What Does God Give His People

Last Time:

• We defined God’s people as those who have faith in Him.
• As a result, they have chosen to act differently.
• And, we ended by saying that many ppl don’t feel the need to live differently and rely on God b/c:
• They are content with their current lives, or
• They don’t feel a need to be forgiven.
• Our response: but there is so much more.

So, Today, We’re Going to Address:

• What is that “something more?”
• I know it’s out there.
• What is it that many people on the outside fail to understand about what God wants to give them?
• Let’s see what Paul has to say:
• Rom 7.14-24
• Sound familiar?
• God knows and cares about this problem
• So, what does He do about it?

He saves you

• But, possibly, not in a way you totally expected.
• What follows will be a biblical explanation of salvation…the gift God gives to all of His people.
• We all need to know this and constantly review it.
• Remember our [w3] objective –to show that God answers questions the same in both testaments.
• “Gentleman, this is a football.”
• To be saved implies that there is something from which we have to be rescued/saved.
• What is it?
• Hell?  Sin?  Yes.
• Unresolved sin leads to hell.
• But, it leads to something else as well.  Something that we often overlook.
• And, in doing so, cheapen the gift God gives us.

A convicted criminal faces two dilemmas:

1.      Legal debt (jail time, fine, etc.)

2.      Moral debt (emotional implications)

a.       guilt, remorse, sorrow, shame

• Obviously, the more crimes you commit, the less you notice this second problem.
• You’ve become cauterized to sin (1 Tim 4.1-2).

Sinners have the same two problems:

1.      We legally owe God something (Rom 6.23)

o   God took care of this by sending His Son to die in our place and pay this debt…

o   In case you’re worrying, we’ll assume most people here understand how this works.

§  “Paid your debt to society.”

·         Jail/Prison/Fine…Judge now lets you go

o   [funny story about person in audience committing a crime]

§  So, we’ll throw a $5 word at it and then move on—justification. –[define.]

·         Remember this word.

·         Justified = “Just as if I’d…”

o   Later I’ll explain why I don’t totally like that illustration, but you can use it for now.

2.      We continue to suffer with the emotional leftovers.

 o   We feel guilty.  Down.  Depressed.  Upset.  Troubled…as a result of our sin.

§  Doesn’t God care about this?

o   What have we to offer our friends if/when they ask about emotions?

§  “Ok, great.  I’m going to Heaven in 100 yrs or 1000 yrs…20 min.  But, what about the fact that I feel like trash today?  What about the problems I have tomorrow?  Does your God care about those problems?...the emotional leftovers?”

·         Yes.  He does.

Sanctification – Another $5 Word.

• Sanctification addresses this problem.
• It works to consume the moral & emotional leftovers.
• But not at the speed or in the same way that justification consumes our legal problem. * This is what Paul meant by “fear and trembling” (Phil 2.12)
• It also molds us and shapes us into the people God wants us to be.
• It is the power behind God’s “self-help book”
• The difference—pop psychology books provide only suggestions and methods.
• God gives us those.  And, he gives us the power to accomplish them.
• Breakdown in the judge/criminal scenario being “Just as if I’d…”
• The judge does not now declare that the crimes were never committed.
• They’re still there.
• But, the debt has been paid.
• But, it’s not truly “Just as if I’d…”
• b/c the memory & the emotional leftovers are still there
• So, how does a convict rehabilitate himself?
• How do we—as spiritually freed convicts—rehabilitate into happy, functional creatures?
• Through sanctification.

Becoming Who You (and God) Wants You To Be

• OT
• Jer 29.11 (NLT)
• Speaking to (God’s people) held captive by Babylon
• Ps 40.1-3 (NLT)
• Isa 41.10 (NIV)
• Isa 40.29-31 (NLT)
• NT
• Eph 4.24 (NIV)   [butterfly: 2 Cor 5.17]
• In Colossians 3, Paul instructs his readers to put on an entirely “new self”
• In order to become more like God
• Col 3.10 (NLT)
• Notice “renewal” –meaning, back to the original intent
• This is how God’s designed us to live
• This is what He wants for His people
• When we sin, we are doing “that which is unnatural” [Rom 1.26-27]

Sanctification & Justification Are Not Co-dependant.

• They’re related, but only b/c they start at the same time.

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• Justification gets the job done immediately.
• Sanctification works on you, aids you, and assists you your whole life.
• [faithful to complete it: Phil 1.6]
• It requires effort on our part.
• We have good days (weeks, months), and we have bad days (weeks, months).
• But here is the good news: they’re not linked.
• When we fail at sanctification, our justification remains intact.
• That debt will never not be paid insofar as we maintain faith in Christ.
• Together: Justification + Sanctification = Salvation

Why Bother Though?

• If time spent on earth is but a small comparison to time spent in Heaven, why work at sanctification?
• Well, hopefully we’ve answered this already:
• Being sanctified makes life on earth easier and more enjoyable.
• But, there’s something else at play as well.
• We’ll cover that next time.
• Hold on to your fork.