Sacred Beyond Sunday

We also are royalty. Peter tells us that we as Christians are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, and what we need in the church more than ever before as people who will say with passion and conviction.

Since I am headed for that future throne is coregent with Jesus Christ and not try and I will live here on earth with character to match that crown because of who I am in Christ justification. I will live for Christ. Why should we obey God at all. What reason is there for obeying God if it doesn't improve our standing there are two important theological concepts. Each believer should understand one is called justification.

The other is called sanctification. One relates to how we can be saved from the penalty of sin and the other relates to removing sin from our life.

Justification deals with how we can begin a right relationship with God. Sanctification deals with how we can live holy lives before God. Both of these doctrines are important, they are distinct from each other but they work together in the life of the believer and will see how today welcome to this broadcast of wisdom for the heart with Stephen, Davey, Steven is currently in a series called delivered from the kingdom of sin is calling this lesson sacred beyond Sunday here.

Stephen for the first time in his letter to the believers living in Rome, Italy. Call again to deliver some command. Having developed the doctrine that the believer has died, to the reign of sin.

He now will begin to challenge the believer with the reality of sin when you were saved that point when he trusted Christ personally for your salvation. You were delivered from the penalty of sin. That is the doctrine of justification. Now you are in the process of being delivered from the power of sin. That is the process of sanctification. Justification takes a moment in time, sanctification takes a lifetime.

And you never really arrive until that day when we see him in our glorified state perfected in him. We have to be careful not to combine these two doctrines erroneously.

Many call send isms and false religions have made sanctification how you live. The basis for justification. How you are saying. Sanctification will reveal the authenticity of justification. While our sanctification does not determine our justification. It does verify that part of our challenges in it in life. We are holy and our position in Christ. We are not always holy in our practice for Christ and that's where sanctification goes to work. The goal of God through sanctification is to bring our practice in line with our profession. You could define sanctification. This way it is the work of God's spirit and are willing the hearts and minds that conforms us into the character of Jesus Christ. A shorter definition of sanctification could emanate right from the very Greek word that is used, you can simply define it by translating the word to mean set apart. We are set apart on the God we are set apart for God's use of the concept of sanctification, then isn't too hard to grasp because all of us have things are homes that have been set apart or dedicated for a particular use when you were little of you ever used your mom's favorite pair of scissors to cut cardboard in the garage to make a fort and I'm not sure why that's on my mind but you found out a little lesson on site patient probably long lesson sanctification. If you ever took your dad's golf clubs out of the backyard to hit rocks you discovered the principle of sanctification. See the goal of God through sanctification is in the same way. These tools are set apart for a particular purpose, and they use so our bodies Paul will teach us is dedicated to God to be set apart in the God. There are things that our bodies should do and were designed to do and are things that our body should not do and are not designed by God when little Victoria discovered the truth and was told at age 11 that she was next in line for the British throne. She burst into tears. Historians record for us that then she regained her composure and said with some conviction. Well, if I am going to be queen. I will be good now, does that mean that from then on Queen Victoria. Little Princess Victoria was perfect. I've never met a perfect 11-year-old you know, it just means that she grasp this concept the Christians need to catch is this principle of set apartness. This principle of sanctification. Victoria determined with some measure of conviction that her practice would measure up to her position, she determined that she would reveal in our character. Those things that seem to fit her crown. We also are royalty. Peter tells us that we as Christians are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, and what we need in the church more than ever before as people who will say with passion and conviction.

Since I am headed for that future throne is coregent with Jesus Christ and that trot I will live here on earth with character to match that crown because of who I am in Christ justification. I will live for Christ. Sanctification question remains, how do we live separate lives to Christ.

What a certification look like, what are we supposed to do well as we have been studying this chapter we reach that hinge point in verse 12 work. Paul will now begin to give the command as to what sanctification holy living is all about. He will give us a twofold command under the inspiring ministry of the Holy Spirit. The first part is negative in the second part of this command is positive. Look at verse 12 of Romans chapter 6 therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey its loss and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness. This is the negative commands of God through Paul. Stop your formal these are present imperatives. You could literally write in your English translation, the word the beginning verse 12 and in the beginning verse 13 stop with it! Paul is literally saying therefore stopped letting the sin reign in your body is verse 13 stop presenting the members of your body to sin. The apostle Peter personifies sin as someone who is at war with us. He writes in first Peter 211. I urge you to abstain from fleshly last which wage war against your soul. Where delivered from the kingdom of darkness that old Monarch trails around. He wants to slip back in the will try every day, John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim's progress also wrote a lesser-known book which he entitled the holy war.

In this book he personified the soul as a city and he named it man soul and he said that man's soul had five gates. The ear gate the eye gate. The nose gate.

The field gate in the mouth and he personified sin as a would-be conquering monarch, taking his cues.

I believe from Romans six and first Peter two and he talks about in this allegory how the enemy of man's soul would come every day and make his attacks at these five gates he would speak through the ear gate attempting tempting messages he would paint before the eye gate vivid and alluring pictures. But the interesting thing in his allegory is that man's soul could never be toppled by outside attacks. The only way the enemy could ever conquer the city was if someone on the inside open one of the gates and invited them in Solomon I think has a little bit of this thought in mind when he says, guard your wife.

Guard your hearts literally post on guard at the doorway of your heart. Both Peter and Paul urge the believer to engage in this kind of battle. In fact, when Paul in verse 13 says stop presenting your members to sin he is using a military term or terminology to bring to our minds.

We were Greek students would immediately catch it. This idea of battle, to present your members is a military expression of presenting your arm. It may represent the transfer of weaponry or arms. In other words, Paul, that is saying Donald led the enemy use your body as a weapon against you.

You want to be a holy man, a holy man for God. Then when you sit down and you watch that movie that's the average movie on television or on the movie screen. We know statistically that a little more than 90% of all sexual content in the average movie today is between on married people or between people who were married to somebody else you are in effect handing over your eyes to the enemy and say here which is is against me in my war for all to be a holy woman look at the CDs and cassettes you look at her favorite songs and she listens on the way to school or work around the house and you listen to the lyrics and discover that she is really affecting nothing more than handing over her ears and her emotions to the enemy to use them against her in her war for holiness. There is a war of thought is at work in the life of the believer and Paul is saying stop handing over your body to the enemy. Find out which gate he's at and go post extra guards. There Paul writes therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey its loss and do not go on presenting the members of your body the sin as instruments of unrighteousness that you died, to the reign of sin. That is your position of justification. Now he says put the death in a way this monarch who will whisper in your heart and in your ear and to your thoughts and in your plans. Make sure he doesn't slip back in and that's a daily practice. Paul says stop. So in other words we have to do is we have to learn to say no, but to learn how to say that little word no have you ever thought about the fact that early on as a child picks up the English language that they never have to have lessons in dying.

No, you never have a three-year-old running on housing yes mommy yes mommy yes yes mom is no mommy, no, no, no, no, mommy. I was at the two-year-old can so easily say no to 20-year-old can wear 30-year-old or 50-year-old or 60-year-old is a fascinating revelation of our sinful nature that we say no so easily when were young and when you're older. It's a difficult to say it was a note of the things we should say yes to and we say yes to things we should say no to the average believer, I am convinced in this war for holiness needs to learn to say a little word that is all but disappeared from our vocabulary. That little word is no practice of chowing mindless at all. Once no say louder. No shout it no louder can really get into a debtor I think is more than ever. Mom after the church service we have to say no many many times I was on the campus of the Bible college about a year ago, one of the students told me that they just built a Krispy Kreme shop right down the hill from campus, not just a place where they sell them at a place where you can watch them being made. Ever seen that happen. We watch them being made you walk in and that is olfactory and is surrounded by glass wall in his walk attorney pressure nose against the glass just as little balls were formed in flight little bit in the piercing blast of air shoots through them increase that hole and then they are on the series of elevators little miniature elevators at go up and down in this oven with the right amount of humidity in heated and you can watch them rise and eventually they're finished in there and they come out of this conveyor belt perfectly shaped and they moved toward this waterfall of icing and they move underneath that water followed by sink and are you are you know watching this and then you can kinda keep your eye on one or two of them and then you can go up to the counter news I want that one.

Have you ever eaten a doughnut like that that just came off the belt. They melt in your mouth like you had to have another one just to make sure you had a because it happened so quick and then 1/3 one just the and and and then what happens, they begin to swell and you get this really yucky feeling anything.

Why did I do that is the problem for me wasn't standing there. The problem was in the fact that I had this nose smear all the way down his glasses. I was watching it I can get up to the counter and I could pull out my wallet and I can open it up and then at that moment, I can say Lord I you promised me that there is no temptation taken you but such as is common to man your faithful and you will allow me a way of escape, that I may be able to bear.

So now, Lord, give me a way of escape, when it be foolish when should I have said that before ever pulled in the parking right before I had a little nose smear all the way down the glass to the end of that counter.

That's when I think most Christians in this is our problem. We get as close as we can and then we say okay you are not ready for the escape now while I can understand when controlled by sin.

You know my problem was my problem was and even parking in getting out my problem was earlier when that student told me there was one I should've covered my ears and don't tell me about that. That's where began. That's what you post the guard for us in real terms with real sin. Ladies and gentlemen, it is very important early on to say no. Now Christianity is just not one big negative for people to think that just a note of all the wrong things and you'll be fine is only one side of the coin actually have to have a very big yes in your Christian experience, not just a very big now look at the middle part of verse 13 call this on and I turned over the coin, he says, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God per se may you offer yourself to God. We talked at our last session by yielding your body to the one who has the right-of-way. That's the yes you say no to sin you say yes to the Savior in this text, you discover this principle of cooperation, sanctification, living a holy life.

There are two extremes to avoid. By the way this doctrine one extreme would say that, well, it's all up to the individual you get a muster up the strength you think positive thoughts and you can do it you can do it you can do it put posters all over your office and all the stuff to remind you you you got the power and you can that's one extreme is wrong, but the other extreme that I think is very popular within the Christian church of the evangelical church today is the extreme that says what is nothing up to the individual believer you know I believe the God is sovereign's were just going to misinterpret that particular doctor and organist say that unless he does everything in my life then I will be able to do it and I therefore won't do it. One of the verses that uses approve Texas Philippians 213 what we read God works in us both to will and the doom of his good pleasure. So we read that was entered as if God doesn't allow it in my life that I'll never do it. So if I want to read the Bible, waiting to be the well site and read in such a small I would grow up. If he does give me the will of. That's the other extreme truth as the previous verse of the one that I just read in the context says this work out your salvation with fear and trembling now know that he is not talking about justification. He is talking about sanctification. You don't work out you don't have within you work it out he says live it out decide to live for God's pleasure, and then he adds, for it is God who is at work and you both to will and to do with his good pleasure. In other words, Paul will encourage the one who decides to live a holy life and develop holy discipline that God will enable him.

God is the source ultimately of power and that ability to say yes he is not saying that we are robots and that if God doesn't give us the will.

We never well this and if you don't decide to study the Bible, God is not taken off the shelf wizard over to where you're sitting.

Turn off the television, open it up and say study here.

He will do it if you decide not to come to church, using a levitate you out of the bed put you in the shower, put your clothes on in the car driving her in situ hearings on when I got say well I don't have the desire than God's full, one author said that when we use the word cooperation. We do not mean a 50-50 partnership in which you put in your having to put in his house. Know the power is all his. But he does not act without the submission of the believer in this process of sanctification supposed as part of growing up in Christ is not only saying no not presenting your arms to the enemy, but presenting your arms to God. Sanctification is not a matter of spiritual abduction by God. It is a matter of spiritual submission to God Jonah Gardner wrote in this way, God's will is active in our lives only as our wills are submissive to his. A large part of the battle in the Christian life has to do with the saying of yes, in fact, I have found that it's easy to decide what I want to say no to. In the say no to those things saying yes to the right things is really part of the larger battle is what Paul would exhort Timothy Timothy train yourself for godliness hidden say center I just wait for God to do something.

Train yourself for godliness. This is a realistic command. There is no mysticism.

There is no Pietism is no monasticism. You don't wait for some special blessing to come along. And then now purity and holiness and joy and faith and patience just the immediately attached themselves easily to my life and yours by Paul use the word discipline is the Greek word Jim Nobbs gives us our word gymnasium. Ken Hughes makes a good point when he says where the breakout spiritual sweat in the word where work out in these spiritual disciplines for the sake of spiritual growth went along the QR milk of the word whereby we grow writer defines the Greek word boom nods so discipline to quote that vigorous development vigorous application of all the believer strength and ability that he may serve the glory of God. With every thought and action at some point awarded and it is true we do not naturally even after coming to faith in Christ drift toward holiness. We will never drift and always we do not drift toward obedience but disobedience. The gravitational pull of our flesh is not toward prayer, but prayer lesson this. We do not find humility easy. We find pride easy. We do not easily acquire faith, we easily acquire fear. We do not naturally delight in the things of the Lord with the light in the stuff planet Earth you can say no to all those wrong things, but you need to say yes to those right things. It's easy to do that on Sunday easy to say no to easy to say yes living a holy life means were sacred beyond Sunday.

Dr. Lauren provoke my thinking when he commented on this text and he wrote this question, what use will you make of your bodies will they be temples or toys toys serve a childish and temporary purpose. They are later laid aside, battered, worn out is that when your body is the you how empty and sad.

Such a life would be on the other hand, temples are for the presence of God. They are made to hold communion with God. They are to be filled with music and dignified by worship your body's are as temples are stately objects of the beautiful reminder among all of mankind of both the presence and power of God.

What a great question. Is your body a toy or attempt which receives and displays the power and glory of God the very point Paul is teaching here. He says another text. Have you forgotten. Have you forgotten evidently the current incident. Have you forgotten your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit you receive from God price therefore glorify God with your literal body is the same thing.

It means here. Do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members.

Your body parts, your mind, your heart as instruments of righteousness.

In other words, he is reminding us dear friends that our bodies are not always. They are temples and so because we have been brought to life and we are in him we live for him. Therefore, we if we hope to grow in Christ by his strength and power and are submissive will living through us. We say no to sin and we say great reminder today from God's sometimes words like justification and sanctification can be confusing.

There are important so we need to understand them and we need to know how they relate to each other. If we don't think properly about these truths will struggle in our relationship with God because living properly.

Always follows thinking properly.

I hope today's lesson has helped you think properly.

Today you're listening to wisdom for the heart with Stephen Devi.

Today's lesson is called sacred beyond Sunday and it comes from a series out of Romans six, entitled delivered from the kingdom of said in addition to equipping you with these daily Bible messages. We also have a magazine that we publish monthly. The articles each month. Focus on a particular theme and explore various topics related to the Christian life. Stephen son Seth writes a daily devotional guide using that guide each day will help you remain grounded in God's word, the magazine is called heart to heart.

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