Grace Pipeline, The

Our Sanctification

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Shelley Quinn

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Series Code: GPL

Program Code: GPL000013


00:01 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn.
00:02 Are you aware that God promises to make you complete
00:05 in every way to do His will through Christ Jesus?
00:09 Join us now on "The Grace Pipeline"
00:11 as we study Christ, our sanctification.
00:35 Welcome to "The Grace Pipeline."
00:37 This is a series based on a Bible study
00:39 book by the same title.
00:41 You know, it's a great privilege
00:44 to write something for the glory of the Lord.
00:47 At the same time, it's a great responsibility
00:50 and it's important that it is a well-balanced teaching.
00:55 Because something that God wants
00:58 is for us to know the balance of truth.
01:00 It results in great personal growth,
01:03 because as you write,
01:05 you must necessarily restudy and dig deeper into scripture.
01:10 And as you begin to mind the depth of God's word,
01:15 He teaches you more and more.
01:17 His word is inexhaustible.
01:19 I don't pretend to know all there is to know about grace,
01:23 but what God has taught me has been life-changing.
01:27 And day by day, He is teaching me
01:29 how to make this more of a personal experience
01:33 rather than merely an intellectual understanding.
01:37 My hope is that you too will be transformed
01:41 as we study God's word together.
01:44 Today, if you're following along
01:46 in the series companion book "The Grace Pipeline,"
01:49 we will begin our study in chapter 7 and that's page 106,
01:54 as we consider how Christ is our sanctification.
01:59 Because we are dividing this study on grace
02:02 into bite size pieces, it seems it would be
02:06 a good thing for us to take just a few minutes
02:08 to quickly review some of the Bible principles
02:11 we have already established.
02:14 We have identified it is God's love
02:17 that is the compelling force behind His grace.
02:21 This unending well of love,
02:23 overflows with every good and perfect gift
02:26 from our Heavenly Father and grace is the pipeline
02:30 through which all blessings flow from heaven to earth.
02:33 Faith we've identified as the faucet.
02:36 It's how we tap into God's grace pipeline.
02:39 And our faith regulates the release of blessings
02:42 from His great reservoir.
02:45 Now prayer is the handle that opens the faith faucet.
02:50 Trust is the foundation for the prayer of faith,
02:53 and relationship is the foundation for trust.
02:57 What's the foundation for relationship? Love.
03:01 And the more we love and understand His love for us,
03:06 the more we love Him in return.
03:08 We develop a more intimate relationship with Him
03:12 and the more intimate the relationship,
03:14 the greater our trust grows in God.
03:16 The more we trust Him,
03:18 the more we bring all things to Him in prayer.
03:22 And the more we pray in faith,
03:24 the more blessings God releases on us.
03:27 We have also identified
03:29 the three greatest gifts of God's grace
03:33 as being His son Jesus Christ,
03:36 the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Scriptures.
03:39 When we understand these gifts and we are beginning
03:43 to understand His gifts of grace,
03:46 then we understand the effects of grace.
03:49 And because of this, we've arrived at this definition
03:54 that divine grace is the unearned,
03:57 undeserved gifts bestowed by a God of infinite love
04:01 which provide His divine assistance
04:05 and supernatural power unto salvation.
04:09 Now sometime ago in this series,
04:11 we studied how we receive justification by faith,
04:16 through the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ
04:19 which means nothing less than the righteousness of Christ
04:22 that is credited to our account.
04:25 We know the Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death.
04:29 We're all sinners and we all deserved to die.
04:32 But when we confess our sins and repent
04:35 accepting Christ as our Savior,
04:37 the record of His perfect life is credited to us.
04:42 Moreover, He stood in as our substitute
04:46 and died the death we deserved.
04:49 And His blood covers our sins.
04:52 The demands for divine justice are satisfied
04:55 and there are no longer legal grounds
04:57 to justly inflict the penalty of sin.
05:01 God justifies us, which means He pronounces
05:06 an acquittal of the charges against us
05:08 making an official declaration
05:11 that we the accused are innocent.
05:14 Justification is an act of God
05:18 and that is the first stage of salvation.
05:21 Justification changes our record.
05:24 In our last several programs of this series,
05:28 we have been studying sanctification,
05:31 which is the second stage of salvation
05:33 and it changes not just the record,
05:36 but it changes our character.
05:39 Sanctification is ours
05:42 through the imparted righteousness of Jesus Christ,
05:45 that righteousness He pours into our heart.
05:48 And this is how the process of consecrating us
05:52 or setting us apart from the world to live for God.
05:57 This is how it happens.
05:58 Sanctification is a synonym for holiness.
06:03 They both simply mean to be set apart from sin
06:07 that we might live the abundant life
06:10 Christ Jesus came to give us.
06:13 Sanctification is a progressive work of God in our lives
06:18 that requires our complete cooperation.
06:22 It is a continuous process of consecration
06:27 or dedicating our lives to do God's will.
06:31 Sanctification is a work of God to recreate His image in us.
06:39 And to prove it is God's work,
06:42 The Bible tells us that we are sanctified
06:45 by the Heavenly Father, by the gift of our
06:48 Lord Jesus Christ, the gift of the Holy Spirit,
06:52 the gift of God's love operating within our hearts,
06:56 the gift of the Holy Scriptures,
06:58 the gift of faith and the privilege
07:02 of obedience empowered by God.
07:05 His work is a continual,
07:08 day-by-day development that transforms
07:12 our physical, mental, and spiritual powers
07:16 if we will only cooperate with Him.
07:19 Now we have previously studied what it means
07:23 to be a sanctification seeker which means we pursue holiness
07:28 or in other words it means that we cooperate with God
07:32 to be set apart from sin.
07:35 The Apostle Paul tells us that we should devote our lives
07:40 to this process and experience of transformation.
07:44 Many Christians do not fully recognize
07:47 the work of God, the Father
07:49 and God, the Son in the process of sanctification.
07:52 In our last program, we reviewed
07:55 the Father's action in this critical work.
07:58 Now, today, let us more closely
08:01 consider Christ's intimate involvement.
08:05 Sanctification seekers pursue holiness
08:10 by believing in and receiving Christ as Savior,
08:14 developing a personal and abiding relationship
08:17 with Him and by following the leading of the Holy Spirit.
08:23 This identifies us as the children of God.
08:27 As John 1:12 proclaims that,
08:30 "As many as have received Him,
08:33 to them He gave the right to become the children of God,"
08:38 to those who believe in Christ, in His name, in His work.
08:44 The sacred bonds of this privileged relationship
08:48 being a child of God is our means
08:52 of sanctification by grace.
08:55 Let's look at 1 Corinthians 1:30 were the Bible says,
09:01 "But of Him, speaking of God, you are in Christ Jesus,
09:07 who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness
09:13 and sanctification and redemption."
09:18 Now let's unpack this scripture.
09:21 First, it tells us it is of Him
09:25 the Father that we are in Christ.
09:28 God's all embracing and matchless love
09:31 was manifested in the sacrifice of His sinless Son,
09:36 for those who were yet impure sinners.
09:40 It is by our Heavenly Father's will
09:42 that we have identified with Christ crucified.
09:48 Secondly, because of this, Christ has become our wisdom.
09:54 He possesses the fullness of God's treasury
09:58 of wisdom and knowledge
09:59 and He reveals God's purposes to us.
10:03 Making Christ our wisdom and possessing Him,
10:07 we possess His wisdom that causes us
10:10 to understand God's will for our lives.
10:13 Now the third point of this scripture
10:16 is that Christ becomes our righteousness.
10:20 In that by faith, His imputed righteousness
10:24 provides justification putting us
10:27 in right standing with the Heavenly Father.
10:31 Now the first point-- or the fourth point
10:33 I should say of 1 Corinthians 1:30 is that
10:37 Christ's imparted righteousness becomes our sanctification.
10:43 This fits us to press into the presence of a Holy God.
10:50 In Christ, we are recreated
10:53 to enjoy a new life of righteousness
10:57 and we should devote our lives fully
10:59 to practicing righteousness by the power of God
11:03 rather than practicing sin
11:05 through the influence of our old carnal nature.
11:09 And the final point is that His death paid our ransom
11:15 to escape the penalty of sin, making Christ our redemption.
11:20 Through our redeemer Christ, we are saved.
11:25 Now our study today is on sanctification,
11:28 so let's hone in on that particular aspect.
11:32 Christ's continual imparted righteousness,
11:37 His purity, and His holiness living in our hearts
11:39 through faith makes us pure and holy.
11:44 By His life within, He separates those who abide in Him.
11:49 He separates them from sin
11:52 for God's special purity and holy purposes.
11:55 This makes Christ our sanctification.
11:59 John 1:16-17 says that "Of His fullness
12:05 we have all received and grace for grace.
12:09 For the law was given through Moses,
12:12 but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."
12:16 Through the revelation of the mystery
12:19 of the Lord's plan of salvation,
12:21 God's greater grace replaced the grace contained
12:27 in the ceremonial law, grace for grace.
12:32 The temporary sacrificial system
12:36 pointed to the perfect sacrifice of Christ
12:40 who would offer His body once for all.
12:44 The continual animal offerings of the old covenant
12:47 were a constant reminder that Christ had not yet come.
12:52 1 John 3:8 reveals that Christ came
12:56 to destroy the works of the devil.
12:59 Let's read from Hebrews 10:5-10.
13:05 That says, "Therefore, when He came into the world,
13:09 He said, sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings,
13:13 and offering for sin you did not desire,
13:17 nor had pleasure in them
13:19 which are offered according to the law.
13:21 Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.
13:27 He takes away the first that He may establish the second.
13:31 By that will we have been sanctified
13:34 through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."
13:41 God had no pleasure in animal sacrifices
13:45 because for most people they became nothing more than
13:48 a ritual requirement of insincere worshipers.
13:52 In verse 10, we have just read that--
13:57 and the Greek emphasizes sanctification
14:00 in terms of our original change from sin to holiness
14:06 and as a continuation in that state.
14:10 We are sanctified through the body of Jesus Christ
14:14 and through His blood as further explained in Hebrews 13:12,
14:21 which says, "Therefore Jesus also,
14:25 that He might sanctify the people with His own blood,
14:29 suffered outside the gate."
14:32 It was the will of God to sanctify humanity
14:37 by the crucified body of His son.
14:39 It was God's will that Christ's precious blood
14:44 be shed to cover our sins
14:47 and to separate us from sin's influence,
14:52 leading to holiness, to sanctification.
14:57 Well, I certainly consider
15:00 the experience of sanctification joyful.
15:04 There is a very serious and related aspect
15:07 that must be presented to those who would
15:10 receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
15:15 Let us consider Hebrews 9:13, 14
15:22 and here the writer says,
15:25 "For if the blood of bulls and goats
15:28 and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean,
15:31 sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,
15:35 how much more shall the blood of Christ,
15:39 who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself
15:44 without spot to God, cleanse your conscience
15:48 from dead works to serve the living God?"
15:52 Now going right into Hebrews 10:28, 29,
15:57 we receive the warning,
15:59 "Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy
16:05 on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
16:08 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose,
16:12 will he be thought worthy
16:13 who has trampled the Son of God underfoot,
16:17 counted the blood of the covenant
16:19 by which he was sanctified a common thing,
16:23 and insulted the Spirit of grace?"
16:28 Sanctified people should serve the living God in holiness
16:33 using extreme caution not to count
16:37 the blood of Christ as a common thing.
16:40 His precious blood of sanctification
16:43 should not be profaned by our sinful conduct.
16:47 You know, Paul tells us in Roman 5:20, 21.
16:52 He said, "The law entered, that the offense might abound.
16:56 But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more
17:01 and even that as sin reigned in death,
17:04 even so grace might reign through righteousness
17:08 in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
17:12 The moral law of God revealed His perfect standards
17:17 of righteousness as well as the true condition of sin
17:21 which reigns in human hearts hostile to all things holy.
17:26 The mere formal recording of God's moral requirements
17:32 stirred an even greater resistance
17:34 in those rebellious ones who refuse to enter
17:37 into relationship with Him.
17:40 Transgressions were multiplied
17:43 and God permitted this demonstration of sin's influence
17:47 preparing the way to prove His perfect love
17:51 toward humanity by sending His Son
17:54 to rescue us from unrighteousness.
17:57 Thus He prevailed as both the just and the justifier.
18:02 Only Christ's imputed righteousness
18:05 can cover our sin debt.
18:07 Only Christ's imparted righteousness
18:10 can continually subdue sin's influence
18:14 and restore us to the purity of His image.
18:19 God's generous plan makes it possible
18:23 for grace to reign in our hearts.
18:28 His grace teaches us His plan as revealed in Titus 2:11-14.
18:35 Let's read that together.
18:37 It says, "The grace of God that brings salvation
18:41 has appeared to all men, teaching us that,
18:46 denying ungodliness and worldly lust,
18:49 we should live soberly, righteously,
18:52 and godly in the present age,
18:55 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing
18:59 of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
19:02 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us
19:06 from every lawless deed and purify for Himself
19:12 His own special people, zealous for good works."
19:17 Let us learn the lesson that grace teaches us.
19:21 Colossians 3:3 explains by saying,
19:24 "For you have died, and your life
19:26 is hidden with Christ in God."
19:30 By faith Christians are dead to the things of this world
19:34 and to the lure of the lust of the flesh,
19:37 and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
19:40 The advantage of our relationship with Jesus
19:44 is that we live with Him in righteousness,
19:47 preparing for a better world.
19:49 At the same time, Christ's protection encompasses us
19:54 like the heat resistant crucible during fiery trials.
19:59 Our new life is concealed in Christ
20:04 with the abiding companionship of God as our refuge.
20:07 And Christ is more than our example to be imitated.
20:11 He is the supernatural power of God into salvation.
20:16 You know, Jesus said in John 10:30 that,
20:19 "He and the Father are one and He is in the Father
20:24 and the Father is in Him."
20:26 So through His purifying grace of sanctification,
20:31 He makes us one Spirit with Him,
20:34 one in thought, one in purpose and action.
20:37 We live in Him and He lives in us.
20:41 He is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
20:44 So too it is critical that we stay closely connected to Him.
20:49 Christ explained why in John 15:4, 6.
20:56 He says, "Abide in Me, and I in you.
21:00 As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
21:03 unless it abides in the vine,
21:05 neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
21:09 I am the vine, you are the branches.
21:13 He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit,
21:17 for without Me you can do nothing.
21:20 If anyone does not abide in Me,
21:23 he is cast out as a branch and is withered
21:27 and they gather them and throw them
21:29 into the fire and they are burned."
21:33 To abide means to dwell or to live and never to depart.
21:38 To grow in grace we must maintain a vital union
21:43 with Christ our true vine.
21:45 Any branch that is pinched off from the sap
21:48 that brings the water and nutrients of the vine
21:51 will wither and eventually break away.
21:54 Without the divine sap which I consider
21:58 an acronym for the Spirit's anointing power,
22:01 without that divine sap flowing through the living vine,
22:05 Christ Jesus, we will likewise wither and die spiritually.
22:10 It is imperative that we abide in Him
22:14 until the end or our connection to the Savior will be severed.
22:19 The only way possible for us to produce
22:21 the fruits of righteousness required by our Holy God
22:25 is as a result of living in Christ and He in us.
22:29 1 John 2:6 is crucial advice to the Christian.
22:33 It says, "He who abides in Him
22:36 ought himself also to walk just as He walked."
22:40 Those who profess Christ
22:42 are obligated to copy His conduct.
22:45 Accepting the gift of sanctification
22:47 is accepting His yoke
22:49 and staying in school with our Christ.
22:52 Our very qualified teacher speaks
22:55 in the language of heaven's love.
22:57 Lowly in heart, He humbles himself
22:59 to take on human form and learn total dependence upon God.
23:04 Jesus didn't demand His own way.
23:07 And addressing His Father it was always,
23:09 "not my will but yours be done."
23:13 And we injure our relationship with our Heavenly Father
23:16 when we demand our own way.
23:19 We need to put to death our pride
23:21 and learn the humility of Christ.
23:23 Learn total dependence on God.
23:26 Let's read from Colossians 1:26-28
23:30 which says, "The mystery which has been hidden
23:33 from ages and from generations,
23:35 but now has been revealed to His saints
23:38 which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
23:41 Him we preach, warning every man
23:44 and teaching every man in all wisdom,
23:47 that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."
23:53 Recreated with the character of Christ,
23:55 we enjoy a personal dimension of His divine holiness
24:01 and the natural outgrowth of receiving Christ
24:04 into our hearts is to live like Him in the power of God's grace,
24:09 His love, His truth, His goodness and purity of heart
24:14 should be evidenced in our daily walk and conversation.
24:18 Christ in you your hope of glory.
24:21 His refining fire dwells in your heart by faith
24:25 and you can draw on all of His perfect character traits
24:29 if you abide in Him and He abides in you.
24:34 Acknowledge Christ as your sanctification
24:37 and His holy qualities will instantly be made yours
24:41 by grace through your faith put into action.
24:45 His sanctified life within you will separate you from sin
24:50 and daily conquer any unholy passions or desires that linger.
24:56 1 John 4:4 assures you that Christ in you
25:00 is a greater power than the enemy,
25:03 the devil and his fallen angels in this fallen word.
25:06 Further you are promised in Revelation 12:11
25:10 that growing in the grace of sanctification,
25:13 you can overcome evil by the blood of the Lamb
25:17 and the word of your testimony.
25:19 The gospel of grace is a religion of total dependence
25:23 upon God through Christ
25:25 and in the light of the eternal privileges of being His child
25:29 and with the refining fire of His presence in you,
25:33 you have great hope.
25:34 Please disregard your own weaknesses
25:39 and depend upon His power.
25:41 Philippians 4:13 delivers the promise that you can do
25:44 all things through Christ who strengthens you.
25:47 Take notice of Christ's promise from 2 Corinthians 12:9
25:52 and set your heart at ease.
25:54 Jesus says, "My grace is sufficient for you,
25:57 for My strength is made perfect in weakness."
26:01 You know, most of us are naturally inclined
26:04 to try to tough things out on our own in self-reliance.
26:09 God will not force control over us.
26:12 We must admit our weaknesses.
26:15 We must admit our limited human understanding
26:18 and our limited power and surrender control to Him.
26:22 Then by grace, Christ will infuse us
26:26 with His power and strengthen us
26:28 to overcome every temptation,
26:31 every challenge that we meet daily.
26:34 It is God who works in you
26:37 to will and to do His good pleasure
26:39 and it is God who will complete His work in you
26:43 to empower you to do His will.
26:45 This is His will and His promise according to Hebrews 13:20, 21
26:53 which says, "Now may the God of peace
26:56 who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead,
26:59 that great Shepherd of the sheep,
27:01 through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
27:04 make you complete in every good work to do His will,
27:07 working in you what is well pleasing in His sight,
27:10 through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever."
27:15 With a watchful eye, He sits as the refiner of His people.
27:20 He who called you is faithful.
27:22 And He will do His good pleasure in the purifying grace
27:26 of sanctification at work within you.
27:31 Amen, so be it, Lord.
27:34 We are only to cooperate, to surrender control,
27:41 and to depend totally upon our Lord.
27:44 I hope that this is getting deep within your soul.
27:50 I hope that you understand that you can grow in grace
27:55 and the knowledge of our Lord
27:56 Jesus Christ by His power, god bless.


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Revised 2014-12-17