My subject tonight is sanctification and union with Christ. What is sanctification? Basically, it's a process by which sinners are made into perfect saints. It's the transforming of wicked men and women into perfectly holy men and women. The essence of holiness is obedience to God's law. The word holy means separation. It's a two-fold separation. Separation from sin and separated unto God. Christ said to us at the end of chapter 5 in the Sermon on the Mount, He said, Be ye therefore perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. We have a duty to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in us, both to will and to do, of His good pleasure, Philippians 2, 12 and 13. We are to work out, to put energy into and labor at our salvation. Yet it's not all of man. It's not even part man and part God. Rather, it's you working and God enabling you to work. As you strive to be holy, God gives you the desire and the ability. All glory at the end of the day must be given to God. Now, first of all, I would like us to consider definitive sanctification. Regeneration takes place in a moment. The dead sinner is resurrected and brought to spiritual life. Justification and adoption also take place in a moment. They are acts of God. Now, sanctification has two aspects. There's the act of God which transforms us in an instant, and that is known as definitive sanctification. It changes a sinner into a saint. Every Christian is a saint. Cada cristiano es un santo. Yet we are sinful saints. We are far from perfect. Sin embargo, somos santos pecadores. Estamos muy lejos de ser perfectos. Then there's the ongoing work of making a born-again Christian holy which is known as progressive sanctification. So first at the beginning of our lives as Christians there's this great jump in holiness, definitive sanctification, and then for the rest of our life there's a progression in holiness, and then when we die we are made perfect in holiness. Definitive sanctification involves a radical break with sin and with our past. You die, you're buried, and you rise with Christ. The old man, or the unconverted man, is crucified, Romans 6, verses 4 to 6. The world is crucified unto you and you unto the world, Galatians 6.14. You are dead with Christ to your past life. Your old master Satan is dead. We must not play down the immensity of this change. We are to be what we are. Romans 6 verses 11 to 13. Reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. Romans 6 verses 11 to 13. We are to be as those who are dead to sin. We are no longer to be Satan's slaves. Be God's servants. You are made free from sin, therefore you should walk in this liberty, Romans 6.22. Now, of course, although Satan, your master in that sense, is dead, we are aware that Satan is still very active, tempting us and trying to lead us astray. We are now in a new relationship both to Satan and Christ. We are dead in that sense to Satan as our master, but we are alive to Christ as our new master. No thinking about perfectionism. Taking the biblical language for definitive sanctification, some have argued that Christians are perfect in this life. Taking the biblical language for definitive sanctification, some have argued that Christians are perfect in this life. This arguing that some special people can attain to a state of perfection in this life. They claim to have had a special second experience after conversion, so it's a second blessing or it's a baptism of the Holy Spirit that has brought them into this kind of perfect state. They claim to have some kind of second experience, second conversion or a kind of baptism in the Holy Spirit that leads them to this state of So they are arguing that they have stopped all sin, or at least all conscious sin. But in Romans 6, Paul is not talking about a few special Christians, but he's talking about the universal experience of all Christians. He is telling us that all who are converted have died to sin. John in his epistle 1 John 3 verse 9 says, whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. Yet earlier in the same epistle, John writes, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1.8. Further, in verse 10 of the first chapter of the first epistle of John, the apostle says, those who claim to have stopped sinning deceive themselves and call God a liar. Every Christian is a sinner, but there has been a huge change when conversion takes place, and those who are born again will not sin the sin unto death, the unforgivable sin that leads to damnation. So, every Christian is a sinner, but there has been a huge change in conversion, and those who are born again do not sin for death and condemnation. Actually, the Christian life is one of constant warfare against sin, Romans 7, 14 to 25. The unconverted are dead in sin, but one of the marks of a Christian is that there's a battle, a battle going on against sin and temptation. So, as those who are fighting this battle against sin and temptation, sometimes we cry out with the Apostle Paul, O wretched man that I am, but at the end of the day we will have the victory. So Paul says, I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord, through whom we have the victory in the end over sin. So definitive sanctification then is talking about the big jump that changes a sinner into a saint. But as long as we are in this life, saints will still be sinners. Now we're looking at progressive sanctification. Following the act of definitive sanctification, this leap in holiness, there's the progressive sanctification which continues during the rest of our life. So it involves negatively dying to sin, turning from sin, and positively growing in grace. Romans 8, 13. If you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. So there is an ongoing work, as John Bunyan says in his famous book, there's a pilgrim's progress to heaven. Now the Westminster Confession of Faith, in answer to the question, what is sanctification? Answer 25, it talks about this progressive sanctification. Now looking at the pattern, there is a pattern set before us to be aimed at. First we have the ethical holiness of God. Be ye holy, for I am holy, 1 Peter 1, 16. Then there is the example of Christ. Let this mine be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, Philippians 2, verse 5. But as it's put in Romans 8, 29, we are to be conformed to the image of His Son. Then, thirdly, we've got the ethical holiness of God as our pattern, the example of Christ, and then there's the preceptive will of God. We are given the commandments of Scripture, which are summarized for us in the Ten Commandments. And holiness is essentially obedience to the revealed will of God. Next, thinking about the goal of sanctification. In sanctification we aim at perfect conformity to the pattern that God has given us. But we strive for something more than mere obedience. We also struggle to get to know God. Paul talks about this in Philippians 3 verse 10, that I may know him. This was a great longing of the Apostle Paul. Knowing God is not simply an intellectual thing, it's rather a relationship. We are to strive personally for an intimate knowledge of God. A holy person is one who has warm piety, love and devotion to God. It involves delighting in God and enjoying Him, having a loving relationship with God. We are to be content with nothing less than experiencing God as we walk with him, listen to him, and talk with him each day. Next, thinking about legalism. Today, if you stress the duty of keeping the commandments, many people will accuse you of being legalistic. But legalism is adhering to the law rather than the gospel as a way of salvation, as trying to be saved by keeping the law. So legalism is trusting in your own keeping of the commandments and your own goodness rather than in the cross of Christ. Legalism is seeking salvation in the covenant of works rather than in the covenant of grace. It's putting your faith in your own efforts to save yourself rather than in the gift which God freely offers. So legalism is trusting in your own abilities rather than in union with Christ as the dynamic power and the energy to expel sin from your heart and life. Legalism is failing to depend upon the Spirit of God to help you. Although we are saved by faith alone, in Christ alone, yet God's law summarised in the Ten Commandments has a vital part to play in our salvation. The Law of God, or the Ten Commandments, has three special uses. First, it's a God-given code for the life of society. Secondly, it is a schoolmaster to convict you of your sin and to force you out of every refuge till you come to Christ. So you try to keep the law, you're unable to do it, and in desperation you come to Christ to save you. And then the third use of the law is as the rule of life for the Christian. Christ said in John 14 verse 15, if you love me, keep my commandments. Our love for God is expressed by keeping his commandments. Paul said very forcefully, we are not under the law, but under grace, Romans 6.15. But he also said, we are under the law to Christ, 1 Corinthians 9.21. John the Apostle of Love puts it quite plainly in 1 John 5 3, for this is the love of God that we keep his commandments. Sadly, the heresy of antinomianism, which rejects the law as a rule of life for the Christian, is very common. John Duncan, an early free church minister known as Rabbi Duncan, called antinomianism the mother of all heresies, the one from which all other heresies come. John Duncan, also known as Rabbi Duncan, who had been a former minister of Scotland, called antinomianism the mother of all heresies, because all the others come from it. Now looking at the means of sanctification. Sanctification is a work of God's Spirit. The Spirit of God is called holy, not because he is any holier than the Father and the Son, but because his work is to make men and women holy. Yet the Spirit uses means in our sanctification. And the means of sanctification are the following. First, the primary means is the reading and especially the preaching of the Word, but also the reading of other good books which explain the Word. Christ said in John 17 verse 17, sanctify them through thy truth. The sacraments are another important means of grace. Being baptized, separate yourself from your sins and seek to live according to your high profession as one baptized. Remember that by your baptism you're united to Christ and therefore carry the name of Christ in this world. In the Lord's Supper you are to feed on Christ as you remember the Lord's death till he comes. So the sacraments sanctify us. A third means of sanctification is prayer. We are to pray against temptation, we're to pray for forgiveness, and we're to pray for grace to persevere and grow. We meet God in prayer. It's as we pray to God that we get to know him personally. The Fellowship of the Saints stirs us up also as a fourth means to sanctification. It's dangerous to be isolated as a Christian. We are to provoke one another to love and to good works. The old illustration of a lump of coal burning in the fire, if you take it out of the fire and put it on the hearth, it soon blackens and the fire dies down. So we are to be like coals in the fire, keeping one another's burning and warm. Providence has a role also. God chastises us and corrects us for our sins and backsliding. We must learn from these corrections of God. Also the trials of life purify faith and strengthen it and weaken our attachment to this world and make us long for heaven. So, in conclusion, as far as this first part of our paper is concerned, children need to see holy parents who walk with God. What an impact holy parents, a holy father or mother has upon children growing up in the home. Nothing is more effective in bringing up our children for the Lord than the example of happy godliness. And congregations need to see holy pastors and holy elders. This reinforces the message and provides an example for the flock. Paul could say, be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. And I hope those of us who are leaders in the church could say the same. The world needs also to see a holy church amongst them. Too often the world looks at the church and says the church is full of hypocrites. We have to be an example to the world and a challenge to them. We are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Now coming to the second part, which is union with Christ. Nothing in our sense is more important than our union with Christ. It underlies the whole application of redemption. Every blessing comes to us because of our union with Christ and outside of Christ there's no blessing but only God's wrath and curse. So then why do we leave this important doctrine to the end, as it were? The reason is that having dealt with the other parts of the application of redemption, we can now consider this in relation to the Bible's teaching about union with Christ. The reaction is that after having seen most of the other aspects of the application of redemption, now we can consider them in relation to the biblical teaching about the union with Christ. So thinking about, first, union with Christ in relation to the eternal plan. In a sense, our union with Christ began in eternity. We were chosen in Christ and loved in Christ before the foundations of the world were laid, and the purpose of this choosing in Him was so that we would be holy. We were chosen in Christ, called in Christ before the foundation of the world, and for this reason we were chosen to be saints. This is emphasised in Ephesians 1, verses 3 and 4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According us, he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. Ephesians 1, 3 and 4. In Ephesians, chapter 1, verses 3 and 4, it says, Blessed is the Father, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us with all spiritual blessing in the celestial places, in Christ, as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we might be saints and without stain before Him in love. The Father predestined us to be adopted as his children by and in Christ. And if you're Christians, there never was a time when God did not view you in Christ. Then thinking about union with Christ in relation to the covenants. When God created man, he created all mankind in Adam in the covenant of works. Adam was our covenant head. That is why when Adam sinned, we all sinned and fell with him in his first transgression. In a similar way, all God's elect are related to Christ in the covenant of redemption. As Adam was our head in the covenant of work, so Christ is our head in the covenant of redemption. 1 Corinthians 15.22 As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15.22 With Adam we all sinned and died. In Christ we are perfectly obedient to God, keeping his commandments in union with Christ. But more, when Christ suffered the penalty for sin, we suffered and we died with Christ, we were buried with Him and we rose with Him. We were united to Christ as He atoned for us on the cross. He has made us accepted in the Beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. In Ephesians 1.6.7 it says, Christ's righteousness is ours and his satisfaction rendered to the justice of God when he was punished for our sins is ours too. Now thinking of the effectual calling and union with Christ, the work of sanctification, the work of salvation starts in our lives with the effectual calling There may be convictions of sin and stirrings before that point, but it is only when we are effectually called that we rise from being dead in sins. Effectual calling has been called into fellowship, the fellowship of his son Jesus Christ, 1 Corinthians 1 verse 9. Prior to our conversion, we were, without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2, verses 12 and 13. In that time you were in Christ, strangers to the city of Israel and strangers to the covenant of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ, Jesus, you who in another time were far away, you have been made close by the blood of Christ, because he is our peace, which one of both peoples made, knocking down the intermediate wall of separation. So in effectual calling we are called into union with Christ by faith because we were elected in Christ and suffered on the cross in Christ our covenant head. So we have been called to union with Christ by faith because we were elected in Christ and we have also suffered on the cross in Christ Thinking now of union with Christ in relation to regeneration. Immediately we are effectually called in the application of redemption comes regeneration or the new birth, being born again. So what happens in regeneration is that the spirit of Christ comes to dwell in our hearts. So from now on, there's a reality of union with Christ because Christ dwells in us by faith, by His Spirit. We are crucified to the old life and rise with Christ to a new life. Thinking again of those verses in Romans 6, verses 4 to 6, therefore we are buried with him and by baptism unto death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. We are united to Christ by being planted in Christ and by Christ dwelling in us by His Spirit. We are united to Christ by being planted, injected in Christ, and by the fact that Christ dies in us, by His Spirit. And Paul says, But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. Romans 8, 9 and 10. In Romans 8, 9 and 10 it says, But we are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If the Spirit of God dwells in you, and if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not of Christ. So regeneration unites us to Christ. Now faith is the first act of the regenerate soul in response to God's call. So repentance is turning from sin, faith is turning to Christ, and receiving him as he is freely offered to us in the gospel. To the church at Laodicea, Christ said, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in with him and sup with him and he with me. Faith welcomes Christ into our hearts. And Christ by His Spirit comes to dwell in us and we become the temple of the Holy Ghost. Faith comes to Christ and rests on Christ. Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. and 1 John 3, 24, and hereby we know that he abideth in us by his spirit which he hath given us. Now justification is also involved in union with Christ. Faith is the instrument of justification. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By faith, we lay hold on Christ for our justification and are united to him. By faith, we lay hold of Christ for our justification and are united to him. Romans 4.25, who was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. In Romans 4.25, who was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. In justifying us, God views us as perfectly obedient in Christ. He pronounces us pardoned and accepted because we are united to Christ. And he sees us as having paid the penalty for our sins in Christ and now risen with Christ. When it comes to adoption, Paul says that our adoption follows our union with Christ by faith. Here are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ, Galatians 3.25. And we are assured of our adoption, because God sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father, Galatians 4.6. And we are so united to Christ and the family of God that we are called heirs and joint heirs with Christ, Romans 8, 17. So the Spirit dwelling in us assures us of our adoption by witnessing with our spirit that we are the children of God. Coming now to sanctification. Our union with Christ plays a major role in our sanctification as an incentive and an encouragement. As Christians who are united to Christ, we are not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers, 2 Corinthians 6, 14. Being one body with Christ, we are not to have fellowship with devils, 1 Corinthians 10, 16-21. Paul argues, surely it would be outrageous to take the members of Christ's body and join them to a harlot. Remember that your bodies are members of Christ, 1 Corinthians 6, 15 to 20. You are to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2, 12, 13. Turning now to look at perseverance in union with Christ. When God begins the good work in us, good work in us, he will complete it, Philippians 1, 6. Christ dwells in us by his Spirit, and he will never leave us nor forsake us, Hebrews 13, 5. And then Romans 8, 38 and 39, I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8, 38-39 says, So I am certain that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor princes, nor powers, nor the present, nor the future, nor the high, nor the low, nor any other thing, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Hebrews 12 verse 2, Christ has come to live in us permanently and assures us that he is the author and the finisher of our faith. And then glorification. The Christian's death is described as falling asleep in Jesus, 1 Thessalonians 4.14. In the Westminster Shorter Catechism, we find the amazing statement in Answer 37 that Christian's bodies are still united to Christ, resting in the graves till the resurrection. Man is made up of a body and a soul and that full person is united to Christ in regeneration and shall remain so forever. Christ returns at the end of the world to raise up our bodies, to unite our bodies and souls together once more, and so shall we ever be with the Lord in eternal union. Christ returns to the end of the world to raise our bodies, to unite our bodies and souls together once again, and then to always be with the Lord in an eternal union. 1 Thessalonians 4 verses 14 and then 16 and 18. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. And then we, which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. And the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 14, and then also 16 and 17, Because if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so will God also bring with him those who slept in Jesus. Revelation 3.21, union with Christ forever, to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne. We'll look now briefly at some pictures of union with Christ in Scripture. The Church is described as a building with Christ as the foundation and we are built on Him. La iglesia está descrita como un edificio que tiene a Cristo como el fundamento y nosotros somos edificados en él. 1 Corinthians 3.11 For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. En 1 Corinthians 3.11 dice que no se puede poner otro fundamento que ya está puesto, que es Jesucristo. Christ says in Matthew 6, 18, upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. We are living stones, and he is the cornerstone, to whom comeliness unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. He also are lively stones, built up a spiritual house. 1 Peter 2 verses 4 and 5. 1 Peter 2, verses 4 and 5 says, In another picture, Christ is presented to us as the vine, and we are the branches. I am the vine, ye are the branches, he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. John 15, verse 5. Paul speaks of God's church as being like a body with Christ as the head and we as the members or individual parts of that body, 1 Corinthians 12. And Paul, in 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, talks about the image of the body, of Christians being the members and Christ the head of this body. In 1 Corinthians, chapter 12, verses 12 to 14 and 27. 12 to 14. He says, Because the body is one and has many members, but all the members of the body, Being many, they are one body, so is Christ. Because by one spirit we are all baptized in one body, be it Jews or Greeks, or be it Serbs or Free, and all of us were given to live by the same spirit. Another picture that we're given is that of marriage. When Paul is dealing with marriage, he presents Christ as the husband of the church and the church as the spouse. Ephesians 5, 31 and 32. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. In Ephesians 5, 31 and 32, it says that for this cause the man shall leave his father and mother, and shall join his wife, and they shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I say this in relation to Christ and His Church. Even the Trinity, the closest union there possibly is, is used by our Saviour to describe the relationship of union with Himself. In John 17, 21, he prays, that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they all may be one in us, that the world may know that thou hast sent me. In John 17, 21, he says, that they may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they may also be one in us, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. Finally, the implications of union with Christ. Taking the pictures that we have been given above and using them, we get insights into certain implications of our union with Christ which are helpful. Take the picture of a building and its foundation. Tomemos la imagen de un edificio y de su fundamento. This implies our duty to abide on him, resting and trusting and loving and building upon Christ as our foundation. Esto comporta nuestro deber de permanecer en él o sobre él, descansando, confiando, amando y siendo edificado sobre él como nuestro fundamento. Some build on the sand, but we build on Christ and build a building that will remain. Secondly, think of a cornerstone. You and I are stones, and we are united to Christ, the cornerstone, and in him find our strength. We are stones. We are stones in God's church, and we are united to the cornerstone. Our eye must constantly be on Christ in prayer and faith. Without the cornerstone, we fall apart, but cemented to Him and to one another, we stand. Thirdly, the illustration of the vine emphasizes that we bear fruit only when we are united to Christ. Outside of Christ, we are like a branch cut out of the vine, which dries, shrivels up, and dies. but as a branch abiding in Christ we bear much fruit. Fourthly, the vine also makes clear that we should seek closer and closer union with Christ. For it is only through this relationship with Christ that we can draw nourishment from Christ, the sap which we need, the spirit which we need, in order to be healthy and fruitful. Because it is only through this relationship that we can obtain the nutrient that we need from Christ, the sap and the spirit that we need, and this makes us healthy and fruitful. Fifthly, the vine exists in the branches. We as the branches are to be witnessing constantly to Christ the vine. Christ is the light of the world, but then he says to us, you are the light of the world. So we are to shine and transmit His light to the world. Sixthly, the figure of the body and head emphasizes how we must constantly look to Christ for directions. The head guides the body in everything, and so Christ should be our Lord and Master. The body can do nothing without its head. Seventhly, without the head, the body has no existence. Outside of Christ we are headless like a beheaded corpse and we have no life or blessing but rather death and hell. Outside of Christ we are headless like a beheaded corpse and we have no life or blessing but rather death and hell. Eighthly, union to Christ in the body means also union to one another. The hand needs the foot, we need one another. Let us love our fellow Christians, they are part of us. If one member is in pain, the whole body is in pain, and if one member is honoured, all are honoured. If one member suffers, the whole body suffers, and if one member is honoured, the whole body is honoured. Ninthly, marriage is the closest bond of love known in this life. Ninthly, marriage is the closest bond of love known in this life. It is wonderful that the love of Christ should be described in these terms. The Lord loved his bride and gave himself for her. Keep yourself morally pure as the bride of Christ. You are joined to the Saviour, so how then can you join yourself to a harlot? Remember, idolatry is adultery from him. And then finally, the Trinity is the deep, mysterious union. Be intimately united to the Lord. Let His joy, peace, and love flood your heart. Be filled with the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, and quench not the Spirit. Christ is in us the hope of glory, and so we are assured of heaven. He came to live in us, has transformed us, will finish the work and will never leave us. we will share with him in his throne and his house, and will be made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity. We will share with him in his throne, we will have a part with him in his throne and in his house, and we will be perfectly blessed in the full enjoyment of God for all eternity. Thank you very much for that.