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Our role and God’s role

Whereas justification is totally down to God and we contribute nothing towards it, sanctification is a co-operative effort between us and God. God wants us to be involved in our growth but doesn’t leave it entirely up to us…

God’s role in sanctification

Each member of the trinity (father, son and spirit) has a role in our sanctification:

God disciplines us as a father: He shows us the path to holiness  by correcting us in love when we stray. Hebrews 12:7-11 beautifully illustrates God’s discipline as a method of teaching.

Jesus earned our sanctification and became our sanctification with what he achieved here on the Earth (1 Corinthians 1:30). But just as importantly, Jesus is our example for sanctification. He came to show us how we are to live our lives. We are to pursue a likeness with Jesus (1 Peter 2:21 and 1 John 2:6)

However, it is specifically the Holy Spirit that works within us to change us and sanctify us. 2 Thessalonians 2:13, Galatians 5:22-23 and Galatians 5:16-17 all show how the Spirit within us works to change us.

Our role in sanctification

To begin with our role is a passive one: We depend on God to save us and allow him to work in us.

However, we need to be cautious so not to become lazy and fall back on the passive role and wait on God to do all the work. So we also have an active role in that we strive to obey God and take steps to increase our sanctification. Philippians 2:12-13 says we need to “work out our own salvation” and I love how Hebrews 5:12-14 tells us to grow up and train ourselves for God.

Both the passive role and active role are important but if we neglect our active role of striving to obey God we become passive, lazy Christians and if we neglect the passive role of trusting God and yielding to him we become proud and overly-confident in ourselves. The correct balance is vital!

To be continued…

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22)

The other day I was feeling like a need a reminder that Joy is a fruit of the Spirit. It’s a fruit, something that grows out of our loving relationship with Jesus, through the Holy Spirit. It’s not controlled by the circumstances or the situations we are in. The early Christians in the New Testament were imprisoned and persecuted and many were put to death, but still lived their lives in joy, it couldn’t be taken away from them. They sang praises to God in prison, it seemed that nothing could quench that overflow of joy in their hearts.

Sometimes I find it hard to stay joyful, and when I look around at others struggling too, I wonder, where has all the joy gone? And why are we letting life bring us down? What makes the difference between me and the New Testament Christians?

I thought perhaps I was trying to muster up my own Joy rather than seeking God for His? Or perhaps confusing the words “Joy” and “Happiness” and actually I do have joy deep in me but because happiness is often so fleeting I miss the joy that I have deep down? Or is it just because I’m not quick enough to turn to God in all situations and circumstances?

I prayed about this for a while and asked God to show me what I need to do to remain in joy. The answer was a simple one “fix your eyes on Jesus.” I realised that this was so true! All the times that I felt I didn’t have enough joy were the times where I had taken my focus off Jesus and started looking at myself, or others, or the situations/circumstances I, or others were in. As soon as my focus was on the problem rather than the Answer (Jesus) that’s where my joy faltered and I allowed worry / disappointment or fear take the place of my joy!!

Hebrews 12:2-3 says ^“ Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Isn’t it interesting that Jesus endured the cross for “the joy set before him” and that by fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author & perfecter of our faith, we can keep our joy and not grow weary or lose heart (even if we face difficult / uncertain circumstances?)

Check out Acts 13:50-53 ^“50 But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. ⁵¹ So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. ⁵² And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” Doesn’t it sound like something got missed in translation? They were persecuted and expelled from the region, and as a result they were… “filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit” ?!

The Holy Spirit in you is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead (Rom 8:11) and was the same Holy Spirit that came on the disciples, to enable them to move in power and do all the things Jesus told them to, with Joy! There’s no difference between then and now. You can have the same joy, if you follow Jesus and keep your eyes on Him!

So I pray that you will have Joy in your life, through the Holy Spirit, and that you will be able to fix your eyes on Jesus and not on the circumstances you are in or even on the lives of other people, so that you may hold onto this joy and not lose heart.

A few weeks ago I spoke a bit about being God’s children , now I want to expand on this further and talk about being sons of God. Whether you are male, or female, if you are "in Christ" you are God’s son, which also makes you an heir. Not sure if you are "in Christ" ?? Check out Knowing God .

Our inheritance starts with our salvation, eternal life with God, through the death (and ressurection) of Jesus, who took our sin and replaced it with His righteousness. We have been promised an amazing inheritance, and at such a cost to Jesus.  Isn’t it amazing that God would choose to adopt us as His sons even though he is God and he is perfect, and we are created and not at all perfect!

I couldn’t choose which verse I wanted to use this week! There were so many good, encouraging verses to choose from! In the end I decided that rather than doing all the talking, I would let the scriptures say most of it. If you are alone, why not try reading these out load to build you up!

Galatians 3:26-29
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Galatians 4:6-7
Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

Titus 3:4-7
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

Romans 8:16-19
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.

Ephesians 1:4-6
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

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Each one of us were chosen in love to be God’s sons,  so that he could lavish his grace on us. We are sons of the King! We are royalty ! As it says in 1 Peter 2:9: ..you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood , a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

So we must hold onto the fact that even though we are of course called to be humble servants on earth, just as Jesus was, we are also royalty because our Father God in Heaven has adopted us his Sons because of our active faith in Christ Jesus (who is the "King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!"). As you go through the ups and downs of life, make sure you remember that you are a child of the King!!

Revelation 17:14-15
They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.

Matthew 25:34-35
Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Praise God for his promises, for his love and for our salvation through Jesus! Praise God that we have his royalty and an inheritance through our active faith in Jesus. Praise God that he promises to “adopt” anyone into his family who chooses to accept his own son, Jesus, as their Lord & saviour.

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For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Over the past 3 weeks we’ve looked at being Christ’s friends, God’s Children and members of the Body of Christ (the church). This week we’re looking at being "New Creations" and how we live this out.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

In Christ we are new creations! The old has gone, the new has come! How great is that? We are transformed when we accept Christ into our lives, we are no longer slaves to sin or to the ways of the world – we are free to be who God created us to be and to live lives free from sin and the things that pull us down. Christ has done it for us – his death on the cross conquered our sin and set us free.

I know in practice we often don’t feel like we are new creations, we live in a fallen world and have baggage from our past which can influence the way we think and react to things. Yet God’s word is true and if we hold on to it and speak it out over our lives, he will help us to walk in the freedom he has given us.

There’s also a “practice” involved. We need to choose not to go back to our old ways – not to lie to each other, but to know we have “taken off” our old self and “put on” our new self (Col 3:9-10 ). We have to renew our minds (Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Rom 12:2 ) and feed our minds with good stuff (Phil 4:8) and the knowledge of Christ and who we are in him (from reading the word), in order to know that our old self has been dealt with (For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin. Rom 6:6-7 ) and to stand firm and live as new free creations! (It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Gal 5:1 )

It’s an act of will to choose not to keep confirming to our old habits and thought patterns and not to fall back into sin. We know we are no longer slaves to sin (Rom 6:6 ) so it doesn’t have the hold over our lives that it used to have – even if we like to think that’s the reason we choose to keep sinning. We could just say “that’s the way I am” but God has made us new creations! We need to actively “put on” these new selves, like a new coat in place of an old one. First we must discard the dirty old spoilt coat, and then we can “put on” the new beautiful one that God has created for us. (You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Eph 4:22-24 )

Sometimes our temptation is to put back on the old self because it might be more familiar and comfortable, we might think that we suit it better, but God has created us beautiful and clean and righteous!! Ephesians 4 above says “to be made new in the attitude of your minds ” and this is the key, because the truth is that we are new creations, but our head or thoughts might tell us differently – and we need to choose to think as new creations and not as the sinners that we used to be!

Read it again : Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

Praise God for this promise! Let us continue to live our lives as new creations !

If you don’t yet know Jesus, or that you are a "new creation" speak to someone you know who is a Christian so that they can talk it through with you.

Galatians 6:7-8 (The Message)

Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others-ignoring God!-harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.

It’s a very basic principle – what you plant and feed will grow. Good or bad, positive or negative. God wants us to plant things that will stand the test of time, that will benefit not only ourselves, but others. Things that won’t just last days or weeks, months or years, but for all of eternity. He wants us to be planting for his Kingdom, digging up the weeds before they take root, and letting him grow and shape us.

Can people see the fruit that is growing in your life? Do you plant the things of God? Do you invest your time in encouraging others, speaking words that build-up, reading God’s promises and choosing to trust in Him? Do you seek God’s spirit to help you to grow? Do you pray asking God to produce fruit in your life?

We can’t ‘pretend’ to do the Christian thing, God will not be fooled! It will be obvious not only to God, but to everyone around us, because of the fruit/crop that we produce. If we are not bearing good fruit then we are not seeking God and planting the right things. In Matthew 7:17-18, it says : Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.

You may be thinking, well ok, but what is fruit? How do I know whether I am bearing fruit/producing a good crop? Well Galatians 5:22-23 describes fruit like this: The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

We cannot say we are children of God if we continue to be selfish, to do only what we want to do, and to spend time doing everything but spending time with our saviour. God tells us to “seek first his kingdom & his righteousness” (Matt 6:33) He loves us so much, he made us to be with him, to thrive on his Spirit and in his love. He knows what’s best for us – and that’s Him! He is the best thing for us. Yet we often spend so much time doing anything but spending time with God.

We plant our time, our energy, our love and our money into things that won’t last and won’t make us happy, and by doing this, we create a big crop of weeds. We give God a 5 min slot when we don’t have anything better to do and wonder why we find life such a struggle sometimes.. We were created to be with God, to live in Him and for Him, that’s where we get the blessings and the joy!! Romans 11:36 puts it like this: For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. Colossians 1:16-17 says it like this: all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Feeling like you can’t hold it all together? Congratulations! You’ve realised the truth! Only God can hold all things together! That’s why we need Him. That’s why we need to seek him first, so that we can then go out and plant a good crop, a God-crop; so that we can bear good fruit and so that when we come face to face with him, we won’t just have weeds to show for our life here on earth.

Ask God to help you plant your time, energy, love and money into those things that will produce a good crop – an eternal crop. Ask Him to help you seek Him first above all things. So that many people will look and see that you are “hand-grown” by God

God loves us and he knows what’s best for us, and he tells us we should be looking out for one another, there are sooo many verses on how we should treat one another in the bible that I decided I would use this bible study to pick out some of my favourites. Have a read through and pick out a few that speak to you – perhaps ones you know you could do with some help on. Then ask God to help you to live it out!

That’s it from me, I’m going to leave all the rest of the talking to God…! Let’s get started on one anothering one another..!!

“This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Zechariah 7:9

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”John 13:34-35

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 12:10

Live in harmony with one another. Romans 12:16

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Romans 15:7

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature ; rather, serve one another in love. Galatians 5:13

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Ephesians 4:2

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. Hebrews 3:13

Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Hebrews 10:24

Live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. 1 Peter 3:8

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 1 Peter 4:9

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1 John 4:11-12

Matthew 21:28 – 31
“What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

” ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
“Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.
“Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.
I think this little passage speaks for itself – it shows a lot about how the world can be. The world is quite good at “lip service”- just saying what people want to hear without really meaning it/without the intention of following through with what’s been said. The art of taking the easy route for a quiet life, to get what you want, or to avoid confrontation. We need to be careful not to pick up this habit. If we don’t intend to do something we shouldn’t say “yes we will” or “I’ll try” or even “I’ll pray for you” when actually we have no intention of doing so. Whichever way you look at it, it’s a lie.

Proverbs 12:22: The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful.
Ephesians 4:25: Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbour
The other extreme is continually telling people “no I can’t (or won’t) help.” Maybe because we are too busy, too lazy, too tired or feeling like it’s not our “calling” but the truth is that we are all called to serve one another in love.

Galatians 5:13: You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.

God wants us to be helpful and kind to our brothers & sisters in Christ, and also to people who don’t know him, so that they can receive God’s love through us. If we find ourselves always saying no to these things and coming up with reasons why we can’t help, then we need to examine ourselves and ask God to help us change our minds/attitudes/what we spend our time on. I’m not saying we should never take time out to relax, spend time with family, seek God and recharge our batteries – we do need to be sensible about it, but we also need to be available for God to use us to help others.

1 John 3:17 (The Message): If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.

So let’s not say what we don’t mean, rather lets mean it when we say “yes Father God, I’m willing.” And when we are not willing, let’s be open to God’s gentle prompting to change our minds, like the son in this passage.

Hebrews 10:22-24 : 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.Read through the passage and have a think about which bits feel like “yes I get that” and which bits make you ask more questions or make you feel like you’re just not in that place. It’s good to ask questions, and to test where you are in your faith. Knowing that you’re not quite there is fine – because it means that you know you need God to help you!!

Me? The bits I find hard are 1. in full assurance of faith. Full assurance? Mmmm I don’t feel there yet. 2.Hold unswervingly to the hope we profess. I do have hope and I do trust in God and I do know that God is faithful, but unswervingly, as in never swerving? Mmmm I’m not there yet either! But I know that God has his hand on my life and that the more we go through together in this world, the more assured I will be in my faith and the less “swervy” I’ll be when I face things that are hard. It’s a step by step process with God, I know I can’t do any of it on my own.

The bit I like? Having our hearts sprinkled (with the blood of Christ) to cleanse us from a guilty conscience. That means that although I am weak and don’t feel like I have “full assurance of faith” and although I still sway and don’t always hold on “unswervingly” to my hope in God, I am not to condemn myself or feel guilty about it. I (we) live in freedom without guilt, because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross.

The other bit I really wanted to talk about was – spur one another on toward love and good deeds. I’d love to be able to spur on people in their love for God and one another and in doing good deeds for those who are in need… but how? What is “spurring?” If you think of horse riding, it could be kinda painful – have you seen the spikes on a cowboy’s boots?!?! I’m no sure that I want to be a spike!! I guess that’s why Paul uses the word “consider” as we need to think about what we are doing and how we are doing it. Not just launch in with our spikes!!!

Looking at Paul’s letters in the new testament, we can get a glimpse of what “spurring” is in a Christian sense. There’s so many loving prayers, Godly advice and loving warnings to help keep the believer’s on the right track. That’s how we should spur each other on! In love and in prayer, and also helping others when they go off track. Check out the passages below. There are many many many more verses that I could use – so do go and look for yourselves, consider them and get spurring!!

Philippians 1:4: In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy… 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus…. 9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

1 Corinthians 16:13 Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. 14 Do everything in love.
Ephesians 1:16: I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

Galatians 6:9: Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Colossians 1:9 Since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

2 Corinthians 13: 5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? 6 And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test.…..10 This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority—the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down.

Wait for the LORD;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the LORD.
Psalm 27:14

It’s a funny picture waiting on the Lord. It makes me think that somehow we’ve left him behind. Like he was too slow! But it’s not up to us to set the pace, fix the schedule, make sure God fits with our agenda – it’s God’s plan remember, and his timing is perfect!

- What do you think it means by “waiting on the Lord”? Do we just pull up a chair and sit?

- Do you feel that you strong enough to trust that God’s got it covered, even though it seems he’s leaving things until the very last minute? If not, ask Him to help you to be.

Me, I’m not good at waiting! In fact I’m worse than not good – I’m rubbish!! I get so impatient, I just can’t wait to jump into the next thing! This is a real pain for my husband who has to go around finishing jobs I started, whilst I launch into the next thing! So it follows that to “wait on the Lord” does not come naturally to me. Even when I say that phrase to myself I think it sounds like the kind of thing an “overly spiritual” person would advise you to do (don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about!!)

Yet this verse comes with a challenge to me, and to you.. Are we going to choose to wait on God for the things we need, for direction, for understanding, for breakthrough or whatever that next thing is, or are we going to strain to make it happen in our own strength because God’s not acting quickly enough or we don’t quite trust Him with whatever it is?

I’m not saying we should just sit back and “go with the flow” often we need to push doors and see if God opens them, but if they all shut then we need to trust that God has other plans or that it’s not the right time. When we feel like God’s not answering our prayers or not helping us quickly enough, we need to remember it’s not our timing it’s Gods. We need to be patient, to keep praying and to actively trust in God and listen for his gentle guidance. We should do our best not to run ahead because we feel that God isn’t answering quickly enough, however tempting it may be. Through these times of waiting we get to know God more, we learn to trust him more and when the answers come we understand more of how perfect God’s plan is and that his timing really is perfect too! Then we can bear witness to his faithfulness and how he works all things for good in the lives of those who love him.

Galatians 5:25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him