Sanctification by the Spirit | Sunday, September 26, 2021

Welcome to Cross Connection Church online. I'm Pastor Garrett, and we at Cross Connection Church are so grateful that you are joining us for our service today. If you'd like to know more about Cross Connection Church, please check us out on our website at lifeinconnection.com, where you'll find more about us, upcoming events, and ways to get plugged in.

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On the day that death surrendered to the mighty cross of Jesus Christ, the earth would shake beneath the weight of darkened skies. On His brow, a crown of sorrow for a King

His love was shown for all to see. Oh, the cross of Jesus Christ has set me free. The resurrection floods the night as hope prevails to shine. Salvation wakes, for His blood set me free. Oh, hallelujah! Hallelujah!

If you have been following along with us the last couple of weeks, then this will be a little bit of a review for you. However, a review is probably necessary to move into the topic that we're going to consider together today. Presently, here at Cross Connection Church, we are taking a look at some of the basics of our Christian faith, and we're considering what I'm calling the disciplines of a disciple.

The last two weeks, we focused on the topic of salvation, which is a very important subject because it is by the saving work of Jesus Christ that you become a Christian. Not only do you become a Christian, but you also become a disciple of Jesus. What we've seen previously in the last couple of messages as we were talking about salvation is that your good works and your religious righteousness will not save you. Those things that we oftentimes try to do to make ourselves right before God are not sufficient.

The Bible tells us in the Old Testament, in the book of Isaiah, that all of our good works are like filthy rags before a holy God. So, what we find when we look at both the Old Testament and the New Testament, the Bible as a whole, is that only trust in Jesus Christ's finished work on the cross ultimately brings salvation. This is exactly what Paul says in a couple of the most famous verses of Scripture found in the New Testament book of Ephesians.

In Ephesians chapter 2, at verse 8, Paul says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." Through Christ Jesus, we find as we go through the Scriptures that we are saved from the penalty of sin. Jesus and the work that He did on the cross have accomplished our salvation, redeeming us from the penalty of sin. This is what you would call justification if you were studying in a theology class.

Not only are we saved from the penalty of sin through justification, through what Jesus did on the cross, but we are also being saved from the power of sin through what you would call sanctification. The penalty of sin has been dealt with through the work that Jesus did on the cross. His finished work is encapsulated in His last words on the cross: "It is finished." He takes His righteousness and puts it to our account. As we trust in Him by grace through faith, we are saved—that's justification. But right now, if you are...

Saved, if you've been justified by the work that Jesus has done, you are being saved from the power of sin in sanctification and the promise of the Scriptures. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, not only can we be saved from the penalty of sin, not only are we being saved from the power of sin, but we shall be saved from the presence of sin at the time of glorification. These three aspects—justification, sanctification, and glorification—encompass the whole topic of salvation. Jesus Christ saves us completely and wholly by His righteousness.

The author of the New Testament book of Hebrews, I believe in Hebrews chapter 7, verse 19, states that the law, the Old Testament law of God, makes nothing perfect. However, in chapter 7, verse 25 of the same book, the author tells us that Jesus is able to save to the uttermost. He is able to completely and wholly save those who put their trust in Him. Therefore, Jesus Christ saves us completely by His righteousness.

When you are saved, the Bible describes you as being "in Christ." Those are the words often applied to Christians; they are in Christ Jesus. If you read the opening words of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, he discusses what it really means to be in Christ Jesus. He states that we, in Christ Jesus, are redeemed—that is, purchased out of our slavery to sin and death. We are redeemed, we are forgiven of all our past sins, and of any sin that we will ever commit. We are redeemed, we are forgiven, and we are accepted—accepted by a holy and righteous God because of the work that Jesus did on the cross.

Not only are we accepted, but we are also adopted into the family of God. So, we are redeemed, we are forgiven, we are accepted, we are adopted, and at this moment, if you're a Christian and you've put your trust in Christ, having been redeemed, having been forgiven, having been accepted, and adopted into the family of God, you are being transformed. You are being made righteous by God's sanctifying power, His work in your life.

These and many other abundant blessings are given to us as we are in Christ when we are saved by the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Hopefully, all of that is review for you. Hopefully.

You are fully aware of these truths. These are the truths that are taught in the Scriptures; these are the first things, if you will, the basic truths of Christianity. My concern, though, is that a lot of times you can find yourself attending church or studying the Bible within a church and not know these things.

I've discovered in more than 20 years of pastoral ministry that there are a lot of people who go to church on a weekend and week out basis, or they watch church services online, who actually don't know these basic truths—the first things of the Christian faith—having to do with being redeemed, forgiven, accepted, and adopted by the finished work of Jesus Christ. This is not by works of righteousness that we have done, but by the saving power of Jesus.

So those are the basics; it's kind of a review of where we've been. Now, after the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9, that we are saved by grace through faith, that not of ourselves, not of works, lest anyone should boast, he goes on and says more in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 10.

Chapter 2, verses 8 and 9 state, "For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." The very next verse says this: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus." Notice this: we are saved by grace through faith, not by good works, but we are saved for good works.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. If you've got a Bible and you're reading that verse in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 10, I would encourage you to underline or circle that word "should" at the end of verse 10.

We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. This is the expectation of the Christian. The ethical response, the only right response to being saved by Jesus Christ, is now to walk in the good works that God has prepared beforehand. We should walk in those.

This is a powerful and informative statement from the Apostle Paul. Our good works, as I have said last week, the week before, and even at the beginning of this message this morning, do not save us. However, having been saved and justified by the finished work of Jesus Christ...

We have been saved for good works. We are not saved by our good works, but we are saved for good works. You do not receive salvation because of your good works, but you do receive salvation to do good works. God has good works for us to accomplish and to do.

A great passage that sums all of this up is found in one of the Apostle Paul's letters in the New Testament, specifically a letter he wrote to a younger pastor named Titus. Paul writes in Titus chapter 3, verse 3: "For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another." Perhaps you remember living in that condition that Paul describes.

But he goes on to say, "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us. He redeemed us. He justified us. He saved us." How? Through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Having been justified, past tense, by His grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I want to affirm constantly: those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.

Paul says we should be careful to maintain good works. God has prepared beforehand, or another way of saying this is that God has foreordained good works that you and I should walk in them. This is the saving work of sanctification. We have already talked about how we have been justified by grace through faith. God has saved us, but He wants to redeem and save us completely.

This is the process of sanctification, where we, having been saved by grace through faith, should now walk in these good works. That is the thing we ought to do now that we are saved by Jesus.

Christ, so sanctification is, or should be, the focus of the individual who has been saved by Jesus Christ. Listen, if you are a Christian and you have put your trust in Jesus Christ, that means that you've been rescued and redeemed from the penalty of sin, which is death. The penalty of sin, spiritual death, no longer applies to you.

Now that you are a Christian, your focus should be on this work of sanctification taking place in your life. I have shared this with Cross Connection Church many times before. My favorite verses in the Bible are found in Philippians chapter 2, again written by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament. Philippians chapter 2, verses 12 and 13, say this: "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to do His good pleasure."

It is essential, when talking about this saving work of sanctification—where we are progressively becoming more like Jesus Christ as God is working in us by His Spirit, through His Word, through prayer, and through the body of Christ—that we understand this is a work that God is doing in us and through us by His Holy Spirit. However, it is also a work that we are joining with God to accomplish.

So, the question arises when we start to talk about this issue of sanctification, as we will expand upon today. The question that always comes up when discussing passages like Philippians chapter 2, verses 12 and 13, or when talking about God working in us to accomplish salvation as we work out our salvation, is: Who is it? Is it God who is doing this sanctifying work, or are we doing something in this sanctifying process?

The answer to those questions is yes and yes. God is doing a work in us, as stated in Philippians chapter 2, verse 13: "It is God who works in you to will and to do His good pleasure." But you also have a work that you are doing with God, where you are working out your own salvation with fear and trembling. God is working in you to transform your desires; that is what Philippians chapter 2, verse 13, says: "It is God who works in you to will," or in another translation, "to desire."

He is empowering you to do those things that are pleasing to Him, but you are involved in this work of sanctification as well. As you work out your own salvation, God saved you. He rescued you from the penalty of sin and death. He redeemed you from your slavery to sin and death. He justified you, not by works of righteousness that you have done, but you have been saved by grace through faith. That is not of yourselves, not of works, but you are saved for good works, and you should walk in those things. Those things don't make you more righteous before God because He has declared you righteous. He has clothed you in Christ's righteousness, as the Bible makes very clear.

However, He wants us to work out the work that He has done in us. This is what it literally means to be a disciple. A disciple of Jesus can be summed up like this: a disciple is a faithful and obedient follower of Christ. A disciple is one who is working out their own salvation, just like Philippians 2:12 says.

As a pastor, God commissioned His servants, His pastors, and the church to go into all the world and make disciples. My focus is to see you raised up, if you are a follower of Jesus, to be a faithful and obedient follower of Jesus, to become a disciple—one who is working out your salvation. I preach the gospel so that you would believe, that you would trust in Jesus, and that you would be redeemed, saved from the penalty of sin.

I also teach the Scriptures, and I want to encourage and equip you so that you would work out that salvation and become a faithful follower, a disciple of Jesus. One of my favorite commentaries on this passage of Scripture in Philippians 2 comes from a man I really respect, who was a professor of mine in some classes I have taken, Dr. Richard Melik. He writes about this passage in Philippians 2, where he discusses working out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

He says that personal salvation brings with it responsibilities, which Paul related to Christians' obedience. The responsibility is to live in accord with their salvation, letting the implications of their relationship with Christ transform their social relationships. Paul really meant, in the first place, that they were to act like Christians. So what is Dr. Richard Melik saying in that passage? He is saying, "Listen, you've been saved, and now you have a responsibility."

To live in a way like someone who is saved, you need to work out that salvation that God has worked into you by His Holy Spirit. Quite literally, you are to act like a Christian. Another way of saying that is to act like a person who is Christ-like.

When I think about these things, I realize that when we are confronted with these truths, we can sometimes begin to be a bit concerned. We can become a little worried because, even after we are saved and justified—Jesus rescues us from the penalty of sin—none of us are perfect. I'm not perfect, and if you're a follower of Jesus, you're not perfect either. We still fail; I still fall short.

So, when I read that I have a work to do to work out my salvation, it causes a bit of fear and trembling, if you will. I start to wonder, will I fail at this work? What if I fail to work out my salvation? What assurances do I have of success in this working out of my salvation? Not just what assurances do I have, but what help do I have to accomplish this working out of salvation? On top of what help I have, what tools do I have to help me fulfill this work of sanctification?

These are the important, really big questions. These are the questions that I hope to flesh out a little bit over the rest of this series. I want to answer the questions of whether I will fail in this work of salvation, what assurances I have for success, what help I have, and what tools I have to be able to accomplish this.

The disciplines of a disciple—this series is really all about the training and tools for becoming an obedient follower, a disciplined disciple of Jesus. Most of what we're going to look at over the next several weeks will have to do with those final two questions: what help do we have to bring about this sanctifying work, and what tools do we have to bring about that sanctifying work?

I also want to address those other questions regarding what if I fail or what assurances I have for success in this work of sanctification as I seek to follow after Jesus.

To work out my salvation with fear and trembling, is there any assurance that I will succeed in this? Will I not fail in this work of sanctification? To answer those questions, there are a couple of passages in the book of Philippians that really address this. One is found in Philippians chapter one, and the other is in Philippians chapter four, the last chapter.

Let’s look at Philippians chapter one, verse three. If you have your Bible there, Paul says, "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making requests for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now." Notice this verse six: "Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus." He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.

So, that’s the first thing to consider: Will I fail? Will I have success in this sanctifying work? Philippians 1:6 gives us assurance. The next verse is found in Philippians chapter four, verse 13. There, Paul says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." This is so important. We can be confident that God will strengthen us and fulfill His sanctifying work in us.

How can we be confident that God will strengthen us and fulfill His sanctifying work in us? Because the Scriptures say, "Being confident in this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus," and "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."

So, when Paul says in Philippians chapter two, verse 12, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling," and you start to think, "I don’t know if I can do that because I still fail; I still fall short," we can be confident of this very thing: He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it, and He will strengthen you to do that work. I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.

Since this is true, since we know that these things are true, therefore Paul says in Second Corinthians chapter seven, verse one, "Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Remember the basics: God is working in me.

He's working in you, and God will accomplish His work of sanctification just in the same way that Jesus says, "It is finished," when He's on the cross to accomplish the work for your justification. God is working in me; He's working in you. He will accomplish this work of sanctification, and He has called me and He's called you, if you're a Christian, to work out this salvation in our lives. What He has worked into us, He wants to be worked out from us as we are working with God to do these things, to walk out this sanctifying work.

I can be confident that He will complete this work that He started in me. I have to work out my own salvation, but He is working in me to desire and to do the things that are pleasing to Him. This is the truth that we find in the Scriptures as we're talking about justification and sanctification and looking forward to ultimate glorification. God is working in me to will and to do His good pleasure. I have to work out this salvation with fear and trembling, but I recognize—and probably you recognize, if you've tried to follow Jesus faithfully and to be an obedient follower of Jesus—that I need help because I fall short.

I have to cleanse myself from all filthiness of the flesh, as 2 Corinthians 7:1 says, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. I don't think you walk in perfect holiness; I know for certain that I don't walk in perfect holiness—not all the time. I want to, but I don't always walk that way, so I need help. How am I possibly going to be able to effectively deal with what the Bible calls the old man, or my sinful nature, or my flesh? We find these terms used in various places in the Bible: the old man, the sinful flesh, the sinful nature, the flesh. These things come up all the time, so I need a helper.

Good news! There is a helper. Jesus, in speaking to His disciples, said this in the Gospel of John, chapter 14, at verse 15: "If you love me, keep my commandments." Stop right there for just a moment. If you love me, keep my commandments. We want to be obedient followers of Jesus, and to be an obedient follower of Jesus, I have to keep His commandments. But I've tried to keep the commandments, and I'm no better at it than you are. So Jesus says, "If you love me, keep my commandments," and that's something that we have a hard time doing.

This is found in verse 16: "And I will pray to the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."

I'm sure that you have noticed that even after trusting in Christ Jesus, even after receiving redemption, forgiveness, acceptance, and adoption—after receiving that justifying righteousness of Christ—you still fall short. You can sometimes be snappy with your spouse, impatient with your kids, or unkind with strangers or even co-workers. After you have received the salvation of Jesus Christ, you may have experienced the fact that you still sin and fall short. We still have this big, strong flesh, but the good news is we have a bigger, stronger Helper.

Jesus said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." When you become a Christian by grace through faith, one of the first indications that you have become a child of God is that you have a new desire, which you did not have before, to keep God's commandments, to do what is right, and to do what is good. You desire to do what is right and good because God has worked in you to desire what is pleasing to Him. Philippians chapter 2, verse 13, says that you desire to do these good works, but you fall short of that desire. You fail, and we all have had this experience.

Paul describes this failing experience in the book of Romans, New Testament, chapter 7, verse 18. He says, "For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells. For the will, the desire, is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, the good things that I want to do, I do not do; but the evil that I will not to do, that I practice."

Can you relate to this? This is the struggle with the flesh, the old man, the sinful nature. This is the struggle that we all experience. We have been redeemed, saved, and forgiven, but the good things we want to do, we don't do, and the bad things we don't want to do, that's what we practice. I know you can relate to this because this is the struggle that we all face.

Endlessly, all day long, many people have debated whether or not the individual that Paul describes in Romans 7—the one who wants to do good but does not, and the bad things they do not want to do, they practice—truly represents a Christian. We can argue all day long about what Paul is exactly talking about and whether this person is a Christian or not, but I don't think it matters. I have yet to meet a Christian who cannot identify with the struggle that Paul describes. The good things that I want to do, that I desire to do, I don't do, and the bad things that I don't want to do, I still do. To the point that Paul says, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"

I want to be sanctified. I know I am rescued, redeemed, forgiven, and accepted. I know I have been adopted into the family of God. I don't want to walk in sin any longer. Why? Because God has given me new desires to follow Him faithfully and to be a disciple. I see Christ's love demonstrated for me on the cross, and I love Him because He first loved me, even when I was unlovely and dead in trespasses and sins. Therefore, I want to keep His commandments. However, the good commandments that I want to keep, I don't keep.

Jesus says, "If you love me, keep my commandments," as recorded in John's Gospel. He also states, "I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, the Spirit of Truth." He emphasizes this by saying it again a few verses later in John 14:23, where He answers one of His disciples, saying, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word." In verse 26, He continues, "The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I have said to you."

The Holy Spirit, our Helper, enables and empowers us in this work of sanctification. Jesus has rescued us from the penalty of sin; He is saving us from the power of sin. It is the Holy Spirit, our Helper, who enables and empowers us in this sanctifying work. As God is sanctifying us, the Holy Spirit of God, called the Helper, is not a thing or a force, like in Star Wars when they say, "May the Force be with you." That is not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a person; He proceeds from the Father. The Holy Spirit is God. In theological terms, we would say that the Holy Spirit is God and that He is the third person of the Trinity. I don't have time to get into that now.

Today, we are discussing the doctrine of the Trinity, but that is for another conversation. For now, we are saying that the Holy Spirit is a person; He is God, and He is called the Spirit of Truth. He helps us by enabling and empowering us as followers of Christ to follow Christ faithfully and to be witnesses of Christ in this world.

When Jesus says in John's Gospel that the Holy Spirit is the Helper, the word "Helper" in this passage is interesting. It is the Greek word "parakletos." This word is a compound word, meaning "para" (with) and "kletos" (from the verb "kaleo," which means to speak, to call, or to bid). Effectively, the Spirit can be thought of as a personal trainer. I know that some may find this analogy bothersome, thinking it blasphemous, but consider it this way: as the Holy Spirit does the work of "paracaleo," He is the Parakletos.

He comes alongside us. The trainer is not going to do the work for you; they are not going to lift the weights for you or do the sit-ups and push-ups for you. Instead, the trainer comes alongside us and calls us, bidding us to do these things, to press on, to push through, and to keep going. He encourages us, saying, "You can do it." He calls us to walk with Him and to follow after God. This is what the Holy Spirit is doing as He helps us; He wants us to follow after God and to walk in His ways.

In the New Testament book of Galatians, chapter 5, verse 16, Paul says, "I say then: walk in the Spirit." As you follow after the Spirit of God, as the Holy Spirit calls you to walk towards God, he continues, "and you shall not fulfill the desires of your flesh." In Romans chapter 7, Paul expresses, "The good things I want to do, I do not practice; and the bad things I do not want to do, that I practice."

As we walk in the Spirit, it is the Spirit who calls us and enables us to reject the desires of the old man, the sinful nature, our flesh. The Holy Spirit helps us to overcome the desires of our flesh. This is a major aspect of the sanctifying work that Christ is doing in us. He is working in us to desire and to do those things that are pleasing to Him, and the disciplines of a disciple begin here.

With the working of God by the Holy Spirit in you and in me, the Holy Spirit is working in us to change our desires and to enable us to follow after God, to walk in the Spirit so we do not fulfill the desires of our flesh.

Sanctification, in the New Testament, is attributed to the Holy Spirit. It is the sanctifying work of the Spirit of God. In Second Thessalonians, chapter 2, verse 13, Paul says, "But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you are taught, whether by word or by letter (epistle).

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us an everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good work. Remember, we are saved by grace through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.

So, Paul, in that letter to the Thessalonians, says, "Listen, it's the sanctifying work of the Spirit that is happening in you." God has saved you by His grace, but He wants to establish you in every good work. It is not just Paul writing this; the Apostle Peter also addresses this in First Peter, chapter 1, verse 1. He says, "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father in sanctification of the Spirit."

So again, it is the sanctification of the Spirit. For what? For obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace be to you, and peace be multiplied. The Holy Spirit is sanctifying you and me for what? So that we can do these good works. He is sanctifying us for good works.

Through the sanctification of the Spirit, we are enabled and empowered to walk in obedience to God, overcoming the desires of our flesh. How, though, does the Spirit do this? The Holy Spirit is the one who is working the sanctification process in us so that we can do good work and obey God. How does the Holy Spirit do this? Well, Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit was in the world.

He is with us, but He also promised that the Holy Spirit would be in us. Before we trust in Christ for salvation, before we become Christians trusting in the good news of Jesus Christ, the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is in the world and He is with unbelievers. What is He doing? Jesus says in John's Gospel that He is convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment.

What does that mean? The Holy Spirit is in the world showing us that God is righteous and we are not. Because God is righteous and we are not, there will be a judgment against our sin. So, the Holy Spirit is in the world to convict the world of sin, our sin, God's righteousness, and the judgment that is going to come because of our sin in light of His righteousness.

After we trust in Christ, the Holy Spirit, who was with us and was convicting us of sin, righteousness, and judgment, is now in us. The Scriptures promise that Jesus, the Messiah, would baptize us with the Holy Spirit and with power. When you are saved, the Holy Spirit is poured out upon you by Christ at the moment of salvation. We are all, by one Spirit, baptized into one body, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:13.

It is in the moment that you put your trust in Jesus Christ that God, again by His Spirit, gives you a new heart, just as was promised in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel. The prophet Ezekiel, in Ezekiel 36:26, writes this: God says, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes."

So, what is a disciple? It is a person who walks in the statutes of God, who is an obedient follower of Jesus. Through the prophet Ezekiel, God says, "I'm going to remove your old heart, I'm going to give you a new heart, and I'm going to put My Spirit within you. I will cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them."

God promised the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, and we trust that we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us once we are saved. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, immediately God's Holy Spirit comes and indwells us. But what are the signs that this has happened?

What happened sounds pretty amazing and far out. When you put your trust in Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes and dwells in you. Is there evidence of this? Is there a sign to you and to me that the Spirit of God's presence is in us?

Well, there is. First, the Holy Spirit gives us new desires. When the Holy Spirit comes and resides in your life after you put your trust and faith in Jesus Christ, He gives you new desires. These new desires include a desire to obey and follow the Lord, a desire to know God through His Word, a desire to pray, and a desire to be in fellowship with other Christians. We will be talking about these topics in future messages in this series. We will discuss the Word of God, prayer, and fellowship within the body of Christ.

One of the first signs that you are a child of God and that the Spirit of God is dwelling in you is that He gives you new desires. Secondly, the Holy Spirit not only gives you new desires but also enables you with the power to overcome the evil desires of your flesh. We already considered Galatians 5:16, which says, "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."

So, that’s what happens when the Holy Spirit comes into you. First, you have the desire to follow God. Second, you no longer want to follow after sin. You are given new desires, and you are also empowered by the Holy Spirit to reject those old impulses.

The third sign that the Holy Spirit is dwelling in you is that He produces in you what is called the fruit of the Spirit. This is found in the New Testament book of Galatians, specifically in Galatians 5. Paul discusses the fruit of the Spirit but first contrasts it with the works of the flesh. He states in Galatians 5:19, "Now the works of the flesh are evident," which include things like adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. He warns that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But here’s the key: the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Against such good things, there is no law. Those who are Christ's have been redeemed by Jesus Christ; you are His possession. Those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its desires, its passions, and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

So, what are the signs or the evidences that the Holy Spirit has come to dwell in you? The Holy Spirit is invisible. How do you know that you've been born again by the Spirit of God? How do you know that the Spirit of God is residing within you?

Well, for one, He gives you new desires. Two, He gives you the power to overcome the desires of your flesh. Three, He begins to produce in you the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and so forth. As you are baptized with the Holy Spirit and filled with His power, you begin to see the manifestation of the Spirit in your life. The Spirit of God is producing these evidences in your life.

You begin to see love, joy, peace, and kindness where there was once anxiety. Now, there is peace. Where there was once extreme sadness and a lack of hopefulness, now there is joy. Where there was once irritability, there begins to be patience. Where there was once impulsiveness, there begins to be self-control. Where there was once harshness, there begins to be gentleness. These are the evidences that God, by His Spirit, is working salvation; He is working it out in you.

The first evidence that the Spirit of God is in you is that He has given you new desires. The second evidence is that He begins to empower you to fulfill those new desires and to reject the old impulses of your flesh. Third, He begins to produce the fruit of the Spirit in your life: love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and so forth.

The fourth evidence that the Holy Spirit is in you is that the Holy Spirit gives you a desire to serve God, and He empowers you for service by gifting you with what are called the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

There are a few places in the Bible where we can read about the gifts of the Spirit. One is in the book of First Corinthians, in chapters 12 through 14. Another is in Romans; I believe it's chapter 10. Another place is in Ephesians, chapter 4. There are a number of places in the Bible where we read about some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is an entire series in itself. I mean, you could go into a very long series on the gifts of the Spirit, which I'm sure we'll do in the future. We've done it in the past. If you go on our website, you can find more information.

Lifeinconnection.com has a media section where you will find teachings that I did on First Corinthians chapters 12, 13, and 14 from probably about ten years ago. I covered a whole bunch of teachings on the gifts of the Spirit, and you can find those there. We'll talk about those at another time.

All that to say this: the fourth evidence that the Spirit of God is residing in you is that He gives you a desire to serve God and empowers you for that service by giving you the gifts of the Spirit. Jesus promised this in the New Testament book of Acts, chapter 1, verse 8. Jesus said to His followers, His disciples, "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

So, the Holy Spirit enables and empowers us to do good works and to be good witnesses. This is really important. When we're talking about this sanctifying work that God is doing in us, He saves us completely from the penalty of sin; that's justification. He is saving us right now from the power of sin in our lives through sanctification by the Holy Spirit as we are working out our salvation with fear and trembling, as He is working in us to will and to do His good pleasure.

In this work, the Holy Spirit enables and empowers us to do good works and to be good witnesses in this world. In reality, there is so much more that I could say about the person and work of the Holy Spirit in our lives as Christians. There are actually volumes of books written on the subject of the Holy Spirit, and we will talk about the Holy Spirit more in the future for sure.

I want to begin to wrap this message up today by saying that if you have trusted in Christ Jesus, then you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit as a promissory guarantee that you will be sanctified and glorified by Jesus Christ. I love this truth, again found in Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus in Ephesians chapter 1.

In Ephesians 1, beginning at verse 13, the Apostle Paul says this: "In Him, in Jesus, you also trusted after you heard the word of the truth of the gospel, the gospel of your salvation. In whom, in Jesus, also having believed..." So, you have trusted and you have believed in Jesus after you heard the good news of the gospel. After that, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

Who is the guarantee? The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. What is Paul saying there? He is saying that when you trust in Jesus, after having heard the gospel and trusting in His finished work on the cross, then you are saved and given the seal of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is in you, and it's like a promissory note promising that you will be fully redeemed.

He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus. On the day of Christ Jesus, He will transform our lowly body so that it will be like unto His glorious body. We will be in His presence. He has saved us from the penalty of sin, He is saving us from the power of sin, and He will save us from the presence of sin.

But our focus right now is on sanctification, and this sanctifying work happens as the Spirit of God is working in us and we are working this salvation out in our lives. This means that if you're a Christian today, you have the Spirit of God dwelling in you. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 6:19, says, "Do you not know that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit?" The Holy Spirit is within you. You have been bought with a price; you have been redeemed. Since the Holy Spirit is in you and you have been redeemed, he says, "Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." You are God's possession, and so we are to walk these things out and work out our salvation.

We have been saved, and we have the Spirit of God dwelling within us. While you have been baptized with the Holy Spirit by Christ Jesus, which is what the Scriptures say, the Apostle Paul also teaches that we need to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit. We need God to fill us up constantly. Ephesians 5:18 states, "Be being filled with the Holy Spirit," which is the direct translation from the original language.

So how do we receive this filling of the Spirit? How do you experience the increase of the production of the fruit of the Spirit in your life? There are so many things I want to say, but let me try to wrap this up. The first thing you need to do is ask. You need to ask the Lord to fill you, even if you've been filled before. One great saint once said that the reason he needs to be continually filled with the Holy Spirit is because he leaks.

That you've experienced, it's like you have the Holy Spirit of God in you. Today, you need more of the Holy Spirit. Tomorrow, so how do you get that? Well, first, you ask. Jesus was teaching His disciples to pray, and in Luke's Gospel, chapter 11, we're going to talk about this in a couple of messages when we discuss prayer. He says this to His disciples in Luke chapter 11, verse 11: "If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will the father give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"

So, if you want to have more of the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life and the overflow of the Holy Spirit from your life in the form of the fruit of the Spirit, the first thing you need to do is ask. Just pray, "God, would You fill me with Your Holy Spirit?" The second thing you need to do is commit, by God's grace and enabling power, to walk in the Spirit. Galatians chapter 5, verse 16 says, "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of your flesh."

So, the second thing, after you ask God to fill you, is to walk in the Spirit by faith. This sanctification by the Spirit is a gradual, lifelong process in the Christian life; it doesn't happen instantaneously. We need to constantly be filled with the Holy Spirit and walk by faith, walking in the Spirit. These things are very important.

As we wrap up today, I want to give you some very practical tips, some very practical ways that you can begin to walk in the Spirit by faith. So, how do we walk in the Spirit? Here's the practical application. I know you're watching; I don't know if you'll do this, but I hope that you'll try this little exercise with me. As you're watching on your phone or on TV, whenever you're watching—maybe it's Sunday morning or the middle of the night—if you want to experience the overflow of God's Spirit's work in your life, the first thing I want you to do is this: right now, as you're sitting there, I want you to quietly, in your own heart before God, pray a very simple silent prayer. Prayer is just talking to God, and just pray this very simple prayer. It goes something like this: "God, is there one way that I have been walking in my flesh this last week?"

Just take a moment and ask God if there is any way this last week that you've been walking in your flesh. Would you show me? That may be a hard prayer for you to pray, but I promise you, if you pray it, God is going to reveal something. Maybe you already realize that there is some way in which you have not really been walking in the Spirit, but you've been walking in the flesh this last week.

Perhaps it's anxiousness over something. There are a lot of anxiety-inducing things happening in our culture right now, so maybe it's just a consumption of anxiousness. You're worried about all kinds of different things. It could be anger, or it could be that you're lacking faith, patience, or self-control.

When an incident of some area of your flesh is revealed to you, here's what I want you to do. The first thing is to pray, "God, reveal to me if there is any way that I've been walking in the flesh and not walking in the Spirit." As it's revealed to you, I want you to confess it quietly to God right now as you're watching this.

How do you confess? You simply pray, "God, I confess that when I got angry with my spouse this last week, or I was impatient with my kids this last week, I confess that that was sin. That was wrong; that was a work of the flesh and not of the Spirit." Then, ask God for His forgiveness and His cleansing.

So just again, simply pray, "God, is there any way this last week that I have been walking in the flesh? Just show me an area." Then confess it: "Lord, I confess that what I did this last week was sin." After that, ask for forgiveness and cleansing: "God, would You forgive me of my impatience or cleanse me of my irritability?" Whatever it may be, cleanse me of this sin.

The Scriptures say in 1 John 1:9 that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us. So here are these steps: First, pray, "God, reveal to me if there is any way this last week that I've been walking in the flesh and not walking in the Spirit." Confess that as sin: "Lord, I confess that what I did this last week was sin." Now, ask for forgiveness: "Father God, would You forgive me of my impatience and cleanse me of my irritability?"

The next thing is to pray for God's Spirit's empowering in your life to respond in the right way the next time. You are going to be tested in this again. You will have this opportunity to be impatient again this next week. Just simply pray, "Holy Spirit, the next time that I'm in that situation, would You please give me Your patience?" This is key. It's not the fruit of us; it's the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is longsuffering, kindness, and self-control.

God, would you, by your Holy Spirit, give me your patience, your self-control, or your love for that person? These are the simple steps of practically applying the work of the sanctifying power of the Spirit of God in your life.

So then, you step out to walk by the Spirit. This next week, pray about something that you did last week. Ask the Lord if there is any way you have been walking in the flesh. Confess it, ask for forgiveness, and then ask God to enable you, to empower you with His patience or His self-control the next time you are tested.

When you are tested in this area—and you will be—then, in that moment, when someone is doing something that is causing you to be impatient or to lose your cool, or to become anxious, pray: "God, would you please give me your peace? Would you please give me your Spirit? Would you please give me your self-control to overcome my flesh?"

This is where it gets really practical. The disciplines of a disciple involve recognizing that it is the Spirit of God working in us, by His power and grace, to help sanctify, cleanse, and transform us. Then, we act that out by walking in faith and walking in the Spirit.

God, I confess that I have been angry, that I have been lustful, or whatever it may be this last weekend. Would you give me your power? In the moment when the temptation comes, when the issue arises that causes you anxiety or irritability, confess it and say: "God, would you give me your self-control? Would you give me your love? Will you give me your peace?"

Here’s the thing: if you fail, repeat step one. Confess, wash, rinse, repeat. Go back through it again and start anew. But if you are victorious, then thank God for His power, by His Spirit, that He gave in you to work this out. Maybe share with us next week how God has helped you to walk in the Spirit this week.

This is the sanctifying work that God wants to do in us by His Holy Spirit. This is key for a disciple who is following the Lord to become a disciplined disciple. Here’s what I have discovered in several decades of walking with Christ: by His Spirit, we experience victory in our life of faith. It is the Lord Jesus Christ, by His Holy Spirit, who gives us the victory. He is the one who makes us more than conquerors in Christ, enabling us to overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil.

To be able to walk in righteousness doesn't mean that we will always do it perfectly. We will fail, and when we fail, we confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. But God wants to sanctify us by the work of His Spirit in us, as He works in us to will and to do His good pleasure. We are working out our salvation by His enabling power.

So, Father God, I pray right now for anyone watching this. I pray that those who are watching have put their trust in You; they have trusted in You for salvation. I pray that they have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within them. Holy Spirit, I pray that You would enable and empower Your people to walk by faith and walk in the Spirit in a way that brings glory and honor to You, that is pleasing to You, but also satisfying to us and a witness to this world.

Would You help Your church, Your people, to be victorious in You this week in very specific and practical ways? In areas where we've been anxious, impatient, angry, or unloving, may we be patient, kind, self-controlled, and filled with peace, love, and joy. God, work this into Your church, because these things—the fruit of the Spirit, as they are seen in our lives—attract other people to You. People want peace, self-control, joy, and love, and those things ultimately are only found in You.

Would You make Your church victorious in these ways, that we would manifest the fruit of Your Spirit, the evidence of Your presence, Lord, by Your Holy Spirit in us? Do that work in Your church, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

He comes in glory to reveal the fullness of His reign; our hearts will bow before Jesus.

Christ for me. Thanks for joining us for our broadcast today. I pray that you were greatly encouraged by it. We here at Cross Connection Church would love to invite you to join us in person next week on Sunday at 8:30 and 10:30 services. If you can make it, again, 8:30 and 10:30 services here at Cross Connection Church in Escondido, California. We'd love to see you there.

Of course, if you want any more information about Cross Connection Church, check us out on our website, lifeinconnection.com. God bless you guys and have a wonderful week.

Hey, Cross Connection, Pastor Jason here. I'm looking for help in a couple of specific areas at the 10:30 service. We need help in children's ministry with the fourth and fifth graders. If you're somebody who's interested in helping the fourth and fifth grade at the 10:30 service, we need you. That would be fantastic.

We also need help kind of across the board in the 8:30 service, so any of the areas in the 8:30 service, we could use help. God bless you guys. Thanks a lot.