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Sanctification
Part 1 - Mark 11 What Sanctification is Not (Not License)
Last fall we talked about JUSTIFICATION - God forgives your sins and he says you are righteous because of what Jesus did for you in his life and death. Ok, so when God forgives us of our sins, is he done with us? Do we just keep sinning and he just keeps forgiving us?
Or, does God ALSO change us and our bad habits?
And, does God change me or do I change myself?
And, why is change so hard? Is God mad at me because changing is so hard?
These are questions every Christian struggles with in the church. The good news is the Bible tells us that Jesus is with us all of our lives and that by the power of his Holy Spirit he works in us to change us for good. This is called sanctification.
This fall we’re talking about SANCTIFICATION = how God works to change you, a sinner, and make you more holy in your heart and in your actions.
Westminster Shorter Catechism 35:What is sanctification?
Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace,
whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God,
and are enabled more and more to die unto sin,
and live unto righteousness.
Let’s READ the story of Jesus cursing a fig tree and cleansing the temple in Mark 11:12-26.
Jesus gets mad at a fig tree. Then Jesus goes to the Temple and he gets mad at a bunch of people in the temple. And Jesus is mad at both for the same reason. The fig tree looked healthy. And the temple looked healthy too = there were a bunch of people inside. But looks can be deceiving. Jesus says the fig tree is actually bad and can’t bear fruit. And like the fig tree that looks good but is useless so is all the stuff going on in the temple.
To get into the temple you had to have two things: 1)money for the tax, 2)animal sacrifice. But, the temple didn’t accept just any currency for the tax and people were there from all over the world. Only the tierion coin got you in and so there were money changers at the temple to exchange your money. And the temple officials knew what they were doing and so the exchange rate during the Passover was very high. And for the animal sacrifices the temple officials knew traveling with animals was not desirable and that most people would opt to buy their animals at the temple and so they rented space in the Gentile court to savvy locals to set up their tables to sell animals. Doves that would have cost the poor 2 pennies now cost 2 weeks wages. So the temple officials and religious leaders made millions every year. The temple was now big business.
There may be tons of sacrifices going on in the temple but the people running the temple and selling the sacrifices - they’re like the fig tree = they’re actually really bad too, not righteous, not holy because they don’t actually love God or the people trying to worship. They’re just about making money off people trying to worship God.
Can you claim to know God and love God but then live however you want to live?
The people running the temple claim to know God, they claim to be God’s people, they claim to be doing God’s work - but it’s not true. They don’t know God or his salvation, and this means they’re not really God’s people and they’re definitely not doing God’s work in the temple.
When you think of the word “holy”what words come to mind?
Holiness is about loving God and what God loves, loving what is good and right, not loving sin. Sanctification is about holiness.
Sanctification is about righteousness. Loving justice and justification. The desire to attain right standing before God and loving that you have it because of Jesus.
Sanctification is about truth. Absolute truth revealed by God. Loving truth, the truth of the gospel about Jesus and our sin and how Jesus saves us from our sin.
Why is trying to live a holy life harder than living however you want?
Sometimes sin feels fun but holiness means we turn away from sin and that means living a holy life will cost us.
Living a holy life can be exhausting!
Sanctification looks like something that might be bad for you, but it’s only good. Y’all ever heard the saying, ‘Looks can be deceiving”? Think food. What’s y’all’s favorite food?
Looks good but bad for you: McDonald’s, candy, ice cream, chips.
Looks bad but good for you: kiwi, avocado, pineapple, fish.
GOSPEL - Sometimes things that look good turn out to be bad. Just because something looks good on the outside doesn’t mean they’re good on the inside. There’s a lot of stuff in life that the world says is good that turns out to be bad. Like:
“Live however you want to live.”
“Don’t let anyone tell you what to do.”
“Look out for number 1.”
“You’re good enough just the way you are.”
That stuff is bad for you.
Sometimes things that look bad turn out to be the best. Like the gospel. Like Jesus. Jesus may look weak and it may seem like Jesus is not good for anything and if you believe in him and live for him you’re a big weirdo or a fool.
But the hard truth is that without holiness we are not fit for God’s presence because God is holy holy holy. Sin is a rejection of God’s holiness. The truth is Jesus could curse and destroy us like he did the fig tree and the temple because we’re not good enough. But he didn’t.
The gospel, the good news about Jesus, is that he was cursed and destroyed for us for our sin on the cross in order to save us. The cross is the victory of God’s holiness because our sin really is judged and destroyed on the cross.
And Jesus didn’t stay dead. He was raised and now rules everything from heaven. And he hasn’t left you alone.
He is with you and he is sanctifying you - changing you, little by little. And he is the only power that can save you from everything bad and the only power that can change you for good.
What are some other words for holiness that help us understand it’s a good thing?
Freedom, Wholeness, Restoration, Renewal, Healing, Transformation, Re-creation, New creation, Spiritual Growth