← Back to sermon library

I'll read beginning in paragraph 
one of chapter 13. They who are united to Christ, 
affectionately called and regenerated, having a new heart and a new 
spirit created in them through the virtue of Christ's death 
and resurrection, are also farther sanctified, really and personally, 
through the same virtue by his word and spirit dwelling in them. 
The dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, and the 
several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified. 
and they more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving 
graces, to the practice of all true holiness, without which 
no man shall see the Lord. The sanctification is throughout, 
in the whole man, yet imperfect in this life. There abideth still 
some remnants of corruption in every part. Whence ariseth a 
continual and irreconcilable war, the flesh lusting against 
the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh. In which war, although 
the remaining corruption for a time may much prevail, yet 
through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying 
spirit of Christ, the regenerate part doth overcome. And so the 
saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, 
pressing after and heavenly life and evangelical obedience to 
all the commands which Christ as head and king in his word 
hath prescribed to them. Amen. Well, we've seen the doctrine 
of justification by faith in chapter 11. Chapter 11 at paragraph 
2 says, faith thus receiving and resting on Christ and His 
righteousness is the alone instrument of justification, yet it is not 
alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with 
all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh 
by love. So the confessional emphasis 
is what we find in the Bible. that those justified freely by 
God's grace will be sanctified or will grow in grace and in 
the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So we'll 
see an obvious distinction between the two doctrines. The first 
is a one-time act. Justification doesn't grow, it 
doesn't get better. It's not the case that some are 
more justified than others. When it comes to belief on the 
Lord Jesus Christ, we are immediately justified by God, having received 
forgiveness of sins and the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. 
Now, when we enter into the life of sanctification, there is progress, 
there is development. Not everybody's at the same place, 
and so we ought to be mindful of that and charitable and gracious 
to our fellows who may not be as godly as we are. It ought 
to be something that encourages us to engage in the judgment 
of charity and to understand that there is a continuum with 
reference to sanctification. In sum, we need Christ's work 
for us in terms of justification, and then we receive the Spirit's 
work in us in terms of sanctification. Now, ultimately, our acceptance 
with God is not based on a bit of Christ and a bit of us, but 
it's ultimately founded upon what Christ alone has accomplished. 
Chapter 11 makes that sufficiently clear. But with reference to 
sanctification, as I said, it is the ethical development of 
God's people in holiness and in further conformity unto our 
Lord Jesus Christ. The Shorter Catechism asks, what 
is sanctification? Sanctification is the work of 
God's free grace whereby we are renewed in the whole man after 
the image of God and are enabled more and more to die unto sin 
and live unto righteousness. You can turn to Ephesians 2 for 
just a moment. Before we get into the material 
proper, I just want to show that this is in fact a work of God's 
free grace. It's not something that we do 
in and of our own strength. but rather God is the one who 
initiates, who sustains, and who blesses through the power 
and provision of the Spirit by the word of truth to sanctify 
his people. So in Ephesians 2.8, For by grace 
you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it 
is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For 
we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, 
which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in that. 
Now, it's not the case that we're wholly passive. We do do those 
things that God has ordained. But ultimately, the glory goes 
to God for the good that we undertake. Notice in Philippians chapter 
two a similar emphasis. Philippians chapter 2 at verse 
12, therefore my beloved, as you've always obeyed, not as 
in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work 
out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Now we can only 
work out that which God has graciously implanted. He does not say work 
for your own salvation with fear and trembling, rather it is to 
work out what God has done in saving you from your sins. But 
then notice in verse 13, for it is God who works in you both 
to will and to do for His good pleasure. So with reference to 
sanctification, while it is not the case that the redeemed sinner 
is wholly passive, it is the case that any good that we undertake 
has been ordained by God and we are led in it by God as well. So let's look at chapter 13. 
We notice in the first place the description of sanctification 
in paragraph 1, and then secondly the distinctives of sanctification 
in paragraphs 2 and 3. And I think this is one of those 
chapters in the Confession that's far more practical than a lot 
of treatments on sanctification or holiness that you might find 
written today. There is this stream of thought 
within the Christian church that sanctification is simply, you 
know, pull up your bootstraps, knuckle under, try harder, and 
be better. You've heard that saying, do 
better. One of the most offensive things I think anybody can say 
to another human being, do better. Well, with reference to this 
doing better, we do so, or we attempt to do so, apart from 
the Spirit of God, apart from the Word of God, and without 
any recognition that there is no perfection on this side of 
glory. The confessional divines highlight 
something that the church today is a spirit created in them through 
the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection. So the doctrine 
of sanctification is not the universal development of man. It is not the upward trajectory 
of man. Man with more education, man 
with more refinement, man gets better and better. That is absolutely 
positively contrary to the Word of God. With all of the so-called 
refinement and all of the so-called benefit that man has today, we 
celebrate abortion, we celebrate euthanasia, we rejoice in sexual 
perversion, There is no upward trajectory. There is no upward 
betterment of man. This is not some evolutionary 
scheme wherein we get better based on time, energy, and effort. The doctrine of sanctification 
is for those who are justified by God. The doctrine of justification 
is for those who are effectually called, those who aren't regenerated, 
those who've had the old stony heart of stone removed and the 
new fleshly heart put in. Sanctification isn't simply stopping 
certain bad habits or starting better habits. The sanctification 
that we find in the Bible is not the neighbor next door who 
stops engaging in some particular activity. That's not sanctification. 
Sanctification is true for those justified freely by God's grace, 
and that's what the confession highlights. Notice in Romans 
chapter eight. We've seen this skeletal framework 
of the Ordo Salutis, that's Raymond's language, the skeletal framework. 
I think it's appropriate. Notice in chapter 8 of Romans 
at verse 28, we know that all things work together for good 
to those who love God, to those who are the called according 
to His purpose. Notice that. It is honed in. 
God doesn't cause all things to work for good for the reprobate. He doesn't cause all things to 
work for good to those who despise and loathe and abhor him. Romans 
8, 28 is a promise for the people of God. It's not a promise for 
man as image bearer. We know that all things work 
together for good to those who love God. Not everybody loves 
God. By grace alone, we love God and to those who are the 
called according to his purpose. Now notice in verse 29, for whom 
he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image 
of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 
Moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called. Whom he 
called, these he also justified. And whom he justified, these 
he also glorified. Now sanctification is not present 
in this skeletal framework, but it would fall between justification 
and glorification. And Paul certainly treats sanctification 
in this chapter. Look at chapter 8, verse 13. 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. So there's the 
emphasis on that trajectory in the life not of man as man, but 
in the life of God's people as God's people. So the doctrine 
of sanctification is applied to the justified, to the effectually 
called, to the regenerated, having a new heart and a new spirit 
created in them through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection, 
notice, are also farther sanctified really and personally. So justification 
is a forensic or a legal act. So when we look to the Lord Jesus 
Christ in faith, it's not that we are being morally transformed 
and becoming better human beings. No, it's justification by faith 
alone, and the emphasis falls on, or the accent falls on, a 
forensic element. The imputation of Christ's righteousness, 
the declaration by the judge of no condemnation and not guilty. Now, with reference to sanctification, 
the sanctification of sinners is a real and a personal moral 
transformation by the power of the Holy Spirit. So it's not 
the case that it's forensic. It's not the case that Christ, 
who is our holiness in terms of our benefit in salvation, 
Christ doesn't put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision 
for the flesh to fulfill its lusts each and every day that 
we live. That's a passage in Romans 13, 
14. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, make no provision for the flesh 
to fulfill its lusts. That's what we're supposed to 
do. So notice the confession. It says they are really and personally 
sanctified. Notice the source of sanctification. It's through the same virtue. 
by His Word and Spirit dwelling in them. So based on justification 
by faith alone, we receive the Holy Spirit as we see in Ephesians 
chapter 1, 13 and 14. He's the seal. He's the guarantee. 
He is that blessed agent of sanctification in the lives of God's people. 
And He works in us, according and through and in and by the 
Word of God, in order to sanctify us. John 17, 17, in the high 
priestly prayer of our Lord Jesus, He says, Well, that doesn't just 
mean we read the Word and then this warmth of holiness sort 
of washes over us. The idea is that we read the 
Word, we internalize the Word, the Spirit indwelling us enables 
us to comply with that Word such that we see outward conformity 
unto our Lord Jesus Christ. So it's the same virtue, Christ's 
death and resurrection being the foundation, and then we receive 
by God His word and spirit dwelling in us. We've already seen Romans 
8, 13. If you live according to the flesh, you will die. But 
if by the spirit you put to death, the deeds of the body will live. 
Again, that differentiates the guy next door. I'm not picking 
on James. I'm just happening to say that 
there are guys next door that stop smoking crack or they stop 
visiting prostitutes. They're not doing that by the 
presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. They're doing that 
in terms of behavior modification, to a better life, not to smoke 
crack and visit prostitutes. Everybody would agree. But that 
does not mean that that is sanctification. Sanctification is by the Spirit, 
according to the Word, and God guides and leads and directs 
us in that. So the justification of sinners 
is ultimately due to the work of Christ for us. It's objective. It's outside of us. We look to 
Christ in faith and we are justified freely by God's grace. The sanctification 
of sinners is due to the work of the Spirit in us. There is 
that moral transformation. There is that putting to death 
the deeds of the body. There is that further conformity 
unto our Lord Jesus Christ. And then notice the substance 
as we see in paragraph one. It says the dominion about the 
middle of the whole body of sin is destroyed. That word dominion 
is very important. When we go to the next couple 
of paragraphs and we see this idea of remaining corruption. 
Remaining is different than reigning. Reigning corruption and the dominion 
and the power of sin over the unregenerate is a different species 
than the believer who is justified freely by grace who has remaining 
corruption. So though there is that proneness 
to wander, that proneness to leave the God that we love, there 
is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. There 
is grace, there is mercy, there is an advocate with the Father, 
even Jesus Christ the righteous. 1 John 1-2, I write these things 
so that you may not sin. And if anyone does sin, we have 
an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous. 
The psalmist in Psalm 130, if thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, 
O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with 
thee that thou mayest be feared. So when we come to this statement, 
the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, we see that 
as a result of Christ's work. We see that as a result of the 
power of the gospel of salvation. So the dominion of the whole 
body of sin is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are 
more and more weakened and mortified. Again, notice the language. The 
idea or emphasis is on progress. It's not once and for all. The 
dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed in terms of 
its reign, in terms of its conquest, in terms of its kingly authority. 
But the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and 
mortified. Right? When you first get converted, 
typically you throw off the big sins. And then once you've been 
saved for a while, you start to realize it's all those little, 
what I at least at one time perceived as the little sins, that are 
somewhat more difficult than those big ones. It's the remaining 
corruption that comes to light the further we're exposed to 
God's grace, the further we're exposed to God's word, and the 
further we're exposed to the power of the Holy Spirit. But 
we see that they are more and more weakened and mortified. 
And then notice there is a progress in holiness, and they more and 
more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces to the practice 
of all true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. So there is this going on in 
the life of God's people. There is this dominion having 
been broken by the power of the gospel. There is this several 
lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified. And then 
congruently with that, they more and more quickened and strengthened 
in all saving races to the practice of all true holiness, without 
which no man shall see the Lord. Again, brethren, we need to be 
very cautious and careful when it comes to these sorts of things. 
If we see ourselves as splendid specimens of sanctification, 
we are counteracting the process of sanctification. If we are 
proud of our holiness, we have not learned what it is to grow 
in holiness. If we are judgmental toward others 
or pharisaic in our approach to the Christian life, that flies 
rough shot against what we perceive to be our increase in holiness. And when it comes to this particular 
area of Christian ethics, holiness itself is at times a bit difficult 
to describe. I mean, there are many definitions 
proffered by the church, and some almost sound like it's asceticism. If you just don't do this, if 
you just don't go there, if you just don't eat that, then you'll 
be holy. Well, I'm sorry, brethren, but 
it isn't that easy. If holiness was that easy, we'd 
all look like Christ on earth. It isn't that easy. Things that 
are demonized at some points are not necessarily sin when 
you look in the Bible. We need the Bible as our guide. 
We need the Bible to direct us. I think it was last week I appealed 
to 1 Timothy chapter 4 on the doctrine of demons. If we were 
to hear Paul, in fact, let's look there and repeat that emphasis, 
1 Timothy chapter 4, The Spirit expressly says, verse 1, that 
in latter times, some will depart from the faith, giving heed to 
deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies and 
hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with hot iron. You might 
wonder, man, what are they going to do? Celebrate child molestation? Are they dancing around Molech, 
throwing their babies into the fire? What sin is the doctrine 
of demons? Well, notice what he says, forbidding 
to marry and commanding to abstain from foods which God created 
to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know 
the truth. There are those in the history of the church that 
have thought that holiness was about not getting married. Holiness 
was about not eating meat. Holiness was about imbibing some 
calendar that the Roman Catholic Church publishes and pushes on 
how you're to be more like Jesus. Well, brethren, if you took that 
seriously and didn't know that 1 Timothy chapter 4 was in the 
Bible, which I would argue many papists don't because they're 
never taught the Bible, you would have this thought that eating 
meat on a Friday in Lent was somehow sinful before God Most 
High. That on Fridays in Lent, you 
needed to go to McDonald's and get the fish sandwich, and that 
somehow would further conform you under the image of our blessed 
Savior. See, there's a whole lot of competing 
theories out there as to what holiness is. And it's not just 
the papists. It flourishes in fundamentalism. 
Don't drink, don't dance, don't chew, don't run with girls who 
do. And somehow you'll be holy. If you just avoid those three 
things and you're an ascetic, then you're going to be a godly 
individual. In the reform community, same sort of emphasis. If we 
don't do this or we do do this, then we're going to be holy and 
we're going to be righteous. Brethren, it's not a checklist. 
That is what I think our default setting is. We want checklists. We want, okay, give me the ten 
things I need to do in order to, you know, make it to heaven. 
Give me those ten things that I need to be on guard for and 
the five things that I need to cultivate and then I'll just 
work that checklist and then I'll present myself unto God. 
That's not sanctification. That's not holiness. And oftentimes 
those things that we think are holy are not necessarily. And those things that we think 
are unholy aren't necessarily. Turn to Matthew chapter 11 for 
just a moment. Matthew chapter 11, Jesus underscores 
this in his own life and ministry. Matthew 11 at verse 16, to what 
shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in 
the marketplaces and calling to their companions and saying, 
we played the flute for you and you did not dance. We mourned 
to you and you did not lament. For John came neither eating 
nor drinking, and they say he has a demon. The Son of Man came 
eating and drinking, and they say, look, a glutton and a wine-bibber, 
a friend of tax collectors and sinners, but wisdom is justified 
by her children. Was John wrong to not eat or 
drink? No, of course he wasn't. Was 
the son of man wrong to eat and drink? Of course he wasn't. But 
when you're operating with some unbiblical notion of what holiness 
is, what sanctification looks like, what it means to be accepted 
by God, you're going to fill in the blanks with a whole host 
of things that typically come from your own experience or from 
your own upbringing. So again, brethren, I'm not suggesting 
that every single church has gotten every single aspect wrong, 
but I am suggesting we need to be aware that what is defined 
as holiness sometimes really isn't, and we need to take conscious 
notice of that, and we need to make sure that we proceed according 
to Holy Scripture. Gordon Clark mentions the necessity 
of sanctification. He says, what passes so apparently 
as good works are not good unless preceded by justification. And if a claimed justification 
does not inevitably produce good works, it simply was not justification. And we're gonna get into good 
works in chapter 16. It'll probably be a couple of 
months. I don't know if... Ryan's going to do any of the 
confession while I'm away in June, but whether he does or 
not, we're going to get to good works. And while this emphasis 
on good works is great, again, the Bible describes for us what 
a good work is. The Bible authorizes or legitimizes 
what good works are. And oftentimes, what we perceive 
to be a good work may not necessarily be so. And again, we do need, 
by God's grace and the power of the spirit, to increase to 
be sure, because none of us have satisfied fully the good works 
that we should walk in. Well, any questions or comments 
there on paragraph one? Any at all? In regards to a little 
bit different, I guess. Uh, probably reflecting scripture. Uh, the, the, the, the, uh, Ezekiel 
talks about the new heart and as well spirit in them. So yeah, 
I would think it was just reflecting, uh, not only Ezekiel, but Jeremiah 
as well. So, All right, now notice the 
distinctives of sanctification in paragraphs 2 and 3. First, 
the struggle with sin in paragraph 2. Notice the extent of sanctification. This sanctification is throughout 
in the whole man. So, in other words, it's not 
just confined to your actions. It's not just confined to your 
words. It's not, excuse me, just confined to your thoughts. But 
as we sin against God with our actions, our words and our thoughts. So when we are saved by God's 
grace and we're being renewed in the image of the Lord Jesus, 
it is going to be extensive. So this sanctification is throughout 
in the whole man. But notice the imperfection of 
sanctification. It says, yet imperfect in this 
life, there abideth still some remnants of corruption in every 
part. So on the one hand, this sanctification 
is throughout in the whole man, yet the qualification is necessary. It is imperfect in this life, 
there abideth still remnants of corruption in every part. 
You can turn to Romans chapter seven. Romans chapter 7 underscores 
this reality, that there is an imperfection in sanctification 
in this life, that there abides in us still some remnants of 
corruption in every part. So Paul deals with that in Romans 
7 at verse 13. Has then what is good become 
death to me? Certainly not. But sin, that 
it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, 
so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. 
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 
For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to 
do, that I do not practice. But what I hate, that I do. If 
then I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that 
it is good. But now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that 
dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is 
in my flesh, nothing good dwells. For to will is present with me, 
but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that 
I will to do, I do not do, but the evil I will not to do, that 
I practice. Now, if I do what? I sin. Now, 
this is a very densely packed section of Scripture. I would 
argue 6, 7, and 8. Well, the entirety of Romans. 
You don't just kind of parachute in and see everything that's 
going on. There's a lot going on that, 
again, it's very tightly argued. 6, 7, and 8 are a unit. They're 
closely connected. On the one hand, it almost sounds 
like Paul is not really conscious of how to sort of deal with this. 
I don't think that's a good reading of it. I think the basic emphasis 
is that there is remaining corruption in the lives of God's people. 
There is in that one who has a desire to do good, when he's 
in the pursuit of doing the good, there is this recognition or 
realization that there is warfare going on in his heart. There 
is this remaining corruption. The combatants are the spirit 
and the flesh, and you see that in Galatians chapter 5. You can 
turn there. Galatians chapter 5, the combatants 
in the heart of the sinner, the redeemed sinner. Notice in 5.16, 
I say then, walk in the spirit, you shall not fulfill the lust 
of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the 
spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary 
to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 
So when we will to do the good, we find that principle of remaining 
corruption, that challenge, that heartache, that hardship that 
we have to persevere through. But on the other hand, we are 
not given wholly to sin. The Spirit is at work in us. 
We are not what we once were. I think it was Newton, he says, 
I'm not what I want to be. I'm not what I ought to be. But I'm not what I used to be. 
And I think that's a good emphasis that sort of captures this element 
of sanctification. I'm not what I ought to be. None 
of us, I think, would say that. If we do say that, then I would 
suggest that you probably need a bit more growth. But we're 
not what we ought to be. We're not really what we should 
be. I mean, face it, we live in light 
of a lot of information. We've got Bibles, we've got the 
Confession, we've got sermon audio, we've got church, we've 
got the Holy Spirit. So we're not what we ought to 
be, but by the grace of God, we're not what we once were. 
There was a point in time where sin reigned over us. It had dominion. It had kingship and authority 
and conquest over us. But that time is broken. That 
time is gone. We are now in a different stage, 
a different era of life. We are new creatures in Christ 
Jesus. So when we look at, say, remaining 
corruption in Galatians 5, we see the flesh lusts against the 
spirit. But we need to appreciate that the spirit against the flesh 
The Spirit is at work in us. The Spirit does move us. The 
Spirit does grant us aid, assistance, and help so that these are contrary 
to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish. 
So there are times where we want to pursue a particular corruption 
or a sin or some act of rebellion against God's law, but we're 
restrained by the power of the Holy Spirit. It's a blessing. 
So on the one hand, yes, we have remaining corruption, but on 
the other hand, we've got the Holy Spirit at work in us, helping 
us to fight those daily battles in terms of that remaining corruption. 
So the confession does not sort of just, you know, pretend that 
this isn't an issue. The confession doesn't say, well, 
you know, sanctification is, you know, what? What we tell 
you, and every Christian should look like this, every Christian 
should bear these fruits, every Christian should bear these marks. Now every Christian does to some 
degree, varying degrees, but with reference to this imperfection, 
we see that emphasis in paragraph 2, that again I think is very 
helpful. I think we have very practical 
religion in the confession of faith. It's a doctrinal treatment, 
to be sure, but it definitely gives us the practicality of 
the doctrine along the way. We saw that in chapter 2, you 
know, the doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation for our dependence 
upon God, all our communion with God. So they not only give us 
the truth as it is in the Bible, but they give us the practical 
application. So that we don't read paragraph 
one, see our own remaining corruption and say, well, I must not be 
saved. I must not have been justified because I don't see these sorts 
of things going on in my life. No, paragraph 2 qualifies, and 
then it goes on to further say, "...whence arises a continual 
and irreconcilable war, the flesh lusting against the Spirit, and 
the Spirit against the flesh." So that's Galatians 5. Now notice 
the progress in grace. The progress in grace. Notice 
in paragraph 3, in which war. It's a good description, isn't 
it? It feels like that at times. I mean, you know, your husband 
or your wife, your friends or your neighbors, they don't necessarily 
see what's going on, but you realize there's warfare in your 
heart. When you read Romans chapter 
7, I think he sort of expresses that. I think that's what we're 
getting there in Romans chapter 7. He's not giving us a pronouncement 
that he really doesn't know what he's doing, he really doesn't 
know because he's like a a pinball getting bounced around from bumper 
to bumper. No, I don't think that's it at 
all. I think he's expressing the warfare that obtains in his 
own heart. And so the confession here says, 
in which war, and again, notice this next clause, extremely practical, 
and stuff that I don't think is outside of the Reformed faith 
in the way that it ought to be. Although the remaining corruption 
for a time may much prevail, Now brethren, we don't say that 
so you can go out and sin and do whatever it is you want and 
say, well, I've got confessional sort of substantiation. I've 
got, you know, confessional corroboration. You know, I'm just in this time 
of prevailing remaining sin, but you know it's okay because 
the divines in the Second London Confession said that was okay. 
That's not the rationale. It's sort of the Roman six thing. 
What shall we say that? Shall we continue in sin that 
grace may abound? May it never be. But this nevertheless 
reflects what is true. Although the remaining corruption 
for a time may much prevail. Can you think of any biblical 
illustration of that? King David of Israel. If that 
does not illustrate that statement, although the remaining corruption 
for a time may much prevail, I'm not sure what would or what 
does. You've got Asaph, Psalm 73. God 
is good to Israel, to those who fear him. And then he says, but 
as for me, my foot nearly slipped. He saw the prevalence and the 
blessing of the wicked. He saw the suffering of the righteous. And it was a paroxysm in his 
own heart. It concerned him. And he describes it, as for me, 
my foot nearly slipped. Asaph definitely has a melancholic 
spirit. One of the reasons we know that 
is because the Psalms that are ascribed to Asaph indicate that. But Psalm 73, he's very clear. It wasn't until he went into 
the sanctuary that he understood things properly. God has set 
them in slippery places. In other words, it's not the 
case the righteous or unrighteous are always going to win. They're 
in a slippery place. They're going to ultimately end 
up in hell. And those who are righteous sufferers on this side 
of heaven are going to be blessed immeasurably in the kingdom to 
come. So there is this remaining corruption. And it says, which for a time 
may much prevail. But notice there is the certainty 
of progress. We're dealing with justified 
people. We're dealing with regenerate people. We're dealing with people 
who have new hearts. So when you came to David and 
he was in that sin, and he writes about it. Psalm 38, when I kept 
silent about my sin, my bones ached. There were physical repercussions 
of his covering up his transgression. And when you saw David in that 
state, it wasn't that he was unsaved. It's not that he had 
lost it and he needed to get it back. He was just in a miserable 
condition because of this war which prevailed for a time. Yet 
through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying 
spirit of Christ, the regenerate part doth overcome. In other 
words, the believer may fall, but he doesn't fall in. Though 
I fall, I will rise, said the prophet. And so there is this 
reality that God, if he's begun a good work in us, he's going 
to complete it under the day of Christ. He's not going to 
let us go. We're in his hand. And while this war rages and 
while that For a time it may much prevail, yet, through the 
continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of 
Christ, the regenerate part doth overcome. And when we ask the 
question, well, why does God ordain it to be that way? Well, 
the confession goes on in other places to show us why. Look at 
paragraph 3 in chapter 17. Paragraph 3, chapter 17. And though they may, through 
the temptation of Satan and of the world, this is the chapter 
of the perseverance of the saints, the prevalency of corruption 
remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their preservation, 
fall into grievous sins, and for a time continue therein, 
whereby they incur God's displeasure and grieve His Holy Spirit, they 
come to have their graces and comforts impaired, have their 
hearts hardened and their consciences wounded, hurt and scandalize 
others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves, yet they shall 
renew their repentance and be preserved through faith in Christ 
Jesus to the end. Again, you see the emphasis there. 
I understand that there's a battle. Once we're justified freely by 
God's grace, it's not the case that there's going to be this 
perfection on the part of God's people. The confession understands, 
the confession recognizes this challenge in the lives of God's 
people. So back to paragraph 3 in chapter 
13. So it says, Yet through the continual 
supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate 
part doth overcome. And so the saints grow in grace, 
perfecting holiness in the fear of God, pressing after an heavenly 
life in evangelical obedience to all the commands which Christ 
as head and king in His word hath prescribed to them. And 
if you look back at chapter 11, paragraph 5, notice it speaks 
there concerning sin in the life of justified people. Chapter 
11, paragraph 5, God doth continue to forgive the sins of those 
that are justified And although they can never fall from the 
state of justification, yet they may, by their sins, fall under 
God's fatherly displeasure. And in that condition, they have 
not usually the light of His countenance restored unto them, 
until they humble themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon, 
and renew their faith and repentance." Now, why do I underscore this? 
Because I think at times, people conclude when they see sin in 
their lives, well, I must not be a believer. Now that's certainly 
an option. You may not be a believer. I 
don't want to say to everybody who has that you're necessarily 
a believer. But you have to think biblically. 
You have to think properly. You have to think according to 
what we find in scripture. I mean, I'm sure David would 
have had his detractors. David would have had his people. 
He would have had the fundamentalists. He would have had the Pharisees. 
He would have had the Wesleyans all castigating him while he 
was in that time, while that war much prevailed in his own 
heart. Well, you can't be a Christian. 
You mustn't be a Christian. You're not a Christian. But you 
see, he doesn't ever accept that when he writes the Psalm of Repentance 
in Psalm 51. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. So 
he lost that, to be sure, in the midst of his sin and rebellion, 
but he didn't lose salvation. And I think that if we initially 
or immediately go to, wow, I've sinned, I mustn't be a Christian, 
then we're not giving attention to the scriptures of the Old 
and the New Testaments. It's not just David. You've got 
Simon Peter. Peter says, I'm gonna die with 
you. I will stick with you to the 
bitter end. And Jesus says, you're gonna 
deny me. You're gonna deny me, Simon Peter. Peter probably at 
that point didn't think, really? I'm gonna deny him? But once 
he does deny him, he hears that cock crow, and he sees Jesus, 
and he weeps bitterly. So he wasn't not a believer, 
and then he got saved. There is horrible things that 
happen in God's people from time to time. And I'm not legitimizing 
that. I'm not, you know, authorizing 
that. I'm not saying, you know, go 
on out there and just do horrible things. That's just the way it 
goes in the Christian life. But that's not always the immediate 
reply. I sinned this sin. I mustn't 
be a Christian. Well, maybe you are a Christian, 
but you're not dealing with your sin the way that God has equipped 
you to do with reference to the Holy Spirit and with reference 
to the word of God. If by the spirit you put to death the deeds 
of the body, then you will live. So there is this upward and onward 
emphasis that we find in this particular statement. And so 
the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God, 
pressing after and heavenly life in evangelical obedience, not 
a legalistic, obedience. That emphasis on evangelical 
obedience is most necessary. See, the Pharisees would insist 
that they obeyed the law of God, but it wasn't evangelical. It 
wasn't out of a heart that was redeemed by sovereign grace and 
washed in the precious blood of Jesus. It wasn't accompanied 
by the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. Simply knuckling 
under, pulling up your bootstraps and, you know, just grinning 
and bearing it and determined to obey God. That's not evangelical 
obedience. But it goes on to say, "...to 
all the commands which Christ as head and king in His word 
has prescribed to them." Now, in conclusion, I want to read 
from the larger catechism. I think this is good. I probably 
read it when we were in chapter 11. But it's the relationship 
between justification and sanctification. It asks, where do justification 
and sanctification differ? Although sanctification be inseparably 
joined with justification. There's no justified believer 
without subsequent sanctification. Even the thief on the cross, 
his heart was changed He looked unto the Lord Jesus Christ in 
faith, and you see the manifestation of that in that brief time on 
the cross. He understood it was just for 
him and his fellow thief to be executed by the civil state. 
He understood that it was wrong on the part of his fellow thief 
to sort of malign and blaspheme the Lord Jesus Christ. So there 
will be that inevitability. So although sanctification be 
inseparably joined with justification, yet they differ in that God in 
justification imputes the righteousness of Christ. In sanctification, 
His Spirit infuses grace and enables to the exercise thereof. In the former, sin is pardoned. In the other, it is subdued. The one does equally free all 
believers from the revenging wrath of God, and that perfectly 
in this life, that they never fall into condemnation. That's 
justification. The other is neither equal in 
all, nor in this life perfect in any, but growing up to perfection. So we might also say that in 
justification the Lord God deals with the penalty of sin and in 
sanctification he deals with the power of sin. So the gospel 
answers to our need before a thrice holy God. Now, in terms of the 
reality of remaining corruption, you might think, wow, that's 
odd that they put so much in there. People got these crazy 
ideas that they can sin and still be saved. Well, yeah, that's 
kind of what the Bible says. It doesn't advocate, it doesn't 
encourage, it doesn't endorse or tell us to go sin, but it 
does underscore that there is forgiveness with thee that thou 
mayest be feared. But this is a helpful corrective 
against the doctrine of perfectionism. Now, I don't know of any perfectionism 
sort of churches in town. If I, you know, the Nazarenes 
typically, I don't know if this one in particular holds to the 
doctrine of perfection, but those connected to John Wesley, those 
churches connected to Wesleyan theology thought or taught that 
believers in this life could attain perfection. Brethren, 
I would suggest that is to completely misread the Bible. That is to 
miss in spades not only Romans 7 and Galatians 5, but the life 
of David, the life of Peter, the life of everybody in the 
scripture, and our own lives as well. So this is a helpful 
correction against the doctrine of perfectionism, but it's also 
a helpful corrective to the attitude of Phariseeism. Brethren, people 
are not where we're at. People are not where you're at. 
If you have made great strides in your battle against sin, if 
your conformity unto Jesus is stellar and awesome, realize 
that a lot of us slobs are in a different position, and we're 
still trying to eke it out, and we're still trying to persevere, 
and we're still trying to be faithful. The Pharisees demanded 
certain requirements from people. Jesus upbraids them in Matthew 
chapter 23. They lay burdens upon you that 
they themselves are unable to carry. They did this, why? Because they were the pure ones. 
They were the holy ones. They were the righteous ones. 
They were the godly ones. And so, therefore, they became 
the police for everybody else in terms of sanctification. Now, 
if you think Pharisaism died in the first century at the destruction 
of the temple in AD 70, you've got another thing coming. There 
are Pharisees among us, and there are Pharisees that want everybody 
to perform in a particular manner and in a similar way, and usually 
it's to the standard of the Pharisee himself. And then finally, we 
need to recognize, in light of this, the differences in God's 
people, the folly involved of expecting all persons to be the 
same. They're just not, brethren. They're 
just not. Some people have more self-discipline, 
more control. Some people are able to, you 
know, chop off hands and gouge out eyes. Others just aren't 
there. That doesn't necessarily mean 
they're not saved. It just may mean that they're 
slower, that they need more help, they need more attention, that 
sort of thing. What they certainly don't need 
is some Pharisaic coaching from the sidelines telling them how 
messed up they are and how much better they need to become by 
imitating us. As well, the wretchedness involved 
of expecting perfection from our fellows. It's been my observation, 
and I could be wrong, that we oftentimes demand more from others 
than we do from ourselves. We want them to walk in a way 
that is perfect and holy when they're around us. But when we're 
around them, perfection and holiness doesn't seem to be the emphasis. 
So we need to guard our hearts against that. and then the futility 
ultimately of trusting in our sanctification for our acceptance 
with God. Go back to chapter 11, paragraph 
1, those whom God affectionately calleth, he also freely justifieth, 
not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their 
sins and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous, not 
for anything wrought in them or done by them, but for Christ's 
sake alone, not by imputing faith itself, the act of believing 
or any other evangelical obedience to them as their righteousness, 
but by imputing Christ's act of obedience under the whole 
law and passive obedience in his death for their whole and 
sole righteousness. They receiving and resting on 
him and his righteousness by faith, which faith they have 
not of themselves. It is the gift of God in Murray. says there was the strongest 
biblical reason for the urgency with which the Reformed divines 
have always distinguished the act of justification from the 
process of sanctification. We surely need Christ for us 
and Christ in us, but the two things are not to be confused 
as the ground of our acceptance before God. When we conflate 
those two things, justification and sanctification, or we obliterate 
any distinction and we make them one thing, we have taken on the 
doctrine of Roman Catholicism. That is precisely how they view 
ultimate acceptance with God. It is through faith in Jesus 
plus the things that they have done, and that seals the deal 
for them on that day of judgment. Brethren, that is not alone confined 
to Roman Catholicism. There's something called the 
New Perspective on Paul, does the same thing. There's something 
that I think is dissolving, by and large, called the Federal 
Vision. They do the same thing. It is a Roman Catholic conflation 
of justification and sanctification, whereby we are saved, not only 
by faith in Jesus, but by our faithfulness in the Christian 
life. Brethren, our faithfulness is 
never such that God will look upon us and say, well done, good 
and faithful servant. It is Christ's faithfulness alone 
by which we will hear, by virtue of our union with Him, well done, 
good and faithful servant. So never make the mistake of 
thinking that it's my performance, it's my activity that's gonna 
garner me acceptance with God. It is solely and alone the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and in that we can rejoice, and it's in that 
context that biblical holiness actually flourishes. When you 
understand the truth of justification, when you understand the truth 
of Christ, the gospel, when you understand the work for us, and 
then subsequent the Spirit's work in us, that is the pathway 
or the trajectory to true biblical holiness. When we think that 
we have to supplement the work of Jesus in order to be saved, 
we are in a different position or posture altogether. Then it 
becomes mercenary, then it becomes works-oriented, then it becomes 
something that if we just knuckle under, pull up our bootstraps 
and try harder, then we're gonna find acceptance with God. But 
that's not what scripture teaches us. Well, let me close in prayer, 
and if there's any comments or questions, we can deal with that. 
Our Father, we thank you for the realism that we find in chapter 
13, what we find in Romans 7 and Galatians 5, and in the account 
of David and Peter, and just our own experience in grace. 
We know, Father, that you have done glorious things in justifying 
us freely by grace. We know as well you're doing 
glorious things in us in terms of the Holy Spirit working in 
us both to will and to do that which is according to your pleasure. 
We ask that you would just bless and provide for us those things 
that we need in terms of the Spirit and the Word, and may 
you sanctify us by that truth. And we pray through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. Any questions or comments on 
any of that?