Difference between revisions of "Together We Grow"
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==Sanctification not self-help== | ==Sanctification not self-help== | ||
===Don't drink the self-help Kool-Aid (Romans 6:6).=== | ===Don't drink the self-help Kool-Aid (Romans 6:6).=== | ||
| − | ===Do put the focus on Christ (Romans 6:11) | + | ===Do put the focus on Christ (Romans 6:11)=== |
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===Participate in your sanctification, don't try to lead it yourself (Romans 6:14; Gal 5:16-18).=== | ===Participate in your sanctification, don't try to lead it yourself (Romans 6:14; Gal 5:16-18).=== | ||
===MTR: Join with the Holy Spirit as a participant in your sanctification.=== | ===MTR: Join with the Holy Spirit as a participant in your sanctification.=== | ||
Revision as of 16:36, 10 July 2023
Theological Proposition/Focus: God desires each of us to grow to be more like Christ.
Homiletical Proposition/Application: We need to grow in christlikeness by participating with the Holy Spirit within the body of Christ known as the church.
Introduction: Sanctification is a Team Sport
Image: Running a relay race
I enjoy running! In school I ran track, I was never really good, but I did enjoy being on a relay team. Running on a relay team was a lot of fun because each individual matters but also the team matters. If you never train, ignore your diet, and stay up all night before the race then you are going to disappoint your team. On the other hand, if everyone on the team works hard and trains well then even if one person has a bad day, the rest of the team will support that one person and victory can still be achieved.
I think this is very similar to what we call sanctification (the process of becoming more and more like Christ). We are in this together, we are a team, but we also have individual responsibilities.
Need: We need to grow in Christ-likeness together
Preview: Sanctification should be a natural outflowing of salvation, is so much more than self-help, and must take place as part of the body.
Setting the Stage:
Salvation occurs through grace.
Body
Justification implies sanctification.
Don't be an evangelical Antinomian (Romans 6:14).
In reality, the word "freedom" by itself does not make sense. instead we should think of freedom as always freedom from something to something else.
Independence Day - Free from paying taxes to a king.
Drivers License - Free from the confines of my parents driving schedule.
Retirement - Free from having the requirement to be at work 9-5 every day.
Freedom by itself is actually another word, chaos.
Make holiness a priority (1 Peter 1:16).
Anticipate perfective sanctification (1 John 3:1-3).
Image:
MTR: Determine to make sanctification a priority.
Sanctification not self-help
Don't drink the self-help Kool-Aid (Romans 6:6).
Do put the focus on Christ (Romans 6:11)
Participate in your sanctification, don't try to lead it yourself (Romans 6:14; Gal 5:16-18).
MTR: Join with the Holy Spirit as a participant in your sanctification.
Sanctification occurs as part of the body
Image: Chemistry requires a controlled environment.
The Holy Spirit is the catalyst. The local church is a beaker (Hebrews 10:23-25).
Formally, a Catalyst is a substance that brings about chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change.
We have already spoken a lot about the role of the Holy Spirit in our sanctification. Now I wan to focus on the church.
