What do justification and sanctification mean? (NCC Q32)

• What do justification and sanctification mean? Justification means our declared
righteousness before God, made possible by Christ’s death and resurrection for us. Sanctification means our gradual, growing righteousness, made possible by the Spirit’s work in us.
• The Bible uses big words that are sometimes to understand, but when we understand the words the Bible uses to explain how God works in our lives, it helps us marvel at how good, gracious, and powerful our God is.


Recommended Resources
• New City Catechism Commentary: “The whole world gets it all backward. Other religions get it all backward, where our works and our efforts to overcome imperfections might make us pleasing to God. You never can get there that way. God reckons us as acceptable, makes us his children, counts us as righteous; and because of that righteousness we then spend a lifetime becoming what we already are.”
• What Is the Difference between Justification and Sanctification? (The Gospel Coalition): “Justification happens outside of you, you are declared righteous. Sanctification happens inside of you, you are made righteous.”
• What role does sanctification play in salvation? (9Marks): The experience of salvation begins with regeneration and justification, continues with sanctification, and is fulfilled in glorification. All who are regenerated and justified are being sanctified. All who are being sanctified will eventually be glorified.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Hello. Hey. Good evening, Redeemer Youth. Um, so for some of y'all that don't know, um, this past few weeks we've been going through the series of Christ, redemption, and grace and the gospel. It's the nuts and bolts of how Jesus saves us. And we go through this series through this tool, the New City Catechism. And a catechism is a tool that helps us understand what we believe via questions and answers. And so sometime down the road during this lesson, you might have some questions. Don't forget that we have this text line over here that y'all can send some questions to. And our leaders are gonna try their very best to answer them later tonight during Q ⁇ A sessions. Um but yeah, and also don't forget about that if you have missed uh the previous weeks, we also have the Redeemer Youth Podcast that you guys can always go back to uh if you missed any lessons in the previous weeks. But with that being said, um we're gonna go through our lesson for tonight, and the destination for tonight is what do justification and sanctification mean? Justification means our declared righteousness before God made possible by Christ's death and resurrection for us. Sanctification means our gradual growing righteousness made possible by the Spirit's work in us. Now, the Bible uses big words that are sometimes difficult to understand, but when we understand the words the Bible uses to explain how God works in our lives, it helps us marvel at how good, gracious, and powerful our God is. Now, if you grew up here at Redeemer Christian Church, you probably heard this justification, sanctification multiple times, especially during our sermons on Sundays, and sometimes you probably heard them before here at Redeemer Youth. But some of us that knows or is aware of the terms, we kind of encounter sometimes an objection to these. And one of the objections are if God already says I'm righteous because of Jesus, why do I have to keep working on being holy? Okay, now our anchor text for this is 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 3 to 10. And whoever gets there first, can y'all shout out the page? The page number?

unknown 2:50

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

2 Peter chapter 1 verse 3 to 10. What page is it? 1018. 1018. Okay. So now we're gonna dive deep into that. So if if you guys are gonna be uh landing on the page later on, it's fine, you can follow along. But this is 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 3 to 10. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escape from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness, steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities, you will never fail. Now, that's a lot of scripture there, but we're gonna we're gonna dissect them, okay? So notice in in this passage, uh, Peter's uh flow um in his letter. In verses three to four, he talks about how you have been saved in Christ and who you are in Christ. He reminds you of what Jesus has done for you and who you are now in Christ. Now, the verses five to ten talks about the growth that is ought to take place because of your faith. If you're going to analyze these passages, do you see that Peter was saying that on verses three to four that you have been justified. This is what's been done to you. And verses five to ten talks about now, this is what's supposed to look like. Now that you are in Christ, this is what your faith is supposed to be: virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, love, these are the things that we ought to aspire to grow in as Christians. Growth in one area leads to a growth in another area. Now, our growth in holiness is one of the ways that we can know that Christ has truly saved us. Like in this passage, Peter was saying we confirm our calling and our election, meaning that it's whatever you do here, it confirms who you are now, that God has made you to be. And we do that by practicing the very behaviors that someone who has been saved by grace through faith will naturally bear fruit in. We're gonna tackle that later on. But we're move uh we're moving on to another objection, which is if sanctification is growing righteousness, why do I keep messing up the same sins? Am I actually changing or just stuck? Our anchored text for this is Philippians chapter 1, verse 6. And whoever gets there, can y'all shout out the page number?

unknown 6:57

980.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

What was it?

unknown 6:59

980.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

980. Page 980, guys. Okay, now just stay there for a little bit. We're gonna go through uh some passages here in a bit, okay? Uh Hebrews chapter 10, verse 14. It says here, for by a single offering, he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Now, look at that passage right here. I want you to I want you all to know the the uh the order of what was being said here. For by single offering, he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. It's crucial to understand and to always remember that in Christianity you are justified and you're being sanctified. It is not the other way around. Other religion says you are sanctifying yourself, you are meant to be sanctified and then you're justified. But in Christ, it is the entirely opposite. It says that he has perfected for all time. That means he justified, he justified you, and then you're being sanctified. If God has justified you, then you are being sanctified by him. You may not feel that way, or it may not seem obvious to you in the moment, but God does not do one without doing the other. Let's move on to another passage. It's in Galatians chapter 5, verse 16 to 17. But I say, walk by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh. For these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. It is a normal part of the Christian life to feel an internal struggle between your sinful desires and the spirit. Now, while that battle will have its ups and downs, it will always be there in this life. You will always feel that tug between the desires of your flesh and having the desires of the spirit. And this is where the good news comes into play. This is where our anchor text is right now. Philippians chapter 1, verse 6. This is one of my favorite verse in scripture. And I am sure of this: that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. God is the one who is working in you for your sanctification. He is the one growing you in righteousness, and he will complete it on his timetable. Isn't that good news that Christ, that God is the one who's working in you? That yes, he began his good work in you when you now became in Christ, but he's continually working in you until he comes back. And he he promised that. That means that whatever happens, he will never be done working in you. God's never gonna be done with you. And that is good news. Now, in response to that truth, there's another objection that says, if the Holy Spirit is the one making me more holy, does it even matter how hard I try? Won't he just do it for me anyway? Our anchor text for this one is Romans chapter 8, verse 11 to 13. And once you guys, once you guys get there, can someone shout out the page number for that? Romans chapter 8, verse 11 to 13.

unknown 10:56

944.

SPEAKER_00 10:57

944. Dude, you're fast. I'll give you credit for that. That's pretty dope. Okay, just say it for a bit. We're gonna we're gonna go through uh another passage, uh, but just stay there. Uh one passage that we're gonna look at is Philippians chapter 2, verse 12 to 13. And it says here, therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Notice how there are two actors working together for the same end. God is the main actor in our salvation, but when it comes to our sanctification, we actually have a part to play in our growing in righteousness. Now, you might say, is Paul saying that we should work for our salvation? I think we should look at that one more time and and read that that is actually not the case. In that specific passage, when Paul says, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, meaning there's something in you right now that you have to put out, that you have to project. That is what Paul was saying here. And when he says, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, he's not referring about a fear that pertains to condemnation or anything that relates to God being disappointed in us. He's saying, when you work out on your own salvation with fear and trembling, he's saying to project the good things that God is working in you with reverence for God. That's what Paul is saying here. Now moving on to the for anchor text on Romans chapter 8, verse 11 to 13, it says here, if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors not to flesh, to live according to the flesh, for if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. We grow in righteousness when we put when we put our sinful desires to death in us. Now we cannot do this in our own strength, but because the Holy Spirit has been given to us by faith in Christ, we now have the power and the ability to do something that we didn't before. Now, an objection to this was what if I say I trust Jesus, but my life doesn't look very different? Does that mean I'm I was never really justified in the first place? Let's go to James chapter 2 verse 17 to 19. Can someone call that out? James chapter 2 verse 17 to 19. 1012. Same guy, dude, dang. Good job. I love that. 1012. Okay, I'm gonna give more time for y'all to get there. 1012. So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one, you do well, even the demons believe and shudder. Now, if you are a Christian, your life should look different from those who are not Christians. But as strange as it sounds, only Christians get bothered by the fact that they're not living the lives that Jesus wants them to live. That's a telltale sign that the spirit is at work. That's what we've been talking about earlier. That is the spirit convicting you of sin. That's what the spirit does to you. He brings awareness to the sin that is in your lives, and that is a good thing. Now, you guys don't have to like um go to this passage, but I think it's gonna be up here. But the next passage for this is John chapter 15, verse 1 to 5, where it says, I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the world, because of the word that have spoken to you. Abide in me and I in you, as the same branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine. Neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. For apart from me, you can do nothing. If we say that we trust Jesus, we also must abide in him if we want our lives to look different. Saying you believe in Jesus without abiding in him will not change your life. Abiding in Christ means you're always clinging to him, you're always abiding in his word, you're always spending time with Christ, you're always trusting him with everything that you have. We move on and we'll we keep going to John chapter 15, verse 10 to 16, where it says, If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. Just as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love, these things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends. For all that I have heard from my father, I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. We grow in righteousness by obeying Jesus. If we have faith in Jesus, we will want to do what Jesus commands us. When we do what Jesus commands us, our lives starts to look like Jesus and we grow in righteousness. But the one thing that I want you guys to remember in light of what we just talked about tonight is that you are justified now, and then you are being sanctified by Christ. It is not the other way around. So sometimes if you feel like you're failing, if you feel like you're not doing the things that Jesus tells you to do, and you fall short of that, don't ever think that God will change his mind about you. He justifies you first, he calls you his first, and now he is working in you, he is sanctifying you. Just like what Philippians chapter 1, verse 6 was telling us. My favorite Bible verse, by the way, is that He that He He began a good work in you will complete it, will bring it to completion until the day of Jesus Christ. That is the good news. That is the good news that the God that you serve, that we worship, that we worship every Wednesday or every Sunday, or we worship every day, is the same God who will never ever stop working in you. Now, our destination for tonight, what do justification and sanctification mean? Justification means our declared righteousness before God made possible by Christ's death and resurrection for us. Sanctification means our gradual growing righteousness made possible by the Spirit's work in us. The Bible uses big words that are sometimes difficult to understand, but when we understand the words, the Bible uses to explain how God works in our lives, it helps us marvel at how good, gracious, and powerful our God is.