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The words justification and sanctification have largely fallen out of use in Western culture. Sadly, they are also fading from sight in the Christian church. One reason this decline is distressing is that the Bible uses the words justification and sanctification to express the saving work of Christ for sinners. That is to say, both terms lie at the heart of the biblical gospel. So, what does the Bible teach about justification and sanctification? How do they differ from one another? How do they help us understand better the believer’s relationship with Jesus Christ? Justification is as simple as A-B-C-D....

In Bible interpretation, it has become clear that a proper foundation must be laid in order to get at the truth that is sought. Otherwise, one will snatch out verses here and there that fit the person’s preconceived idea. It seems to be the problem behind every deviation from the whole counsel of God, and that last thought is a staggering reality that often shows up. In all relationship issues between God and man, the truth is this: Man has the knowledge of good and evil, and it doesn’t take a lot of searching and pondering over the Scriptures to...

Wisdom From Oswald Chambers Is He going to help Himself to your life, or are you taken up with your conception of what you are going to do? God is responsible for our lives, and the one great keynote is reckless reliance upon Him. Visions Becoming Reality ____________________________________________________ The parched ground shall become a pool… —Isaiah 35:7 ____________________________________________________ We always have a vision of something before it actually becomes real to us. When we realize that the vision is real, but is not yet real in us, Satan comes to us with his temptations, and we are inclined to say...

While I am very sorry to hear of the painful divisions your denomination has been experiencing since the General Conference in 2019, I am writing to assure you that there is hope for the future through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.Delegates and bishops pray before a key vote on church policies about homosexuality during the 2019 United Methodist General Conference in St. Louis. | Photo: UMNS/Mike DuBoseAh, but what is the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Does it, perhaps, change with time or is it — like Jesus himself — the same; yesterday, today, and forever?The Anglican ministers who founded your...

And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came. And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial: The Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the...

July 19 His Life Cannot Fail “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” GALATIANS 2:20 The Law of Gravity brings objects to the ground. It does not matter to Gravity how large or small the object is. It works the same with acorns as it does with airplanes. Likewise, I know today that it does not matter if I am called upon...

The Relationship BetweenGood Works and Salvation Salvation is NOT BY WORKS  (Ephesians 2:8-9) Salvation is UNTO GOOD WORKS (Ephesians 2:10) Good works are not the MEANS of salvation (Titus 3:5). Good works are the RESULT of salvation(Titus 3:8). Good works are not the CAUSE of salvation. Good works are the CONSEQUENCE of salvation. Good works are not what a person must do to be saved. "But to him that WORKETH NOT, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness" (Rom. 4:5). Good works are what a saved person does."This is a faithful saying,...

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.(Romans 8:28)First brothers and sisters, Listen to this- Eli Eli Eli Why do all things work together for good? Can God even make evil , trouble and sorrow work for us? Is this a promise for everyone? This is definitely not a promise for everyone; it is addressed to those “Who love God” and those “who are being called according to His purpose”. Yes God even uses evil, forcing it to conform to His purpose. The...

When it comes to the topic of if a Christian can fall from God's grace, the "once saved, always saved" people bring up the sheep example. Very oddly, they miss something. Jesus said, "28 and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand." John 10:28f. Jesus also said earlier, "11 I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His...

Tonight we're going to continue our look at some of the great doctrines of Scripture and we've sort of entered in to a prolonged examination of the doctrine of sanctification. Now in talking about this idea of sanctification, and we've been defining it for weeks, we're really talking about progressive spiritual development. And the heart of it all is in John 17:17 where Jesus said, "Sanctify them by Thy truth, Thy Word is truth." Sanctification is separation from sin. There is an initial separation at salvation and then there's an ongoing increasing separation through all of our Christian experience. This...

The video below shows “American tacky” in all its glory. A man who loved Burger King dies and his family honors him by taking the funeral procession through the Burger King “drive thru.” Free Burgers for all on the way to the Cemetery, hearse and all.I’ve seen worse, I have to admit. Probably at the top of the list is and “Funeral Home Drive- thru” where the deceased is actually on display in a window. No need to get out of your car and actually visit the family. No, that’s too much trouble and lacks the kind of convenience we...

A recent sermon by Pastor David Jeremiah has been weighing heavily upon my mind. He recounted the true-life story of contemporaries William Franklin Graham and Charles Templeton, up and coming young evangelists who began their ministries during the 1940s. Most thought Templeton, rather than Graham, would achieve greater things in the name of the Lord. But, in fact, the former fell away from his Christian faith – actually declaring himself atheist – while the great Billy Graham remained a good and faithful servant of the Most High. Pastor Jeremiah shared the story of Graham and Templeton to remind his congregation...

Justification and Sanctification are two extremely important concepts to understand, even though they are not everyday words. But they are more than concepts; justification and sanctification help us make sense out of the world, ourselves, and God. In other words, they are not simply "up there" but very relevant to "down here." These concepts are practical. Justification is the teaching that God declares us right in Jesus Christ. Paul writes in Romans, "For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, though the...

Chapter XIII Of Sanctification I. They, who are once effectually called, and regenerated, having a new heart, and a new spirit created in them, are further sanctified, really and personally, through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection,[1] by His Word and Spirit dwelling in them:[2] the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed,[3] and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified;[4] and they more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces,[5] to the practice of true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.[6] II. This sanctification is throughout, in...

Sinclair Ferguson reminds us that piety not marinated in the gospel will run out of gas–that imperatives minus indicatives equal impossibilities: The first thing to remember is that we must never separate the benefits (regeneration, justification, sanctification) from the Benefactor (Jesus Christ). The Christians who are most focused on their own spirituality may give the impression of being the most spiritual … but from the New Testament’s point of view, those who have almost forgotten about their own spirituality because their focus is so exclusively on their union with Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished are those who are...

How many of us try to clean ourselves up before approaching the Lord's Table, as if there were some degree or level of purity that we could reach that would make us acceptable to God? The command to love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself should be sufficient to make you recognize your utter inability to do so. In all likelihood, the thinking that we have to make ourselves right and acceptable before God before he will accept us probably derives its origin from the influential but flawed theology of Pietism. For what man could ever...

But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. (Romans 7:8-9) We have been looking at the teaching of Romans 7, which is the necessity of deliverance from the Law. The Christian must be delivered from the Law just as much as he needs to be delivered from the reign of sin. The deliverance comes the same way, through our union with Christ in his death and resurrection, we die...

Brothers and Sisters in Christ - I have listened to Michael Pearl's "Sin No More" teaching which spans 9 CDs. Here is the quickest of summaries: The following verses are what God says about the believer: 1) Believers are “dead to sin”, see Romans 6:2 2) Believers are “free from sin”, see Romans 6:18,22 3) Believers “walk in newness of life”, see Romans 6:4 4) Believers are “baptized into Jesus Christ”, see Romans 6:3 5) Believers are “circumcised with the circumcision made without hands”, See Colossians 2:11 6) Believers are “risen with Christ”, see Colossians 3:1 . A curse DID...

Joel Osteen: Muslim, Jew, or Messianic? From the man who rarely preaches against sin. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU5kek3D-4I

When the Lord opened my heart to the gospel in December of 1985, He set me on a radical new course, having delivered me from a wild life which was characterized by various anti-social behaviors, selfishness, drugs, crime, and the occult. Out of the most unlikely place, as I was reading the Scripture, the Lord revealed to me my lost condition: that I was without hope save in the mercy of Jesus Christ alone. In a moment, the Holy Spirit graciously united me to Christ, adopted me into God’s family, turning me from my idols to serve the Living and...