Latest / Reformed Thinking / The Process of Change

Transcript

The Process of Change · Reformed Thinking

• 0:00
  Welcome back to the Deep Dive. This is where we take the
• 0:03
  material you sent us, articles, notes, research, and really dig
• 0:06
  into it together. This session is built just for
• 0:09
  you, using those specific sources you shared.
• 0:11
  And today we're looking at something pretty central in the
• 0:14
  Christian life, according to these sources, anyway.
• 0:16
  It's about biblical change, what's often called, you know,
• 0:19
  sanctification. Right.
• 0:21
  And the materials you sent lean heavily on passages like
• 0:24
  Ephesians chapter 2, Hebrews chapter 10.
• 0:27
  They give us a really solid framework to work with, so our
• 0:30
  goal here is to unpack what these sources teach about why
• 0:34
  change is needed, and then maybe the bigger piece, how that
• 0:36
  change actually happens according to the scriptures they
• 0:39
  highlight. Exactly, and the sources make
• 0:42
  this point right up front. You can't really get a handle on
• 0:45
  how change happens until you understand why it's necessary.
• 0:48
  And that, according to this material, means starting with a
• 0:51
  really honest look at where we stand apart from Christ.
• 0:54
  OK, let's get into that then. The sources spent a good bit of
• 0:58
  time describing our condition before conversion.
• 1:01
  It might make some people uncomfortable, but they argue
• 1:03
  it's crucial for understanding salvation and, well,
• 1:07
  sanctification itself. So what does that pre conversion
• 1:10
  state look like based on what you've pulled from the sources?
• 1:13
  Well, they pointed straight to Ephesians 2 versus one to three.
• 1:17
  It's quite a description of fallen humanity, and they bring
• 1:20
  in this theological idea often called total depravity.
• 1:24
  Now, they're quick to clarify what that doesn't mean.
• 1:27
  It's not saying everyone is as bad as they could possibly be
• 1:30
  all the time. OK, so it's not like maximum
• 1:32
  evil constantly. Right.
• 1:33
  They acknowledge God's common grace.
• 1:35
  You know how he restrains sin in the world, allows people apart
• 1:39
  from Christ to do things that seem good or kind or helpful by
• 1:42
  human standards? Acts of charity, loving family,
• 1:45
  scientific discoveries, art, that stuff happens.
• 1:48
  So it's not denying outward goodness or civility.
• 1:50
  No, not at all. What total depravity means,
• 1:53
  according to these sources, is that sin has affected and
• 1:57
  corrupted every part of us. Our minds, our wills, our
• 2:00
  emotions, even our physical bodies, our relationships,
• 2:03
  motivations, everything is tainted.
• 2:06
  They use this really striking illustration.
• 2:08
  If sin were blue, you'd be blue all over.
• 2:11
  Ah, so it's about the scope, not necessarily the intensity.
• 2:14
  At every moment comprehensive. Exactly.
• 2:16
  Every faculty is affected. There's no unfallen part left
• 2:19
  that can sort of pull the rest out of the mire, so to speak.
• 2:22
  OK, so looking right at Ephesians 2.1 to 3 as the source
• 2:25
  is laid out, what are the main ways they describe this state?
• 2:28
  I think they highlighted 3 things.
• 2:30
  Yes. Three key aspects define this
• 2:32
  state. First, people apart from Christ
• 2:34
  are described as spiritually dead.
• 2:36
  Verse one says you are dead in the trespasses and sins and the
• 2:40
  sources clarified this isn't physical death.
• 2:42
  You're walking, talking, thinking it's death towards God,
• 2:46
  separation from the source of spiritual life.
• 2:48
  Alive physically, but dead spiritually, cut off from God.
• 2:51
  Precisely alive to the world, but dead to the most vital
• 2:55
  reality, You exist within, well, the sphere of spiritual death.
• 2:59
  And didn't the sources use a pretty graphic illustration for
• 3:03
  this spiritual death? They did.
• 3:05
  It's stark, but it makes the point.
• 3:07
  Like a decomposing corpse at the bottom of the ocean.
• 3:09
  Wow. OK, think about it.
• 3:11
  Utterly lifeless. Can't move itself, can't save
• 3:13
  itself, can't even reach out, can't respond to anything from
• 3:16
  the outside. Just inert, subject to its
• 3:19
  environment. It's used to show our complete
• 3:21
  inability in spiritual things. We can't change our state, can't
• 3:24
  save ourselves, can't even properly grasp or respond to
• 3:27
  God's truth on our own. Cut off.
• 3:30
  That really drives home the helplessness, doesn't it?
• 3:31
  Total inability. What's the second aspect they
• 3:34
  pull from Ephesians 2? Second, they point to being
• 3:36
  disobedient. Verse 2 talks about how people
• 3:39
  once walked following the course of this world, following the
• 3:42
  Prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work
• 3:45
  in the sons of disobedience. This points to the whole
• 3:48
  directions and sort of the energy of their lives.
• 3:51
  The sources say people in the state naturally just conform to
• 3:55
  the world's fallen system, its values, its priorities, how it
• 3:59
  thinks. Just going with the flow of the
• 4:01
  world. Right.
• 4:01
  But it's deeper than that. They're following the leadership
• 4:04
  of Satan, the Prince of the power of the air.
• 4:06
  The sources say that in this state, even when it feels like
• 4:09
  free choice, our desires and actions are ultimately energized
• 4:12
  by the spirit of disobedience. Meaning before conversion, the
• 4:16
  only thing we ever truly want to do in relation to God's ultimate
• 4:19
  will is disobey. Our will is bound.
• 4:22
  So it's an act of alignment with forces opposed to God, driven
• 4:26
  from within by the spirit of disobedience, not just passive
• 4:28
  drifting. That's how the sources frame it.
• 4:31
  And the third aspect, it's being doomed.
• 4:33
  Verse 3 wraps it up and we're by nature children of wrath like
• 4:37
  the rest of mankind. This isn't God being randomly
• 4:39
  angry if flows from the first two points.
• 4:42
  Being spiritually dead separates us from life and holiness.
• 4:45
  Walking in disobedience sets US against God's righteous
• 4:49
  character and law. It's a natural consequence.
• 4:51
  Yes, the sources explained that our self seeking, self indulgent
• 4:54
  flesh, basically our sinful nature working itself out, and
• 4:57
  everything we think and do, public or private, just
• 5:00
  inherently condemns us before a holy God.
• 5:02
  By our very nature, every part of us deserves God's righteous
• 5:05
  judgement, His wrath against sin.
• 5:07
  So the picture is bleak. Spiritually dead, actively
• 5:10
  disobedient, and justly under God's wrath, completely unable
• 5:14
  and condemned. That's the reality presented,
• 5:16
  and the critical take away the sources draw is this given that
• 5:19
  state, apart from Christ's powerful saving work, real,
• 5:22
  lasting biblical change is just impossible.
• 5:25
  OK, let's push on that a bit. Impossible.
• 5:27
  What do they mean by lasting biblical change being
• 5:29
  impossible? How is that different from, say,
• 5:32
  self improvement? People change habits all the
• 5:35
  time. Right.
• 5:36
  And they distinguish that people who aren't believers can
• 5:39
  definitely change behaviors. They can stop smoking, get fit,
• 5:42
  become nicer, maybe more discipline, achieve worldly
• 5:45
  success. That happens.
• 5:47
  But the sources use this illustration.
• 5:49
  It's like squeezing a balloon. Squeezing a balloon.
• 5:52
  Yeah, you press down on one spot, stop one behavior, maybe
• 5:55
  lying. But the underlying issue, the
• 5:58
  sin nature, the heart bent away from God, it's still there.
• 6:01
  The pressure just pops out somewhere else.
• 6:03
  Maybe you stop lying but become incredibly prideful about your
• 6:06
  honesty. Or maybe find a different way to
• 6:08
  deceive. The root isn't addressed.
• 6:10
  So outward adjustment, but the inner core remains the same.
• 6:13
  Exactly. That kind of surface change,
• 6:16
  even if it looks positive, doesn't really get to the heart
• 6:18
  in a way that honors God or brings real freedom from sins,
• 6:22
  guilt, and power. It doesn't bring the peace and
• 6:24
  joy God intends. The sources are clear.
• 6:28
  That kind of deep change affecting inner desires and
• 6:30
  outer actions in line with God's will.
• 6:32
  It's just not possible until you're brought to life in
• 6:35
  Christ. So looking inside ourselves for
• 6:37
  the solution, trying harder, finding some inner strength,
• 6:40
  that's not the answer according to these sources.
• 6:42
  No, given the diagnosis, spiritual death, slavery to sin,
• 6:46
  the capacity for true biblical change can't originate from
• 6:49
  within. It has to come from outside,
• 6:51
  from God's powerful life giving work.
• 6:53
  And they add this sobering detail before God intervenes.
• 6:57
  A person doesn't really have the choice whether to sin against
• 6:59
  God's ultimate will. Their only choice is which sin
• 7:02
  to commit. Sin reigns.
• 7:04
  That really underlines the dead end sin idea bondage.
• 7:07
  It does, and they add a couple of other points about this state
• 7:10
  outside Christ. They mentioned vulnerability to
• 7:13
  actual demon possession being fully in Satan's domain in a way
• 7:18
  a spirit and dwelt believer isn't, and this really stark
• 7:20
  comparison for someone apart from Christ.
• 7:23
  This life, with all its good and bad, its ups and downs, is the
• 7:27
  closest thing to heaven they will ever get.
• 7:29
  That was quite a statement. Dead, disobedient, doomed,
• 7:33
  unable to change from within, vulnerable and no hope beyond
• 7:37
  this life. It certainly sets the stage for
• 7:39
  needing outside help. It makes those two words in
• 7:42
  Ephesians 2.4 incredibly dramatic.
• 7:44
  Yes, let's turn there. The sources really highlight
• 7:46
  this pivot point, but God. Ah, but God, huge words.
• 7:51
  The source is really stressed. This is a radical shift.
• 7:54
  Verses one to three describe our state.
• 7:55
  Verse 4 introduces God's action. But God, Paul writes, being rich
• 7:59
  in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us,
• 8:01
  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive
• 8:04
  together with Christ. That's verses 4:00 and 5:00.
• 8:06
  Made us alive. The direct opposite of being
• 8:08
  dead. Exactly.
• 8:10
  The sources describe this but God moment as God stepping into
• 8:13
  that situation of spiritual death and raising the person up
• 8:17
  like Christ was raised. It's a complete change of state,
• 8:20
  moving from being dead, stuck like that corpse, into a totally
• 8:23
  new sphere of spiritual life in Christ.
• 8:26
  And this initial fundamental change of conversion is what the
• 8:29
  source is called positional sanctification.
• 8:31
  They state it clearly. After conversion, you have been
• 8:34
  sanctified positionally. Positional sanctification and
• 8:38
  verse 6 builds right on that, saying God raised us up with him
• 8:41
  and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
• 8:44
  Yes, and the sources emphasize that this points directly to the
• 8:47
  believers. New position, a new status, a
• 8:49
  new sphere of identity and security.
• 8:51
  Fundamentally different from being dead in sins.
• 8:53
  OK, so the sources are drawing a distinction between this initial
• 8:56
  change, positional sanctification, and an ongoing
• 8:59
  process. Let's explore these two,
• 9:02
  starting with positional sanctification.
• 9:05
  What does that mean more precisely based on material?
• 9:08
  Well, the basic meaning of sanctify is to be set apart for
• 9:11
  God's own use. So positional sanctification, as
• 9:14
  the sources describe it, is about the believer being
• 9:18
  definitively, decisively set apart for God at a specific
• 9:21
  moment. A specific moment, so not
• 9:24
  something that develops over time.
• 9:25
  Absolutely not. They're really emphatic here.
• 9:27
  It's a definitive, decisive, completed moment.
• 9:30
  It happens at conversion. They explicitly say it is not a
• 9:33
  process, it's an instantaneous event.
• 9:35
  Like flipping a switch. That captures the immediacy.
• 9:38
  God makes someone a completely new creature in Christ
• 9:41
  instantly, permanently. There's a break from the power
• 9:45
  and the penalty of sin. Now they're careful.
• 9:47
  The presence of sin remains in this life.
• 9:49
  But sins, ultimate ruling power and its eternal penalty broken
• 9:52
  gone at conversion. So the struggle isn't over, but
• 9:56
  sins reign is. It's condemnation is lifted.
• 9:59
  That's the crucial difference. You shift from being dead in
• 10:02
  your sin, ruled by it, enslaved like the court, to being dead to
• 10:05
  your sin freed from its compulsory dominion, a new
• 10:09
  creation no longer fundamentally bent only on disobedience
• 10:12
  towards God. A massive shift in identity and
• 10:15
  ability. OK, who gets the credit for
• 10:17
  this? Who does the work in this
• 10:19
  initial instantaneous setting apart?
• 10:21
  Is it us? Is a God.
• 10:23
  The sources are absolutely clear.
• 10:24
  God alone. It's God's unilateral work.
• 10:27
  God is entirely active, the believer passive in achieving
• 10:31
  the status. Unilateral, one sided.
• 10:33
  God does it. We receive it.
• 10:34
  Precisely. It's entirely His action and
• 10:37
  they back this up biblically. Hebrews 10.10.
• 10:39
  We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of
• 10:42
  Jesus Christ once for all. Notice the past tense there.
• 10:45
  Ephesians 2.5 God made us alive John 3 Jesus talks about being
• 10:49
  born again. God initiates at birth. 2nd
• 10:51
  Corinthians 5.1 Scene God has made us a new creation.
• 10:54
  Colossians 2.13 God has made us alive, having forgiven us all.
• 10:57
  The action is God's. So if God is active, what's our
• 11:00
  role? What posture do we have in this
• 11:02
  initial setting apart? Our role is passive.
• 11:05
  You don't cooperate in becoming positionally sanctified.
• 11:08
  You don't help God make you alive or create you anew, or
• 11:11
  seat you in the heavenlies. It happens to you.
• 11:13
  Think about physical birth again.
• 11:15
  The baby doesn't assist in its own birth.
• 11:17
  It's acted upon similarly. Spiritual rebirth is God's work
• 11:21
  upon us. That's a really important
• 11:23
  distinction, separating our work from God's finished work.
• 11:27
  The sources also mentioned some grammatical points supporting
• 11:30
  this, something about verb tenses.
• 11:32
  Yeah, this is interesting. They point to the grammar to
• 11:34
  reinforce the idea of a completed act, specifically the
• 11:38
  Greek perfect tense, like in Hebrews 10.10.
• 11:41
  We have been sanctified. The perfect tense in Greek
• 11:44
  describes an action completed in the past, once for all through
• 11:48
  Christ's offering, but with an ongoing present result or
• 11:52
  effect. So it happened then, but his
• 11:54
  effects are still active now. Exactly.
• 11:56
  The sources use illustrations like saying someone is just
• 11:59
  married, the wedding was a past event completed, but being
• 12:02
  married is the ongoing state, the present result.
• 12:05
  You don't get remarried every day.
• 12:06
  It happened once, the effect continues.
• 12:08
  OK, that makes sense. Another one they use is Jesus
• 12:11
  Christ from the Cross. It is finished to the last eye.
• 12:15
  Also perfect tense. It means the atonement work was
• 12:17
  totally completely accomplished once for all time.
• 12:20
  Nobody thinks he meant I'm nearly there or it's in process.
• 12:24
  No, it is finished done. And that completed work has
• 12:27
  permanent, ongoing effects for believers.
• 12:30
  So back in Hebrews 10.10 we have been sanctified means God did
• 12:34
  the work of setting us apart completely through Christ, and
• 12:38
  that action results in our current ongoing status or
• 12:41
  position of being set apart wholly before Him.
• 12:43
  Precisely, it signals a finished work by God at salvation,
• 12:47
  resulting in a permanent, secure state.
• 12:49
  They also know how often passive verbs are used, have been
• 12:52
  sanctified, made us alive, have been saved, raised up, seated.
• 12:56
  The believer is receiving the action.
• 12:57
  God is doing it to them. The grammar really supports
• 13:00
  God's unilateral action here. That grammatical layer does add
• 13:03
  weight. Okay, so understanding this
• 13:05
  secure completed positioning cries this positional
• 13:07
  sanctification. What are the practical results?
• 13:09
  What is getting this really matter for us day-to-day?
• 13:11
  Oh, grasping this is foundational.
• 13:13
  It brings huge security and confidence for living the
• 13:16
  Christian life and for the whole process of change that follows.
• 13:20
  The sources list several key results or implications.
• 13:23
  All right, let's walk through those implications from the
• 13:25
  sources. First, it helps us distinguish
• 13:27
  between union and communion. When a believer sins, yes, you
• 13:31
  break communion, that close fellowship with Christ.
• 13:34
  Sin grieves the Spirit, hinders the relationship.
• 13:38
  But, and this is crucial, the sources stress you do not break
• 13:41
  your fundamental union with Christ.
• 13:43
  Your position as God's child, united to Him, is secure,
• 13:47
  permanent. This is where that adoption
• 13:48
  analogy comes in. Exactly.
• 13:50
  An adopted child is legally, permanently family.
• 13:53
  If they disobey, act out, say hurtful things, their position
• 13:57
  as a child doesn't change. They might damage the
• 13:59
  relationship, break fellowship for a time, but there's still
• 14:02
  family. Similarly, in Christ, you're
• 14:04
  adopted a full heir. Sin affects your present
• 14:08
  fellowship with God, but not your fundamental status as His
• 14:11
  child. That's incredibly freeing.
• 14:12
  My identity isn't fluctuating based on my daily performance.
• 14:16
  No, it's based on Christ's work and God's promise, which leads
• 14:20
  to the next point. Because of God's unilateral
• 14:22
  work, you are forgiven and blessed.
• 14:25
  Ephesians one talks about being blessed with every spiritual
• 14:27
  blessing, having redemption, forgiveness, all based on God's
• 14:31
  grace because of your position in Christ, not.
• 14:33
  Earned acceptance isn't conditional.
• 14:35
  And you are secure in Christ, adopted as a full heir with
• 14:40
  Christ. Your core identity, if you're a
• 14:42
  believer, is child of God. The sources contrast this with
• 14:46
  how the world defines us, often by our struggles are past.
• 14:49
  I'm an addict. I'm defined by trauma.
• 14:51
  The biblical view from positional sanctification is I
• 14:54
  am a child of God who struggles with addiction or I am a new
• 14:57
  creation working through past hurts.
• 14:59
  Identity first that. Shifts everything, how you view
• 15:01
  yourself, your struggles. It really does.
• 15:03
  And because God made you alive, you're now alive to spiritual
• 15:06
  things. Remember Ephesians 2.4 to 5
• 15:09
  before dead to God. Now you have the capacity, even
• 15:12
  the desire to care about God's Word, prayer, fellowship, His
• 15:15
  will, sound teaching, living for Him.
• 15:17
  First, John 5 talks about this new life.
• 15:19
  These things were foreign before.
• 15:21
  Now they're part of your new nature.
• 15:22
  Desires you didn't have before are now present.
• 15:25
  Yes, planted by the Spirit and from this new life and position
• 15:29
  you become a victor over the world, the fallen world system,
• 15:32
  its values, its pressures. It no longer has the ultimate
• 15:35
  claim on you. The sources mentioned first John
• 15:38
  5.4. Everyone born of God overcomes
• 15:40
  the world and Psalm 112. He will not fear bad news.
• 15:44
  His heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.
• 15:46
  You belong to a different Kingdom now.
• 15:48
  What about the direct fight with sin and temptation?
• 15:51
  Because sins reign is broken, you now have the ability to
• 15:54
  overcome temptation. The old nature isn't the
• 15:57
  absolute boss anymore. They point to 1st Corinthians
• 15:59
  10.13 God provides a way of escape and Romans 6 freed from
• 16:04
  sins dominion. This means, unlike before
• 16:07
  conversion, you genuinely can choose now.
• 16:09
  You can yield, or you can resist, and reliance on God sins
• 16:13
  there, but it's power to force you against your renewed will is
• 16:16
  gone. A complete reversal from the
• 16:18
  bondage we talked about. It is you're also protected from
• 16:20
  Satan. He contempt, harass, accused
• 16:22
  absolutely, but the sources say he cannot possess A believer and
• 16:25
  dwelt by the Spirit. First John 5.18 first John 4.4.
• 16:29
  His ultimate control is broken. You belong to God.
• 16:32
  Is there outward evidence of this new inner reality?
• 16:35
  Yes, sources say you'll bear fruit if you're genuinely in
• 16:38
  Christ with this new life and position, the fruit of the
• 16:41
  Spirit described in Galatians 5, the good works God prepared from
• 16:45
  Ephesians 2, They will show up over time, Maybe not perfectly,
• 16:49
  maybe not instantly. There will be struggles, but
• 16:51
  genuine life produces genuine fruit.
• 16:54
  Matthew 7 confirms that. Looking ahead.
• 16:56
  You have definite hope. The best is yet to come.
• 16:59
  You've already obtained an inheritance in Christ.
• 17:02
  Ephesians 1.11 The sources use that illustration of being named
• 17:06
  in a will. It's legally secured for you,
• 17:08
  even if you don't have it fully in hand yet.
• 17:10
  It's yours. And they bring back that stark
• 17:12
  comparison, but flipped. For a believer, this life, with
• 17:16
  all its trials and struggles with sin, is the closest thing
• 17:19
  to hell you will ever experience.
• 17:21
  Wow, that comparison lands very differently for the believer.
• 17:23
  It really frames our hope, anchors it in the future.
• 17:26
  Christ secured. And lastly, the sources note
• 17:29
  because of all this, you're secure position, new nature,
• 17:32
  freedom. You cannot go on sinning
• 17:35
  carelessly. First, John 3.9 speaks to this.
• 17:38
  Your security isn't a free pass actually, because you are God's
• 17:41
  child set apart for him, given a new heart that desires Him.
• 17:45
  God expects you to fight sin, to live dependently on Him.
• 17:49
  Security fuels the fight, it doesn't negate it.
• 17:52
  OK, so understanding positional sanctification gives us a whole
• 17:55
  new identity. Security, freedom from
• 17:57
  condemnation, freedom from sins, ultimate power, freedom from
• 18:00
  Satan's ownership, and solid hope.
• 18:02
  It's the bedrock. The absolute secure platform for
• 18:05
  everything else in the Christian life.
• 18:07
  All change flows from this reality.
• 18:08
  All. Right, so with that foundational
• 18:10
  piece, positional sanctification as God's completed one sided
• 18:13
  work, let's shift to the second aspect.
• 18:14
  The sources discuss progressive sanctification.
• 18:18
  If positional is the one time event, what's progressive?
• 18:20
  Progressive sanctification is defined in the sources as the
• 18:24
  the ongoing process of actually becoming more like Christ in our
• 18:28
  daily lives. It's the practical outworking
• 18:30
  growing up into Him, living more consistently with our new nature
• 18:33
  and position. Ongoing process that sounds very
• 18:35
  different from the instantaneous positional part.
• 18:37
  Fundamentally different, yes, in timing and nature, the source is
• 18:40
  stressed. This is ongoing throughout our
• 18:42
  entire earthly life. It's continuous, repeated
• 18:46
  action, not finished at conversion.
• 18:49
  This process continues, they say, until we see Jesus face to
• 18:52
  face, until glorification, when sin's presence is finally
• 18:55
  removed. And the Bible's language often
• 18:57
  reflects this. It uses the present tense.
• 18:59
  Hebrews 10.14, for example, says Jesus sacrifice perfected those
• 19:04
  who are being sanctified. Present tense, So it's happening
• 19:06
  now and. Keeps happening till glory.
• 19:08
  Exactly and. It has a purpose.
• 19:09
  Right now, the sources say, progressive sanctification
• 19:12
  equips us to increasingly overcome, even joyfully, the
• 19:15
  pressures and trials of life. It's the growth and actual
• 19:18
  holiness that lets us live lives honoring God in this world.
• 19:22
  This is the. Real time growth and change we
• 19:24
  experience after conversion. Now positional was God's
• 19:27
  unilateral work Is progressive sanctification the same No.
• 19:32
  And that's. Another key difference, the
• 19:33
  sources are clear. God is definitely active,
• 19:36
  powerfully active, but progressive sanctification
• 19:39
  involves the believers cooperation with God.
• 19:41
  It's not unilateral. We have an active role here.
• 19:43
  OK, cooperation. Let's break that down.
• 19:46
  What's God's part in this ongoing process?
• 19:48
  How does he work? According to the sources, God is
• 19:51
  deeply. Involved, the sources highlight
• 19:53
  several ways He enables and drives this growth.
• 19:56
  First, they remind us God is able to do far more abundantly
• 19:59
  than all we ask or think through His power working in US.
• 20:02
  Ephesians 3.20 The sources suggest we often aim too low for
• 20:06
  growth. God's power in us, the
• 20:08
  resurrection power that made us alive, can achieve far more
• 20:10
  change than we often imagine. We tend to underestimate.
• 20:13
  What God can do in us? It seems so. 2nd, we need
• 20:17
  confidence that God is at work continuously, even when we don't
• 20:20
  see it or feel stuck. Philippians 1.6 promises he who
• 20:25
  started the work will complete it.
• 20:26
  The sources use illustrations like a rock and a river, slowly
• 20:29
  smoothed over time. Not overnight, but steady,
• 20:33
  persistent work. Or, you know, you don't plant
• 20:35
  seeds and harvest the same day. Growth takes time.
• 20:38
  God's nurture. That's comforting, especially.
• 20:40
  During dry spells are when we feel we're failing.
• 20:42
  It is trusting. His faithfulness.
• 20:44
  The sources also state God's purpose.
• 20:46
  He will conform us to the image of Christ.
• 20:48
  Romans 8.29. That's His goal, and He's
• 20:51
  working towards it. He also will transform minds,
• 20:54
  renewing them as we engage with His word.
• 20:55
  Hear good preaching, worship, pray.
• 20:57
  Romans 12.2 As we soak in truth and talk to him, our thinking
• 21:01
  patterns change. So using God's.
• 21:03
  Appointed means is part of how he works on our minds.
• 21:05
  Yes, and. Finally, the sources note he
• 21:08
  will bring peace and contentment as we actively lean on him,
• 21:10
  especially in prayer, bringing anxieties to him.
• 21:13
  Philippians 4.6 to 7. His peeth guards us as we trust
• 21:17
  him. OK, so God.
• 21:18
  Is initiating, enabling, promising completion,
• 21:21
  transforming minds, giving peace?
• 21:23
  He's actively involved. What about our part?
• 21:25
  What does our active cooperation look like?
• 21:27
  Right. This is where.
• 21:28
  Our response comes in not to earn anything, but because of
• 21:31
  what He's already done. The sources list several things.
• 21:34
  First, we need to consciously present ourselves to God as
• 21:37
  slaves to our master. Romans 6.13.
• 21:40
  It's an ongoing surrender. Our lives, time, abilities, they
• 21:44
  belong to Him because He bought us.
• 21:46
  Our purpose is his glory. The sources contrast this with
• 21:49
  thinking God is just there to serve us like a cosmic Butler.
• 21:52
  No, we belong to him. That's a fundamental.
• 21:54
  Shift from self centeredness. It has to be. 2nd we actively
• 21:57
  purge sin by putting on the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 21:59
  Romans 13.14. It's more than just saying stop
• 22:02
  sinning. The effective way the sources
• 22:04
  suggest is actively pursuing Christ, running after him,
• 22:07
  seeking to know him, love him, obey him.
• 22:09
  As you do, that desires change. Sin loses its appeal.
• 22:13
  You start to hate what henders fellowship with him.
• 22:15
  So the focus as. Positive pursuing Christ
• 22:18
  displaces sin exactly filling up.
• 22:20
  With the good pushes out the bad third, we have to repeatedly
• 22:23
  decide who our Lord will be, God or ourselves.
• 22:26
  Jesus is Lord, yes, but the practical question daily is will
• 22:30
  I submit my will now? Will I bow my knee today?
• 22:33
  It means ongoing surrender, yielding to his authority,
• 22:37
  denying self, taking up the cross.
• 22:39
  Matthew 16.24 sounds like a constant.
• 22:42
  Moment by moment choice? Often, yes. 4th We must continue
• 22:47
  in the faith, persevering. It's a marathon.
• 22:49
  Philippians 3 talks about pressing on, straining forward.
• 22:52
  This includes learning to pray for grace in the trial, not just
• 22:55
  from it. Asking for strength to endure
• 22:57
  through difficulty in a way that grows us.
• 22:59
  Not just asking for the problem to disappear, growing through
• 23:02
  it. Not just getting out of it.
• 23:03
  Yes, the. Sources also mentioned things
• 23:05
  like actively practicing our righteousness, choosing
• 23:08
  obedience and putting our hope in God, relying on His promises,
• 23:11
  not our feelings or circumstances.
• 23:13
  And finally, echoing what we heard before, God expects us to
• 23:16
  actively fight our sin, but to do it in constant dependence on
• 23:20
  Him, not in our own strength. OK, so progressive.
• 23:22
  Sanctification is this dynamic interplay, God actively working
• 23:27
  in US, enabling, changing us, and us actively responding,
• 23:32
  independence, surrendering, pursuing, choosing, persevering.
• 23:35
  That's the cooperative. Picture the sources paint so we
• 23:38
  have these two. Distinct things.
• 23:40
  Positional, instant, God's work alone and progressive, ongoing,
• 23:44
  cooperative. How do they relate?
• 23:46
  Is positional just step one, the sources say.
• 23:49
  Positional is much more than step one.
• 23:50
  It's the absolute foundation and the fuel for progressive
• 23:54
  sanctification. Foundation and fuel.
• 23:56
  How so? Well, think about it.
• 23:57
  You. Can engage in the fight for
• 23:58
  holiness, the process of growth, because you are already securely
• 24:02
  God's child. Set apart, positioned in Christ.
• 24:05
  Your ability and even your motivation to fight sin and grow
• 24:09
  come from that secure place, not to get to that place or stay
• 24:12
  there because you were set apart.
• 24:14
  You can and should live like it. That security gives you the
• 24:17
  confidence, the hope you need for the lifelong struggle.
• 24:20
  You're not trying to earn his love, you're responding to it.
• 24:23
  So failure. In the progressive part doesn't
• 24:25
  jeopardize the positional part, not at all, according.
• 24:28
  To these sources, when you sin, you don't suddenly lose your
• 24:31
  position as God's child. Your union is secure and that
• 24:35
  very security is what allows you, when you do sin, to run
• 24:39
  back to God like a child to a loving parent, not running away
• 24:43
  in fear or shame. You know the relationship is
• 24:45
  fundamentally secure, even if fellowship is broken
• 24:48
  temporarily. That security.
• 24:50
  Prevents despair, enables repentance and restoration.
• 24:53
  Exactly. The work God calls us to in
• 24:56
  progressive sanctification, we do it as his beloved secure
• 24:59
  children, not in order to become his children or stay his
• 25:02
  children. Position enables progress.
• 25:04
  That connection is. Critical position first,
• 25:07
  providing the security and motivation for progress.
• 25:10
  Did the sources use any final illustrations to sort of wrap
• 25:12
  this all up? They did a pretty.
• 25:14
  Helpful one involving a mud puddle.
• 25:15
  It tries to capture the whole journey.
• 25:17
  OK, the mud puddle. Illustration.
• 25:19
  Let's hear it all right? Imagine you're stuck deep in a
• 25:22
  nasty dark mud puddle. Can't get out on your own,
• 25:25
  Trapped. Coming out of the mud puddle.
• 25:27
  That salvation, including positional sanctification.
• 25:30
  God reaches in, pulls you out of that muck, out of the sphere of
• 25:33
  sin and death. You didn't climb out.
• 25:35
  He rescued you. OK, so you're out.
• 25:38
  Rescued on solid ground, yeah, but.
• 25:41
  Still covered. In mud, right?
• 25:42
  Exactly. Positionally.
• 25:43
  Out, but practically messy. Now you look up, see a light in
• 25:47
  the distance, maybe a warm, clean cabin.
• 25:49
  Walking towards the light. That's progressive
• 25:51
  sanctification, pursuing the Lord, moving towards holiness.
• 25:54
  And as you walk you start pulling off chunks of mud,
• 25:57
  actively dealing with sin, putting off the old, putting on
• 25:59
  the new. So progressive.
• 26:00
  Sanctification is the journey towards the light, cleaning up
• 26:03
  as you go. Yes, but here's.
• 26:05
  The interesting part, the key insight from the illustration.
• 26:08
  As you get closer to that bright light, what happens?
• 26:11
  You actually see more mud on yourself.
• 26:14
  Because the light's brighter, it reveals dirt you couldn't see
• 26:17
  before exactly the. Closer you get to God's perfect
• 26:20
  holiness, the more his light exposes the remaining sin, the
• 26:24
  subtle stuff, the attitudes, the things hidden in the shadows
• 26:27
  backed by the puddle. So.
• 26:29
  Becoming more a way of your sin isn't necessarily a sign you're
• 26:32
  getting worse, but maybe that you're getting closer to the
• 26:34
  light. That's the idea.
• 26:36
  The sources connect us to Paul calling himself the chief of
• 26:39
  sinners later in life, maybe not because he was sinning more, but
• 26:43
  because near the end, closer to the light of Christ's glory, he
• 26:47
  saw his own remaining sinfulness much more clearly.
• 26:50
  So this process, walking, pulling off mud, seeing more mud
• 26:53
  to deal with, continues the whole walk until you reach.
• 26:56
  The cabin right getting. To the cabin and taking a
• 26:58
  shower. That's glorification.
• 27:00
  Finally reaching God's presence, completely cleansed.
• 27:03
  No more mud, No more struggle with sin's presence.
• 27:06
  That's a great picture. Rescue the ongoing walk and
• 27:09
  clean up, seeing more dirt as you get closer to the light and
• 27:12
  the final cleansing. It normalizes the struggle,
• 27:15
  doesn't it? It's part of the journey for
• 27:16
  everyone out of the puddle. It really does.
• 27:19
  The struggle is real, but it's thought from security and aimed
• 27:22
  at guaranteed completion. So just to recap the core
• 27:25
  distinction and connection. Positional sanctification is
• 27:29
  God's finished work at conversion sets you apart.
• 27:32
  Secure identity, progressive sanctification is the lifelong
• 27:36
  cooperative process of becoming more like Christ, and that
• 27:40
  secure position is the absolute foundation and the fuel for the
• 27:43
  ongoing process. You grow because you are His.
• 27:47
  Your hope isn't in. Your daily progress report, but
• 27:49
  in Christ's finish work securing your position.
• 27:52
  And yet that very security empowers and calls you to pursue
• 27:56
  progress. That's the balance.
• 27:57
  You're loved, secure, defined by Christ, not your sin if you're
• 28:01
  His. That's the positional reality.
• 28:03
  And because of that, amazing. Position.
• 28:05
  You can fight sin, you can pursue righteousness, and you're
• 28:08
  expected to. Not desperately trying to earn
• 28:10
  favor, but responding in love and gratitude, depending on his
• 28:13
  strength and understanding. This biblical view of change,
• 28:16
  rooted in God's work both finished and ongoing, gives real
• 28:19
  confidence, real guidance for living the Christian life.
• 28:22
  It relies on his faithfulness to finish what he started.
• 28:25
  So maybe a final? Thought to take away from these
• 28:27
  sources because your position is secure, because the best is yet
• 28:31
  to come. You have this amazing freedom.
• 28:33
  Freedom to pursue holiness, not out of fear or obligation to
• 28:37
  earn something, but out of sheer gratitude and love for the One
• 28:41
  who pulled you from the mud. And when you look down and see
• 28:44
  the mud and feel discouraged, remember God is at work
• 28:48
  smoothing the edges even when you don't see it.
• 28:51
  And maybe seeing more mud just means you're walking closer to
• 28:54
  the light. That's actually encouraging in a
• 28:57
  way. And don't forget.
• 28:58
  The emphasis on prayer, praying for grace in the trial, not just
• 29:02
  deliverance from it. Praying for a deeper grasp of
• 29:05
  your secure position. Praying knowing God can do far
• 29:09
  more in you than you can ask or imagine.
• 29:11
  Trusting Him to work. It really does center.
• 29:13
  The whole process on God's initiative and faithfulness.
• 29:16
  Well, thank you for sharing these sources and letting us
• 29:18
  dive deep into this with you. It's such a vital area.
• 29:20
  Keep digging into these truths absolutely until.
• 29:22
  Our next deep dive. We'll see you then.