Justification and Sanctification.
Justification deals with our guilt as sinners by birth and choice.
And Sanctification deals with the problem of the power of sin in our lives, as Christians.
Romans 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”
Romans 6:12-13 “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
We are justified when we are born again. Justified is a legal term, and means to be made: not guilty before God.
As lost sinners, we are only justified when we receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We have come to believe in Him, Whom to know aright is to have Eternal Life (Romans 6:23).
As saved sinners, we are sanctified, or set aside for God’s use; as He has more and more of us.
It is not: “How much of God do I have in my life?”
It is: “How much does He have of me, or how much have I lost of my self-life?
You see the Holy Spirit indwells believers at new birth. (Hallelujah)
But, after that, He empowers us,…..only as much as we let Him,…in all the areas of our life.
To do this, we need to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Him.
Matthew 16:24-25 “Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it.”
Our “cross” is anything which goes against “our” will; that we have a choice in: it is not illness, or our relatives, or our looks; it is what we can say “no” to.
For it is “if any man will”.
It is different for each of us: what God requires at my hand, He might not do to you. (And visa versa)
But the method is the same: we need to say “no” to ourselves (that is denying yourself); and do the thing required of us, giving the Holy Spirit access to teach us, implant within us, or remove from us, what He will.
As we do this, the “power” of our will, is made more and more joyfully willing to do His Will; and we are little by little sanctified (made a force for God to use in our circumstances).
Justification is just the first part of our life in Christ, for He wants us to go on from strength to strength in Him, in our lives.
And that requires us to be sanctified. Setting ourselves aside to God…in all things.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 