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Romans 12:1-8
We invite you to join us for worship each Sunday morning at 9:30. You can download our service on iTunes or tune in for “The Good Word” each day on AM 1230 WSAL or on Hoosier Country 103.7 FM just after 8am. Just as any child is expected to learn to do many different things that will make them productive as adults, God expects His adopted children to learn to do many different things that will make them productive members of Christ’s body! I’m using an outline from a prominent theologian as a guide. Let’s start with what is probably the hardest part for most of us:
- CONCEDING TO GOD. In Rom. 12:1 we are told to “Present our bodies as living sacrifices to God…” In Rom. 6 we are told to “yield our members to God as instruments of righteousness…” Conceding or yielding or giving up, anything to anyone is hard for us because the old sin nature still wants us to put us 1st. Conceding, yielding, presenting, giving and a host of other such words are all synonyms for “humility.” This 1st step in sanctification is demands we allow God to have His way in conforming us to Christ’s image, which is one of the main tenants of sanctification. Read Rom. 8:12, 13. Do you see how God is teaching us our sanctification is a unified effort involving both God and us? Look at v. 13. If you live according to the flesh you will die, but, now watch closely, if – by the Spirit – you – put to death… Your active role in your sanctification is you killing/stopping/eliminating from your life the ungodliness and unrighteousness that infected it before your salvation. Look again at v. 13. If you.. BUT if –now look and see with your eyes and heart! But if BY THE SPIRIT – you… If you want God’s help, you must change your perspective. Now in all this remember, this is a process, not an event. Change, even God’s way, more often than not takes time, perseverance, and patience, and practice! Notice the next step in progressive sanctification is:
- CLEANSING THE TEMPLE OF GOD. Read 2 Cor. 7:1, then 1 Thess. 4:1-5. Notice 1st God’s will is for our sanctification. God wants His adopted children to be sanctified, set apart, separated for all ungodliness and unrighteousness; which is the message of this, and many other passages in both OT/NT. Another way we cleanse the temple is: B. Make every effort to become sanctified. Read 2 Peter 1:1-11. In the 1st 4 vs, God is the Active Agent Who is giving to us what we cannot obtain through any efforts on our own. In v. 5 Peter says, “For this reason/because of what God has done/because of what He has given us = make every effort. How does one make every effort? It is simple, one simply chooses to become like Christ. As we cleanse the temple our progressive sanctification certainly leads us to:
- CONFORMITY TO THE WORD OF GOD. Read Phil 2:12, 13. The key phrase here is “work out your own salvation.” In Paul’s theology the work of salvation is an inward desire that is always being prompted by the indwelling Holy Spirit to obey all God says. That inward desire to obey is demonstrated outwardly by a life that conforms to the will of God as expressed in His Word, and under the scrutiny of witnesses both good and evil. To break old sinful habits is more often hard that easy, and requires extraordinary diligence and perseverance over the long haul. Only a redeemed heart surrendered to the will of God is infused with the divine power that supplies everything for righteousness and godliness!
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