You Were Sanctified; You Were Justified

”You Were Sanctified; You Were Justified” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

Introduction: All of us who are Christians here tonight, have been called out of the dark morass of sin into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son. We were all of us sinners, under the just sentence of hell, and we would have certainly gone there if it had not been for the grace of God through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The only thing that may differ between us is what evil practice we were engaged in when the Lord called us. Perhaps it is listed in our text here this evening, although this list is far from comprehensive. Some of us may have been involved in premarital sexual relationships. All of us were idolaters, in that we worshiped not the true God, but a god of our own making. Some of us may have even fallen into adultery. There may be someone here who was what the text calls effeminate, or a catamite, a man or a boy who allows himself to be misused in a homosexual manner, or there may be someone here who was involved in homosexuality. Maybe some of us were given to stealing, or to covetousness, or to drunkenness, or to abusing others with our mouths, or to robbery. The fact is the Lord called all of His people out of the mire of sin. Even as our Lord said, ”IT IS NOT THOSE WHO ARE HEALTHY WHO NEED A PHYSICIAN, BUT THOSE WHO ARE SICK; I DID NOT COME TO CALL THE RIGHTEOUS, BUT SINNERS” (Mark 2 : 1 7 ) . The righteous here are those who think themselves to be righteous in themselves and don’t see their need of Christ, while the sinners are those who see their sin and wickedness and reach out to Christ for their deliverance. But this text goes on to tell us, that such as these will not inherit the kingdom of God. This is not to say that if a Christian has ever committed one of these sins that he is thereby excluded. A Christian is not yet perfected, as we saw this morning, and so is capable of committing any of these sins. But by committing one of these sins, the Christian does not thereby become what is described here. If a Christian falls into fornication, but comes to his senses and repents, he is not therefore a fornicator. Committing adultery does not make one an adulterer. However, if someone gives himself over to that sin, then he may be so labeled. The difference is what the pattern of the person’s life is. Is it marked by continuing righteousness with occasional falls? O r is it a life of flagrant sin, with their giving themselves fully to that sin? This is not to minimize the seriousness of all sin, even to fall into any of these sins once is a serious matter, but it is to distinguish what Paul is saying in this text. But the tremendous truth which is expressed by Paul here is that such were some of you, but you were delivered from that sin. You were a slave to sin; at that time you reveled in it, but now you are free. By the grace of Christ you washed yourself clean in the blood of Christ. You were sanctified and justified in the name of Christ and in the Spirit of our God. By this justification, you were set free from the guilt of your sin, and by this sanctification you are being set free from its power. And this is what I want us to focus on this evening. We have spoken much about justification and sanctification. They are terms that we often use. And perhaps we understand them fairly well. But what I want us to see this evening

2

is how they compare and differ with each another. see that,

And I want you to

Justification is a one time act of God’s justice, but sanctification is a process which lasts our entire life. First I want you to see that justification and sanctification are always joined and are never separate; second, that while justification is the crediting to our account of Christ’s righteousness, sanctification is the increasing ability to do righteous acts; third, that in justification sin is forgiven, while in sanctification it is put to death; and fourth, that justification frees all believers entirely from God’s wrath and is equal in all, but sanctification is never completed in this life, and is not equal in all.

I.

Sanctification Will Always Be Present in the Life of the One Who Has Been Justified. A. The Blessings of Redemption Always Come Together as a Package, and Are Never Separate. 1 . One of the debates among the different branches of the Christian Church is the order in which the blessings of redemption are bestowed, and this is an important issue. a. For instance, it is important for us to believe that the regenerating power of God must first quicken us to life before we can exercise saving faith. b. This is to believe in the sovereignty of God in salvation, for unless He first works and raises us from spiritual death, we would never believe. 2.

B.

But it is also very important to see that these blessings always come together, and are never given alone. a. If God makes someone alive, then that person will have saving faith and will trust in Christ. b. If that person has saving faith, then God will justify them; He will forgive all of their sins, and count them as righteous in His sight. C. If that person is justified, then he will be adopted into the family of God. It is impossible that God would cleanse an individual and not take him into His own household. d. And if that person is made alive, given saving faith, and cleansed from all the guilt of his sin, he will, he absolutely must begin the process of sanctification. e. Our text tells us this this evening, as well as many other verses of Scripture, such as 1 Corinthians 1:30, which reads, ”BUT BY HIS DOING YOU ARE IN CHRIST JESUS, WHO BECAME TO US WISDOM FROM GOD, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS AND SANCTIFICATION, AND REDEMPTION.”

If You Have Been Justified by the Blood of Christ, Then You Will Grow in Holiness. 1 . It is true that our text this evening is talking about a sanctification which is actually as completed as our

3

justification is the moment that we believe in Christ. a. It is referring to that positional holiness that we have immediately upon having faith in Christ. b. He says, "BUT YOU WERE SANCTIFIED." This is the holiness in which we stand in Christ. 2.

But it is nonetheless true that if we stand before God in the perfect righteousness of Christ, that He will be working that same holiness in us. a. It is one of the means by which we might know whether or not we have been justified by God. b. If we see in our lives an increase of righteous desires and deeds, then we may know that we have been forgiven.

11. In Justification We Are Given the Perfect Righteousness of Christ, While in Sanctification We Are Actually Enabled to Perform Righteous Acts. A. We Are Declared to Be Perfectly Righteous in the Sight of God Only for the Righteousness of His Son Imputed to Us. 1 . We are not able by keeping the Law to earn a perfect righteousness. a. Our best works without the grace of God are as filthy rags. Isaiah writes, "FOR ALL OF US HAVE BECOME LIKE ONE WHO IS UNCLEAN, AND ALL OUR RIGHTEOUS DEEDS ARE LIKE A FILTHY GARMENT; AND ALL OF us WITHER LIKE A LEAF, AND OUR INIQUITIES, LIKE THE WIND TAKE US AWAY" (64:6). b. And even the best of our works with the grace of God are still dirtied by sin, and unacceptable to God. 2.

But in justification, the perfect obedience of Christ to all the Law of God is imputed to us. a. His absolutely flawless record of lawkeeping is laid to our account. God looks at us as if we had done precisely what His Son did. b. It is pictured in the Scriptures as garments of clean linen or as a brilliant white robe adorning the saints. c. A beautiful picture of this is in Zechariah's account of Joshua the high priest. He writes, "THEN HE SHOWED ME JOSHUA THE HIGH PRIEST STANDING BEFORE THE ANGEL OF THE LORD, AND SATAN STANDING AT HIS RIGHT HAND TO ACCUSE HIM. AND THE LORD SAID TO SATAN, 'THE LORD REBUKE YOU, SATAN! INDEED, THE LORD WHO HAS CHOSEN JERUSALEM REBUKE YOU! IS THIS NOT A BRAND PLUCKED FROM THE FIRE?' NOW JOSHUA WAS CLOTHED WITH FILTHY GARMENTS AND STANDING BEFORE THE ANGEL. AND HE SPOKE AND SAID TO THOSE WHO WERE STANDING BEFORE HIM SAYING, 'REMOVE THE FILTHY GARMENTS FROM HIM. ' AGAIN HE SAID TO HIM, 'SEE, I HAVE TAKEN YOUR INIQUITY AWAY FROM YOU AND WILL CLOTHE YOU WITH FESTAL ROBES.' THEN I SAID, 'LET THEM PUT A CLEAN TURBAN ON HIS HEAD.' SO THEY PUT A CLEAN TURBAN ON HIS HEAD AND CLOTHED HIM WITH GARMENTS, WHILE THE ANGEL OF THE LORD WAS STANDING

4

d. B.

III.

BY” (Zech. 3:1-5). In justification we are clothed in the perfect righteousness of Christ.

But the Ability to Do What God Commands Us Comes to Us Through Sanctification. 1 . Justification gives to us that righteousness as a possession, so that we are positionally sanctified. In principle, we are already perfect before God. 2. But in sanctification we are given the power to actually do righteous acts. a. In justification we say that God has imputed, or credited, the righteousness of Christ to our account. b. But in sanctification, He actually infuses, or pours into our souls the grace, or power, of Christ, giving us the ability to live a godly life. c. In this case, the illustration used by the Roman church to picture justification may be valid: Our souls are like a container which is filled to various levels with the grace of God. The more grace that is poured in, the more power we have. d. And it is the power to do what the Christian yearns for more than anything else: to be like Jesus Christ, to live as He lived.

In Justification Our Sin is Pardoned, But in Sanctification It Is Subdued. A. God Forgives Us all the Guilt of Our Sins for Christ’s Sake Al one. 1 . Just as Christ’s righteousness was imputed to us in justification, so our sins are imputed to Him. a. Hardly a fair exchange, you might say. b. No, it is not a fair exchange, but it is a gracious exchange. c. You take all of your demerits and trade them for merits. You take your poverty and exchange it for r iches. 2.

And so in justification, we stand before God completely cleansed of all of our sins. a. It is the removal of our filthy garments. b. It is the washing away of all of the guilt that we earned through our wicked deeds. C. Every time we sin, we become guilty, and we therefore become indebted to God’s justice. d. But in justification, God forgives us of that guilt, because Christ bore it all on His body on the tree. e. He does not take upon Himself the ownership of the sin, as though He had actually committed it, but the guilt which we had incurred to God’s justice is transferred to Him. He paid the penalty. f. ”HE MADE HIM WHO KNEW NO SIN TO BE SIN ON OUR BEHALF, THAT WE MIGHT BECOME THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN HIM” (2 Cor. 5:21).

5

B.

But the Power of that Sin Is Broken and Subdued through Sanctification. 1 . The guilt of sin is removed in justification, but the pollution of sin is cleansed in sanctification. a. It is like the little boy who likes to play in the mud. After you have washed his clothes and removed the dirt from them, you still need to change his desire to run back into the mud. b. So it is with sanctification. The soil is removed in justification, but the desire is changed through sanctification. 2.

IV.

In sanctification your soul is being cleansed of the remnants of sin which are still present. a. The reigning power of sin is broken, ”KNOWING THIS, THAT OUR OLD SELF WAS CRUCIFIED WITH HIM, THAT OUR BODY OF SIN MIGHT BE DONE AWAY WITH, THAT WE SHOULD NO LONGER BE SLAVES TO SIN” (Rom. 6 : 6 ) . b. But there is still much sin in your soul which is very active, that needs to be put to death, ”FOR IF YOU ARE LIVING ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, YOU MUST DIE; BUT IF BY THE SPIRIT YOU ARE PUTTING TO DEATH THE DEEDS OF THE BODY, YOU WILL LIVE” (8:13). c. God gives you the power through His Spirit to put it to death.

And Lastly, Justification Perfectly Frees Us From God’s Wrath And Is Equal in All Christians, But Sanctification Is Never Complete in this Life and Differs in Each of Us. A. Justification Is a One Time Act of God’s Grace Which All of God’s Children Partake Of Equally. 1 . It is a declarative act on the part of God, which happens only once. He declares us to be not-guilty for Christ’s sake. 2. This justification is perfect and is equal in the same degree in all Christians. a. It is an absolute: your garments are either filthy or they are clean. You either have a perfect righteousness, or you have no righteousness. b. All of God’s children have the same perfect righteousness of Christ imputed to them. It cannot get any better than that. B.

But the Process of Sanctification Is Never Finished in This Life, and Our Progress Depends Upon Our Own Cooperation With God’s Grace. 1 . Justification is complete, but sanctification is an ongoing process. a. God need make His declaration but once; however, our warfare against sin will continue the rest of our lives. b. As long as we are in this flesh, we will never be completely sanctified. 2.

However, some of us will make more progress than others. a. Even though we all stand before God in the same perfect righteousness of Christ, this does not mean

6

b.

V.

that we are all equally pious or godly. We may even differ widely among each other. (i) Some may be struggling to spend 10 minutes in prayer, while others struggle to spend an hour or three hours. (ii) Some may be seeking to sanctify the Lord’s Day, while others are seeking to sanctify all their days to the Lord. (iii) John wrote, ”I AM WRITING TO YOU, LITTLE CHILDREN, BECAUSE YOUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN YOU FOR HIS NAME’S SAUE. I AN WRITING TO YOU, FATHERS, BECAUSE YOU KNOW HIM WHO HAS BEEN FROM THE BEGINNING. I AM WRITING TO YOU, YOUNG MEN, BECAUSE YOU HAVE OVERCOME THE EVIL ONE. I HAVE WRITTEN TO YOU, CHILDREN, BECAUSE YOU KNOW THE FATHER. I HAVE WRITTEN TO YOU, FATHERS, BECAUSE YOU KNOW HIM WHO HAS BEEN FROM THE BEGINNING. I HAVE WRITTEN TO YOU, YOUNG MEN, BECAUSE YOU ARE STRONG, AND THE WORD OF Gon ABIDES IN YOU, AND YOU HAVE OVERCOME THE EVIL ONE” ( 1 John 2: 12-14). It will depend upon how much you are striving, and whether or not you are doing so with the means which God has appointed. Because this is different for each one of us, each of us will be at different stages of growth.

Uses. How may we apply this text to our lives? A. This Again Gives to Us One of the Marks of God’s Grace to Look for to Strengthen Our Assurance that We Are Christ’s. 1 . Growth in holiness is one of the things that you can look to in your lives to assure you that you are Christ’s. a. Many people profess to know Christ in our world who are far from the grace of God. b. There are no promises of salvation in the Bible to those who simply make a profession of faith. You can say something as many times as you want to, but that won’t make it anymore true. c. The real question is whether or not you are rightly calling Jesus your Lord and Savior. d. If you are trusting in Him alone for salvation, submitting to His rule, and growing in your obedience to Him, and all of this out of a true love to God and to His Son, then you can have assurance that your profession is not just a empty shell. but a reality. 2.

But be very careful that you do not deceive yourself. a. If there is no love to Christ, if there is no obedience, if there is no growth in holiness, then neither have you been forgiven of your sins. b. You need to call upon Christ tonight to save you from the guilt of your sins. You need to turn from them all and embrace Him in faith in order to be delivered from God’s wrath.

7

B.

Secondly, This Warns Us Never to Trust in Our Own Righteous Works for Salvation, but in Christ’s Righteousness Alone. But It also Affirms that God Does Give Us the Power to Do Acts of Righteousness and He Expects Us to Do Them. 1 . This text reminds you that your works of obedience never saved you and never could. a. Your works will always fall short; you cannot keep the law of God perfectly for even one moment. b. It is like trying to swim from here to China non-stop. You don’t have the physical ability to do so. c. Neither do you have the ability to keep God’s Law perfectly; you must admit that to yourself, and trust in Christ’s perfect work alone. 2.

But, on the other hand, this does not mean that God expects nothing of you. a. You may not be able to swim to China, but you can swim a short distance. b. The unbeliever is like a swimmer with his arms and legs paralyzed; he cannot even get to the water. c. But as a believer, you have the ability to do something; even though what you do still falls infinitely short of the mark because of the sin which remains. d. But God still requires that you do all that you can.

C. Thirdly, This Encourages Us that All of Our Sins Have Been Removed and that We Will Never Be Condemned for Them, But It also Calls Us to Strengthen Our Warfare Against Sin. 1 . On the basis of this text, you can know that your sins are forgiven you for Christ’s sake. a. Your guilt has been removed; you have been delivered from everlasting damnation. b. The devil now has no basis upon which to accuse you, for Jesus has born all your guilt. 2.

D.

But this does not mean that the battle is finished. a. The war is won, but there are yet many battles to fight. b. ”FOR THE FLESH SETS ITS DESIRE AGAINST THE SPIRIT, AND THE SPIRIT AGAINST THE FLESH; FOR THESE ARE IN OPPOSITION TO ONE ANOTHER, SO THAT YOU MAY NOT DO THE THINGS THAT YOU PLEASE” (Gal. 5:17). c. You must continue to set the whole of your strength to mortify, or put to death, all the remaining sin that is in your members. d. It is a lifelong struggle, but you must gain the victory, and you will if you are in Christ Jesus.

And Lastly, This Stirs Us Up to Thankfulness for God’s Mercy and Calls Us to a More Disciplined Use of the Means of Grace to Further Our Growth into the Likeness of Christ. 1 . You ought to give thanks to God that He did not make your salvation depend upon whether or not you would live up to a certain level of holiness. Christ has done it all; it is finished; and it is handed to you as a free

8

2.

gift of His grace. But you should not let this fact cause you to sit back and let the forces of the devil run over you. a. The victory is yours, but you have to take it. b. You must continually take ground in your life against the forces of the devil, the world, and your flesh. Press on to maturity; grow out of the infant stage C. to that of the young man; grow out of the young man stage to that of the father. d. You will only be able to do this through the most strenuous effort. Lay aside, therefore, the things that get in the way, and run with endurance. e. You must take the Lord’s calling and the things of the Lord very seriously and not let the devil talk you into believing that all is done and all you need do is rest. He has made many shipwrecked through such lies. f. People of God, get serious about the race; stir yourself up to a diligent use of the means of grace; discipline yourselves for the purpose of godliness; lay aside everything that gets in your way, and strive to cross the finish line as a victor in Christ. Amen.