Achieving Sanctification
1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 (23-24)
I really do apologize for the way our study in 1 Thessalonians
Has been butchered up here of late.
I realize it is difficult to fully grasp something
When you only get exposed to it once every 3 weeks or so.
But none the less we are back in our study of this great book.
(The sad part is that after tonight it will be a few more weeks
Before we are able to finish it)
But because it has been several weeks let me refresh your memory a little.
You know that this letter was written all about encouragement.
• Paul started this church in Thessalonica and then was promptly run out of town, leaving these new believers to sort of fend for themselves.
• When he could stand it no longer he sent Timothy back to find out how they were doing.
• Timothy returned with encouraging news that the Thessalonians stood strong.
• This news obviously encouraged Paul in the ministry.
• Paul in turn wrote this letter to the Thessalonians to also encourage them.
Partly in regard to specific issues like the truths
About what happens to believers when they die.
But Paul also wrote to continue to give basic Christian encouragement.
Because none of us are a completed work yet, we all are in need
Of a little push here and there to help us stay the course.
That is what Paul has been doing for the Thessalonians.
We spent 4 Sunday nights covering verses 12-22
And talking about what it means to strive for sanctification.
1 Thessalonians 4:3 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification;”
We know that God wants us sanctified,
And therefore it is something that we strive for.
True Christians have within themselves a desire to be holy.
True Christians aren’t without sin, but they wish they were.
We are all familiar with that penetrating passage Paul wrote in Romans 7,
And how Paul lamented that he was a man with sin in his life,
And far too often Paul admitted that this sin affected his behavior.
Romans 7:19-20 “For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”
Paul still sinned.
But Paul hated it.
Romans 7:24 “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?”
Paul had to recognize that there was sin in his life,
But he did not have to be content about it.
We see this reality in his life again in the book of Philippians.
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.”
Paul wanted perfection.
Paul wanted righteousness.
He didn’t have it yet, but he strived for it.
And that is really the attitude of a true believer.
• We must be honest and humble enough to recognize that sin still remains in various areas of our lives.
• Yet we must also be of the mindset that it is not welcome and we must do all that we can to remove it.
And if you share that same mindset in regard to sin,
Then 1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 has been very enlightening to you.
For Paul outlined for us 8 directives to help us strive for sanctification.
1) HONOR YOUR LEADERS
2) LIVE IN PEACE
3) ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER
4) LOVE ONE ANOTHER
5) REJOICE ALWAYS
6) PRAY WITHOUT CEASING
7) IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS
8) TEST EVERYTHING
These were practical ways in which we do our part
To be as holy as we know how to be.
But while these are wonderful applications to the Christian life,
You and I still know that these still don’t seem to be enough.
For no man, on his own, has ever achieved this righteousness.
Despite the effort no one has ever fully rid their life of sin.
Despite all the work, despite all the effort sin still remains in our lives.
And that is why in Romans 7 Paul outlined his striving against sin,
Yet in the end was resigned to say, “Wretched man that I am who will set me free from the body of this death?”
Paul worked at it as hard as anyone and yet
Even Paul realized that on his own he would never achieve it.
If you and I are to ever be fully righteous, we will need help.
And that is the point of the text tonight.
The title tonight is not “Striving for Sanctification”
The title tonight is “Achieving Sanctification”
These final two verses tell us how our striving actually becomes a reality
(4 things)
#1 THE PROVIDER OF SANCTIFICATION
1 Thessalonians 5:23a
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you”
“sanctify” translates HAGIAZO
It literally means to set apart.
It carries the idea of being set apart from sin and thus to be holy.
And this is of course what we are looking for,
And as Paul noted, none of us has thus far been able to achieve.
And that is what makes this statement so great!
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you”
We fail miserably at ridding ourselves of sin,
And Paul here reveals that God “Himself” will do it.
And don’t you love the fact that Paul adds the word “Himself”.
It reminds us that God isn’t
Delegating out your sanctification to someone else.
“If you want something done right, you better do it yourself.”
God wants your sanctification done right.
He “Himself” will do it.
GOD HAS ALWAYS TAKEN SALVATION AND SANCTIFICATION
AS A PERSONAL OBLIGATION.
1 John 2:25 “This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.”
With something as important as salvation and eternal life,
God did not delegate it out to one of His subordinates.
God took care of it Himself.
1 Peter 2:24 “and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.”
As John also said:
1 John 2:2 “and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”
Furthermore, when we face temptations in this life
That threaten our progress as we seek to be holy,
We can rest assured that God had nothing to do with it.
James 1:13 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.”
And even when we face trials or hardships we can be confident
That it is God who will fashion it for our good.
1 Peter 5:10 “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”
And so you get the picture.
While God has certainly delegated out some aspects of His kingdom…
Angels certainly made announcements
We preach the gospel
He takes care of sanctification personally.
That is also why Paul refers to Him as “the God of peace”
That doesn’t mean that He is a peaceful God.
Scripture says that He is angry at the wicked every day.
Rather, “God of peace” means that He is the God who provides peace.
He is the God who makes peace.
It was God who sent His Son to make peace between Himself and sinners.
It is God Himself who sanctifies men.
BECAUSE HE IS THE GOD OF PEACE,
HE TAKES SANCTIFICATION PERSONALLY
One of His 8 covenantal names is:
Jehovah Mekadesh (The Lord who Sanctifies you)
Leviticus 22:32 “You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be sanctified among the sons of Israel; I am the LORD who sanctifies you,”
AND WE KNOW GOD AS A SANCTIFIER.
WHAT DID HE DO TO THE 7TH DAY OF THE WEEK?
He sanctified it as holy.
WHAT DID HE DO TO THE TENT OF MEETING?
He sanctified it for Himself.
WHAT DID HE DO TO THE TEMPLE?
He sanctified it.
WHAT DID HE DO TO THE FIRSTBORN?
He sanctified them for Himself
AND WHAT DID HE DO WITH ISRAEL?
He sanctified them as a people for His own possession.
God is a sanctifier.
He does it “Himself”
Philippians 2:13 “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
HOW DOES HE DO IT?
Have you ever faced a trial or a hardship?
Hebrews 12:10-11 “For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 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.”
Have you ever read the Scripture and had your sin exposed?
John 16:8-11 “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”
Jesus Himself likened to a washing, when He washed Peter’s feet saying:
John 13:10 “Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”
And so whether it is discipline from the Father…
Conviction from the Spirit…
Or washing from Jesus…
We know that God does indeed do the work of sanctification.
He is the Provider of Sanctification
#2 THE PICTURE OF SANCTIFICATION
1 Thessalonians 5:23b
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame”
And I hope you notice what God’s sanctification looks like.
“sanctify you entirely”
“entirely” translates HOLOTELES
It is a compound word used only here in Scripture.
HOLO means “whole” (holistic)
TELES means “the end”
When you put it together it means
“all the way through” or “through and through”
God sanctifies every single part of you.
God leaves nothing untouched.
God leaves nothing unchanged.
This is spelled out even more as you read on in the verse.
“and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete without blame”
Over the years there has been debate as to whether man is
A trichotomy of spirit, soul, and body.
Or if “spirit and soul” refer to the same thing and man is just a dichotomy.
And if you want to hammer that out, that is fine,
But either way we can understand what Paul means.
God is not interested on cleaning up your outside apart from your inside.
We call that hypocrisy, and that has never pleased God.
Matthew 23:25-26 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. “You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.”
All you have to do is read the Sermon on the Mount
What about heart murder?
What about heart adultery?
What about a lack of integrity?
What about giving or praying or fasting for show?
God has no interest in just cleaning up the body and not the soul.
His sanctification is penetrating.
He does it “entirely” through and through.
One of the best illustrations of this would be the woman at the well.
A woman that Jesus fully confronted,
Even bringing up her promiscuous past.
Some would have resented His speech as meddling or judgmental.
In reality it was Jesus unwilling to leave any sin alone.
And that is how God sanctifies.
He has no interest in a clean outside with a dirty inside.
However, God also has no interest in a clean inside with a dirty outside.
This was what many of the Greeks believed.
It was part of the Gnostic religion.
It was the idea that since the body was dying anyway, that all that really mattered was the soul. Therefore live however you want in the body, just make sure your soul is clean.
Paul sort of shot that down when he wrote to the Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 6:18-20 “Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”
The reality is that if God makes you clean on the inside,
Then He expects it to affect your outside.
Philippians 2:12 “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;”
I like the term “work out your salvation”.
It carries the picture of moving what is inside to the outside.
If your heart is made righteous, then let that filter to your tongue.
If your mind has been redeemed then let that filter to your hands.
This is what God has in mind with sanctification.
He wants a clean inside.
He wants a clean outside.
He will “sanctify you entirely”
He will make sure that you are “preserved complete, without blame”
“complete” translates HOLOKLEROS
James 1:4 “And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
God is working to complete His work in you.
He is not stopping short.
In one sense He works on all of you
And in another sense He finishes the work.
The end result is that all of you will be completely sanctified.
That is why Paul calls it “without blame”
And this is an interesting picture.
The Greek word for “without blame” is AMEMPTOS
Literally meaning “blameless” or “without fault”
Archaeologists who have excavated the site of Thessalonica
Have found it easy to identify the graves of the believers in that city.
For the graves of the believers all had the same word: AMEMPTOS
Obviously they loved what Paul had to say and did cling to that hope.
And so you see that God is the Provider of Sanctification
And that Sanctification is entire, it permeates your entire being.
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.”
The Provider of sanctification, The Picture of Sanctification
#3 THE PURPOSE OF SANCTIFICATION
1 Thessalonians 5:23c
“preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
And I hope by now we all understand the reason
Why sanctification is so important.
Ephesians 5:25-27 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”
It is the desire of Christ that His bride be “in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.”
When Christ returns for His bride
He wants to find you in glory in beauty in holiness.
None of us want to be embarrassed to be found by Him in sin.
1 John 2:28-29 “Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.”
Imagine the wedding day and Him to come and find you
In sweat pants covered with paint and an old ratty T-shirt.
And God has promised to be the One who makes sure we are ready.
God will not only wash our outside,
But He will also give us attitude lessons to work on our inside.
He is making sure that when the Lord returns we are ready to meet Him.
The Provider, The Picture, The Purpose
#4 THE PROMISE OF SANCTIFICATION
1 Thessalonians 5:24
At this point we can clearly see that God is in the sanctifying role
And we even see what that is and why He will do it.
We understand the need and what it is.
But we also know that there is still one glaring obstacle to overcome.
ME
Hasn’t that been the obstacle that kept us from sanctifying ourselves?
Colossians 3:5 “Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.”
Romans 6:11-13 “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”
Yet, despite knowing that we should kill off the old man,
We have found that to be easier said than done.
So even though sanctification is the work of God,
How can we be sure that we won’t mess it all up?
BUT HERE IS THE BEAUTY
Your sanctification will occur.
Not based upon your submission…
Not based upon your obedience…
Not based upon your willingness…
Your sanctification will occur based upon His faithfulness.
“Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”
The guarantee of sanctification is not a guarantee based upon you,
But is a guarantee based upon God.
God is faithful to finish what He starts.
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.”
Consider that great passage in Romans.
Romans 8:28-30 “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; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”
It is not as though God boasts of a 70% graduation rate,
Where 7 out of every 10 people foreknown actually make it to heaven.
No, God bats 1,000.
Because He predestines 100% of those He foreknows.
He then call 100% of those He predestines.
He then justifies 100% of those He calls.
He then glorifies 100% of those He justifies.
God finishes what He started.
He is faithful like that.
“He also will bring it to pass.”
Psalms 37:5-6 “Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday.”
1 Corinthians 1:4-9 “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”
This is why we also love the 23rd Psalm.
Psalms 23 “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
And of course we love that Psalm on a variety of levels,
But one of those reasons is because of where it ends.
“I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
BUT HAVE YOU EVER NOTICED WHY?
It is not because of what you do.
In fact that Psalm only records you doing two things.
• One is dwelling in God’s house.
• The other is dying. “walk through the valley of the shadow of death”
Those are the only things that Psalm says that you will do.
God does the rest.
• “He makes me like down”
• “He leads me”
• “He restores my soul”
• “He guides me in the paths of righteousness”
• He is with me
• He comforts me
• He prepares a table before me
• He anoints me
• He follows me with goodness and lovingkindness
The point is that God does it all.
And this is the hope and assurance
We take into the process of sanctification.
DO WE STILL STRIVE?
Absolutely we want it to.
BUT WE ALSO REJOICE, KNOWING THAT GOD WILL MAKE IT CERTAIN.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”
