Memory Text: 1 Thessalonians 4:3 “For this is the will of God, [even] your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:”

Sunday, March 13 - Cheap Grace and the Cross

Romans 6:1-16 ESV “1 ¶ What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. 15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”
1 Corinthians 6:11 KJ21 “And such were some of you. But ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”
Galatians 5:16-25 MKJV “16 I say, then, Walk in [the] Spirit and you shall not fulfill [the] lusts of [the] flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another; lest whatever you may will, these things you do. 18 But if you are led by [the] Spirit, you are not under law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are clearly revealed, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lustfulness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, fightings, jealousies, angers, rivalries, divisions, heresies, 21 envyings, murders, drunkennesses, revelings, and things like these; of which I tell you before, as I also said before, that they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, 23 meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 But those belonging to Christ have crucified the flesh with [its] passions and lusts. 25 If we live in [the] Spirit, let us also walk in [the] Spirit.”
Galatians 5:16 COMMENTARY BY ALBERT BARNES the only way to overcome the corrupt desires and propensities of our nature, is by submitting to the influences of the Holy Spirit. It is not by philosophy; it is not by mere resolutions to resist them; it is not by the force of education and laws; it is only by admitting into our souls the influence of religion, and yielding ourselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God. If we live under the influences of that Spirit, we need not fear the power of the sensual and corrupt propensities of our nature.
Galatians 5:16 COMMENTARY BY MATTHEW HENRY Believers are engaged in a conflict, in which they earnestly desire that grace may obtain full and speedy victory. And those who desire thus to give themselves up to be led by the Holy Spirit, are not under the law as a covenant of works, nor exposed to its awful curse. Their hatred of sin, and desires after holiness, show that they have a part in the salvation of the gospel. The works of the flesh are many and manifest. And these sins will shut men out of heaven. Yet what numbers, calling themselves Christians, live in these, and say they hope for heaven!
Galatians 5:16 COMMENTARY BY WILLIAM BURKITT That an inward principle of grace in the heart will give a check to sin in its first motions, and cause it oft-times to miscarry in the womb, like an untimely birth, before it comes to its full maturity; it shall never gain the full consent of a gracious person's will, as it doth of an unregenerate person.

Monday, March 14 Set Apart

Hebrews 10:10 NKJV “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once [for all].”
Hebrews 10:10 SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY We are sanctified. The Greek emphasizes the thought that we were sanctified and now stand in a state of sanctification. Sanctification is here viewed, not from the aspect of a continual process, but in terms of the original change from sin to holiness, and as a continuation in that state. This meaning is found elsewhere.
Leviticus 19:2 NRSV “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.”
Leviticus 19:2 COMMENTARY GENEVA NOTES [holy] That is, void of all pollution, idolatry and superstition both of soul and body.
Leviticus 20:7, 26 NRSV 7 “Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am the LORD your God.” 26 “You shall be holy to me; for I the LORD am holy, and I have separated you from the other peoples to be mine.”
1 Corinthians 1:2 20th Century NT “From Paul, who has been called to be an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, And from Sosthenes, our Brother.”

Tuesday, March 15 The Sanctified State

1 Corinthians 1:2 KJ21 “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:”
1 Corinthians 1:2 SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY It is possible also that Paul was using a phrase common in salutations of the time. Two synagogue inscriptions have been discovered containing the greeting, “May there be peace in this place and in all the places of Israel”. Not only was the epistle for them, but it is full of instruction for all, and has been preserved in the sacred canon for our instruction and edification.
1 Corinthians 1:2 Robertson’s NT Word Pictures – notes on the city of Corinth This city, destroyed by Mummius B.C. 146, had been restored by Julius Caesar a hundred years later, B.C. 44, and now after another hundred years has become very rich and very corrupt. The very word "to Corinthianize" meant to practise vile immoralities in the worship of Aphrodite (Venus). It was located on the narrow Isthmus of the Peloponnesus with two harbours (Lechaeum and Cenchreae). It had schools of rhetoric and philosophy and made a flashy imitation of the real culture of Athens…All the problems of a modern city church come to the front in Corinth. They call for all the wisdom and statesmanship in Paul.

Wednesday, March 16 - Your Life Hid With God in Christ

Colossians 3:1-4 NKJV “1 ¶ If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ [who is] our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.”
Colossians 3:3 SDA BIBLE COMMENTARY Hid with Christ. The form of the Greek verb indicates that the act of hiding was complete and that its effect continues on to the present. The life is still hidden. The life here spoken of is that which the believer receives when he accepts Christ. Jesus said, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life” (John 3:36). It is his now, and will be translated into glorious immortality at the second coming of Christ.

Thursday, March 17 The Law and the Gospel

John 8:11, 34 NIV 11 “"No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."” 34
“Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”
Galatians 2:17 MKJV “But if, while we seek to be justified in Christ, we also were found [to be] sinners, [is] Christ therefore a minister of sin? Let it not be [said]!”
John 8:34 God’s Word “Jesus answered them, "I can guarantee this truth: Whoever lives a sinful life is a slave to sin.”
Romans 6:13 Weymouth “and no longer lend your faculties as unrighteous weapons for Sin to use. On the contrary surrender your very selves to God as living men who have risen from the dead, and surrender your several faculties to God, to be used as weapons to maintain the right.”
1 John 2:1 Weymouth “Dear children, I write thus to you in order that you may not sin. If any one sins, we have an Advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous;”
1 John 3:8 God’s Word “He who lives sinfully belongs to the Devil, for the Devil has sinned from the first. It was for this that the Son of God appeared, that he might undo the Devil’s work.”
1 John 3:8 COMMENTARY BY ALBERT BARNES He [John] speaks of sinning habitually, continuously, wilfully; and any one who does this shows that he is under the influence of him whose characteristic it has been and is to sin. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested.
Hebrews 3:13 William Tyndale “but exhort one another daily, while it is called today, lest any of you wax hard hearted, and be deceived with sin.”
Hebrews 12:4 NRSV “In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”

Friday, March 18 Further Study

Ellen White, Acts of the Apostles, p. 312 - Envy, malice, evil thinking, evilspeaking, covetousness--these are weights that the Christian must lay aside if he would run successfully the race for immortality. Every habit or practice that leads into sin and brings dishonor upon Christ must be put away, whatever the sacrifice. The blessing of heaven cannot attend any man in violating the eternal principles of right. One sin cherished is sufficient to work degradation of character and to mislead others.
Ellen White, Acts of the Apostles, p. 314 - Paul feared lest, having preached to others, he himself should be a castaway. He realized that if he did not carry out in his life the principles he believed and preached, his labors in behalf of others would avail him nothing. His conversation, his influence, his refusal to yield to self-gratification, must show that his religion was not a profession merely, but a daily, living connection with God.

Sanctification is a work of a lifetime.....

yeah...well how much lifetime do you have left???

At least as much as the thief on the cross, and he will be saved!

Sanctification is a work of a lifetime.

That simply means there is never a time when we can say we have arrived, we are perfect, we no longer need Christ's merits.

Everyday we must "claim Christ's" merits as our own, then move forward walking with Him in truth and obedience, responding to the Holy Spirit to "put to death" the carnality of natures.

What does it mean to "claim Christ's merits".

I asked that question last Sabbath in our class and was surprised that people did not know the answer.
Some answered -- we claim Christ's power, or we claim Christ's grace.

But what are merits?

Being a former school teacher, I understand "merits" like this:

In school teachers often have systems of merit points.
If a child comes to school on time they get points.
If the child completes all their work they get points.
If the work is correct they get additional points.
ETC.

Once the child reaches a certain number of points they receive a prize.


Now, in theology, SALVATION is the prize!
And yes, we need a perfect score of merit points to receive that prize!

But we have a big problem. There is no way we can earn even ONE merit point, let alone a perfect score. No, not even one, because everything, not matter how good we think it is, is contaminated by sin and just does not count.
How, then can we ever get enough merit points to earn salvation?

There is only one way.
We are to CLAIM CHRIST'S MERITS.
His perfect obedience is CREDITED to our account!
It's a gift.

Once we CLAIM CHRIST'S MERITS, only then do our own works become acceptable to God, not to earn merits, but because we want to be more like Him, and get rid of sin and selfishness.

Already clothed in the garment of Christ's righteousness, we KNOW we belong to Christ, and in grateful thanks for having been forgiven and cleansed WE DO NOT GO BACK and play in the dirt.

When old satan comes and says, why are you trying to be good, look at all your failures.
We can turn and say, I have claimed Christ's merits, my failures are not credited against me, and I know that the Holy Spirit is working to reconstruct my life into a new creature, and I will co-operate!

Quote:

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Signs Times .1902-12-17.003
"Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Justification means pardon. It means that the heart, purged from dead works, is prepared to receive the blessing of sanctification. God has told us what we must do to receive this blessing. "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure."


NBL.065
Co-operation with God
Man is to co-operate with God, employing every power according to his God-given ability. He is not to be ignorant as to what are right practices in eating and drinking, and in all the habits of life. The Lord designs that His human agents shall act as rational, accountable beings in every respect. . . .
The human agent is to co-operate with God, and keep under those passions which should be in subjection. To do this he must be unwearied in his prayers to God, ever obtaining grace to control his spirit, temper, and actions. Through the imparted grace of Christ, he may be enabled to overcome. To be an overcomer means more than many suppose it means....
From First to Last, A Laborer Together With God.
Let no man present the idea that man has little or nothing to do in the great work of overcoming; for God does nothing for man without his co-operation. Neither say that after you have done all you can on your part, Jesus will help you. Christ has said, "Without Me ye can do nothing." From first to last man is to be a laborer together with God. Unless the Holy Spirit works upon the human heart, at every step we shall stumble and fall.
But though Christ is everything...For the power and grace with which we can do this comes from God, and all the while we are to trust in Him, who is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him. Never leave the impression on the mind that there is little or nothing to do on the part of man; but rather teach man to co-operate with God, that he may be successful in overcoming.

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SABBATH AFTERNOON March 12

Read for This Week's Study: Rom. 6:1-16, 1 Cor. 6:11, Gal. 5:16-25, Col. 3:1-4.


Memory Text: "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3).

A few years ago, a young man read these famous words by Ellen White, "Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His."—The Desire of Ages, p. 25. Imagine if gratitude and happiness for the wonderful news of this glorious and costly provision prompted one man to say, "Because I am accepted through His righteousness alone, now I can go out and do whatever I want. Wow! the good news is better than I thought!"

Instead, this is what the young man really said: "Wow! Because of what Jesus did for me, because I am accepted through His righteousness alone, I so hate the sin that is in me. O, Lord, I love You so much; please change me, purify me, make me more like You!"

This week we'll take a look at another aspect of the Cross: what it does to the life of the one who accepts it as his or her own.

The Week at a Glance: What is cheap grace? What does sanctification mean in the Bible? In what ways is sanctification complete at conversion? In what ways is it an ongoing process? How are we sanctified? What role does the law play in the Christian life?


*Study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 19.


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SUNDAY March 13

Cheap Grace and the Cross

Last week we studied justification by faith, the good news that the perfect life of Jesus, His perfect righteousness, is credited to us as though it were our own, as though we ourselves have lived His sinless life even though we haven't even come close. We saw, too, that this declaration of righteousness in our behalf is by faith, not by works. We believe—and Christ's righteousness becomes our own in the sight of God. Aware of our own utter need, we come to the foot of the Cross and claim something that's not ours; and we get it, not because we're worthy but because God is a God of grace and, through Christ's death, gives us what we never could earn ourselves, no matter how faithfully and diligently we sought to obey the law, or even the spirit of the law.

Yet, the good news of salvation doesn't end with the declaration of righteousness. God doesn't just declare a sinner righteous and then is done with that person. On the contrary, this declaration of righteousness is only the beginning. Something else happens to a person who has been justified. It's what's known as sanctification, and it's an inseparable part of the gospel.

Read the following texts and then summarize the essence of what they are saying: Romans 6:1-16, 1 Corinthians 6:11, Galatians 5:16-25.


There's no question that those who are justified by faith will have a new life in Christ, a life of obedience and sanctification. Justification by faith, without sanctification (which is by faith, as well), is a false justification, a false gospel. It's cheap grace, which is not God justifying the sinner but the sinner justifying sin. It's a gospel that, in the end, saves no one.

Imagine two people. The first person believes that she has to strive with all her God-given might to achieve the righteousness she needs to be saved, because she's not quite sure she has that salvation to begin with. Thus, she strives for a life of obedience. The second works from the premise that she is already saved in Christ, that His righteousness covers her, and now out of love and gratitude she strives with all her God-given might for a life of obedience. Who's more likely to succeed in the Christian life, and why?

Sanctification is...
a work of a lifetime...so why does it take so long..if it is God's work?
Why does he WORK faster in some than others..or is it more complicated than that??

What are some of the definitions of sanctification?

1. Habitual communion with God
2. Decreasing frequency of sin
3. Set apart for...??
4. ??

If someone claims that they can claim Christ's merits....
can't they just slime around and get a D- and claim the merits to get them to an A+?
What about the A- who claims His merits?

Are we going to have D- people like Manassah...all the way through A- people like Enoch and Elijah in heaven and still have harmony??

Thanks chilco..I will use this quote in sabbath school