Jeans’ Gospel: The Sanctified Life
The Sanctified Life
āSo then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.ā (RomĀ 8:12-13)
In Proverbs it is written: āthe borrower is the slave of the lender.ā (ProvĀ 22:7) Paul urges Christians to be wise debtors, not to our old nature, which was crucified with Christ in baptism (RomĀ 6:6), but to the Spirit. This is because if we live according to the old nature, we return to slavery to sin, damned by debt we cannot repay. On the other hand, debt to the Spirit makes the Christian a wealthy heir. This is because if we live according to the Spirit, He will lead us to everlasting life as adopted heirs of our Father in heaven and fellow heirs of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
One of the fruits of Spirit debt is āsanctificationā (RomĀ 6:22). The word, āsanctification,ā means to be set apart. The Spiritās ongoing work in the life of Christian is to separate the old nature from our new life in Christ. He works our sanctification (or separation) through confession and prayer.
CONFESSION
āif by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.ā (RomĀ 8:13)
The Spirit works through Godās Word to reveal the deeds of the body. This includes everything in our old nature which is hostile to Christ and the Gospel, including unbelief and distrust, carnal security and presumption instead of the fear of God, coldness and laziness with respect to Godās Word and prayer, impatience and murmurings under suffering, anger and vindictiveness or envy and hatred against our neighbor, greed, sexual immorality, etc.
The Spirit then enables us to mortify sin (i.e., put it to death), first by recognizing sin, at once repenting of that sin, and then, remembering the Gospel and through faith in the forgiveness of sins, strengthening ourselves against sin, so that we can resist it in order that we do not consent to it or permit it to manifest itself in deeds. This putting to death of sin is a lifelong, daily, work of the Spirit.
āFor all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (RomĀ 8:14)
The Spirit separates our new life in Christ from our old nature by leading us in an entirely different and new direction. The Spirit gives us a heart which gladly hears Godās Word and believes that in Christ it has grace and the forgiveness of sins; a heart which confesses and proves its faith before the world; a heart which seeks, above all things, the glory of God, and endeavors to live without giving offense, to serve others and to be obedient, patient, pure, humble; a heart which, though at times will stumble, soon rises again by repentance, and ceases to sin. All these things the Spirit teaches one if he hears and receives the Word, and does not willfully resist the Spirit.
PRAYER
āFor you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, āAbba! Father!ā The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirsāheirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.ā (RomĀ 8:15-17)
The Spirit separates our new life in Christ from the old nature by taking the promise of adoption made by Christ and teaching us to pray as children of God. But why is it a cry to āAbba! Father?ā
- At times it may be a cry of dereliction, as though God has deserted us in our suffering. The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are Godās children, enabling us to persevere in prayer, like the persistent widow (LukeĀ 18:1-8), until God comes to our aid. āFor he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.ā (PsĀ 22:24)
- At other times it may be a cry of suffering from dying to old habits, or extricating ourselves from damaging relationships. Martin Luther said that the first death ā the death to sin ā is the most painful death, and that the second death is by comparison just a going to sleep in anticipation of the resurrection of our bodies.
- A third type of cry may be one of fear of the unknown. Being led by the Spirit, trusting in Godās grace, at times may feel analogous to Noah floating alone on the sea with no land in sight, or the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, not knowing who or what was on the other side of the next hill or mountain. Will there be food or water? Are there unfriendly people or poisonous serpents? Has God finally had it with us?
The prayer of faith takes the promises in Godās Word and uses them to call on Him for help and, through the Spirit, strengthens us to suffer with Christ in the Spiritās work in our lives.
Heirs of God and Fellow Heirs with Christ
The Spiritās separating (or sanctifying) work is toward one purpose: to make us heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. This is the highest honor of the Christian. Should we not marvel at this, that a poor, miserable sinner should obtain such honor with God as to be called, not a slave nor a servant of God, but a son and an heir of God? But Paul declares here that we who believe in Christ shall be not Godās servants, but His own sons and daughters ā His heirs. Who can sufficiently magnify or apprehend Godās grace?
Therefore, may the Spirit of adoption keep us steadfast in Christ and His Word, in confession and prayer, and uphold us with a willing spirit, while He leads us as āchildren of God, and if children, then heirsāheirs of God and fellow heirs with Christā. Amen.
Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those
who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom
and the power and the glory
forever and ever. Amen
we are debtors – indeed – i only have the translation given above to go on, but does it say that we are debtors to the Spirit?
i read it that we are debtors to God the Father, but i suppose that can include all three persons….. we are certainly dependent upon God the Holy Spirit to live our lives in Christ… hmmm … debtors = dependence … thinking…
Maybe this will help Em,
“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.” Romans 6:22
Yes and we are given a list of those fruits… we can read the list and try to manifest them in our lives, and I’m not at all sure that it is wrong to do that… But it is better to grow – that is to not have to “try,” but rather to ” be” what God intends… I think it is described to us as growing in the nurture and admonition of the Lord…
Our condition as blood bought slaves is worth thinking on….
I think that being slaves is just God’s ownership of us – not a we are at his beck and call because he is the boss.
I like what Em says is #3 – don’t pass out Em – but I would go further than “that is to not have to ātry,ā but rather to ā beā what God intendsā¦” in clarifying that we already are what God intends us to be – we are sanctified and we are his children.
I agree with Em and MLD.
The way Paul puts it is that the the new man is sanctified (e.g., “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being”). The Spirit manifests His fruit through the new man. What Paul deals with in this week’s text is the putting to death of the old nature, which resists the Spirit. That is where the struggle is had; the old nature resists the Spirit.
Therefore, the Spirit takes God’s Word and uses it to discipline and subdue the inclinations of the old nature, so that the Spirit may manifest His fruit in our lives through the new man.
This is why good preaching is so important. The Spirit works through God’s Law and Gospel.
Well ML D I am about to pass out, but not from your observation…
Sitting here lying low avoiding the heat I resorted to solving a sudoku puzzle… ?
what people had the time to think up that?
In the sense that He owns us (it’s that “eternal security” conundrum where our two views of Scripture clash) we are totally at the mercy – and blessing – of His will… How little we seem to grasp that we were slaves before our purchase by God… My new Master is infinitely superior
I know the word “sanctification” can be a noun or an adverb or a verb, for that matter,, not being a scholar or a teacher, the best that I can express my understanding of sanctification is that in all its forms it applies to the new birth and growth of the Believer
But I am imposing on the Lutheran hour here – I should apologize
I’m sitting here with a picture of our merciful long suffering God as a musician He’s playing the music, a tune called Truth, and watching with amusement as His children dance… Sorry, not sound doctrine, I know
I was interrupted mid post … before reading #5 .. Pretty much saying amen from here
Jean, I love these studies…… makes me think this could be an interpretation of “green pastures”….. š
John 20: – the musician picture works for me. Makes me think of the Narnia series, in the first book, where Aslan creates Narnia. There is music everywhere…..
“This is my Fatherās world,
And to my listāning ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Fatherās world:
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seasā
His hand the wonders wrought.
This is my Fatherās world:
The birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white,
Declare their Makerās praise.
This is my Fatherās world:
He shines in all thatās fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass,
He speaks to me everywhere.
This is my Fatherās world:
Oh, let me neāer forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet.
This is my Fatherās world,
The battle is not done:
Jesus who died shall be satisfied,
And earth and Heavān be one.”
Maltbie Babcock
kind of echoes this week’s (Aug. 12th) prayer…