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THE
BIBLE MEETS LIFE
Are
you familiar with the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar?1 My children are
because my wife and I often read the book to them. In the story, the caterpillar
had a hunger that could never be satisfied. But one day everything changed. He
no longer crawled on the ground nor did he feel that intense hunger. Instead,
he was fulfilled and had wings with which to fly. Then the author revealed that
he was never created to remain a caterpillar; he was designed to be a beautiful
butterfly.
I felt
empathy for this caterpillar and maybe you do too. Like this caterpillar, we
were never designed to remain hungry and unfulfilled. Instead, we were designed
to live in a relationship with God through the sacrifice of Christ. We were
designed to live set apart from the ways of a sinful world; we are set aside to
become something greater.
"What the caterpillar calls the end of the world the Master calls a Butterfly."
In 1
Corinthians 6, Paul sought to help us understand the process of being set apart
from the rest of the world. That is what it means to be sanctified.
WHAT
DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
1
Corinthians 6:9-11
9
Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived:
No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with
males, 10 no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers
will inherit God’s kingdom. 11 And some of you used to be like this. But you were
washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
and by the Spirit of our God.
In the
first session (pgs. 9-16), we gained an understanding of the word holy, a rich word
that applies to God who is set apart, separate, and unique from His creation.
But God is not the only one who is holy; as His children, we too are to be holy
and set apart from the world around us. To be holy is to be sanctified, and the
Christian life is a life of growing in sanctification.
The
beauty of being sanctified and set apart in Christ is that we are no longer
enslaved to sin as we once were. When we are in Christ, the Father sees us as
righteous; we are no longer counted as unrighteous. Paul listed some specific
sins and reminded the Corinthians, “Some of you used to be like this.” It was a
humbling reminder that they were justified not by their actions, but because of
Christ’s death and resurrection.
Paul
was also sending a warning that their lives should no longer look like their
old way of living. We are sanctified and set apart from the old way of life. We
will only find death in sin, but we find life in Christ. When we come to
Christ, everything changes!
Question
2:
How
would you describe your life before you encountered Christ?
Paul
used three key words to describe that change:
- Washed. We are washed clean of our sin through faith in Christ. “The blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
- Sanctified. We are set apart by God and declared holy. “By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time” (Heb. 10:10).
- Justified. We are considered righteous in the sight of God. The righteousness of Christ is attributed to us. “He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).
All
this happens at the moment of salvation, the moment we believe and trust in
Christ, the One who lived a perfect life, died a sinner’s death to take away
our sin, and rose again to give us new life. Justification is a one-time event,
but sanctification is a daily process. Our sanctification begins at the moment
we are justified, but it continues throughout our lives as we grow more and
more like Christ.
1
Corinthians 6:12-17
12
“Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial.
“Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything. 13
“Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will do away with
both of them. However, the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord,
and the Lord for the body. 14 God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up
by his power. 15 Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body?
So should I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of a prostitute?
Absolutely not! 16 Don’t you know that anyone joined to a prostitute is one
body with her? For Scripture says, The two will become one flesh. 17 But anyone
joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.
Paul
had been reminding the Corinthians that they were sanctified in Christ. We are set
free in Christ, but the Corinthians were misinterpreting that freedom. Paul
quoted one of their slogans twice — “Everything is permissible for me” (v. 12) —
but both times he gave a truth that went against that slogan: “not
everything is beneficial” and “I will not be mastered by anything.”
Earlier,
Paul had written to the churches in Galatia: “For freedom, Christ set us free”
(Gal. 5:1). What did He set us free from? Slavery to sin. We are free not to
sin, but some in the Corinthian church wrongly took that freedom to mean they
were free to sin.
Specifically,
some in the Corinthian church were abusing the gift of sex and engaging in sexual
immorality. They believed both food therefore had no bearing on their spiritual
lives.
That Gnostic view appears to have influenced many in the Corinthian church, but Paul spoke against it. We cannot separate body and spirit. Our physical bodies belong just as much to Christ as our spirits do.
This
truth underscores just how set apart we are from the world. We are not one with
the world and its way of thinking; we are one with Christ. Since we are one
with Christ and His Holy Spirit lives within us, our actions should reflect
that. Each of our bodies “is a temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 6:19).
Returning
to the analogy of marriage, we recognize the weighty responsibility of living
united to a spouse, but a deep joy also accompanies that commitment. A husband
or wife’s life doesn’t look the same as it did before marriage; spouses are to
live for one another. It’s the same in our relationship with Christ.
We are joined to Christ and set apart for His plan.
Question
3:
What
are some benefits and responsibilities of union with Christ?
1
Corinthians 6:18-20
18
Flee sexual immorality! Every other sin a person commits is outside the body,
but the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body. 19 Don’t you
know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have
from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought at a price. So glorify
God with your body.
In
verses 12-17, Paul stressed that what we do physically—in this case, sexual
sin—does matter. So now he offered a course correction: “Flee sexual
immorality!” Flee means to run away, not just walk away, from a situation; and
don’t take time to think about getting away. Get as far away as possible—and do
it immediately!
In
fleeing from temptation, it’s essential to consider what we run to. We can’t
flee aimlessly from sin, but must run pointedly to Christ. We are to pursue the
sanctified life.
God is
glorified when we pursue the things of God and live sanctified lives. He called
us out of our sin to belong to Him and be His own people—He set us apart—and we
are not our own. Consequently, all our choices should bring glory to God. To
the God who chose us for a royal priesthood and called us out of darkness, we
should willingly and joyfully proclaim His honor and glory.
Question
4:
What
does it mean to call our bodies the temple of the Holy Spirit?
As we
rely on the indwelling Holy Spirit, let’s also remember the price God paid to
redeem us and bring us to Himself. We value and take better care of things when
we pay a lot of money for them. We typically give a lot of thought to what we
purchase when it’s costly. On an infinitely greater scale, God chose to purchase
you and me and it cost Him greatly: the death of His Son. We are wise to take special
care of what belongs to God: that includes our whole spirit, soul, and body.
In
submitting to Christ, we submit in spirit, soul, and body. We are set apart — sanctified
— in Christ, and our bodies are no longer to be used as vessels for sin.
Instead, our bodies are to be vessels to glorify Christ. When we submit to
Christ on a daily basis, and let His Holy Spirit fill us, we are well on the
road of sanctification. A sanctified life lived for Christ can do nothing but
glorify Him!
Question
5:
What
are specific ways Christians can live set apart for the glory of God in today’s
culture?
ENGAGE
LIVE
IT OUT
We
must make daily choices to be sanctified. Choose one of the following
applications:
- Offer thanks. Reflect on how your life has changed because of Christ. Thank Him for setting you free from the former way of life. Pray for the Lord to continue His good work.
- Memorize. Memorize 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 and repeat it to yourself when you need to flee from temptation. “Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.”
- Walk alongside others. Making the daily choice to live a holy life is much easier when you walk alongside other believers. Surround yourself with others who also choose to live their lives for Christ. Your Bible study group is a good place to start.
We
were never designed to remain caterpillars. God set us apart for something far
greater. As Christ daily transforms us, we must let Him continue the
sanctification process in us.
Hope everyone will join us this Sunday as we Zoom our online lesson at 9:00 AM!
In His Love,
David & Susan
Handout:
1
Corinthians 6:9-11
1.
We are set apart ______________________________.
What does Paul mean when he
says that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? What has been your
understanding of sanctification?
1
Corinthians 6:12-17
2.
We are set apart ______________________________.
Using this passage as your
basis, why is sexuality directly connected to our spiritual condition? What’s
the connection between our sexuality and our sanctification?
1
Corinthians 6:18-20
3.
We are set apart ______________________________.
Teacher Notes:
In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul helps us
understand the process of being set apart from the rest of the world. That is
what it means to be sanctified.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
Don’t you know that the unrighteous will
not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people,
idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, no thieves, greedy
people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s
kingdom. And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
What does Paul mean when he says that
the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom?
- Living under the rule of God - those who truly submit themselves to God’s control will not live in wicked ways.
No one who adopts any of
these practices as his or her lifestyle shall inherit the kingdom of God.
What has been your understanding of
sanctification?
- God is not the only one who is holy; as His children, we too are to be holy and set apart from the world around us. To be holy is to be sanctified, and the Christian life is a life of growing in sanctification. The beauty of being sanctified and set apart in Christ is that we are no longer enslaved to sin as we once were. When we are in Christ, the Father sees us as righteous; we are no longer counted as unrighteous.
- All this happens at the moment of salvation, the moment we believe and trust in Christ. Our sanctification begins at the moment we are justified, but it continues throughout our lives as we grow more and more like Christ.
- Sanctification - A Continuing Process: Sanctification does not stop with salvation, but rather it is a progressive process that continues in a Christian's life. Unlike the things and places that are sanctified by God in the Bible, people have the capacity to sin. Even though we have been "set apart" as God's children, we continue to behave in ways that are contrary. As Christians, we realize shortly after we have been saved that there is a new inner battle being waged within us - a battle between our old sin-lead nature and new Spirit-lead nature. Paul in Galatians best describes this inner struggle in Galatians 5:17: "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." Like Paul, our heart's desire is to please and obey God, but our flesh is weak making sin difficult to resist. Yet, it is in our continual struggle with sin and obedience to God that sanctification does its work. But what is the work of sanctification? What does it practically mean to be "set apart"? Sanctification can be described as an inward spiritual process whereby God brings about holiness and change in the life of a Christian by means of the Holy Spirit. The effects of living in a fallen world have harmed everybody differently. We all face different issues, struggle with sin, and past hurts of varying degrees, hindering our ability to live the life God desires for us. Once we accept Jesus Christ into our lives, the Holy Spirit enters our life to start a transformation process (progressive sanctification). He convicts us on areas that need to be changed, helping us to grow in holiness. We begin to view the world, people, and personal difficulties from a more biblical perspective. Our choices begin to be motivated by love and truth and not selfishness. For instance, we may have misplaced our confidence and security on beauty, wealth, and materialism, but God may ordain difficult circumstances to liberate us from these growth-hindering snares. The transformation process may be painful, but it is always motivated by God's love for us. Further, God promises in His Word to not give us more than we are able to handle (1 Corinthians 10:13). This is the working process of sanctification in the life of every believer. Though the process is personal for each individual, the end goal is to prevent sin and produce spiritual growth. Note that sanctification has nothing to do with living in sinless perfection. We will never be sinless in this life. In fact, the Bible warns against such false teachings in 1 John 1:8: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."
- Sanctification - Key to Spiritual Growth: Sanctification is both a matter of position and progression. We are sanctified because Jesus Christ has saved us and yet sanctification continues to work within to transform us unto the likeness of Christ. Sanctification is the responsibility of every believer in Christ. When we choose to pursue sanctification in our life, positive growth occurs. The pursuit of it involves the surrender of the body and the will to the leading of the Holy Spirit. It takes time and is a working progress that cannot be hurried. Like a newborn baby that gradually matures unto adulthood, so is the work of sanctification in the life of a new believer. The work of sanctification will ultimately be completed in every believer's life when Jesus Christ returns. This is the hope of every Christian.
Justification
is a one-time event, but sanctification is a daily process.
1.
We
are set apart from our old way of life.
·
There should be as much
difference between the worldling and the Christian, as between hell and heaven,
between destruction and eternal life.
- Author: Charles
Haddon Spurgeon
How comfortable are you that
your lifestyle is consistent with your profession?
1 Corinthians 6:12-17
“Everything is permissible for me,” but
not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will
not be mastered by anything. “Food is for the stomach and the stomach for
food,” and God will do away with both of them. However, the body is not for
sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. God raised up
the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Don’t you know that your
bodies are a part of Christ’s body? So should I take a part of Christ’s body
and make it part of a prostitute? Absolutely not! Don’t you know that anyone
joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For Scripture says, the two will
become one flesh. But anyone joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.
- We cannot separate body and spirit. Our physical bodies belong just as much to Christ as our spirits do.
- Believers are one with Christ, and marriage is a picture of the oneness we share with Christ as His church (Eph. 5:22-32). In marriage, a man and woman become one flesh; in the same way, when we become believers, we are joined with the Lord through the Holy Spirit. Consequently, the actions of our body affect our whole being.
- Returning to the analogy of marriage, we recognize the weighty responsibility of living united to a spouse, but a deep joy also accompanies that commitment. A husband or wife’s life doesn’t look the same as it did before marriage; spouses are to live for one another. It’s the same in our relationship with Christ. We are joined to Christ and set apart for His plan.
2.
We
are set apart to be one with Christ.
- This truth underscores just how set apart we are from the world. We are not one with the world and its way of thinking; we are one with Christ. Since we are one with Christ and His Holy Spirit lives within us, our actions should reflect that. Each of our bodies “is a temple of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 6:19).
Does your manner of living
give evidence that you have been set apart to Him and are one with Him?
1 Corinthians 6:18-20
Flee sexual immorality! Every other sin
a person commits is outside the body, but the person who is sexually immoral
sins against his own body. Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the
Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for
you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body.
When a
person is saved, God gives His Holy Spirit, who takes up residence, dwells in
the person, making them a new creature and sanctifying, or setting them aside,
for godly service.
You were created and set apart for one
purpose: to glorify God.
3.
We
are set apart to glorify God.
·
·
As followers of Christ, we’ve been set
apart. That’s what the word holy means: to be set apart. It’s also the idea
behind the word sanctified. We are sanctified—set apart—in Christ.
Sanctification, then, is growing into that holiness, becoming more and more
like Christ.
“Be holy, because I am holy” (1 Pet.
1:16).
LIVE IT OUT
We must make daily choices to be
sanctified.
Take one step today toward your
sanctification. Then, take another tomorrow. One day, you will be as clean as
Jesus. Hallelujah for the promise of that day!
Question:
"What does it mean to be sanctified?"
To be
sanctified is to be “set apart” for a special use.
· Synonyms
are holy, consecrated, and hallowed. The Bible speaks of things being
“sanctified,” such as Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19:23) and gifts to the temple (Matthew
23:17); days, such as the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8); names, such as God’s (Matthew
6:9); and people, such as the Israelites (Leviticus 20:7–8) and Christians
(Ephesians 5:26).
· Things
that are sanctified are reserved for God’s purposes and should not be used for
mundane tasks. The night Babylon fell, King Belshazzar “gave orders to bring in
the gold and silver goblets . . . from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the
king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them”
(Daniel 5:2). It was one of Belshazzar’s final acts, for he was killed that
night by the invading Persians. God’s name is “hallowed” (Luke 11:2) and any
flippant or disrespectful use of His name is profane.
· Jesus
spoke of Himself as being sanctified in John 17:19; in other words, He is holy
and “set apart” from sin. His followers are to be similarly set apart from sin
and for God’s use (see 1 Peter 1:16).
· People
who are sanctified are born again and therefore part of God’s family (Hebrews
2:11). They are reserved for God’s use. They know “the sanctifying work of the
Spirit” in their lives (1 Peter 1:2). They abstain from sexual immorality (1
Thessalonians 4:3). They understand they have been “called to be his holy
people” (1 Corinthians 1:2).
· To be
sanctified means that God has been at work in our lives. Under the Old
Testament Law, the blood of a sacrifice was required to set things apart unto
God: “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood”
(Hebrews 9:22). Blood was sprinkled on tabernacle furniture, on priestly
clothing, and on people. Nothing was considered sanctified until it had come in
contact with the blood. This was a picture of the spiritual application of
Christ’s blood for our salvation—we are “sprinkled with his blood” (1 Peter
1:2). Just as the temple of old was sanctified for God’s use, our bodies,
temples of the Holy Spirit, are set apart for God’s holy purposes (1
Corinthians 6:19).
· God
invites us sinners to come to Him “just as we are” and receive His mercy and
forgiveness. When we are saved, the Holy Spirit begins His amazing work of
transforming us into the image and likeness of Christ. To be sanctified means
that God loves us too much to let us stay the same.
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