In the sermon 'SlBC Chap 13 para 1 Of Sanctification' by Eric Bechler, the concept of sanctification as outlined in the Second London Baptist Confession is explored. Sanctification is described as a process by which those united to Christ are made holy through the virtue of His death and resurrection. This process involves the destruction of sin's dominion and the strengthening of saving graces. The sermon outlines the roles of the Trinity in redemption, with the Holy Spirit actively working in sanctification. The Ordo Salutis, or order of salvation, is discussed, emphasizing the logical sequence of election, calling, justification, adoption, sanctification, perseverance, and glorification. Sanctification is described in two aspects: definitive, a completed action, and progressive, an ongoing process of becoming more like Christ. The sermon emphasizes that growth in holiness requires personal discipline, prayer, and immersion in Scripture, and that sanctification is a lifelong battle to align with God's will, ultimately leading to eternal life with Christ.

Our reading today from the second London Baptist confession comes from chapter 13 paragraph one of sanctification. They who are united to Christ, effectually called and regenerated, having a new heart and a new spirit created in them through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection are also farther sanctified really and personally through the same virtue by His Word and Spirit dwelling in them. The dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified. And they more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces to the practice of all true holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. This week we begin the chapter on sanctification.

Before I go into this I want to lay out some context and some background so first so we can see where we've come from and where we're headed. Let's start with the Trinity and the plan of redemption. It is God the Father who initiates the plan of redemption and chooses whom he will save. It is God the Son who through His obedience and death accomplishes the redemption of those whom the Father has chosen. And it is God the Holy Spirit who applies the work of redemption to our lives personally.

And it's the Holy Spirit that is working in our sanctification. Let's also remember the Ordo Salutis, the order of salvation, which is a more logical order rather than a historical or chronological order or sequence. Since some of these steps take place at the same time and cannot be separated, but logically one causes or leads to another. We begin with election or predestination. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, Romans 8, 29.

There is the outward call. This is the general proclamation of the gospel, but not all who hear the word respond. Those God predestinated unto life he called with an effectual call a divine summons where God calls even draws the elect To his son by the power of the Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit regenerates us taking away our heart of stone and giving us a heart of flesh and indwells in us. Those God has called, he also freely justifies, declaring them righteous based on the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ and their faith in him. Those who are justified are made partakers of the grace of adoption, legally welcomed into God's family.

Those who are effectually called and regenerated are farther sanctified through lifelong growth and holiness. Next is preservation or perseverance where God ensures believers maintain their faith to the end. And finally after we die we are glorified, freed from the sin and brought into the presence of our risen Lord Jesus Christ. Now our topic for today, sanctification. Our paragraph begins, they who are united to Christ, affectually called and regenerated, having a new heart and a new spirit created in them, are also farther sanctified.

The word sanctification means to set apart, to consecrate, to make holy. Noah Webster defines it as the act of making holy. In an evangelical sense, the act of God's grace by which the affections of men are purified and alienated from sin in the world and exalted to a supreme love to God. Dr. Sproul explains it is by the Holy Spirit that we are regenerated in the first place through his indwelling work He is the one who is working in us to affect our sanctification to make us actually holy I have always thought of sanctification as a process starting when we are saved, wherein we are moving from sinfulness to holiness and not fully being completed until we die and go to heaven where we can sin no more.

However, it's not so simple a matter. If we look to scripture, scripture gives us a picture of sanctification, both as something that has happened, a definitive completed action, and something that is ongoing, progressive. As an example, we can look at 1st Corinthians 1, 2, unto the church of God, which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be saints. The Greek word for sanctified has a grammatical tense here of perfect passive participle, which means that this represents an action that was completed in the past but has continuing results. Dr.

Sproul further explains, in several places in the New Testament in which some variation of the Greek word for sanctify, hagiazo, is used, it has special respect to a past definitive act of God by which believers are said to already have been sanctified. Again, 1 Corinthians 1, 2, 1 Corinthians 6, 11, 2 Timothy 2, 21. The scriptural usage of the word hagiezo in its various forms carries the idea of being holy, being in a state of holiness or being made holy. It is used to refer to a completed reality on the basis of the finished work of Christ. This is our definitive sanctification, the decisive breach with sin that believers have already experienced being set apart as God's holy people.

This flows from the work of Christ. And Dr. Sproul continues, while definitive sanctification is a once for all act of God, God alone, in breaking the bondage of sin in believers' lives, Progressive sanctification is the ongoing work of God's grace, whereby the Holy Spirit enables the regenerate to put sin to death more and more in their lives. The goal is conformity to the image of Jesus Christ. When the Holy Spirit unites a sinner to Christ, he begins the progress of renewing the whole person.

Because sin has affected every part of fallen mankind, sanctification affects renewal throughout the whole person. This brings us back to the discussion a number of months ago of free will. If you remember from Augustine's labels, the fallen man is able to sin and not able to not sin, meaning he can only sin. In fact, he is a slave and in bondage to sin. The regenerate man, on the other hand, is able to sin and able to not sin.

And why is this? Because the Holy Spirit has given us a heart of flesh and freed us from the slavery and bondage of sin. It doesn't mean that we are without sin, but we are no longer slaves to sin. It means sin no longer has complete power over our will. From when we are saved until we die, there is a battle that continues within.

From Galatians 5-7, for the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. Basically, each one of us will do what we most want to do. We will choose according to the strongest inclination of our hearts at that moment. Sometimes we choose the old man in sin. Sometimes we follow the new man and grow in holiness.

Hopefully though the older we become, the more sanctified we will become and the more awareness we will have of our own imperfections, our imperfections, failures, and sins. The more holy one becomes, the more unholy he realizes he is. Perhaps that's why Paul describes himself as the foremost of sinners in 1 Timothy 1.15. As the people of God set apart for his sacred purpose, we should grow in our sanctification. We should deny ungodliness and worldly lusts.

We should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ from Titus 2, 12 through 13. We should put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another, forgiving each other. And above all these, we should put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony, and let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts. This comes from Colossians 3, 12 through 15. This is the picture of our sanctification.

But just like faith and works, If there is no sanctification going on in your life, there's probably no justification. I'll end with a comment from Dr. Sproul. Sanctification is a lifelong battle. It takes determination to lay hold of the riches of God's grace.

It takes diligent discipline, devotion to prayer, and a serious reading of Scripture. No one gets sanctified with five minutes of the Bible each day. The word has to be our meal and drink if we want to grow in grace. We don't get sanctified by going to church once every six weeks and neglecting corporate worship and fellowship or service. Through all these means of grace, the Holy Spirit works with us to bring us to spiritual maturity.

All these disciplines are necessary and they involve work. We read from Philippians 2, 12 through 13, Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. Growth in the Christian life is labor intensive. We have to work at it, to study, to pray, to worship, and yet even after all of these things that we do, we're still sinners. But praise God that when this hard life is over, we will be with Christ forever.

Paul reminds us that now that you've been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you reap leads to holiness, and the outcome is eternal life. Amen. You you