The Spirit Sanctifies You
Galatians 3:1-3
July 7, 2013
As you know we are studying the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
And the goal here is really to take a “from the beginning” approach
To this subject.
• I trust that much of what we have talked about has really only served to solidify that which you already know to be true about the Holy Spirit.
• And at the same time I hope that your understanding of Him has also increased and that you have come to love Him in an even deeper way.
We have already talked about the PERSON of the Holy Spirit
And the PROMISE of the Holy Spirit.
We are presently under what would be Roman Numeral #3 –
THE PURPOSE OF THE SPIRIT
And we are spending a great deal of time here on purpose.
This seems to be the area in which
The doctrine on the Holy Spirit is the most maligned.
• The Holy Spirit isn’t a carnival barker…
• The Holy Spirit isn’t pixy dust…
• The Holy Spirit isn’t some sort of electrical surge or charge…
And yet He is often portrayed in such a manner.
We have already seen His fingerprints (or the box).
And so we know the basic guidelines of what He is here to do.
NOW we are trying to get a little more specific
And bring more clarity to His purpose in your life.
And in order to do that we are taking a closer look
At the emblems that Scripture uses to represent Him.
Last week we saw that He is portrayed as WATER
John 7:37-39 “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
And as we looked at this analogy we learned that the Holy Spirit gives life.
True life – spiritual life.
He is what makes a dead soul come to life and comprehend the things of God.
• His life is eternal
• His life is abundant
• His life is freeing
• His life is intimate
He comes to make spiritually dead people alive
To the things and ways and person of God.
And hopefully you were able to see evidence of that life in yourself.
This morning I want to move on from that truth a little further.
On one hand we know that the Holy Spirit gives life.
I want you to understand that it matters to Him how you live it.
He has a very specific and definite design in regard to
What you are to do with the life He has poured into you.
And so this morning we are going to talk a little about SANCTIFICATION
The Greek word for sanctification translates HAGIOSMOS
It is a word that refers to separation.
And you can really look at Sanctification from two distinct points.
1) YOU WERE SEPARATED UNTO GOD
The idea being that you are fully His.
It is similar to when a couple gets married,
They separate themselves unto one another.
1 Peter 1:1-2 “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.”
That truth is clearly seen there.
Here we have people whom God has chosen.
He chose them according to His own foreknowledge.
But the means by which these chosen ones actually became His
Was “by the sanctifying work of the Spirit”
It was the Holy Spirit who set them apart to be His.
We even see there, the goal of that sanctification
Which is “to obey Jesus Christ”
But that is the idea here about sanctification.
It is to set you apart to God.
This truth is illustrated later in Peter’s epistle.
1 Peter 2:9-10 “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.”
There you see it again.
The believer is “set apart” solely for God.
And it is the Holy Spirit who does this.
2 Thessalonians 2:13 “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.”
There again, as the Holy Spirit set you apart,
He did so in order that He might set you apart to God.
And that is one concept of sanctification.
You were set apart to God.
The flip side of this sanctification is this:
2) YOU WERE SEPARATED FROM THE WORLD
Just as a married couple is given to one another,
They also vow to “forsake all others”
This is also what the Holy Spirit does.
He not only brings us to God, but He takes us from the world.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”
There you see “the Spirit of our God” actually working
To take you away from what you used to be.
He is not only taking you to God, but away from the world.
He is in the process of separating you.
Romans 15:15-16 “But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me from God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”
There again, Paul could take the Gentiles to God, but if they were not “sanctified by the Holy Spirit” then they would not be “acceptable”.
They not only have to be given to God,
But they have to be separated from the world.
Titus 3:5-7 “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
There again you see that God “saved us”.
HOW?
Well He didn’t do it through our own works.
It wasn’t “the deeds which we have done”
Rather, He saved us “by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit”
That is the Holy Spirit washing the world off of us
And making us new and acceptable to God.
And hopefully now you see what sanctification is.
It is separation from the world to God, and it is the work of the Holy Spirit.
And from that you understand a little better
What the goal of God is for your life.
People always seem to think that God’s goal
Is just to get people into heaven.
That is not the goal.
GOD’S GOAL IS TO MAKE YOU LESS LIKE THE WORLD
AND MORE LIKE HIM
Throughout the Old Testament we saw it:
“Be holy for I am holy”
When Jesus showed up He preached the same.
As He concluded Matthew chapter 5 of the Sermon on the Mount He said:
Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Jesus didn’t come preaching “I can get you into heaven”
He came preaching that it was time for you to be holy.
Paul said:
2 Corinthians 7:1 “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”
In fact, that was Paul’s desire in life.
Philippians 3:12-14 “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Peter also echoed this sentiment.
1 Peter 1:14-16 “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”
We even learn from Paul in Romans 8 that God intends
To “conform us into the image of His Son”
This is the goal.
• God wants you set apart from the world.
• God wants you set apart to Himself.
NOW, THERE ARE TWO WAYS THAT HAPPENS.
It happens both POSITIONALLY and it happens PRACTICALLY
When Christ died upon the cross,
• He paid the sin debt of all of God’s children.
• He satisfied God’s wrath against your sin
• He imputed His righteousness to you.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
And we’ve talked about that concept of imputation.
Our sin was imputed to Him.
His righteousness was imputed to us.
That means when you look at me you are looking at a righteous man.
Scripture no longer calls me a sinner, it now calls me a saint.
Now, you have a tough time believing that
Because you know I am far from perfect.
How can I say I am a righteous man when it is obvious that I still do sinful things?
That is because I am righteous positionally, but not practically.
Before God I am righteous.
• When He looks at me He sees the righteousness of Christ.
• I am totally acceptable and totally pleasing to the Father because of Christ.
Every believer is.
But God desires more than for you to be positionally righteous.
God desires for you to be practically righteous.
He wants the righteousness that He imputed to you
To begin to show up in your life.
This is why Peter could command us to be holy,
Even though we are already children of God.
1 Peter 1:14-19 “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.” If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”
Clearly there Peter is talking to saved people.
He says they are “children” that God is our “Father”,
He notes that we are “redeemed”.
But at the same time he tells us to “Be Holy”
He knows that positionally we are holy, but practically we are not.
We must continue to work on that.
And that is really one of the main calls of the New Testament,
For you to start living the holy life that Jesus has given you.
Colossians 3:5-10 “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. But now 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 its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him”
Ephesians 4:22-24 “that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
And the list there could go on and on, but the idea is that
You and I start living like the person that God intended us to be.
Christ made us righteous, now we should live righteous.
And let me say one more thing.
THIS ISN’T OPTIONAL
This practical righteousness is essential, it is definitely required by God.
Hebrews 12:14 “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”
Did you catch that?
If you don’t get this righteousness, you won’t see God.
Remember John 13?
When Jesus was washing the disciple’s feet and Peter didn’t want Jesus to wash his feet?
John 13:8 “Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
If you don’t get clean, we won’t be together.
So Scripture clearly calls for you not only to be positionally righteous in Christ, but also practically righteous.
You and I are commanded to be set apart from the world
And set apart to God.
BUT HERE IS THE PROBLEM
ON YOUR OWN YOU CANNOT DO THAT
And finally we get to Galatians 3
I’m going to spare you here a great deal of context in regard to the Galatian letter Namely because when we started this study two months ago
We gave the background to the Galatians then.
But just know that the Galatians were caught in this very predicament.
They had come to Christ and been made positionally righteous.
They were trying to figure out how to become practically righteous.
And someone came in and told them that the way to do that
Was through the works of the Law, namely circumcision.
And they were buying it.
It was practical righteousness through your own efforts.
And Paul was livid!
(1) “You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you..?”
The word “bewitched” translates BASKAINO
And it means to slander, and then to deceive someone with feigned praise, it can even mean to charm.
Picture a snake oil salesman who first hammers the doctors and then tells you how you are way too smart for them, and in fact the type of person who can see that what I am telling you is the truth…
The Galatians had been hood-winked.
They had taken the bait and they were signing up to get circumcised
And thus further along their sanctification process.
And Paul can’t stand it.
“who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?”
That is to say, “Did you not hear the truth about the crucifixion of Jesus?”
“Did you not hear that Christ died for you to make you righteous?”
What is all this “human works” junk, and what about what Jesus did?
Then Paul moves on:
(2) “This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”
And there is a very good question.
• How “did you receive the Spirit” (which is salvation)
• How did that happen?
Did you do enough good works that the Spirit finally saw that you were a temple fit to live in so that He moved in?
No.
You heard, you believed, and the Spirit moved in.
AND HERE THEN IS THE REAL POINT:
(3) “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”
So you’re telling me that the Spirit started it,
But now you are going to finish it?
You’re going to achieve practical righteousness on your own?
And of course that is absurd!
We couldn’t make ourselves positionally righteous before God
And we can’t make ourselves practically righteous before God.
Jesus made us positionally righteous.
The Holy Spirit works to make us practically righteous.
You can’t do it on your own.
He works to help you.
Philippians 2:12-13 “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
We’re working on it, but so is He.
In fact, here is the promise:
Philippians 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Who began that good work in us?
The Holy Spirit – He was the One who set us apart to God
And now He is still working to finish what He started.
HE IS SANCTIFYING US COMPLETELY.
And so last week we looked at Him as WATER,
This morning I remind you that He is FIRE.
He is a purifier.
We know at Pentecost when He came,
The apostles saw what appeared to them as tongues “as of fire”.
Psalms 66:10 “For You have tried us, O God; You have refined us as silver is refined.”
Proverbs 17:3 “The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the LORD tests hearts.”
And that is the sort of work that the Holy Spirit is here to do in your life.
He is working to purify you and make you practically righteous.
He is helping you become the man or woman you were intended to be.
The next thing I want you to see is, HOW HE DOES THAT
How does He work in us to complete what was started at salvation?
Well, there is one main way, and several secondary ways.
THE MAIN WAY IS THROUGH SCRIPTURE
I told you a couple of weeks ago that He is the author of Scripture.
2 Peter 1:20-21 “But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”
The Holy Spirit wrote the Bible
And the Holy Spirit uses the Bible to accomplish His work.
Remember this passage?
2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
We know the Holy Spirit wrote it, but there we also see WHY He wrote it.
“so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”
He uses Scripture to reprove and correct and train us.
To make us what we need to be.
Hebrews 4:12-13 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.”
That is what the Holy Spirit does.
He takes God’s word and applies to the depth of your heart.
You can’t hide from it, you can’t defeat it.
And if you will listen to what He says, He will use it to change you.
Listen to what Paul said:
2 Corinthians 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.”
That mirror that He is referring to is the word of God.
And in it, the Holy Spirit is showing you what He wants you to see,
Namely “the glory of the Lord”
And as you do, He is transforming you
“into the same image from glory to glory”
Remember His fingerprints?
• He convicts sin…
• He guides into the truth…
• He glorifies Jesus…
That is what He does through the Scripture.
• He reproves you
• He corrects you
• He shows you the truth of how you should act
• He shows you how Jesus did it
And the end result is that you learn from Him and you are more like Jesus.
He is literally molding and shaping you
Every time you get in the word of God.
John 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.”
The Scripture is His main tool.
But inside of that, He has other things He uses as well.
What did the writer of Hebrews say?
Hebrews 12:11-14 “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”
Does the Holy Spirit really use trials and hardships?
Of course He does.
Who led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted?
Matthew 4:1 “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”
The Holy Spirit definitely uses trials.
And while you are in the midst of those trials, do you know what He does?
He prays for you.
Romans 8:26-27 “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
He prays for you.
And He prays according to the will of God.
Well what is the will of God?
Romans 8:28-29 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;”
The will of God is that this trial helps you to become conformed into the image of His Son. (practical righteousness)
Do you see what He is doing?
• He is working in you.
• He is working on you.
• He is helping you achieve the righteousness you could not achieve on your own.
It is really that whole Romans 7 affect.
You have Paul in Romans 7 grieving over the sin in his life,
And he just can’t seem to beat it.
He even cries out, “Wretched man that I am who will set me free from the body of this death?”
The answer?
Romans 8:1-4 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
The Spirit helps us to live in that righteousness we desire to live in.
Here is what that means.
Every day you and I should be becoming more and more righteous.
The things that plagued me yesterday should not plague me tomorrow.
If I am walking by the Spirit and listening to His guidance
He will slowly but surely work His sanctifying work in me.
He is that type of purifying fire, that is what He does.
And He does it through the Scripture.
(Even in the trials, He uses the Scripture to teach you what you need to know)
That is why when you and I come to the word of God, we must listen.
TURN TO: JAMES 1:19-25
That is the formula for you to achieve sanctification.
• Listen to it
• Don’t argue with it
• Don’t forget it
Just do it.
And as you do, He will change your appearance.
He will start to form you into the image of Christ.
Now, on your own, you couldn’t even understand the Scripture,
But remember He searches the depths of God and guides us into truth.
And as He does this, listen to Him and watch Him slowly change your life.
And that is THE POINT this morning.
• You must be holy as God is holy
• Not just positionally holy, but practically holy.
• And this is not a holiness you can achieve on your own.
But the Holy Spirit working inside of you
Will do it through the word He has given to you.
He takes the word and molds you.
That is why we sing songs like:
“Ancient words, ever true, changing me and changing you, we have come with open hearts, o let the ancient words impart”
“Word of God speak, would You pour down like rain, washing my eyes to see, Your majesty, to be still and know that You’re in this place. Please let me stay and rest in Your holiness, word of God speak.”
We know that through the word, the Holy Spirit
Will speak and transform us into the image of Christ.
Now, that takes us back one more time
To the passage we looked at briefly in Galatians 3.
Paul said in verse 3, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”
Then look on in verses 4 and 5
“Did you suffer so many things in vain — if indeed it was in vain? So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?”
HOW DOES HE DO IT?
“by hearing with faith”
Because it is the Holy Spirit who is using what you hear
To help you achieve the righteousness
You could never achieve on your own.
He will guide you into the sanctification you must have
If you will listen to Him.
