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Series Code: SSOS
Program Code: SSOS190004B
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00:01 Welcome back...
00:02 before the Break, we made the observation 00:05 that justification is pardon from sin 00:09 and sanctification is power over sin. 00:13 Now, sometimes we get into this argument of either or... 00:17 justification or sanctification is a power or pardon... 00:21 but here's a case where it's not either/or 00:25 it's actually both/and... 00:27 just like we use the analogy, 00:28 "Is it more important to be born or to grow?" 00:31 It's actually both... 00:33 now, I want to use this illustration 00:35 from planetary motion. 00:37 In the year 1605, Johannes Kepler was studying 00:43 planetary motion 00:44 and he noticed that the planets were orbiting the sun 00:49 not in a perfect circle 00:52 but it was actually what we would call an ellipse. 00:55 Johannes Kepler was studying planetary motion 00:59 and the numbers did not add up 01:01 and prior to that, everyone assumed 01:04 that the planetary motions were in a perfect circle, 01:08 but he came to the conclusion 01:10 that it was actually something that we call an ellipse. 01:13 Now, what is the difference between an ellipse and a circle? 01:18 Well, it's very simple actually when you look at it, 01:21 a circle centers on one central point 01:25 while an ellipse centers on two. 01:29 Now, I have on the screen an illustration of this 01:32 and you can have two central points 01:35 and draw a circle around it 01:38 and that is what an ellipse looks like, 01:40 and this is the way 01:42 that our planets actually stay in balance... 01:45 not centering on one central point 01:48 but actually centering on two. 01:51 Now, if this is the way our solar system stays in balance, 01:56 I believe that this is an analogous way 01:58 for us to understand 02:00 that this is a way of keeping our theology 02:02 in balance as well. 02:04 In other words, rather than focusing on one central point 02:08 like justification and pardon, 02:10 to the exclusion of power and sanctification, 02:14 we must look at these not as a circle as it were, 02:18 but rather, take an elliptical approach 02:22 saying that both are to be essential 02:25 to the Christian experience. 02:27 You get into problems when you start to say, 02:29 "It's justification to the negation of sanctification... " 02:33 and you also get into the problem 02:36 when you emphasize sanctification 02:39 to the negation... or to the neglect of justification. 02:42 You need both. 02:44 Now, there are certain tensions in Christian theology... 02:47 one of them has to do with Christology... 02:50 the study of Christ 02:51 and there's two tensions 02:53 that theologians have been haggling over 02:55 and arguing over for centuries, 02:58 going all the way back to the beginning of Christianity 03:00 in the first century... 03:02 and the idea that they battled over 03:05 was whether Jesus was human or divine 03:08 and they would go back and forth... 03:10 one group would come and say, 03:12 "Jesus is human but He was not divine. " 03:15 Another group would come and say, 03:17 "He was divine but He wasn't really human. " 03:21 Now, if you camp out in either one of these, 03:25 whether you say, "Jesus was human 03:26 to the neglect of His divinity" 03:28 or whether He was divine to the neglect of His humanity, 03:31 you have what you call heresy... 03:34 in other words, when you emphasize one central point 03:38 to the negation of the other one, 03:39 you have an imbalanced theological framework 03:43 and what I contend here is that the actual way of approaching 03:48 things like Christology, 03:49 where you look at the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ, 03:52 it's not either/or 03:54 it's both/and 03:56 and there's a mystery in 03:58 the divinity and the humanity of Jesus Christ 04:01 that we need to be comfortable with, 04:02 and say, "Look, we won't understand 04:04 even when we get to heaven all the dynamics I believe 04:09 of the mystery of Godliness, of how God became a man... 04:13 and here is another tension in Scripture 04:16 that is brought up beautifully 04:17 in the Courtyard and the Holy Place 04:19 it's not justification or sanctification... 04:23 in actuality it is both 04:25 We need to take an elliptical approach to the gospel 04:29 and this keeps us centered and balanced in our theology. 04:34 Here's a quotation from "Steps to Christ" page 63, 04:37 "Our only ground of hope is in the righteousness of Christ 04:42 imputed to us, 04:45 and in that wrought by His Spirit 04:47 working in and through us. " 04:50 Now, what is she talking about here? 04:52 The righteousness of Christ imputed to us is justification. 04:57 That is our "Born Again" experience. 04:59 The righteousness of Christ, working by His Spirit 05:03 in and through us 05:05 is actually sanctification. 05:07 That is Christian growth 05:09 and notice, she brings so beautifully these two together, 05:13 by-the-way, if there's a book that you should read 05:16 and I do... every single year, 05:18 it is the book, "Steps to Christ" 05:19 because it brings out the beauties of the gospel 05:23 in very plain, simple language that we can understand. 05:28 So we come into the Courtyard, we are born again... 05:32 we are justified... 05:34 and then God brings us into the Holy Place 05:38 into a growing relationship with Him 05:41 and as we noted earlier, it's not about how far you get, 05:46 it's about being in the process 05:48 and you come to that first article of furniture... 05:52 you receive the assurance of salvation... 05:54 and then God says, I want you to walk with me... 05:57 I want you to grow with me... 05:58 I want you to go through a process of sanctification 06:01 this process which is of a lifetime 06:06 to grow up in Christ as a Christian. 06:08 Proverbs chapter 4 verse 18 says, 06:11 "The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, 06:15 shining ever brighter till the full light of day. " 06:20 Here, in Proverbs, the Bible brings out 06:23 that the Christian experience is like the sun... 06:26 the sunrise. 06:28 Now, when the sun comes up, 06:30 it doesn't immediately go to the height of noon, 06:33 it is gradual... 06:35 there is a process... 06:37 this has implications for a Christian experience, 06:40 in other words, when you become a Christian, 06:43 you are born again 06:46 and there is this process of growth 06:49 and it is a process... 06:51 just as though a baby's born into the world, 06:53 he doesn't learn how to walk immediately, 06:56 he doesn't learn how to talk immediately, 06:58 it is a growth path of maturity 07:01 and just as you watch... 07:03 or you can't watch grass grow... 07:06 it's a painful process... not a good investment of your time, 07:09 many times, our own growth is imperceptible. 07:13 We don't even know that we are growing 07:16 but we're growing in grace 07:17 and in knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 07:19 So, as you are born again, 07:22 many times, there will be this unconscious... 07:25 you're not even aware that you're changing... 07:28 but as you look back on your Christian experience, 07:31 you will notice that there has been growth... 07:34 there has been development... 07:35 there has been this trajectory of movement. 07:38 Now, I have this graph here on the screen 07:41 to illustrate justification and sanctification 07:44 and notice that birth is a point, 07:47 just like when you're born into this world, 07:49 there is a birth day... 07:51 there's a point in which your life began. 07:53 That is justification in Christian birth. 07:57 After birth... there is Christian growth. 08:00 Now I have it in a trajectory headed toward a certain point, 08:05 but in reality, the Christian experience 08:07 can be kind of more like the New York Stock Exchange, 08:10 it kind of goes up and down, 08:13 but it's the trend of the life 08:15 that is the most important thing. 08:17 It's the trajectory... it's not the occasional misdeeds 08:22 it is the trend of the life. 08:25 Furthermore, you can never come to the place 08:28 in your Christian experience, 08:29 where you say, "Look, I've arrived, I'm perfect... " 08:33 quite the contrary... 08:35 if you think that you've arrived... 08:37 if you think that you're perfect... 08:39 if you think that you're all mature and full grown... 08:41 that actually shows you 08:43 that you're further back from the process 08:46 than you actually are, 08:47 because the closer you get to Christ, 08:50 the more sinful you will feel. 08:53 Now, this is not to say 08:54 that you'll dwell on your own sinfulness, 08:57 but the closer you come to Christ, 08:59 you will have a sense of your unworthiness 09:02 as you focus on Him, 09:04 so, you have Christian birth which is a point 09:07 you have Christian growth which is the work of a lifetime. 09:11 I believe that we will be continually growing 09:15 even in heaven. 09:17 Now, this is not to say that we'll be sinful in heaven, 09:19 but there will be development in heaven. 09:22 I believe that's what makes heaven fun. 09:25 You will always be growing, you will always be developing, 09:28 you will always be coming more and more like Jesus 09:32 in character because even as God is infinite, 09:35 you can never come to the place where you say 09:39 that you've arrived. 09:40 That was one of my favorite quotes from the book, 09:43 "Christ's Object Lessons" Page 65, 09:45 "At every stage of development our life may be perfect 09:49 yet if God's purpose for us is fulfilled, 09:52 there will be continual advancement. 09:56 Sanctification is the work of a lifetime. " 10:00 In other words, as long as you are alive, 10:04 as long as you are walking in Christ, 10:07 you will always be growing, 10:10 it doesn't matter if you've been a Christian for 50, 60, 70 years 10:13 you should still be growing in Christ. 10:17 In other words, you can never come to the place 10:20 in your Christian experience, 10:22 where you say, "I've arrived... 10:24 I'm there... I don't need to grow anymore" 10:27 quite the contrary... 10:28 you will always be growing in Christ 10:31 as long as you are alive. 10:33 "The closer you come to Jesus, 10:35 the more faulty you'll appear in your own eyes, 10:37 for your vision will be clear, 10:38 and your imperfections will be seen 10:41 in distinct contrast with His perfect character. 10:44 Be not discouraged, 10:46 this is an evidence that Satan's delusions 10:49 are losing their power. " 10:51 You can never come to the place where you say, 10:54 "Look, I am sinless... 10:56 I've grown so much that I don't need sanctification 11:00 and Christian growth anymore. " 11:02 Quite the contrary, the closer you come to Jesus, 11:06 the more keenly will you sense your unworthiness. 11:10 This is the paradox of how sanctification works 11:14 because even though you're becoming 11:17 more and more like Jesus in character, 11:19 in your own heart... in your own sense... 11:21 you recognize that it is not your righteousness 11:25 but it's the righteousness of Christ. 11:27 You see, the more you become like Jesus, 11:30 the less pride and sufficiency take up residence 11:35 in your own heart and in your own life. 11:37 When you look at the illustration 11:40 of how Jesus dealt with this woman caught in adultery, 11:44 can you imagine what that felt like 11:46 as these rough men took this woman 11:49 and dragged her before Jesus and set her before Jesus 11:53 and said, "What are you going to do with this woman?" 11:55 And Jesus looked at those men and said, 11:59 "He who has no sin among you, may he cast the first stone. " 12:02 And the Bible tells us that one by one 12:05 beginning with the oldest to the last... 12:07 they all departed from that place 12:09 and the Bible says... 12:10 it was just Jesus and that woman standing there. 12:14 Notice what Jesus said to that woman 12:16 that was caught in the very act of adultery 12:19 and here you see the beauty of the gospel in what He said, 12:23 He said, "Neither do I condemn you, 12:27 go and sin no more. " 12:30 Right there in that phrase, you have pardon... 12:34 "Neither do I condemn you" 12:35 and then you have power, "go and sin no more... " 12:40 and that is the exact way that Jesus relates to us. 12:44 Have you sinned? 12:46 I have... 12:47 I have things in my life that I'm not proud of 12:50 and I'm so thankful that I can come to Jesus 12:53 just the way that I am 12:54 and Jesus looks at me, just like He did with that woman 12:58 and says, "Neither do I condemn you, 13:02 "go and sin no more. " 13:05 The way that Jesus relates to this woman 13:08 is the way that Jesus relates with us. 13:11 Won't you come to Him today? 13:12 Won't you accept Him as Savior and Lord of your life? 13:16 Won't you accept the provision and the righteousness 13:20 that Jesus has provided for us? 13:21 I appeal to you to accept Him today. 13:24 Let us study again 13:25 as we look at the sanctuary, salvation and our Savior. |
Revised 2019-10-03