God, yoursanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexualimmorality; that each of you know how to possess hisown vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustfulpassion, like the Gentiles who do not know God.


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Dan 4:35says, The will

of God cannotbe resisted.


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1 Thess 4:3-5says, The will

of God can beresisted.


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This is thedecretive,

secret, orsovereign willof God.


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This is thedecretive,

secret, orsovereign willof God.

This is theprescriptive

will of God.


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Thus biblically speaking there are twokinds of sanctification, both of which areappropriate to call sanctification:

Once-for-all, irrespective of faithsanctification, or definitive sanctification.

And over time, responsive to faith

sanctification, or progressivesanctification.

Which is what we will address today


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Progressive Sanctification

A Working Definition


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Progressive Sanctification:

Definition

Progressive sanctification is the process ofbecoming more and more holy throughoutour Christian lives.

Lets unpack this together


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A Process of Holiness


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Unlike definitive sanctification, progressivesanctification is a process;

It is not instantaneous, but takes place

over time. In fact, it is something that begins

immediately upon our conversion (when

we exercise saving faith andrepentance)

And continues until we are glorified.


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1 Thess 5:23: Now may the God of peaceHimself sanctify you entirely; and mayyour spirit and soul and body be preserved

complete, without blame at the coming ofour Lord Jesus Christ.

Phil 1:6: For I am confident of this verything, that He who began a good work inyou will perfect it until the day of ChristJesus.


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2 Cor 3:18: 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. 1 Thess 3:12: and may the Lord cause you to

increase and abound in love for one another,and for all people, just as we also do for you; so

that He may establish your hearts without blamein holiness before our God and Father at thecoming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.


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Our Responsible Participation


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Progressive sanctification, unlike definitivesanctification, is something we perform.

This does notmean that God is not atwork in us.

But it doesmean that God does not do itinstead of us.

Progressive sanctification requires our

responsible participation.


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Phil 2:12-13: So then, my beloved, just asyou have always obeyed, not as in mypresence only, but now much more in my

absence, work out your salvation with fearand trembling; for it is God who is at work

in you, both to will and to work for His

good pleasure.


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Weare commandedto be holy, to grow in ourconformity to the image of God

1 Pet 1:15-16: but like the Holy One who

called you, be holy yourselves also in all yourbehavior; because it is written, YOU SHALL BE

HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.

Heb 12:14: Pursue peace with all men, and thesanctification without which no one will see theLord.


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Weare commandedto be holy, to grow inour conformity to the image of God.

1 Pet 2:2: like newborn babies, long for

the pure milk of the word, so that by it youmay grow in respect to salvation.

2 Pet 3:18: but grow in the grace and

knowledge of our Lord and Savior JesusChrist. To Him be the glory, both now andto the day of eternity. Amen.


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Our Responsible Participation Weare commandedto be holy, to grow in our

conformity to the image of God

Rom 8:13: for if you are living according to theflesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you areputting to death the deeds of the body, you willlive.

Col 3:5: Therefore consider the members of

your earthly body as dead to immorality,impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, whichamounts to idolatry.


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Our Responsible Participation Weare commandedto be holy, to grow in our

conformity to the image of God

Rom 8:13: for if you are living according to theflesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you areputting to death the deeds of the body, you willlive.

Col 3:5: Therefore consider the members of

your earthly body as dead to immorality,impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, whichamounts to idolatry.


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In Galatians, the Apostle Paul refers to thisprocess of growth in holiness walking in the

Spirit.

Gal 5:16-17: But I say, walk by the Spirit, andyou will not carry out the desire of the flesh. Forthe flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, andthe Spirit against the flesh; for these are in

opposition to one another, so that you may notdo the things that you please.


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In reality, we could include every singlecommand for Christians in Scripture underthe rubric of progressive sanctification,

As God has designed them all for ourgrowth in grace, to be conformed to theimage of his son.


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A Process of Responsible

Participation


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Progressive Sanctification:Process of Responsible Participation

See Rom 6:12-23


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Implications Believers are never finished being sanctified until their glorification;

therefore sinlessness in this life is an impossibility.

Phil 3:13-14: Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold ofit yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reachingforward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prizeof the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

1 John 1:8-10: If we say that we have no sin, we are deceivingourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He isfaithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us fromall unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make

Him a liar and His word is not in us.

1 John 2:1: My little children, I am writing these things to you so thatyou may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with theFather, Jesus Christ the righteous.


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Implications It is perfectly appropriate, and indeed, necessary, to talk

about our indwelling sin with a view to its mortification. Romans 8:13 for if you are living according to the flesh,

you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to deaththe deeds of the body, you will live.

Col 3:5, 8-10: Therefore consider the members of yourearthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion,evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.Butnow you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice,slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie

to one another, since you laid aside the old self with itsevil practices, 1and have put on the new self who isbeing renewed to a true knowledge according to theimage of the One who created him.

S


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Implications Limp-glove theologies are inadequate models for Christian

growth and obedience.

2 Pet 1:5-10: Now for this very reason also, applying alldiligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral

excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, andin your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance,godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in yourbrotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and areincreasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the

true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks thesequalities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purificationfrom his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligentto make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as longas you practice these things, you will never stumble.


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Excursus

The Problem of Perfectionism


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Perfectionists teach that believers can come to apoint where they no longer sin. This isproblematic on the basis of 1 John for thefollowing reasons:

1 John 3:9 would then teach too much; it would besaying that every regenerate person never sins. 1 John 1:8 says explicitly if we say we have no sin we

deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If this isreferring to past sin, why use the present tense? See

also 1 John 5:16 1 John 3:2-3 implies (1) that we have not yet arrivedat perfection; (2) that we have impurity yet that needsto be cleansed.


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So then, what does 1 John 3:6-9 teach? Some suggest that it is referring to definitive

sanctification (Reformation Study Bible)

Others that it refers to habitual, constantsinning (Wayne Grudem, John MacArthur)

Finally, that it refers to the sin specified in5:16-17, the sin leading to death (John

Murray) Thus no true believer sins in thesense that no true believer will sin the sin thatleads to death.


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Understanding 1 John 3:6-9: 1 John 4:2-3 is the test of the Christian faith. 1 John 5:1 says that everyone born of God believes

that Jesus is the Christ.

This is the faith that overcomes the world (5:4) and isthe mark of every true believer. Therefore we would suggest that the sin that leads to

death, the sin no intercession should be made for, isthe sin of denying that Jesus is the Christ (the spirit

of antichrist). Thus when John says that no one who is born of Godsins in 3:9, he is saying that no one who is born ofGod sins by rejecting the doctrine of the incarnation.


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Definitive Sanctification and

Progressive SanctificationUnderstanding Their Relationship


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Definitive and Progressive

Definitive and progressive sanctification occupy differentplaces in the ordo salutis: Election

Predestination

(Effectual/Effective) Calling

Regeneration


Repentance

Faith

Justification Adoption


Glorification


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If we areholy, why must we becomeholy? There is a problem with this question: it is

forgetting that the Bible uses holy in twodifferent senses.

If definitive sanctification (holy1) refers to thebelievers once-for-all in Christ constitution asblameless in Gods sight and progressivesanctification (holy2) refers to the process ofchange of becoming conformed to the image ofChrist in time, why would we have a problemwith beingholy1 in one sense and notbeingholy2 in another?


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Definitive sanctification is in the bank

Progressive sanctification is yourwithdrawals

With each act of obedience, with everystep of growth, you are becoming moreand more of who you are in Jesus Christ;you are living out the implications of youridentity, drawing on the holiness-in-Christwhich is already your identity.


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Col 3:12-13: So, as those who have beenchosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heartof compassion, kindness, humility, gentlenessand patience; bearing with one another, and

forgiving each other, whoever has a complaintagainst anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, soalso should you.

This is Romans 6-7 in a nutshell. Paul expected the Christian to conform his

processiveexperience with sin to his definitivedeath to sin (Reymond, A New SystematicTheology, 769, italics in original).


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Your progressive sanctification dependson your definitive sanctification.

If you have not already been made holy in

union with Christ, you have no hope forbecoming holy in time in this life.

Heb 10:14: For by one offering He has

perfected for all time those who are beingsanctified.

condensed theology lecture 36

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