Instruments of Sanctification, Part 1 | Sunday, October 17, 2021

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:1–2)

If you want the fruit of the Spirit worked out in your life, you must take up the first tool God gives for sanctification—His Word.

Where We Are in the Journey of Salvation

We are currently in a series I've called The Disciplines of a Disciple, and we are about halfway through. In the first three messages we focused largely on salvation. In and by Christ Jesus, we who have trusted in Him have been redeemed, forgiven, accepted, and adopted by God into His family. If you read the first fourteen verses of Ephesians chapter 1, the apostle Paul drives all of these things home.

If you have trusted in Jesus, He has justified you. Justification means you are saved from the penalty and punishment of any sins you have committed or will commit. By His death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus bore our sin on the cross and absorbed its punishment. And because we have received Jesus's righteousness, the Bible says it is as if He takes the robe of His righteousness and clothes us in it. So we have the hope and assurance of being glorified with Him—ultimately saved from the very presence of sin in eternity.

But in the gap between having been justified in the past and being glorified in the future, we are now being sanctified. Sanctification is the process by which God, by His Holy Spirit, transforms us more and more into the likeness of His children. We have been adopted into His family, and He wants us to take on His nature, to show this world what it is to be the children of God.

Working Out Our Salvation

These words come right out of my favorite passage of Scripture, Philippians chapter 2. Verse 13 says God is working in you to will and to do His good pleasure, but verse 12 says, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." God worked salvation into us through what Jesus did on the cross, and now in sanctification He wants us to work it out so that people begin to see His nature being formed in us.

In this sanctification workout routine, the Holy Spirit is our helper. Jesus said in John 14 and 16 that the Spirit is our helper—one who bids and encourages us to walk with Him. Galatians 5:16 says, "Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the desires of your flesh." The Spirit equips and empowers us to do what we could never do by our own strength. If you've been a Christian any length of time and tried to walk in righteousness by your own flesh, you know you can't do it—the good you want to do, you don't do; the bad you don't want to do, you practice, just as Paul says in Romans 7.

But God wants us to work with Him in this process, not only by the Spirit's help but by using the tools He gives us. Over the next few weeks I want to look at three of those tools, beginning today with the first.

Positionally Righteous, Not Yet Practically Righteous

In justification, Christ's righteousness has been imputed—transferred to your account. Paul speaks of this with Abraham in Romans 4: Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness. When you trust in Jesus, just as Abraham did thousands of years ago, God sees you as clothed in Christ's righteousness. This is exactly what Isaiah foretold 700 years before Christ:

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness. (Isaiah 61:10)

So as Christians we have a righteousness that is not our own. We are positionally righteous because God has justified and declared us righteous. But you have probably realized you are not yet practically righteous. We want to do what is good and pleasing to God—that desire is one of the first indications you truly are a Christian. For that practical righteousness to grow, we have to develop disciplines, with the help of the Holy Spirit.

The First Tool: Be Transformed in Mind and Body

This message is theological and practical. Let me lay the biblical foundation first, then move to how we make it a reality. We begin with a couple of very important passages.

In Romans 12:1–2, Paul addresses Christians—brothers and sisters, his family—and says, "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." If you are a Christian, you are called to be transformed in mind and body. That is discipleship and sanctification in a nutshell.

The word "transformed" is the Greek root behind our English word metamorphosis. There needs to be a metamorphosis from what you were in your flesh and old nature into what God wants you to be. This is by God's mercy and grace—"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God"—and by the enabling power of His Spirit. But it also involves an intentional transformation of your thoughts, emotions, and behavior at the soul and body level.

This world is constantly pressing us into a certain mold, tossing us about by all kinds of ideas and ideologies until we take its form. But Paul says, "Do not be conformed to this world." Instead, "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind." It begins with a change of perspective in our mind, and then moves to our behavior until we see the work of sanctification in our whole spirit, soul, and body.

The Word of God Is an Essential Tool

That brings us to our second important passage, which reveals what the first tool actually is:

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17)

The Word of God is an essential tool in our sanctification. Jesus prayed for His disciples in John 17:17—the night before He was crucified—"Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth." How does God sanctify you? By the truth of His Word.

Paul says all Scripture, Genesis to Revelation, is useful for four things. First, doctrine—it teaches what is right, good, true, wholesome, and beautiful before a holy God; it shows His standard. Second, reproof—it exposes all the ways we are wrong, false, unwholesome, and dirty. Third, correction—it brings us back into alignment with what is right and true. And fourth, instruction in righteousness—it helps us, after we've been reproved and corrected, to maintain and walk in righteousness. The intent is that you would be complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work.

A Plumb Bob and a GPS

Two illustrations show how this works. The first is a plumb bob, one of the oldest tools in antiquity—we have archaeological evidence of them from ancient Egypt thousands of years ago. Using simple gravity and a weighted string, it shows a perfectly straight line. My dad worked in construction for five decades; you have to make sure a building is plumb, or it will fall down. The Bible is useful for doctrine—it shows us the perfectly straight line, and then it is easy to see where we are out of alignment. But a plumb bob has no power to bring something back into line. The Bible does; it corrects us and helps us maintain righteousness.

The Bible is also like the GPS in your car or phone—God's Positioning System. It shows the right line; on my car it's a blue line you're supposed to maintain to reach your destination. Anytime you wander off, it says, "Recalculating," and shows you how to get back. The Word shows you where you are relative to the line, brings you back to it, and helps you maintain it so you reach where God wants you to be—fully equipped for every good work.

Your Spiritual Health and Your Intake of the Word

This is exactly what the psalmist writes in Psalm 119, near the very middle of your Bible. "How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word" (v. 9). "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You" (v. 11). "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (v. 105).

The Word of God is the user manual for the abundant life. Jesus came to give life more abundantly, and God's Word provides the proper answers to life's difficult questions and the right solutions to life's biggest problems. If you want to see salvation worked out in your life as the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, self-control—then you need to make God's Word a regular part of your life. In Ephesians 5, Paul says God wants to wash us by the washing of the water of His Word, so that we stand before Him as a glorious church without spot, wrinkle, or blemish.

When someone tells me in counseling that their life isn't where it ought to be, almost as a first order of business I ask, "How much time are you spending in God's Word?" It's like going to the doctor and being asked, "Have you been working out?"—sometimes we fudge the truth. People often say, "Oh, every morning," but after they stop stretching the truth, they admit they haven't been doing it much, which usually means not at all. My counsel is always the same: your spiritual health is proportionally related to your intake of God's Word. If you are not seeing the fruit of the Spirit, it is very likely because God's Word is not getting into you. That may seem like an oversimplification, but it is not.

Four Practical Ways: Read Prayerfully

Now let's move from theology to practice. It is not enough to take in God's Word one day a week by watching me on a Sunday morning. If you want to grow in your faith toward God and your faithfulness to God, you must make His Word a regular, daily part of your life. Here are four practical ways.

First, read God's Word prayerfully every day until He touches your heart. Some say, "I'm not a good reader." That's fine—I was diagnosed with dyslexia in fourth grade and have struggled with reading for years. Read or listen. Here's how to make it prayerful: tonight, before you fall asleep, pray, "God, help me to spend the first moments of my day tomorrow in Your Word." He will help you. Then when you wake, before you open the Bible, pray Psalm 119:18: "Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law." Open to a specific place—Ephesians 1, 1 Timothy 1, Matthew 1, Genesis 1—and begin reading until God, by His Spirit, causes something to stand out and speak to you. It may be a paragraph or five verses. When you get there, stop.

Read Meditatively

Second, read God's Word meditatively—and I promise this is not weird or hard. When something stands out, don't just pass over it. Stop at that verse, sentence, or paragraph, write it on a three-by-five card, and put the card in your pocket. Then two or three times during the day, take five minutes to look at it and think carefully: Who is speaking? What is the situation? Who is being addressed? What truth is proclaimed? What promise is revealed? What principle does it teach? What question does it answer? Ask God, "What are You speaking to me here?"

Biblical meditation is not the modern idea of emptying your mind. It is putting God's Word into your mind and heart and thinking over it carefully, repeatedly, and deeply, so that God can speak to you from it.

Read Purposefully

Third, perhaps once or twice a week—building up over time—read God's Word purposefully. Take a chapter, section, or paragraph and read it with a specific focus or question in mind. For example: "On Saturday I'll read Proverbs 1 through 5 and ask, What does this say about wisdom?" Write down everything you find. Or read a psalm asking, "What does this teach me about God the Father?" Or read the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5–7, asking, "What is Jesus teaching about the kingdom of God?"

Coming home from vacation, we stopped in Kingman, Arizona. While packing the car, I saw a man, maybe in his mid-sixties, sitting in the hotel with an open Bible. I asked what he was reading. "Proverbs chapter 14," he said—the chapter that warns, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." I told him Proverbs 18 was one of my favorites, and he said he'd read that too. I never got his name and probably won't see him again this side of heaven, but as a pastor there's hardly anything that makes you happier than seeing someone start their day reading the Bible.

Read Devotionally with TIPS

Fourth, read God's Word devotionally, using a simple acronym a friend gave me: TIPS. You don't have to do this every day, but I've found it very helpful.

Choose a section—a chapter or a short book like Philippians or Colossians—and pray, "God, open my eyes to see wonders from Your Word." Then read through, looking for the four steps.

T – Truths: Look for truths in the passage about who God is or how He works; underline them and write them down. I – I examine myself by those truths: Do I believe this? Am I living this? Here the Word reproves and corrects me. P – Plan: If I see I'm not walking in these truths, I plan to obey God according to what He reveals. S – Spirit: I obey God with the Holy Spirit's help.

God's Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. It cleanses us from the blemishes of sin, sanctifies us by the truth, equips us for a life of faith and faithfulness, answers our deepest questions, gives solutions to our biggest problems, heals our souls, and gives peace to the anxious. One of my favorite passages is Psalm 19:7–11:

The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple... More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.

The Bible Contains the Mind of God

Years ago someone gave me one of those little Gideon pocket New Testaments with Psalms and Proverbs, and on the opening page is this passage I love:

The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword, and the Christian's charter. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed.

If you want to be a disciplined disciple, there is no way to do it without making God's Word a regular part of your life—not just when you watch a Bible study like this, but privately, reading through it prayerfully, meditatively, purposefully, and devotionally.

Closing Prayer

Father God, I pray for those watching this message—whether they are believers or not. Lord, every single person who begins to make Your Word a part of their life will be changed and transformed. If they don't yet know You, they will come to know You; if they do know You, they will begin to know You better and to see You work out Your will in their life. So God, would You work in us to will and to do Your good pleasure as we work out our own salvation by taking heed to Your Word. Do a work in Your church, we pray. We ask this in Jesus's name. Amen.