What a pleasure to be with you. I've been looking forward to this conference for quite some time, and it's here. It's amazing. Those items on the calendar that are way down the line there, they all of a sudden appear, and here we all are. So what a privilege to be here. And what a joy it is to think together with you this evening and through the weekend together tomorrow as well on the doctrine of sanctification. You'll find in your booklet there notes to follow along and I'm really depending upon those. I have so many passages I want us to think about together that I just knew it would be impossible to rifle through our own Bibles and try to find passages and so Are those available? Ah. I wonder what happened. So you don't have them. Oh my. Okay. Yeah, there's not time to rifle, that's the thing. So I will read them to you. You can make a note of the references. But we'll see if we can get this corrected for tomorrow. Because it really will help a lot. And maybe we could give them this set tomorrow as well. That would be very helpful. Tonight I'm going to be talking about the doctrine of sanctification, beginning with the Christian's new identity in Christ. And just to think with you a bit about what it means to be an in-Christ person, and think with you a bit about progressive and positional sanctification. And then in the coming three sessions that I have with you, we'll look next at the agency of our sanctification, the next session on the means of sanctification, and the following one on the goal and extent of our sanctification. So we'll be looking at a number of areas that relate to what it means to be people whom God has chosen to be his own, and as his own, he is working in them to make them to be like Christ. So growing in Christ-likeness through this process of sanctification. You know, it's interesting when you look in the Bible at the term sanctification or holiness, you find that it's used by authors in the New Testament both in terms of our present state, that we are a sanctified people now, and in a future sense, that God is sanctifying us to become what we are not now. So both are true in the Bible. Let me give you a definition of positional sanctification as it is sometimes called. This kind of states the indicative of what is true of us because we are in Christ. Positional sanctification can be thought of as the following. The present position or status of believers from the moment of their conversion are being definitely and unalterably separated unto God in Christ. Thus they are called saints in the New Testament, or holy ones, indicating their irreversible new identity as those who are separated from darkness to light, from the dominion of Satan to the kingdom of God's beloved Son. So in positional sanctification, there is a definitive work that takes place that cannot be added to or diminished. It admits no increase or decrease. You know, when you move to another state, some of you have probably done that. Some of you perhaps even moved to another country. Well, once you have moved there, you're now there. Now, maybe you don't feel entirely like you're a citizen of that new area that you live in, but you are there. You can't be more, say, in California tomorrow than you are today. You can't be more a citizen of California a month from now than you are today, even though you grow in understanding what it means to be in that new state or the like. Well, it's something like that in the Christian life, that God does a definitive work in calling us to be his own, separating us from the dominion of Satan, putting us into Christ, filling us with his spirit, calling us to be his own children, and doing all of these wonderful things that take place that cannot be changed, that are the possession of a believer, the first moment, that that man or that woman puts faith in Christ, all of these glorious truths take place. Listen to just a few passages that speak of this positional sanctification. This is Acts 26.18. Acts 26.18, Paul is being called by Jesus to be a missionary to the Gentiles. "'to open their eyes,' Jesus says to Paul, "'so that they may turn from darkness to light, "'from the dominion of Satan to God, "'that they may receive forgiveness of sins "'and inheritance among those who have been sanctified "'through faith in me.'" So this sanctification then is to be set apart. You're now set apart unto God. You're set apart away from Satan, from the dominion of Satan into this kingdom of Christ. Or 1 Corinthians 1. This is interesting. 1 Corinthians. These believers have a lot of problems, as we know, as we read this book. But listen to how Paul begins. to the church of God, which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified." That's a perfect passive participle. Those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus. Saints by calling. With all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours. So they have been set apart. that admits no increase or decrease. You either are set apart unto God or you are not. And if you are, that's a permanent reality, a fixed reality that cannot be more true tomorrow than it is today. Definitive sanctification or positional sanctification speaks of what God does the moment we believe to make us his own, to bring us into the kingdom of his son, to make us his own children and the like. These are the realities that are true for us. Our new identity really is as those who now belong to God through Christ. 1 Corinthians 6, 11, likewise, Paul writes there of a number of practices that were true of the unbelievers who now are believers in Christ. And he says, such were some of you, but you were washed. You were sanctified. An aorist passive participle here, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our God. Colossians 1, 13 and 14, for he rescued us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins. So again, another place where we see this transference has taken place. He has rescued us. We are transferred from Satan, from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of Christ. In Hebrews 10.10, by this will we have been sanctified. And that's another perfect passive participle. We have been sanctified that the effects of it are ongoing through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. So we see the Bible clearly does teach that sanctification, in one sense, is a definitive act. It is something that happens the moment we believe in Christ, and it is inalterable. It is full and complete. The fullness of our new identity is established the moment that we put our faith in Christ. But the Bible also speaks of sanctification in a progressive manner, of something that is ongoing in the Christian life, that will not be completed until we are with Christ. Here's a definition of progressive sanctification, and then we'll look at a few passages on it. Progressive sanctification refers to the continuous operation of the Holy Spirit in joining the believer's willful participation to strengthen our newly imparted disposition toward holiness, freeing us increasingly from the power of sin and renewing us increasingly into the image of Christ. So there is this ongoing work that God does in those who are set apart to him. So we are set apart to him so that he does this work in us to make us more in our own experience, in our own lives, what he has created and redeemed us to be in Christ. So we are his and he works in us because of that. See, you might think of it this way, that the indicative, who we are in Christ, is the basis, then, for the imperative in the New Testament, why we pursue the life of growth and holiness that God calls us to, because of our new identity in Him. The imperative always flows from the indicative. I mean, one of the problems in some preaching can be by jumping to the imperatives of the New Testament, calling people to do these things. You know, it sounds more practical, doesn't it? Right? We can have a list, a to-do list for people to follow, but if they don't understand their identity in Christ, then you can interpret the to-do list as something I can do on my own. or I have the responsibility to do in my own power. But of course this is not the case. Understanding the indicative side of things first, that we are in Christ, that we are temples of the Holy Spirit, that we have been granted resurrection power, all of that is the platform for understanding rightly how those imperatives are to be carried out. So indeed, they're there, those imperatives, but they're imperatives that come to those of us who are in Christ and therefore have a position by which we can grow then in becoming what God calls us to be. In increasing measure, never fully in this life, but awaiting that day when it will be completed. Think with me just of a couple passages here. Colossians 1, 10 and following. Paul writes, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. I mean, can't you tell in that phraseology there, this sense of ongoing. increasing growth that will take place, including even our very knowledge of God itself grows over time, strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience, joyously giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. For he rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son. So you can see there that the imperatives are based in the fact of who we now are. We are transferred into the kingdom of Christ. Therefore, we live out in increasing measure those qualities that match who we now are. Or here's a marvelous expression of progressive sanctification in 1 Thessalonians, which of course is Paul's letter to a church that was doing very well. He commends them several times for their faithfulness and their... their commitment to Christ in following Him. So this is not like the Corinthian church where Paul has a whole list of problems, but rather here's a church that on balance is doing really well. And Paul has very good things to say about the Thessalonians. But even in the context of his commending them, he says in 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 3, this is the will of God for you, your sanctification. That is that you abstain from sexual immorality. And then he goes on to discuss how important it is for Christian people, men and women who are Christians, to live lives of sexual purity before God. He ends that brief section by saying, if you reject this, you have rejected the God who gives his Holy Spirit to you. Now think about the significance of how he put that. He didn't say merely, if you reject this, you're rejecting God. That's true. And he could have said that. But he says rather, if you're rejecting this, you're rejecting the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you. Do you understand the significance? God gave the Holy Spirit to us indicating we are His and now given spiritual empowerment to be able to grow in living lives of fidelity before Him. It's not something we have in ourselves. It's the gift of the Spirit that provides empowerment that we lack that enables us to grow in these ways. Why do you think God gave the Holy Spirit to His children? so that we would grow in holiness, the empowerment of the Spirit to do that. So indeed. Well, there are many other passages. When you get the handout later, you'll see that I have some more here that you can look at that speak of both positional and progressive sanctification. Now, for the remainder of tonight, I'm gonna focus on elements of that positional sanctification, our new identity in Christ, And I have a raft of them to look at with you. I mean, it's just really amazing. If you ask yourself the question from the text of Scripture, what is it that identifies us as Christians? And the answer to that question, of our new identity as Christian people is remarkable how rich and full it is. So here are some of them, some of the things that we should bring to mind and remember, this is who I am. I mean, honestly, these are things we should think about regularly, daily, to bring to mind so that we remember our identity, we remember who we truly are, which then provides the part of the incentive and the drive then to live in a manner that is consistent with and faithful to that understanding of our new identity. So let me start with an identity marker. You might think of them as identity markers. An identity marker that goes all the way back to eternity past. We are the chosen people. Isn't that remarkable? We are the chosen people. One of my favorite novels that I've ever read is a short novel by Kayim Potok, who writes about the culture, the ethos and culture of Hasidic Judaism in New York City. It's a fascinating novel. But you know, it's interesting, the title of that book, The Chosen, signals this reality about the Jewish people. They have never had a difficult time embracing the fact that they are the chosen people, unlike so many Christians. Sadly, who find the doctrine of divine election divisive, problematic, something to be avoided, when in fact the doctrine of election in scripture is glorious for many reasons, but one of them is this, it defines who we are. We are who we are only because God has chosen us to be his people. I mean, we need to get this. This is an amazingly wonderful, positive, glorious doctrine that we should embrace as Christian people. So think with me for a moment. Of course, the doctrine of election has history, rootage in the Old Testament. Just one text, we could look at many, Deuteronomy 14, verse two. God says to Israel, you are a holy people to the Lord your God. And the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. You know, so it is not the case that God put out word to the nations. Is there anyone out there who would like to follow me as their God? Do I see a hand? You know, it did not happen this way, but rather out of all the nations on the face of the earth, of all nations, guess who God chose? This little puny people called Israel. You know, he talks about that in chapter seven of Deuteronomy. I didn't choose you because you were the greatest of all the peoples. You are the smallest, but God chose them. It is because of the choice of God. They are what they are. And likewise, this is true for us. Think of a parallel passage in the New Testament that relates to us using that same Old Testament imagery. 1 Peter 2, verse 9. but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now you can see in that verse the tremendous significance of what it means to embrace the idea that we are chosen by God to be His own. What does that mean? We express then His glory in how we live. We live in a manner that proclaims the excellencies of God who has chosen. Can you believe it? the likes of you and me, to be His own people. I mean, you remember 1 Corinthians 1, not many wise, not many noble. I mean, this room is testimony to it, including the guy that's on the stage. Yeah, it's just, it's amazing, isn't it? The kindness and mercy of God, and the only way that we can account for the fact that we are who we are, in the most significant thing that is true of us, is that God chose us to be His own. When did He do this? before He created the world, He chose us. Paul in Ephesians chapter one, verse four, after that, verse three, where he extols the greatness of God's goodness to us. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. that we should be holy and blameless before him." Again, you see it there, don't you? You see the outworking of this reality of being the chosen people of God is for what purpose? To live lives, to be the holy people that he created and redeemed us to be. So in eternity past, God chose us to be his own. Notice also there is a very strong sense in which the love of God is manifest in election. So Ephesians 1.5 goes on to say, in love he predestined us. to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, to the praise and the glory of His name." So indeed, we realize that the love of God is manifest to these people whom He has chosen by destining them in advance. That's really what the word predestination means, is to provide the destined end in advance. You know, in Romans 8, 29, that destined end is to be like Christ, whom he foreknew, he predestined to become conformed to the image of his Son. Well, in Ephesians 1, 5, that destined end that God has established in advance is to be his own children. In love, He predestined us through Jesus Christ to be His sons. What a beautiful thing this is, to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself. I mean, it just conjures up rightly so this sense of intimacy, of relational warmth that there would be with God and those who at the moment that He chooses us were just The idea in his mind, we don't exist yet, right? But yet his love is poured out upon us to choose us to be his own children. Here the love of God also in Colossians 3.12. So then as those who have been chosen of God, holy, set apart, and beloved, the love of God manifest to those whom he has chosen. Because that is the case, he said, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience. Again, you see it clearly that the position that we have chosen of God is the platform then for living in a different way, living in a way that demonstrates the reality of God's choosing us to be his own. One more text and then we'll move on. 2 Thessalonians 2.13. We should always give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord. So here's the love of God, again, attached to election. We should always give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit. The Spirit's the one who, in his calling of you, pulls you out of that world, takes you away from the dominion of Satan. He's the one who separates you unto God by his work through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. So indeed, by our faith, the Spirit had worked pulling us into the family of God, ripping us out of the clutches of Satan. We are then brought in to a relationship with Him that is only true for those who are chosen, chosen of Him, holy and beloved. Indeed, we should always be thankful, as Paul reminds us here, to give thanks to God for this fact that He has done this in us. Okay, so here's the first identity marker that It's a shame. Oh, it just grieves me that this is the case. Because of all of the controversy that there is surrounding the doctrine of the election, it has robbed innumerable Christian people of this glorious truth that is embedded in the Bible. that defines who we are in the most ultimate way. We would not be adopted. We would not be justified. We would not be you name it. We would not be any of that if God had not chosen us. from eternity past to be his own. And in that choosing, all the rest of it comes. Do you see that? The only reason that we get all the rest is because in eternity past, God chose us to be the recipients of that fullness. So don't turn away from this doctrine. don't despise this doctrine, instead embrace it. I mean, isn't it amazing, just to press this point one step further, isn't it amazing that when Paul thinks the thought in Ephesians 1, 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose blessings with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, that the very first thing, the very first blessing that comes to his mind and off his pen is, He chose us in Christ. I mean, I think if you ask a typical adult Sunday school class in a typical evangelical church across America to make a list of why God should be praised. Make a list. Take the next 10 minutes. Make a list of why God should be praised. How many of those people in that typical adult Sunday school class would have, He chose us on the list? How many of them would top the list? First thing that comes to mind. So indeed, we need to rethink this. If the Bible cherishes the doctrine of election and we find it problematic, one of us needs to change the way we think. Which one do you think it is? Here's the second identity marker. It's closely related to the first, although it happens a long time later. Called. Called by God. We're not only chosen by Him in eternity past, but we are called by Him in history, in time. He calls us to be His own. You know, in the Bible, there are two senses of calling. There's a general call. You might think of it as the Billy Graham crusade call, where the gospel is proclaimed and the offer of salvation is made available to all who hear. That's the general call. And you find many examples in the Bible of that kind of call. Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. So that's a very, very common way in which the calling of God is expressed in scripture. But there is another a clear biblical sense of divine calling that is not the general call, but it is the special call that goes just to God's own, to bring them to faith. A call to the elect, a call to the people whom God has chosen to save, that they will be brought to salvation. Here's a very clear example of it in Romans 8, 29 and 30. For those whom he foreknew, he predestined to become conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And those whom he predestined, he called. And those whom he called, he called. justified, and those whom he justified he glorified." Okay, think with me for a moment. It's very clear that this is a special call rather than the general call because it goes only to some, not all. The Billy Graham call, the general call, goes to all people without discrimination. Anyone can receive the general call. In fact, everyone should. If we were doing our job rightly, everyone in the world would receive the general call, right? But the special call does not go to everyone. Here in Romans 8, 29 and 30, whom he predestined He called. So only those predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, namely those whom God has destined to be his own children, those whom he's destined to become like Christ, they're the ones who receive this call. Only them, right? So whom he predestined, he called. Now notice the second thing. It works. This is a call that guarantees that all those given this call come. All of those who are given this call believe. All of those given this call are saved. How do we know that? Well, listen, whom He predestined, He called, and whom He called, He justified. So what there is not in this text is any slippage. All of those who are foreknown are predestined. All of those who are predestined are called. All of those who are called are justified. They're saved. And of course, that's the basis for their future salvation. All of those who are justified are glorified. So indeed, this is what is sometimes called the effectual call. It's a call that effects a person's saving faith. It effects their salvation as it brings them necessarily to believe in Christ. It is sometimes also called the doctrine of irresistible grace. grace given that cannot in the end be resisted. It might have been resisted before. Some of you have that story, I bet. Resisting, resisting, resisting, but the day came when God worked in your heart, you saw the glory of Christ, you realized the fall of your sin, and you came. Well, that's irresistible grace. It doesn't mean it can't be resisted at certain points. It means it cannot be resisted ultimately. And God brings those whom he has chosen. So effectual call, irresistible grace, two ways of thinking of the same thing. And again, my friends, Notice the point of this tonight for us is that this is another identity marker. We are those called by God, not only chosen by Him in eternity past, but look at what He does to secure the fact that we will be His. He doesn't leave it up to us. How could his election be certified? How could he actually choose us to be holy and blameless and then leave it up to us whether we come or not? Makes no sense, does it? So he chooses us to be holy and blameless and works in us to bring us certainly without any resistance ultimately. Irresistible grace. effectual calling to come and be his forever. Here's another example of this calling of God that brings us. In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul speaks of Jews and Gentiles, both of whom as categories of people reject Christ. You know, Jews see the cross of Christ as foolishness. Gentiles as a stumbling block. So here's what Paul says in verses 22 to 24. 1 Corinthians 1, for indeed Jews ask for a sign and Greeks search for a wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks. Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Now notice that the called then is not a third category. It's not, we've got the Jews over here who reject the gospel. We've got the Greeks over here who reject the gospel. And then we've got a third category, the called. who are neither Jews nor Greeks. Oh no, oh no. These are Jews and Greeks who, as Jews and Greeks, would naturally reject the gospel. That's what both do. The Jews, it's a stumbling block. To the Gentiles, I'm sorry, the Jews, it's foolishness. To the Gentiles, it's a stumbling block. But, I think I said it the wrong way again, didn't I? So just reverse that. but to the called both Jews and Greeks. So among Jews and Greeks who are called, they get it, they come. They are the ones who then understand because of God's work in them, who Christ truly is. Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. So indeed, we are a chosen people, chosen from eternity past and called to be his own. Just as it is true, we wouldn't be who we are had God not chosen us. It's also true, we wouldn't be here, sitting here as believers. wanting to grow in our faith, our understanding of the teaching of God's word and becoming conformed more to the likeness of Christ. We wouldn't be doing that if it were not for God's calling us out of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved son, making us his own in time and space. Okay, two identity markers so far. We're moving ahead quickly. That's kind of a word to myself. because I have a lot here. Union with Christ, union with Christ. Now, this is a tough category to know exactly where to put it on a list because there's a sense in which it encompasses everything. But in any case, union with Christ is a very important concept that, again, defines who we are. Christian, do you know who you are? And one of the most important answers biblically to that question of who you are is this, you, man or woman, who has believed in Christ, are united to Christ in an inseparable union, bringing together who you are, joined together with Christ forever. So think, for example, of just a few places where we see this in the New Testament. Galatians 2.20, very familiar passage. I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh, his physical life that he lives day by day, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. So complete Paul's union with Christ is so complete is that he can say, it's no longer I who live. That is, the Saul of Tarsus person who ran his own life, who felt like he had rightful jurisdiction over what he did, is dead. I've been crucified with Christ and the one that lives in me now is Christ. And so it is his life in me that moves me, that directs me, that drives me. You know, there's a very clear sense in which this is how Jesus lived his life as he was united to the Father. You know, we see this in John's gospel, this juxtaposition of Jesus saying, I am in the Father and the Father is in me, and then reach, and then extending that to us being in Christ and in the Father. It's a beautiful thing to behold. Here's one sample of our being in Christ in John's gospel, chapter 15. John writes, abide in me and I in you. Actually, Jesus, this is written in John's gospel, but Jesus is speaking, abide in me and I in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the divine, so neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, you get that sense of mutual indwelling. I in Christ, Christ in me. He bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. nothing of eternal value, nothing that God would look at and commend, nothing that will impact other people or your own life for the benefit of the kingdom of Christ, nothing that would last for eternity apart from Christ at work in us. So we have got to understand then that we don't wake up in the morning and ask the question, what am I capable of doing for the kingdom this day? If I'm thinking of me, apart from Christ, the answer is nothing. Nothing. We fool ourselves if we think that we have it in us. No, indeed, it is Christ at work in us that provides the strength. Let me just say one more word here because I know that some people have heard things like that and they take it in a direction that would almost mean it's Christ in me, not me. It's Christ instead of me. You know, there is a a teaching that was very prominent a few decades back that we owe in history to the Keswick Revival Movement in England that really had this message of what I sometimes refer to as a replacement theology of sanctification. Replacement, it's Christ, not me. And really, this is not what Paul is saying. Because he says in Galatians 2.20, and the life that I now live in the flesh. So this is not Christ instead of me, but rather it's Christ empowering me, Christ transforming me. It's a transformational model, not a replacement model of what happens when Christ indwells our lives. So he comes within to grant us his empowerment. I mean, think of the image that Jesus himself gave of the branch and the vines. Right, so there has to be this flow of nourishment, this sustaining power that comes in order to bear fruit, in order to produce that which is beneficial. So indeed, union with Christ then is a very important New Testament teaching that helps us understand our identity. We are in Christ people and informs us of our bankruptcy to do anything that God has called us to on our own, and the tremendous optimism and hope that we have because of the power of Christ who is at work in us. I mean, think for example, one place, just one more passage where we see is Romans 6. The first 11 verses, I won't read all of it to you, but what a beautiful statement here. You remember, Paul asks this question at the beginning of Romans 6, what shall we say then? Are we to continue to sin that grace might increase? And of course, he has in mind there just what he had just finished saying at the end of chapter five, that where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. Oh, well, if that's the case, let's really show off grace. by sinning even more, so we can see how much greater grace is all the time. Makes perfect sense, right? Wrong. Here's why. Do you not know, he says in Romans 6, that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death. Therefore, we've been buried with Him, you sense that union with Christ, united with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. And he says in verse 11, then, even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. So here's another place where we see this union with Christ indicates that's where the power resides. It's not in me or in you, it is in Christ. We are in Him who died and rose. He's the one who has won the victory over sin. And only as we are in Him, do we share in His victory. So Christian, do you know who you are? One very important aspect of the answer to that question is I am united to Christ. His life at work in me that can never be separated. I am His and He is in me forever. Which brings up the next point. And that is that we are filled with the Holy Spirit. These two things go closely hand in hand. We are those who have been granted the Spirit. We are temples of the Spirit. And the New Testament teaches that Christ is in us through the Spirit. You know, it's interesting, isn't it, that Jesus told his disciples before he left that he was leaving. He would come back for them, John 14, I'm going to prepare a place for you, but don't worry, I'm coming back. So he's leaving, but then on the other hand, he says at the end of the Great Commission, for lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Well, how is he with us if he's left us? And the answer, of course, is He sent us another Comforter. That is, one who mediates the very presence of Jesus, the Spirit of Christ Himself, comes to dwell within our lives. Here's another area, my friends, where I think conservative evangelicals have missed out on glorious New Testament teaching because of abuses of that teaching. And I have in mind here, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. I think for some evangelical Christians, if they hear the phrase, the Holy Spirit, they conjure up in their minds the charismatic movement or aspects of Pentecostalism that they find objectionable. And therefore they throw out the proverbial baby with the bathwater, right? And we shouldn't do that because the teaching of the Bible, goodness, the anticipation from the Old Testament of the coming Spirit who would come and remake us from the inside out is so glorious. And so to realize we now on this side of Pentecost are granted that new covenant gift of being temples of the Holy Spirit. What a glorious thing. You might remember in Ezekiel 36, Verse 27, God, through the prophet Ezekiel, promised the people of God, the day is coming when I will pour out My Spirit upon you and cause you to walk in My statutes. You will be careful to observe My ordinances. So the Spirit would come and bring empowerment by which the people of God would now be able to live lives they could not live before. You also hear it in Romans 8, 3 and 4. Listen carefully. What the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh. Now, let me just interpret that part right there. What the law could do was establish for the people of God a very good standard of righteousness by which the people of God were to live. I mean, you think of Romans 7, 12, the law is holy and righteous and good. There's nothing wrong with the standard that was established by the law, but what the law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, my flesh, your flesh, was the law could not make us keep the standard. It was like a speed limit sign. It may be a very good sign indicating a safe speed limit, but it can't make you keep it, right? It's impotent. It cannot hold you to what it says you should do. Neither can the law do that. The law is impotent to make people law keepers. So what the law could not do, weak as was through the flesh, God did. Notice the one-two punch. Sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, he condemns sin in the flesh in order that the requirement of the law might be fulfilled in those who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. So indeed, the Spirit comes to provide empowerment, now for law keeping. Now, by the way, I don't understand law keeping there to mean the law of Moses, because the law of Moses ends with Christ. Christ fulfilled the law, the law ends, and what takes its place is not anti-law or no law at all, but the law of Christ. 1 Corinthians 9, I think this makes this very, very clear, where Paul understands himself as under the law of Christ, not the law of Moses. But nonetheless, it still is obedience before God to what Christ has commanded us to do, empowered by the Spirit. So what a glorious thing to realize, for example, in the words of 1 Corinthians 3.16, do you not know that you are a temple of the Holy Spirit, a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? A temple of God. Just think of that image in the Old Testament, how significant the temple was. This is the place where God dwelt with his people. And now you, in 1 Corinthians 3, this is a plural, you collectively are the temple of God. Not a building out there, but the assembly of the people of God are the temple. In 1 Corinthians 6, it's each one of us individually. 1 Corinthians 6, flea immorality, verse 18, Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you're not your own. You've been bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body. So indeed, temple of the Holy Spirit, to realize that long-awaited, promised Holy Spirit has come. And He has come to indwell every one of us, to bring us the very power by which Christ lived His life, now lived in us. Okay, moving on. Another identity marker for the people of God. Adopted into the family of God. Adopted into the family of God. This is another one of these beautiful images where we realize how precious it is to be a Christian. It means you are a son or a daughter of God. It just doesn't get better than this, to be in that family forever. And again, this has Old Testament background to it. Israel was God's son. So there's a sense in which there was an adoption that was already understood in that context. In fact, let me read one passage to you. and just comment on one thing from it. In Isaiah 43, verse one, Isaiah 43, verse one, we read this. Thus says the Lord, your creator, O Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel, do not fear, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. So here he calls us by name. Who's the only one that has the right to name a child? Well, in our human context, parents, because they have jurisdiction over that child. So God names His children, indicating He named, He renamed Jacob, Israel, right? And that very renaming indicates God's jurisdiction over that man. But now listen to verse seven. This is also Isaiah 43, verse seven. Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made." Listen to the difference. Verse 1, everyone whom I have called by name. Verse 7, everyone whom I have called by My name. Do you hear the difference? So here's the difference between the two. I am Bruce Ware. Bruce is verse one. That's the name my parents called me. Ware is verse seven. I was called by their name, by my father's name, Ware. You hear it? So we are both called by name by God, indicating his love and his rights of ownership as it were. You are mine, he declares in that verse. I have called you by name, you are mine. But then he has also given us the family name of God. I just think of it. It just cannot be more precious than to realize that's what it means to be in the family of God. We bear the family name. And so, I mean, that's the intimacy with which God, the Father has loved us, that through His Son, He would make us sons who would bear the same family name. Just one other passage, Galatians 4, 4-7. When the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, The language here is so interesting, isn't it? He sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that he might redeem those who are under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. I just can hardly imagine what it was like between the father and the son when the father tells the son his plan to send him, his only son, to come and redeem a people who will be brought into the family as sons. Imagine an only child of a wealthy in a wealthy home. How excited would they be that the parents all of a sudden decided to adopt a hundred children to share in the inheritance? Oh, wow, that's a great idea. Imagine the son, the son, in love and with joy, doing what he did so that we could share in his inheritance. Amazing. Sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. By the way, and that which is what Paul says, Because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Therefore, you're no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, an heir through God. And you Christian women, you need to get over this. If you have difficulty hearing the Bible call you a son of God, just remember that it's sons who receive. the inheritance. So it's a good thing that you as a Christian woman are made a son of God. Now, sometimes the biblical language is child or sons and daughters, that's fine, but there are some places where it is son and it's usually tied to heir. And by the way, don't forget you Christian women out there that we Christian men also have our gender issue to deal with here because we're all part of the bride of Christ. And I think that's the harder one. Personally, I think that's the harder one. Okay, just one more here. There will be more on the notes when you get it, get the notes, but one more. And this last one. is a sobering one. There are all of these and more positive things that are identity markers of who we are now in Christ, what it means to be a Christian. But here is another clear statement from the Bible of who we now are, and that is those who continue to be afflicted with indwelling sin. Lest we adopt a perfectionist mindset, Let's just be truthful with the Word of God and understand it clearly indicates that we will struggle and fight against sin the whole of these lives that we share together until we are with Christ. I mean, the promise of the change that will take place when Christ comes again is great. Beloved, what love the Father has bestowed upon us that we are children of God, but it has not appeared as yet, but of what we shall be. But when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. So 1 John 3, verses one and two is a tremendous reinforcement of the fact that the work of God will be completed. But right now in this life, we have to fight sin every day. Listen to these words from Romans 13. I read these words often. They are some of the most important verses in the Bible for this Christian man fighting sin. These words are as follows. Do this knowing the time that is already the hour for you to awaken from the sleep. For now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, the day is near. Therefore, let us lay aside deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. So this is part and parcel of the Christian life is the awareness every day is a day of battle. There are no vacation days for a believer where you can just forget that sin is a reality. I wish there were. That's heaven. That day is coming. But this life right now, every day, is a life of fighting sin. And of course, that goes along with growth in holiness, right? So the positive side of this, all these things that we're going to be talking about in the coming sessions, are the flip side of this truth right here, and that what marks us is indwelling sin. We have to acknowledge that this is part of our lives, this side of glory. John Wesley, just frankly, was dead wrong on this. His exegesis is horrible. And he developed this doctrine that has been highly influential that just is not biblically based. And that is that in a moment, a Christian can believe in the finished work of Christ and be freed from indwelling sin. Wesley's words are, sin and its root can be removed so that every thought, word, temper, attitude, and action will be motivated by pure love for God and others." That's a quote. That's a quote from Wesley. And honestly, what he's describing is what we'll have in heaven, but it is not what we have in this life. We fight, fight, fight every day. So realize, we have to have a very strong offense. And honestly, the stronger the offense, the greater our defense will work. But nonetheless, we've got to engage the defensive side of the Christian faith as well, and guard ourselves against the assaults of sin in tempting us in ways that can bring us down and bring us harm. So remember, my brothers and sisters, who you are, chosen by God. called by God, united with Christ, given the very gift of the Holy Spirit, brought into the family of God, that we might be a new people before Him. Granted, we fight sin every day, but sin will not win. Your new identity in Christ is what will win in the end. And so rejoice, take heart, trust in your Savior, and embrace who you now are in Christ with joy and thanksgiving. Let's pray together. Father, thank you for our time as we've been able to reflect together this evening on what you have done for us in Christ. And we are so grateful to be new creatures, a new people. and called by you with the certainty that you will make us the holy people you have pledged that we will be. Until that day, Lord, help us to embrace this identity of who we are as your people and help us to live in ways that reflect that reality in increasing measure. We pray this in Christ's name, amen.