Everything in the Christian life depends upon what Christ has done for us on the cross, and what He continues to do in and through us as He lives His life in us. Not only has He died for us, but also, through a spiritual union of the believer with Him, we are “in Christ,” and He is “in us.”
The most important principle of sanctification is believing in what God Himself has already done for us. Sanctification is a translation of the Greek word “hagiasmos,” meaning “holiness” or “a separation.” For the Christian, sanctification is a state of separation unto God; all believers enter into this state when they are born of God.
1 Corinthians 1:30 (ESV) says, “You are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”
The key to our progressive sanctification is in knowing that God has taken us out of our old way of life and has joined us to Jesus Christ. We are no longer subject to the reign of sin and death, but are now transferred to the kingdom of God.
In Romans 6:11 the apostle Paul says our responsibility is to consider (reckon) ourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. We are to be constantly counting upon the fact that we are dead to sin, but also alive to God in Christ Jesus.
The word translated "reckon" or "consider" is a key word in the apostle Paul's teaching on sanctification. He calls upon us to "count, reckon, impute" on certain facts. It is an accounting word that means to take into account, to calculate, to estimate. We are to impute or "to put to one's account" certain facts. It simply means to believe that what God says in His Word is really true in our life.
Paul is admonishing the believer in Christ to recognize something that has already been accomplished as a fact. We are to consider, and keep constantly before us, this truth about who we are in Christ and our relationship with Him.
Jesus died as the substitute for our sins. According to Isaiah 53:5-6 He suffered for our transgressions. According to Romans 6:23, the wages of sin is death, which causes us to owe a great debt to God. That debt has been fully paid by Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross. That is a fact to be considered every day. It’s our responsibility to count upon this fact and apply it to our daily lives.
He not only died for our sins, but God has credited the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ to our accounting ledger. His right standing in the Father’s sight has been transferred to our account, and God now accounts us righteous in Christ according to 2 Corinthians 5:21.
The critical point is that the born-again Christian can count as true, this great fact as God sees it. It’s a completed transaction. God has acquitted us. We must reckon as true what God has already done for us. We are no longer subject to the reign of sin and death. We are now under the power of the kingdom of God and His rule by grace.
The apostle Paul did not tell us to “feel” a certain way, but to “act” on God's Word and claim these truths for ourselves. When we count on these facts they result in actions and changes in our behaviors. We act by faith on what we know to be the truth. The result is a behavioral change.
Sin has not been eradicated from the believer, but we are freed from the bondage of sin. We were slaves whose bondage has been broken. We were slaves to our sinful nature, who have now become new creatures in Christ.
Through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, we have His assurance of eternal life. The sharing in this resurrection life of Christ begins at the moment of regeneration, but it will continue as a believer shares eternity with the Lord. This new life we have is eternal in its quality is everlasting in duration. A life of holiness begins with a change in the way we think about what Christ did for us. The working of sanctification within us is done by the Power of God.
In the past, God granted us justification, a once-for-all, positional holiness in Christ. Now, God guides us to maturity, a practical, progressive holiness. In the future, God will give us glorification, a permanent, ultimate holiness. These three phases of sanctification separate the believer from the penalty of sin (justification), the power of sin (maturity), and the presence of sin (glorification).
Blessings,
Pastor Chuck
The most important principle of sanctification is believing in what God Himself has already done for us. Sanctification is a translation of the Greek word “hagiasmos,” meaning “holiness” or “a separation.” For the Christian, sanctification is a state of separation unto God; all believers enter into this state when they are born of God.
1 Corinthians 1:30 (ESV) says, “You are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”
The key to our progressive sanctification is in knowing that God has taken us out of our old way of life and has joined us to Jesus Christ. We are no longer subject to the reign of sin and death, but are now transferred to the kingdom of God.
In Romans 6:11 the apostle Paul says our responsibility is to consider (reckon) ourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. We are to be constantly counting upon the fact that we are dead to sin, but also alive to God in Christ Jesus.
The word translated "reckon" or "consider" is a key word in the apostle Paul's teaching on sanctification. He calls upon us to "count, reckon, impute" on certain facts. It is an accounting word that means to take into account, to calculate, to estimate. We are to impute or "to put to one's account" certain facts. It simply means to believe that what God says in His Word is really true in our life.
Paul is admonishing the believer in Christ to recognize something that has already been accomplished as a fact. We are to consider, and keep constantly before us, this truth about who we are in Christ and our relationship with Him.
Jesus died as the substitute for our sins. According to Isaiah 53:5-6 He suffered for our transgressions. According to Romans 6:23, the wages of sin is death, which causes us to owe a great debt to God. That debt has been fully paid by Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross. That is a fact to be considered every day. It’s our responsibility to count upon this fact and apply it to our daily lives.
He not only died for our sins, but God has credited the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ to our accounting ledger. His right standing in the Father’s sight has been transferred to our account, and God now accounts us righteous in Christ according to 2 Corinthians 5:21.
The critical point is that the born-again Christian can count as true, this great fact as God sees it. It’s a completed transaction. God has acquitted us. We must reckon as true what God has already done for us. We are no longer subject to the reign of sin and death. We are now under the power of the kingdom of God and His rule by grace.
The apostle Paul did not tell us to “feel” a certain way, but to “act” on God's Word and claim these truths for ourselves. When we count on these facts they result in actions and changes in our behaviors. We act by faith on what we know to be the truth. The result is a behavioral change.
Sin has not been eradicated from the believer, but we are freed from the bondage of sin. We were slaves whose bondage has been broken. We were slaves to our sinful nature, who have now become new creatures in Christ.
Through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, we have His assurance of eternal life. The sharing in this resurrection life of Christ begins at the moment of regeneration, but it will continue as a believer shares eternity with the Lord. This new life we have is eternal in its quality is everlasting in duration. A life of holiness begins with a change in the way we think about what Christ did for us. The working of sanctification within us is done by the Power of God.
In the past, God granted us justification, a once-for-all, positional holiness in Christ. Now, God guides us to maturity, a practical, progressive holiness. In the future, God will give us glorification, a permanent, ultimate holiness. These three phases of sanctification separate the believer from the penalty of sin (justification), the power of sin (maturity), and the presence of sin (glorification).
Blessings,
Pastor Chuck
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