condensed theology lecture 36
TRANSCRIPT
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Condensed Theology
A Primer in Systematic Theology
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Soteriology:
The Doctrine of Salvation
What does the Bible teach about
salvation?
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Sanctification: Toward a Definition
Sanctification refers to the believers
holiness of life and conductset apart byGod and behaving likeGod.
Definitive sanctification
Progressive sanctification
Can anyone define these two terms?
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Definitive Sanctification
Review of Definition
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Definitive Sanctification:
Toward a Definition
Definitive sanctification is a once-for-all actof God that cleanses and purifies us fromsin, which act is the product of our union
with Christ in his life, death, burial, andresurrection.
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Definitive Sanctification:
Toward a Definition
This means that Christians are actually and trulyholy in Gods sight. It is not that God looks on
us as ifwe are holy.
Unless we are actually and truly holy, we canhave no access to God. Jesus work does not
open up the way for sinners to have access tothe holy of holies; rather, his work changes the
very nature of those united to him such that theycan enter the holy of holies.
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Definitive Sanctification:
Toward a Definition This is why I do not like the language that is
sometimes used to refer to this aspect ofsanctification; namely, positional sanctification.
The language of positional sanctification implies
that there is not an existential change that takesplace in the Christian as a result of his havingbeen sanctified. It is simply hypothetical.
What the Bible teaches is that our sanctification
is nothypothetical; it is actual. We areholy andblameless. Once we were not holy; but nowthrough union with Christ in his death, burial,and resurrection, we are.
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Definitive Sanctification
A Confusing Doctrine?
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Definitive Sanctification:
Clarifying Confusion
The Bible equivocates on the termsanctification.
Sometimes it refers to the once-for-all,
irrespective of faith kind
And other times it refers to theprogressive, consequence of faith kind.
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Definitive Sanctification:
Clarifying Confusion What this means is that on the surface it will seem as if
the Bible makes contradictory statements.
1 Cor 6:11: Such were some of you; but you werewashed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of ourGod.
1 Thess 4:3-5: For this is the will of God, yoursanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexualimmorality, that each of you know how to possess his
own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustfulpassion, like the Gentiles who do not know God.
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Definitive Sanctification:
Clarifying Confusion
What this means isthat on the surface itwill seem as if the
Bible makescontradictorystatements.
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Definitive Sanctification:
Clarifying Confusion
What this means isthat on the surface itwill seem as if the
Bible makescontradictorystatements.
1 Cor 6:11says, You are
alreadysanctified.
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Definitive Sanctification:
Clarifying Confusion
What this means isthat on the surface itwill seem as if the
Bible makescontradictorystatements.
1 Cor 6:11says, You are
alreadysanctified.
1 Thess 4:3-5says, You
need to besanctified.
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Definitive Sanctification:
Clarifying Confusion
What this means isthat on the surface itwill seem as if the
Bible makescontradictorystatements.
1 Cor 6:11says, You are
alreadysanctified.
1 Thess 4:3-5says, You
need to besanctified.
This isdefinitive
sanctification.
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Definitive Sanctification:
Clarifying Confusion
What this means isthat on the surface itwill seem as if the
Bible makescontradictorystatements.
1 Cor 6:11says, You are
alreadysanctified.
1 Thess 4:3-5says, You
need to besanctified.
This isdefinitive
sanctification.
This isprogressive
sanctification.
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Definitive Sanctification:
Clarifying Confusion Dont be too nervous about the Bible using one term with
different nuances. Take the will of God, for example. Dan 4:35: All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted
as nothing, But He does according to His will in the hostof heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And noone can ward off His hand Or say to Him, What haveYou done?
1 Thess 4:3-5: For this is the will of God, yoursanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexualimmorality; that each of you know how to possess hisown vessel in sanctification and honor, not in lustfulpassion, like the Gentiles who do not know God.
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Definitive Sanctification:
Clarifying Confusion
What this means isthat on the surface itwill seem as if the
Bible makescontradictorystatements.
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Definitive Sanctification:
Clarifying Confusion
What this means isthat on the surface itwill seem as if the
Bible makescontradictorystatements.
Dan 4:35says, The will
of God cannotbe resisted.
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Definitive Sanctification:
Clarifying Confusion
What this means isthat on the surface itwill seem as if the
Bible makescontradictorystatements.
Dan 4:35says, The will
of God cannotbe resisted.
1 Thess 4:3-5says, The will
of God can beresisted.
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Definitive Sanctification:
Clarifying Confusion
What this means isthat on the surface itwill seem as if the
Bible makescontradictorystatements.
Dan 4:35says, The will
of God cannotbe resisted.
1 Thess 4:3-5says, The will
of God can beresisted.
This is thedecretive,
secret, orsovereign willof God.
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Definitive Sanctification:
Clarifying Confusion
What this means isthat on the surface itwill seem as if the
Bible makescontradictorystatements.
Dan 4:35says, The will
of God cannotbe resisted.
1 Thess 4:3-5says, The will
of God can beresisted.
This is thedecretive,
secret, orsovereign willof God.
This is theprescriptive
will of God.
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Definitive Sanctification:
Clarifying Confusion
Thus biblically speaking there are twokinds of sanctification, both of which areappropriate to call sanctification:
Once-for-all, irrespective of faithsanctification, or definitive sanctification.
And over time, responsive to faith
sanctification, or progressivesanctification.
Which is what we will address today
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Progressive Sanctification
A Working Definition
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Progressive Sanctification:
Definition
Progressive sanctification is the process ofbecoming more and more holy throughoutour Christian lives.
Lets unpack this together
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Progressive Sanctification
A Process of Holiness
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Progressive Sanctification:
A Process of Holiness
Unlike definitive sanctification, progressivesanctification is a process;
It is not instantaneous, but takes place
over time. In fact, it is something that begins
immediately upon our conversion (when
we exercise saving faith andrepentance)
And continues until we are glorified.
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Progressive Sanctification:
A Process of Holiness
1 Thess 5:23: Now may the God of peaceHimself sanctify you entirely; and mayyour spirit and soul and body be preserved
complete, without blame at the coming ofour Lord Jesus Christ.
Phil 1:6: For I am confident of this verything, that He who began a good work inyou will perfect it until the day of ChristJesus.
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Progressive Sanctification:
A Process of Holiness
2 Cor 3:18: But we all, with unveiled face,beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,are being transformed into the same image from
glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. 1 Thess 3:12: and may the Lord cause you to
increase and abound in love for one another,and for all people, just as we also do for you; so
that He may establish your hearts without blamein holiness before our God and Father at thecoming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.
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Progressive Sanctification
Our Responsible Participation
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Progressive Sanctification:
Our Responsible Participation
Progressive sanctification, unlike definitivesanctification, is something we perform.
This does notmean that God is not atwork in us.
But it doesmean that God does not do itinstead of us.
Progressive sanctification requires our
responsible participation.
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Progressive Sanctification:
Our Responsible Participation
Phil 2:12-13: So then, my beloved, just asyou have always obeyed, not as in mypresence only, but now much more in my
absence, work out your salvation with fearand trembling; for it is God who is at work
in you, both to will and to work for His
good pleasure.
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Progressive Sanctification:
Our Responsible Participation
Weare commandedto be holy, to grow in ourconformity to the image of God
1 Pet 1:15-16: but like the Holy One who
called you, be holy yourselves also in all yourbehavior; because it is written, YOU SHALL BE
HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.
Heb 12:14: Pursue peace with all men, and thesanctification without which no one will see theLord.
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Progressive Sanctification:
Our Responsible Participation
Weare commandedto be holy, to grow inour conformity to the image of God.
1 Pet 2:2: like newborn babies, long for
the pure milk of the word, so that by it youmay grow in respect to salvation.
2 Pet 3:18: but grow in the grace and
knowledge of our Lord and Savior JesusChrist. To Him be the glory, both now andto the day of eternity. Amen.
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Progressive Sanctification:
Our Responsible Participation Weare commandedto be holy, to grow in our
conformity to the image of God
Rom 8:13: for if you are living according to theflesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you areputting to death the deeds of the body, you willlive.
Col 3:5: Therefore consider the members of
your earthly body as dead to immorality,impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, whichamounts to idolatry.
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Progressive Sanctification:
Our Responsible Participation Weare commandedto be holy, to grow in our
conformity to the image of God
Rom 8:13: for if you are living according to theflesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you areputting to death the deeds of the body, you willlive.
Col 3:5: Therefore consider the members of
your earthly body as dead to immorality,impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, whichamounts to idolatry.
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Progressive Sanctification:
Our Responsible Participation
In Galatians, the Apostle Paul refers to thisprocess of growth in holiness walking in the
Spirit.
Gal 5:16-17: But I say, walk by the Spirit, andyou will not carry out the desire of the flesh. Forthe flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, andthe Spirit against the flesh; for these are in
opposition to one another, so that you may notdo the things that you please.
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Progressive Sanctification:
Our Responsible Participation
In reality, we could include every singlecommand for Christians in Scripture underthe rubric of progressive sanctification,
As God has designed them all for ourgrowth in grace, to be conformed to theimage of his son.
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Progressive Sanctification
A Process of Responsible
Participation
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Progressive Sanctification:Process of Responsible Participation
See Rom 6:12-23
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Progressive Sanctification:
Implications Believers are never finished being sanctified until their glorification;
therefore sinlessness in this life is an impossibility.
Phil 3:13-14: Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold ofit yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reachingforward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prizeof the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
1 John 1:8-10: If we say that we have no sin, we are deceivingourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He isfaithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us fromall unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make
Him a liar and His word is not in us.
1 John 2:1: My little children, I am writing these things to you so thatyou may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with theFather, Jesus Christ the righteous.
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Progressive Sanctification:
Implications It is perfectly appropriate, and indeed, necessary, to talk
about our indwelling sin with a view to its mortification. Romans 8:13 for if you are living according to the flesh,
you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to deaththe deeds of the body, you will live.
Col 3:5, 8-10: Therefore consider the members of yourearthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion,evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.Butnow you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice,slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie
to one another, since you laid aside the old self with itsevil practices, 1and have put on the new self who isbeing renewed to a true knowledge according to theimage of the One who created him.
S
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Progressive Sanctification:
Implications Limp-glove theologies are inadequate models for Christian
growth and obedience.
2 Pet 1:5-10: Now for this very reason also, applying alldiligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral
excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, andin your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance,godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in yourbrotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and areincreasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the
true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks thesequalities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purificationfrom his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligentto make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as longas you practice these things, you will never stumble.
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Excursus
The Problem of Perfectionism
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The Problem of Perfectionism
Perfectionists teach that believers can come to apoint where they no longer sin. This isproblematic on the basis of 1 John for thefollowing reasons:
1 John 3:9 would then teach too much; it would besaying that every regenerate person never sins. 1 John 1:8 says explicitly if we say we have no sin we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If this isreferring to past sin, why use the present tense? See
also 1 John 5:16 1 John 3:2-3 implies (1) that we have not yet arrivedat perfection; (2) that we have impurity yet that needsto be cleansed.
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The Problem of Perfectionism
So then, what does 1 John 3:6-9 teach? Some suggest that it is referring to definitive
sanctification (Reformation Study Bible)
Others that it refers to habitual, constantsinning (Wayne Grudem, John MacArthur)
Finally, that it refers to the sin specified in5:16-17, the sin leading to death (John
Murray) Thus no true believer sins in thesense that no true believer will sin the sin thatleads to death.
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The Problem of Perfectionism
Understanding 1 John 3:6-9: 1 John 4:2-3 is the test of the Christian faith. 1 John 5:1 says that everyone born of God believes
that Jesus is the Christ.
This is the faith that overcomes the world (5:4) and isthe mark of every true believer. Therefore we would suggest that the sin that leads to
death, the sin no intercession should be made for, isthe sin of denying that Jesus is the Christ (the spirit
of antichrist). Thus when John says that no one who is born of Godsins in 3:9, he is saying that no one who is born ofGod sins by rejecting the doctrine of the incarnation.
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Definitive Sanctification and
Progressive SanctificationUnderstanding Their Relationship
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Definitive and Progressive
Definitive and progressive sanctification occupy differentplaces in the ordo salutis: Election
Predestination
(Effectual/Effective) Calling
Regeneration
Definitive Sanctification
Repentance
Faith
Justification Adoption
Progressive Sanctification
Glorification
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Definitive and Progressive
If we areholy, why must we becomeholy? There is a problem with this question: it is
forgetting that the Bible uses holy in twodifferent senses.
If definitive sanctification (holy1) refers to thebelievers once-for-all in Christ constitution asblameless in Gods sight and progressivesanctification (holy2) refers to the process ofchange of becoming conformed to the image ofChrist in time, why would we have a problemwith beingholy1 in one sense and notbeingholy2 in another?
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Definitive and Progressive
Definitive sanctification is in the bank
Progressive sanctification is yourwithdrawals
With each act of obedience, with everystep of growth, you are becoming moreand more of who you are in Jesus Christ;you are living out the implications of youridentity, drawing on the holiness-in-Christwhich is already your identity.
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Definitive and Progressive
Col 3:12-13: So, as those who have beenchosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heartof compassion, kindness, humility, gentlenessand patience; bearing with one another, and
forgiving each other, whoever has a complaintagainst anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, soalso should you.
This is Romans 6-7 in a nutshell. Paul expected the Christian to conform his
processiveexperience with sin to his definitivedeath to sin (Reymond, A New SystematicTheology, 769, italics in original).
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Definitive and Progressive
Your progressive sanctification dependson your definitive sanctification.
If you have not already been made holy in
union with Christ, you have no hope forbecoming holy in time in this life.
Heb 10:14: For by one offering He has
perfected for all time those who are beingsanctified.