032 - Sanctification

#032 – Sanctification.  Learn how the Holy Spirit transforms believers in Jesus Christ from the inside out through a process called sanctification.  Debora interviews Reverend Carolyn Tatem in this episode and she shares practical advice about how this process works throughout our lives.

Engage with Debora Barr at https://tbtwpodcast.com/

Stay tuned for our next episode where we will discuss – Spiritual Gifts and Calling

Links

Queen Esther Ministry Information: https://fbcglenarden.org/ministries/queen-esther/

Email: queenesther@fbcglenarden.org

Carolyn Tatem’s books – http://www.carolyntatem.com/

Transcript

Announcer

Welcome to transformed by the word, a podcast about discovering how to live your life with gratifying purpose. God created you for a reason and the Bible contains the keys to unlock your transformed life. Now, here's your host, Debora Barr

Debora 0:28 

Thanks for joining me for Episode 32 of Transformed by the Word. 

For those of you who have been listening to this podcast since the beginning, we have been on quite a journey together. For those that are listening for the first time, I encourage you to go back and listen to the prior episodes. Those that have been listening have met many amazing people who have experienced God in intimate and profound ways. When we first say yes to Jesus, giving him complete charge over our lives, our spirit comes to life within us, and we begin to be changed from the inside out. 

Today we are discussing how God transforms our lives through this lifelong process called sanctification. During this sanctification process, we are separated from sin, and dedicated to God for His use. sanctification begins in a believer’s heart, and it frees them from the power of sin. It is a progressive and ongoing work of the Holy Spirit, who makes believers more and more like Jesus as they are changed into his image over the course of their lifetime. 

Today, I've invited a special guest to the show to help us discuss and learn about sanctification. Her name is Reverend Carolyn Tatem and she's a friend and fellow Associate Pastor at First Baptist Church of Glenarden. 

Carolyn is a native of Washington DC, and she serves as the Director of the Queen Esther Ministry at our church, which is a discipleship program for women. And she has served in that role for 15 years. Carolyn is married to Deacon William Tatem, Jr. and this month, they celebrate 23 years of marriage. And together they have three children. 

Reverend Tatem is the author of five books, three of which are on one of her passions, which is marriage and preparation for marriage. She is part of the Lifeway women's ministry training team. Reverend Tatem is also pursuing a Master of Divinity with a focus on pastoral care and counseling from Denver Seminary. 

Stay tuned. We'll be back in just a moment. 

<<MUSIC INTERLUDE>>

Debora

Hey, Carolyn, it is such a blessing to see you today. I'm so glad that you could come and join me on the podcast. 

Carolyn

Thank you so much for having me. I'm happy to be here. 

Debora

Would you share a little bit so that our listeners can get to know a little bit more about you? I read your bio, but I want them to really hear from you. Tell us about your salvation experience and a little bit about how you have grown in your personal walk with Jesus since you said yes to Him.

Carolyn 4:28  

Well, I accepted Christ at the age of 12. My grandmother, who was a Christian, but she had been out of fellowship for a while decided that she was going to start going back to church and rededicate herself to the Lord and when she decided to go she took me with her. And I was 12 years old and we went to a church called Faith Bible Church is in Washington DC. And as she rededicated her life to the Lord, I went down to the altar to give my life to the Lord for the first time. 

And so it was there that I began to learn what it was what it meant to be saved and to be born again and to have a relationship with God even as a little girl. And I've stayed at that church for 16-17 years and grew up there learning about how to have a walk with the Lord. And Sunday school, going to Sunday evening service. I mean, it was just a weekend of being committed to service from Sunday school to Sunday morning to the Sunday evening service. And we even had Friday night service. And so every weekend, I would spend my weekend with my grandmother just so that I could go to church. 

And at the time, my mom and my stepfather were attending church. So I went to my grandmother's just so that I could go to church. And I grew just being there being faithful and being committed getting involved in the church. It went from being involved in just regular church, to youth ministry, to singing on the choir to beginning to take on leadership roles. I was the Sunday school secretary for our church. 

And then I ended up leaving the leaving church to go away to college. And when I came back from college, I immediately came back to the church to get involved. And I became the youth leader. And I was leading the youth ministry at my church. And even when I went away to college, such a strong seed had been planted in me until I was really, I was a Christian it at college. And I know a lot of my friends say, Wow, you were! I wasn't even thinking about the Lord when I was in college. But when I was in college, I was a Christian then. And I began getting involved in the they had an organization on campus called the Baptist Student Union. And I got involved with the Baptist Student Union for the four years that I was there at Morgan State University, which kept me rooted in my walk with the Lord. 

So every Sunday we had church either on campus or either to campus ministry director took us to church, we had Tuesday Bible study every Tuesday on the campus. And so, I was able to continue my Christian walk and being committed, even while I was in college. And I remember when I got to the college campus, I remember the enemy speaking to me saying, now you are here, you are away from home, your grandmother's not here, nobody's here to make you go to church. And it wasn't anybody making me going at that time. I wanted to be there. But I remember him speaking to me, saying, you know, now you could just let your hair down. And nobody would know nobody here knows that you are Christian, you can go to the parties that hang out, and just do you. And I remember having that thought in my head. But I can hear God saying but I'm here. And I see. And I know that you gave your life to me, even here at Morgan State University, which at that time was known as the party campus.

Carolyn 8:22  

And, and I remember when they had the parties on in the dorm, everybody was going out to the parties like it was like ghost town if you were left in the dorm not going to the party. And so, I remember one night being in the dorm, and I'm having this conversation and the Lord spoke to me and said, No, you will still be the Christian that you are you want to take a stand for me even while you're here on campus. And so that's what I did the whole four years that I was at Morgan I was committed to the Lord. Even while I was there. 

I came back home and served in the church as the youth ministry leader. And I was at that church for many years serving in leadership until I moved to the First Baptist Church Glenarden and even when I went there, I immediately connected with the youth ministry because that was the last ministry that I was involved in. So I served as a youth advisor. And I ended up meeting my husband in the youth ministry. He was serving in youth ministry too. And that's where we met. And so we went from youth ministry to being involved with couples ministry, and then from couples ministry, the Queen Esther ministry, which is the ministry that I lead today. So that that's my journey, just from how the Lord started with me at the age of 12. 

Debora 9:40  

Wow, that’s amazing. So many kids, so many young people get off track in college. I think that is the number one derailer of Christians that grow up in the church, they listen to that voice that was speaking to you. And they do go crazy and it takes many years to undo a lot of That damage when they do grow up and come back to themselves and come back to the Lord. 

Carolyn

Yes. 

Debora 

As we are discussing the topic of sanctification today, how could you describe this concept to someone who might not be sure what that word even means or even to Christians that are unclear about what sanctification is?

Carolyn 10:22  

Well, I will define it and I think about that root word sanctify if you break that word, sanctify that word means to set apart for special use or a special purpose. To be sanctified means to make holy or to make sacred, a vessel full of God. And when we look at what we believe about sanctification, we believe that sanctification is the process by which we are made partakers of His Holiness, that it is a progressive work. So ,it's not something that just automatically happens. It is a progressive work. 

And it happens on the inside of a believer, this is begun when you give your life to Christ, you become born again, or some use the term regeneration, and that it is carried on in the hearts of the believer, by the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. So, when you give your life to Christ, he places his spirit inside of you. And as you are on this journey, God does the same define he does the change on the inside. And it is to be separated from sin and dedicated to God for His use. It is about being holy. And the fact of the matter is, is that God wants us to live holy lives. And sometimes, you know, we have a saying, Oh, you so holy, and you think you're so holy, but in actuality, God wants us to be holy, he wants us to live a holy, he says, Be holy, for I am holy. And there should be a difference between a believer and a non-believer, as believers, we are sanctified and I'll go into the things that the areas that we are sanctified by, but I think that just defines what sanctification is that it is, you know, being set aside being set apart, and it increases throughout life. 

And the whole sanctification period does not finish until you know, you're gone - till death, you know, but it is a journey that we have, and the Holy Spirit, and God is just doing a work on the inside of us. And so, it's an exciting time, because you don't know how God is going to is when he gets to moving and working in our lives. That the amazing things that happened. I heard somebody put it this way that sanctification is when the Holy Spirit walks with you throughout the course of your life. He helps us to live beyond anything that we could have ever imagined. 

I could have never imagined being a Reverend. 

Debora

Yeah, me neither. If you knew my background…

Carolyn

That was not on my you know, my bucket list of things I just did not even imagine. But when we yield and surrender ourselves to God, we don't know how he's gonna make us and shape us and we just want to be obedient to whatever he wants to do with our lives.

Debora 13:22  

Yeah, and I love how you said it. It's an inside out process. He starts on the inside. And so when someone surrenders their heart to the Lord, sometimes you don't see a big old change on the outside, but something is going on the inside, that will eventually show on the outside. 

So, for those that maybe don't even understand what it means to surrender their heart to Jesus, what exactly what exactly happens when a person decides to trust in Jesus and what he did for us? What is the first thing that starts to happen before the sanctification process? 

Carolyn 14:02

Well, I'm thinking about the scriptures. Second Corinthians 5:17, was says, If anyone is in Christ, you are a new creation. old things have passed away and behold, all have become new. And so realizing, first that you are a new creation. And you may not always feel new or may not see all the newness but accepting the idea that you are a new creation in Christ. 

And when we realize that, you know, the Holy Spirit really begins to move in our lives as we surrender to Him. He begins to make changes in us and I love the fact that you know, he changes us the more you come closer to him the more your life no longer looks the same. He begins to change your appearance, your appetite, your attitude, and your way of talking, your way of walking. And so when you surrender your life to God, he began to do an inside change, as you said, from the inside out, he begins to move in our hearts and we don't we no longer even look the same as we used to, because of the change that God is doing on the inside.

Debora 15:19  

Right! What are some practical ways that a person can cooperate with God in the sanctification process? You mentioned surrender, but what does that actually mean? And what are some practical things that we can do to cooperate with the God in the sanctification? 

Carolyn 15:34  

There are a number of things, one of the things first, I would say, began to get into the Word of God. God's word teaches us how to live holy. And many have defined the Bible as basic instructions before leaving Earth. So when you become when you have a relationship with God, you want to learn how God wants you to live. And the way that we learn that is by getting into the Word of God. So he teaches us how to live holy and when we start reading his word, and he starts speaking to you and ministering to you about different areas of your life. 

Surrendering means okay, God is saying to me, he that he doesn't want me to smoke anymore. So you know what I, you may have been addicted to the cigarette or nicotine or whatever that thing is, and he starts speaking to you about your temple, and he doesn't want you to mess your temple up that way. And so, you know, out of obedience, you start working towards finding out how you can get rid of this habit. 

Maybe it's maybe it's lying, and maybe it's cheating, maybe it's stealing whatever your thing is, because everybody has a thing, whatever your thing is, as you get closer to God, and he begins to speak to you about surrendering, letting it go, you know, and letting him have his way and your life, then you want to be obedient. 

So, the Word of God, and then prayer, having a prayer life talking and communicating with God, so that he would help you in these areas that you need help. So, God is you know, you're in your relationship with Him. And just like you talk to your friend or talk to anyone else, you want to have regular conversations with God, which we call having a prayer life is important. That's a practical thing that you can do inviting God into your day to day life and your day to day decision. 

So, the Word of God, prayer, obedience, you know, some things you just have to obey - you, when you know, when the Lord convicts you of something. When you read that this is what God wants you to do. You have to have a willingness to obey, to turn away from, you know, some things you just flat out know are not right. So let's, let's turn away, and we know that we're going to stop doing that thing, or whatever that is. 

And then there are some other areas that may be harder to detach from, but whatever you know, outright is just the minute we've got turn away from it, turn and start to take a different path. And so obedience, allowing the Holy Spirit to really, really work in your life, and create a change in in your attitude and your appetite and your mindset. And so, as you make these little changes, day by day, you will find yourself growing closer, closer, in your walk with God, and it is possible, it's impossible to get close to him without making change.

Debora 18:26  

Yeah, absolutely. And I also find that hanging out with other Christians. Yeah, because sometimes God speaks to them on your behalf to use them to speak into your life. That's been a blessing throughout my life.

Carolyn 18:40  

Yes, likeminded people, and having a regular time of worship, whether that is going into the house of God, or, you know, I know a lot of times today we're doing virtual services, or having a regular discipline of worshiping and taking in the Word of God, whether going physically into a church or attending virtually, but you want to make sure that that's a regular practice.

Debora 19:05  

Yeah. How can a person know that they're making progress in the sanctification process? Because sometimes I know it feels like it's very slow for me. But how do you know you're making progress in this area?

Carolyn 19:18  

Well, I think that we have to do self-examination. And it is so important that we examine ourselves to make sure that we are in the faith, and we are properly representing Christ, that you see a change in your life, you know, you know, the difference between where you were when you start with God and where you are today. And so, you can know that you're making progress when just little things that you used to do, that you no longer do any more. You know, it could be just you could have been a habitual liar, just lying for no reason. But now that you have accepted Christ, he convinced you to say now you know, you don't need to lie about that. Tell the truth. You know, so whereas you used to do things one way, and now you're doing things in a righteous way, you know that the change has taken place that God is working on the inside, because you can't even comfortably do the things that you used to do anymore. Because his spirit begins to speak and say, don't go there. Don't do that. No, don't say it that way. So that's the inner spirit, your Holy Spirit is speaking to us, to tell us to teach us how to live this life. 

And we all have a choice. Either we can listen to that voice, or we can tune that voice out. But if we're, if we want to walk in God's way, we will make more righteous choices by listening to the Holy Spirit. And so when you can look back and say, hey, that's what I used to do. Well, that's how I used to handle the situation. Or I used to cuss somebody out, you know, when they did that, but now I can say, you know, it's okay or God bless you. And I'm keep on going. You know that you're not the same as you used to be the Holy Spirit is moving and changing and working in the heart and minds of us when that happens.

Debora 21:14  

Absolutely. You mentioned earlier, the Queen Esther Ministry, and I know that it's now virtual and available to people everywhere. Because some of our listeners are outside of the United States. I'd like you to describe what that is a little bit and how a person could potentially get connected to the Queen Esther Ministry.

Carolyn 21:32  

Yes, so Queen Esther Ministry is a discipleship program for women, where we teach women how to have a closer walk with the Lord through studying the women of the Bible. And this is a three session at 15 weeks each. There's they meet on Thursday evenings from seven to nine. And Queen Esther ministry has been on break, but it is getting ready to start up. And we will start with an orientation night which we call the moment of preparation. And that is going to be held on September the 16th, from seven to 9pm. And the ministry will actually kick off on October the seventh. And ladies who are interested can go to First Baptist Church of Glenarden’s website (fbcglenarden.org), and look for the Queen Esther Ministry, and it'll allow you to put your email address in and you can connect with us that way. And we will allow you to register for the orientation night. And we will be happy to have you to be a part our target age group is ladies between the ages of 18 and 35. However, we do have ladies that are beyond that as well. 18 to 35 is just the target age group. And so, it is life changing. You are broken up into a group of ladies that you're going to spend the journey of the 3-15 week sessions with and you meet every Thursday, you're holding each other accountable to learning more about the women of the Bible. 

And the great thing is that we're learning what Jesus did in the lives of these women, many, many years ago, and we find that he's still doing the things and women's lives today that he's still in the life changing business. And women are being transformed by being a part of this ministry as they study Jesus and what he did in the life of women. And so, you don't come through Queen Esther the same way that you came in. It is life changing. You develop a sisterhood with the ladies who are in the program, you memorize scripture, you're held accountable to spending time with God on a day-to-day basis. And it is all about developing dynamic disciples.

Debora 23:51  

Since this podcast will air after the start of your ministry. Is there another onboarding process for Queen Esther beyond this initial September, October early October timeframe?

Carolyn 24:05  

So yes, so we there are two times a year when the ministry opens, it opens up in March so that maybe people can catch it for the March but they can still send us an email and let us know. Hey, I'd like to be on your mailing list for the spring session. And then in March we get the email address and we'll start all over again with a new group and a new orientation and they can come in so March and September are our opening date. So, if you miss the September October range, then you can look forward to coming in in the spring. 

Debora

And where would they send an email?

Carolyn

 the email address for Queen Esther is QueenEsther@FBCGlenarden.org. And so that's QueenEsther@FBCGlenarden.org. Or you could also go to the First Baptist Church of Glenarden’s website and look for the Queen Esther ministry. 

Debora 25:01  

Excellent. We will definitely put that on my website. And we'll link that email for the podcast so that folks can learn more about the Queen Esther Ministry. Before I let you go, is there anything else that you would like to share with our listeners, before we wrap up this excellent topic of sanctification? 

Carolyn 25:24  

Yes, I would just like to share that I am also one of the things that I didn't say is that I am an author of five books. So, three of the books are actually all on one of my passions, which is marriage and preparation for marriage. So, I have a book series called marriage from A to Z. And I have a book and a workbook. And then if you're single, and you think one day I'd like to get married, or I hope to get married. I have marriage from A to Z for singles to help prepare for marriage. 

And then I have a devotional called embracing excellence, which is a 31-day devotional on the Proverbs 31 woman. And just recently, last year, in the pandemic, I published my fifth book, which is titled Homeschooling from A to Z. Well, we have any moms or any parents out there that are homeschooling or just need help with their children, school is getting ready to start on some parents are choosing not to send their kids back into the classroom environment. And so, I am a parent who has experienced all different forms of education with public education, private education, homeschool education. And so I have written a book to kind of share my journey of the homeschool experience. So these books can all be found on Amazon. And or you could go to CarolynTatem.com as well.

Debora 26:55  

Excellent. I was just gonna ask what that website is CarolynTatem.com, and we will put that on our website as well. Thank you so much for joining us. I would love it if you would pray for our listening audience. 

Carolyn 27:11  

Yes. And thank you so much for the invitation. Let us pray. 

Father, in the name of Jesus, we come to you just to say Thank You, Lord God, we thank You, Father for this time to be able to discuss sanctification. We pray for every listener Oh God, that you would bless them that you would encourage them and strengthen them on their journey. We pray that you would bless the sanctification process Oh God, and each and every listener’s heart and mind, we pray for the listener that might be discouraged or that needs a special touch from you, God we pray for their healing God we pray Father for the listener that just needs to draw closer to you that you would draw them in closer to you. And we thank You, Father, for Reverend Barr for her leadership and just leading this podcast we pray that you bless her that you would encourage her heart Oh God, we thank You, Lord God for just being so good. You are worthy to be praised. We pray your blessings upon this day and to all of the listeners is in Jesus name that we pray and give you thanks. Amen.

Debora 28:21  

Amen. Don't go away. We'll be right back after this short break.

<<MUSIC INTERLUDE>>

Debora 29:09  

We just heard from Carolyn Tatem about the lifelong process of sanctification. 

She shared with us how the Holy Spirit works on us and with us from the inside out, as we surrender to his work in our lives. The power of the Holy Spirit in our new spiritual life keeps us from yielding to a life of sin. The apostle Paul wrote in First Corinthians 6:11, that they should not be deceived. Because people who persist in sin will not inherit the kingdom of God. He then goes on to encourage the church by saying and such were some of you, but you were washed You were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the spirit of our God. 

Sanctification requires us to surrender to the work of God in our lives. And as Carolyn said, Our lives will look very different after we surrender to Him. 

If you have never surrendered your life to the Lord, and don't currently have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, you do not have a regenerated spirit. But you can make a change today and be born again. It is by faith that we believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, he took the punishment that we deserve for living in sin. The great news is that he died, but he didn't stay in the grave. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, and he's now sitting at the right hand of God in heaven. He alone - Jesus has the power to forgive our sins, and to reconcile us to God. 

If you want to be born again, and begin the sanctification process in your own life, you can pray a prayer like this with me right now. 

God, I confess that I am a sinner and I need Jesus in my life. I repent of my sins and I turn to you. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sins, He was buried and rose from the dead. And I accept this by faith and invite Jesus to be Lord of my life. And I invite the Holy Spirit to begin the sanctification process. 

If you just made a decision for Christ, If you just prayed that prayer, I would love to hear from you. Please go to my website at TBTWpodcast.com and click on the link letting me know that you made a decision for Christ because I would love to encourage you and support you with the next steps of your faith. 

My prayer for you today is that you will surrender each day to the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Listen to that still small voice inside of you that is guiding and directing you. Begin to read the Word of God and talk to him through prayer and allow him to sanctify and grow your faith and grow your walk with Him. 

Stay tuned for our next episode of Transformed by the Word where we will be discussing Spiritual Gifts and Calling.

Announcer 33:11  

Thank you for listening to transformed by the word with your host Debora Barr, be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes or Google Play and connect with us at TBTWPodcast.com. Until next time, be blessed.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai