CHAPTER 1
Justification
Justification is a term used to describe a spiritual condition of the heartwhen one believes on the shed blood of Jesus Christ for the remissionof sins. Other terms are born again and saved. We are "saved from oursins." We are "justified" before God because of the transforming graceof the Lord Jesus Christ.
Biblical references to justification can be found in the following passages:
"And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up somuch as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast,saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this manwent down to his house justified rather than the other: forevery one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he thathumbleth himself shall be exalted" (Luke 18:13-14).
"For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but thedoers of the law shall be justified" (Romans 2:13).
"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh bejustified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin"(Romans 3:20).
"Being justified freely by his grace through the redemptionthat is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:20).
We can see by the above scriptures that justification is the transformingwork of the redeeming grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. No man isjustified by the "works of the law." In the scripture referenced above,the "works of the law" relate to the Old Testament rules, regulations,rites, and ordinances. In the New Testament dispensation, the "worksof the law" would be regulations, procedures, and rituals imposed onpeople by men and organizations. Some religious bodies will admitmembers who agree to honor the tenets of the organization and supportit with attendance and money. Others will admit members who followsome procedure or ritual. Some require a contract, and others demanda course of education. All such requirements are things the applicantcan do. I can sign a contract. I can submit to baptism. I can attendan indoctrination course. I can support with attendance and money.There is no miracle in any of the aforementioned "works," and theytherefore are not in any sense related to the experience of justification.There is nothing we can "do" to be "saved."
Being "saved" or "born again" is a divine work wrought in the heart byGod through the exercising of faith in the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ.It is a renewing, a transformation, and a re-creation of the human heartwith the purpose of restoring it to the condition intended by God inthe creation of the human race. God created man in "His own image,"holy, sinless, eternal, and much more. God endowed Adam with Hisown attributes. When Adam sinned, he gave up the godly attributes andtook on himself carnal or sinful attributes. God, not being willing forman to perish without hope, prepared the means for man's restorationto the "image of God." The plan of God was to first, remove the sin andsecond, reintroduce His Spirit into the human heart. Jesus establishedthe first step by taking the guilt of man's committed sins on Himselfand dying on the cross with them and thereby rendering the believerguiltless, since his sins died on the cross with Christ. The believer isnow justified by his faith in the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. Thesecond part will be treated in the section on sanctification.
First Peter 1:18-19 says, "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were notredeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from yourvain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But withthe precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish andwithout spot."
Jesus is identified as the "lamb of God." We need to understand thatsin is the reason Adam lost his salvation in the beginning. We are alsotold that because of that sin, all mankind take on the attributes of theirfather, Adam, with his sinful and carnal nature. "For all have sinnedand come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
No man can deny his guilt. These hands did the deed. This eye lookedand this mind dwelled on the lust. No honest man can say, "I havenever sinned." Consequently, we all need God's intervention for ourjustification before Him. Since the Word of God declares that "allhave sinned" and that the "wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23),we comprehend that man is under the judgment of death. God hasdeclared that "the soul that sinneth, it shall die," according to Ezekiel18:4. Consequently, all men are under the judgment and penalty ofdeath for sin.
Since this judgment is the judgment of God and the Word of God isimmutable, God has no choice but to execute His judgments againstthe sinner: "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." The only way thatGod's Word can be honored is for the sinner to die. There is no otheroption. By God's love and mercy, God sent Jesus to be the propitiationfor the sins of mankind.
First John 4:10 says, "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but thathe loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
Romans 3:25 says, "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiationthrough faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remissionof sins that are past, through the forbearance of God."
God in His great love for us gave us a substitute, the "lamb of God,"to take our punishment to Himself and suffer the penalty imposedby God the Father. Remember that the penalty for sin is death. Jesusbecame our advocate and intermediary between our sins and thejudgment of God. Also remember that it is God's plan to inflict thepenalty of man's sin on His son Jesus that we might be set free.
According to 2 Corinthians 5:21, "For he hath made him to be sin forus, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of Godin him."
First Peter 2:24 says, "Who his own self bare our sins in his own bodyon the tree that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness:by whose stripes ye were healed."
Justification is the heart-transforming power of our heavenly Fatherthrough the sacrificial death of the Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesusby God's command accepted our guilt, God according to His owncommandment sent Jesus to the cross to pay the price for sins. Jesuswas our sacrifice. He became guilty in our place and died the deathwe should have suffered ourselves. But, because of Jesus shedding Hisblood in our behalf, we can stand before God with sins forgiven. Oursins are not only forgiven but actually destroyed by death on the cross.Our sins are removed from us as far as the east is from the west. Theyare cast into the depths of the sea. We are free. We are justified.
CHAPTER 2
Sanctification
As we saw in the section on justification, sanctification is a state ofgrace. Most of our mainline churches still teach on the subject ofsanctification, but their understanding of it has deteriorated. Reachingback into history, the Bible and most of its soul-saving doctrines werelost during the Dark Ages when the common man could not get acopy of the scriptures. For several centuries it was even a crime for thecommon man to possess a copy of the Bible. The clergy declared thedoctrine as they wanted and religion became just that, "religion" andnot spiritual life. A priest during the first centuries of the Christianera was quoted as saying, "We used to believe that salvation was aninner experience, but now we have found it to be only an outwardexpression." Thus, during the Dark Ages, AD 530 to AD 1530, only aprecious few knew the saving grace and the masses of religious peoplehad only "religion." It was in the sixteenth century when MartinLuther, a Catholic monk, saw the truth that "the just shall live byfaith" and started preaching "justification," the saving grace of theLord Jesus Christ through believing on His death and resurrection.Thus, the Protestant Reformation was born. In the eighteenth century,God enlightened many churchmen on the doctrine of sanctification.Prominently, we see men like John and Charles Wesley, Dwight L.Moody, and others who learned that justification was only half of theplan of salvation and that a second grace was needed to empower us foreffective service. With the foregoing as our foundation, let us proceedinto the study of Bible sanctification.
A Second Work of Grace
Because many of our modern ministries have lost the experience, theyno longer teach it as a second work of grace, but as a grace receivedwith and as a part of justification. The Bible very clearly teaches thatsanctification is a definite "second" work of grace to be sought andreceived subsequent to justification. I think we all can agree that Jesusconsidered His disciples saved.
John 13:10 says, "Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not saveto wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all."
At this meeting with the disciples for the Last Supper, Jesus declaredthat except for Judas, they were all clean spiritually.
John 17:14-17 says, "I have given them thy word; and the world hathhated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of theworld. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, butthat thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world,even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thyword is truth."
In the above scripture, Jesus in his prayer to the Father marks Hisdisciples as being "not of the world." If they were not of the world,what were they of? They were "in Christ" and as such had entered the"kingdom of heaven." Jesus Himself told His disciples in Luke 17:21that the kingdom of God was "within" them: "Neither shall they say,Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
The prophet Ezekiel, speaking for God, says that the Spirit of God willbe placed within His followers: "And I will put my spirit within you,and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments,and do them" (Ezekiel 36:27).
In His final instructions before His ascension, Jesus told His disciplesthat they should not attempt to enter their ministerial service yet, butthat they should wait in Jerusalem until they had been endued withpower from on high. The power referenced by Jesus was the promiseof God by Ezekiel to put His spirit within them. Thus Jesus used theterm endued. Since Jesus says "I send" the promise, it is apparent thatthe promise had not yet been received at the time of his departure.
"And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you:but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be enduedwith power from on high" (Luke 24:49).
Jesus also declared in John 16:7 that the promise would not comewhile He was still in the flesh, but that He would "send" it after Hehad departed: "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for youthat I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come untoyou; but if I depart, I will send him unto you."
Jesus also lets us know that the promise of the Spirit cannot be receivedby the unregenerate. The world has no claim on the blessings of God,but only believers can receive the promise.
John 14:17 says, "Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannotreceive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye knowhim; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."
As we can see in the preceding scripture, the world or the unsaved cannotreceive the Spirit. Jesus had declared that the Spirit was "with" them,meaning Himself, and should be "in them," meaning the Holy Spirit.
And, Jesus said that "after" His departure, the Spirit would be sent intotheir hearts. Jesus' resurrection was followed only a few days later byPentecost and the infilling of the disciples with the Holy Ghost.
Acts 2:1-4 says, "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, theywere all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came asound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all thehouse where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloventongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were allfilled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, asthe Spirit gave them utterance."
These disciples, whom Jesus had declared to be clean, had been filledwith the Spirit of God as promised by God through Ezekiel. They alsowere endued with power as they began to speak among the people ofJerusalem in the languages of the various people. We also see Peter, whoonly days before was terrified to confess Christ, now boldly standingbefore those who were guilty of condemning Christ to death, pointinghis finger at these evildoers and declaring that "with wicked hands"they were guilty of His blood.
Acts 2:22-23 says, "Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth,a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs,which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledgeof God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain."
Note the difference between the "unfilled" Peter terrified to confessChrist at His trial and the "filled" Peter who now boldly stands beforethe same people, exposing their guilt with such power that they cry out"Men and brethren, what must we do." This is the "power from on high"that Jesus commanded they wait for. Without this power, they would beas weak as Peter had been and thus ineffective in their ministry. We seefurther proof that sanctification is a second work of grace as the apostlePaul discovers "unsanctified" people in his missionary journeys.
Acts 19:2-3 says, "He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghostsince ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much asheard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Untowhat then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism."If sanctification and justification were received at the same moment,then this question is ridiculous.
At Corinth, Paul found a company of believers and asked, "Have yereceived the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" This scripture alone isenough to prove that the infilling of the Holy Ghost occurs after webelieve. The foregoing texts also are adequate to show that we can besaved and not yet be filled with the Spirit.
1. The apostles expected the believers to be filled. Note Paul'squestion.
2. Being saved from sin but not filled with the Spirit leaves oneshort of the power to perform effective service.
3. Jesus commanded, "Don't try to serve until you are `endued'with power."
Thus, sanctification is not received at the altar of repentance, and yetwe are commanded to receive the Spirit before attempting service.
Sanctification Is a Consecration
Reaching back into the Old Testament tabernacle service, we haveGod's illustration of sanctification. God gave Moses specific instructionson the building of the tabernacle in the wilderness. Every detail wasoutlined, and no deviation from that outline was tolerated.
Hebrews 8:5 says, "Who serve unto the example and shadow ofheavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was aboutto make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all thingsaccording to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount."
Moses was to follow the building plan exactly as God explained. Mosesthen built the building with two chambers. One chamber was for thepriests to perform their service, and the other was for God Himselfto occupy. Moses then built the altars. The brazen altar, the altar ofburnt offering, was placed just inside the tabernacle entrance. Theonly way into the sanctuary was through this altar. This was the altarfor sin. Inside the tabernacle just before the curtain leading into theholiest, or the place of God's presence, Moses built the golden altar,the altar of incense. The only way into the holiest was through thegolden altar. Moses then made the furniture and implements, dishes,bowls, candlesticks, tables, altars, and so on. After all was completed,sacrifice was made, blood was administered to the altars, and everythingpertaining to the tabernacle was "sanctified" or dedicated for the Lord'suse. Dedicating or consecrating something to the Lord means givingit to the Lord for His use. Once dedicated, it is no longer available forany other purpose. Moses could not take the candlestick out to lighthis path in the dark. It was not his to use. It now belonged to God.When we seek God for His infilling, we also must be properly preparedby sacrifice and the blood of Christ applied to our hearts before wequalify for the infilling.
Romans 12:1 says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the merciesof God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptableunto God, which is your reasonable service."
