For God, Family and Republic

6/18 Note: This sermon and the accompanying Acrobat PDF file have been updated and tweaked over the original posting within the last month. I'm still looking to polish it a little bit before the next delivery, and I will make a run with it perhaps at more than one church congregation.

The purpose of this message today is to study and reflect upon how the redemptive work of Christ is applied to the believer and how God is truly the author and finisher of our faith. It encompasses an overview of the Ordo Salutis (“Order of Salvation”) and its attendant doctrines, specifically: Predestination and Election, the Gospel Call, Regeneration, Justification, Adoption, Sanctification and Glorification.

The approximate delivery time is forty minutes. I memorize a great deal of the contents, have it fresh on my mind, so that a casual glance jogs my memory, and I have a skeleton outline handy. I make attentive and careful use of voice inflexion for point of emphasis and connect with my audience through regular eye contact. I interject on occasion with insights aside from the written sermon. Recognizing my earlier weakness in sermon delivery, I will try and slow my tempo—that is the speed of delivery and keep the congregation focused by not losing them with too fast of a pace in delivery. I might make passing reference to Scripture references of block quotations, but mention of most of my bracketed remarks is not necessary, but for my reference.

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
[Hebrews 12:2 NKJV]

[Hebrews 12:2 Greek Koine]

The annals of history record two very important events toward the end of World War Two, D-Day and VE-Day—or Victory in Europe Day. D-Day took place on June 6, 1944, over sixty years ago, when the Allies secured a beachhead preparing for the largest waterborne invasion in history. They stormed the coast of Normandy France effectively breaching Hitler’s vaunted Atlantic wall. D-Day marked the turning point of World War Two and Hitler’s fate was sealed. On D-Day and the days immediately following it, the enemy sustained mortal wounds yet he did not succumb fully. Fierce battles were fought in the eleven months following the D-Day landing. Victory in its fullness would not come until May 7, 1945 with VE-Day as the German war machine was left crippled and the remaining forces surrendered.

I invoke this lesson in history to make an analogy. For the Christian believer, the Cross was our D-Day. At that rugged Cross at Calvary, Christ bore all of our sins and iniquities, and effectively freed his people from the bondage of sin. It is solely on the basis of his atoning death, burial and resurrection that we are justified. He was the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Nonetheless, final victory awaits the return of our Lord and Savior. On our V-Day—on our day of victory—all those of faith will be raised in glory and perfection. Those of faith will receive a glorious resurrection body, and thus fully conformed to the image of Christ.

So, when were you saved? Speaking of his salvation, the Apostle Paul answered that question, and he declared in 2 Timothy 1:9 that he was saved before the world began.

Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. [2 Timothy 1:9]

He acknowledged being saved when Christ came into the world to save sinners:

This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. [1 Timothy 1:15]

And he further declares that all of those of faith are…

Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. [Romans 3:24]

He acknowledges being saved by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, which illuminated the truth of the Gospel to his depraved mind:

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. [Titus 3:4-6]

He even acknowledges being saved when he took heed to sound doctrine:

Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. [1 Timothy 4:16]

In acknowledging the blessed assurance for those of faith, he declared that he would be saved sometime in the future:

And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. [Romans 13:11]

Thus, the Apostle Paul declares that was saved before the world began when the Holy Spirit regenerated him, when he took heed to sound doctrine, and he proclaims that he would be saved sometime in the future. Indeed, all those of faith have been saved yesterday, we’re saved today, and we’re going to be saved tomorrow—at our day of glorification.

The purpose of this message today is to study and reflect upon how the redemptive work of Christ is applied to the believer and how God is truly the author and finisher of our faith.

The first phase of redemptive history we shall examine is the eternal phase. The Apostle Paul declares in 2 Timothy 1:9 that he was saved before the world began:

Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. [2 Timothy 1:9]

Imagine that, for those who savor the sweet nectar of saving faith, the good Lord set you apart and he foreknew you, and destined you to be redeemed and conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. And He did so that he would manifest His power and His glory—long before you were ever born or ever done any good or evil.

For the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls. [Romans 9:11]

The Scripture plainly says that God does not predicate his choosing you on the basis of anything you do, but according to “the good pleasure of his will” in Ephesians 2:5. This divine choice is an expression of the free and sovereign grace of God. It is not merited by anything in those chosen.

The vital phase of regeneration is the application of regeneration is the application of the works and obedience of Christ to each and every believer individually through the efficacious inward working of the Holy Spirit.

The Apostle Paul declares that he was saved when the Holy Spirit regenerated him in Titus 3:5,

…Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. [Titus 3:5]

Our Lord Jesus himself reminds us that the new birth is absolutely necessary for salvation:

…Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. [John 3:3]

The Holy Spirit makes the initial move in you. For Christ declares,

Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. [John 3:7-8]

You no more initiated your new birth than did Lazarus initiate his resurrection when Christ raised him from the dead. Dead men do not raise themselves. The Holy Spirit regenerates us, brings us from spiritual death to spiritual life, having convicted us of our sins and convinced us of our need for a Savior.

Turn with me to Ephesians chapter two, and carefully note the words of the Apostle Paul,

1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved.) [Ephesians 2:1-5]

We respond freely and willfully in faith and repentance once our hearts are regenerated by the Holy Spirit. God does not believe in Christ for us, it is the sinner who believes. With our regenerate hearts, we warmly embrace the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ—that precious Gospel that saves souls.

Regeneration is entirely the efficacious, supernatural work of the Holy Spirit which regenerates our hardened hearts and illuminates our depraved minds to the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Its’ effect is to quicken us—to make us alive—effectively bringing us from spiritual death to spiritual life. There is no preceding disposition in the heart of the sinner that effectuates or triggers regeneration. Regeneration is wholly the work of God. Regeneration precedes faith. The sola in the great Reformation credo sola fide (“faith alone”)—means faith without the addition of any meritous human action whatsoever. As Ian Paisley says, "The Blessed Christ of God has finished the work. It is not Christ's sacrifice plus anything, it's Christ's blood and Christ's blood alone that saves the soul."

This efficacious work of regeneration wrought out by the Holy Spirit is all of God.

The Apostle Paul reminds us:

So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. [Romans 9:16]

You had no more say as to when the Holy Spirit first crept upon you to regenerate your hardened heart to effectuate your new birth than you had say so in your first birth. Because of the nature of sinful fallen man, he is in enmity with God.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. [Romans 6:23]

That sinful man has no awareness of his perilous condition. He has neither the eyes to see nor the ears to hear the truth of the Gospel. He is SPIRITUALLY DEAD!!! So God sends His Holy Spirit to perform a miraculous regenerating—the renewal and transformation of the inward condition of the sinful person. The Holy Spirit miraculously changes sinner's rebellious heart into a heart possessed of faith, love for the Lord, and godly sorrow over sin.

The Apostle Paul declares,

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. [1 Corinthians 2:12-13]

It is only through the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit that we have the eyes to see and the ears the truth of the Gospel.

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. [1 Corinthians 2:14]

The regenerate sinner has the Gospel illuminated to his sinful mind which gives him awareness of his perilous condition as a sinner. There he is finally faced with the consequences and guilt of his sins. The sinner foresees the certainty of a just judgment against him. Despairing in this state, that man only finds consolation and hope through Jesus Christ.

For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. [2 Corinthians 7:10]

Through faith, the regenerate believer recognizes himself as a sinner in need of God's saving grace and pleads to God for His power and love to save him through the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Through repentance, he loathes his sinfulness and turns to God as the only source of righteousness while endeavoring to walk in faith and obedience. A repentant heart is the fruit of regeneration.

Thus, the Apostle Paul makes it clear that:

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. [Ephesians 2:8-9]

The gracious act of justification is a declaration of a believer’s righteous standing in the eyes of God. Justification has to do with the legal side of salvation. Justification and justified are judicial words, and thus part of the legal lexicon of the courts. To be declared justified is a sentence of judgment upon a person who stands before a court.

Justification is the act of God’s free grace unto sinners, in which he pardons all their sins and accepts them as righteous in His sight. Though God justifies believers, He does NOT do so because of anything wrought in them nor any good work done by them, but rather because the righteousness and perfect obedience of Christ that is imputed to their account—and received by faith alone.

In his epistle to the Romans, the Apostle Paul reminds us of man’s innate depravity and his helpless condition as a sinner:

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. [Romans 3:23]

Furthermore, the prophet Isaiah makes it clear,

And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags in the eyes of God. [Isaiah 64:6]

And though we are yet sinners, the good Lord commands us to:

Be holy, for I am holy. [1 Peter 1:16]

God’s absolute, immutable, and unassailable standards demand PERFECTION! Perfect HOLINESS! Perfect RIGHTEOUSNESS! Perfect OBEDIENCE! The law of God by its very nature demands PERFECTION! Though, the function of the law has never been to justify a sinner but rather to reveal sin. Indeed, no man can justify themselves by works of the law except Christ Jesus our Lord. As the letter to the Hebrews makes clear, Christ was the perfect sacrifice for our sins. The law remains for us, an instructive and illustrative guide to the holy standards of God. The law exists to bring us to knowledge of sin, that we might come under conviction of sinful nature, and our need for a savior to fulfill the demands of the law. And it is only through the efficacious work of the Holy Spirit that all of those of faith are convicted of their condition as a sinner, and their need for a savior.

The Apostle Paul declares,

Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. [Galatians 3:24]

Turn with me now to Romans chapter three, verse twenty-one:

But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, … [Romans 3:20-25]

Our blessed Lord, through the wonderful work of justification has declared all those of faith as righteous. When we are justified in Christ, all sins are forgiven—whether past, present or future. Though, we were once the fallen sons of Adam and cursed by sin, those of faith in Christ are now God’s redeemed.

Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
[Romans 5:17-19]

Thus, our legal standing before Him in the High Court of Heaven has been changed, and the righteousness of Christ is imputed to our account. Christ’s righteousness is now the legal possession of the believer:

Just as David describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: Blessed are those whose whose lawless deeds are forgive, And Whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin. [Romans 4:6-8]

Though we of faith are fully justified in Christ, we are by no means fully sanctified until our glorification—our V-Day, that is our day of victory. Untold doctrinal problems and confusion have emerged because people fail to draw a distinction between justification and sanctification. Justification is not the infusion of righteousness but rather a forensic declaration, a verdict, a ruling by a judge. Every misconstrued notion of justification emanates from a denial of the nature and totality of sin in man’s life.

Theologian Arthur W. Pink declares, ‘Justification refers not to any subjective change wrought in a person’s disposition, but rather an objective change in his standing in relation to the law.’ And while justification and sanctification are intricately connected, they are separate divine acts of grace that do not occur together.

The Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards explains, “A person is said to be justified when he is approved of God as free from the guilt of sin and its deserved punishment; and as having that righteousness belonging to him that entitles him to the reward of life.”

The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith tells us:

Those whom God effectually calleth, he also freely justifieth, not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone; not by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing Christ's active obedience unto the whole law, and passive obedience in his death for their whole and sole righteousness by faith, which faith they have not of themselves; it is the gift of God. [LBC 1689, Chapter 11, §1]

The London Confession further tell us:

Faith thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness, is alone the instrument of justification; yet it is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love. [LBC 1689, Chapter 11, §2]

Faith alone remains our instrument of justification.

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. [Romans 5:1-2]

When I stand before God the Father on judgment day, I will have an advocate in Christ Jesus. Christ is my advocate, or as it is called in Greek, parakletos. Satan is known in Greek as the diabolos, which means the accuser, adversary, slanderer, calumniator, backbiter, enemy, and the one who separates. Satan plays the role of the prosecutor. When my accuser Satan rises to toss out accusations of my unworthiness, and when he prosecutes me with the accusation of being unworthy and unfit for the kingdom of God, my advocate Christ Jesus will rise up in my defense.

But bear in mind, at the judgment seat of God the Father, no one pleads the Fifth and there are no acquittals and exonerations. I will be counted righteous in the eyes of my Heavenly Father, not because of any intrinsic righteousness in me, but because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ that is imputed to my account just as my sins were imputed to Him on the Cross. And through Christ’s perfect righteousness, I am declared justified in the eyes of God. With the righteousness of Christ reckoned to my account, I will be counted holy and blameless before God the Father on my day of judgment! Thus, I will be reconciled to my Heavenly Father with open arms and in love. Yet the justice that Gods demand is fully satisfied. Why? For the reason, I have been declared ‘just’ through the imputed righteousness of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The penalty of my transgressions against God’s law is laid upon a substitute, a perfect sacrifice—Jesus Christ—Jehovah—Yeshua. God the Father always unequivocally accepts the work of Christ on behalf of His people, and on that basis, we are justified and declared righteous. The whole penalty of sin has been removed by Christ for all believers who are in Union with Him. And it all comes back to the Cross,

5 But He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn't open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is mute, so he didn't open his mouth. 8 He was taken away by oppression and judgment; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living and stricken for the disobedience of my people?
[Isaiah 53:5-8]

On my D-Day, Christ bore my sins and inequities on that rugged Cross at Calvary. And on my V-Day, I will receive my glorious resurrection body and thus be fully conformed to the image of Christ. Salvation is all of God!

The doctrine of adoption simply teaches that all those of faith are adopted in the family of Christ, and are reconciled to our Heavenly Father as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ. As the Westminster Short Catechism says, “Adoption is an act of God's free grace, whereby we are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God.” [WSC, Q. 34]

The believer's adoption into the family of God occurs simultaneously with justification. Our eternal destiny as children of God was to be reconciled to our Heavenly Father and adopted into His family.

Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. [Ephesians 1:4-6]

Now, God had set his love on those of faith from the foundation of time, with His Holy Spirit he regenerates their hearts, grants them faith and repentance, and justifies and adopts them into his family.

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of the world again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, [Romans 8:14-16]

Understanding this doctrine means that we should recognize the nature of our relationship with God, which is like that of parent to a child. We of faith have a Heavenly Father who hears our prayers and who loves us as children. We have a Savior who empathizes with our weaknesses—who was tempted in all points as we were, and yet perfect and without sin. The London Baptist Confession tells us:

All those who are justified shall be made partakers of the grace of adoption, by which they are taken into the number of the children of God and enjoy their liberties and privileges. They have His name put upon them, and receive the Spirit of adoption. They have access to the throne of grace with boldness, and are enabled to cry, 'Abba, Father!' They are pitied, protected, provided for, and chastened by Him as by a father, yet they are never cast off, but are sealed to the day of redemption, when they inherit the promises as heirs of everlasting salvation. [LBC 1689, Chapter 12]

The next phase is the practical phase, which is the progressive work of sanctification by the Holy Spirit wrought out in the hearts of believers.To sanctify means to consecrate, to set apart, to make holy. Sanctification is God’s work to purify us and make us holy.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. [Ephesians 2:10]

We cannot help but to exhibit the righteousness of God when his Spirit indwells us, but since we are still in the flesh, we will inevitably fall short of his perfect righteousness.

But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. [2 Thessalonians 2:13-14]

God works in us through His indwelling Holy Spirit to do good works. The Apostle Paul conveys this point in his letter to the church at Phillipi:

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now 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 do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing. [Phillipians 2:12-13]

Sanctification is a cooperative effort between man and God, but without God supplying the means, true sanctification is impossible and our cooperation stems from our desire to become more holy. However, the means of obtaining holiness are wholly supplied by God’s indwelling Holy Spirit.

“Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” [Joshua 3:5]

Likewise, we are exhorted by the Scriptures to gain awareness and assurance that we possess a genuine saving faith. We’re to examine our faith. This call to cooperation involves work on our part—in order to strive to walk in the Spirit and examine the fruit of the Spirit in our own lives. Our task is not to grieve the Spirit but rather to walk in faith dependant upon the Holy Spirit, and draw ourselves to God.

Both God and man play key roles in the gracious work of sanctification. God, by his amazing grace initiates our salvation through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, and He imparts in us a desire to overcome and turn away from sin. Faith and repentance are the active response of the new man—of the man whose heart is regenerated by the Holy Spirit.

J.C. Ryle reminds us,

…When I speak of a man growing in grace, I mean simply this – that his sense of sin is becoming deeper, his faith stronger, his hope brighter, his love more extensive, his spiritual-mindedness more marked. He feels more of the power of godliness in his own heart. He manifests more of it in his life. He is going on from strength to strength, from faith to faith, and from grace to grace

Each and every day, we of faith are progressively being sanctified, and we should earnestly strive to be doers and not just hearers of the Word. In his second epistle, Simon Peter exhorts his readers to make every effort to pile up spiritual virtues:

5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. [2 Peter 1:5-11]

Our on-going sanctification should strengthen our assurance of salvation as we see evidences of a true saving faith in our lives. Indeed, Christianity is observable. Thus, when James declares that “faith without works is dead,” he is describing the nature of a genuine saving faith manifested as fruit of the Spirit, which the Apostle Paul expounds upon in his letter to the Galatians:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. [Galatians 5:22-23]

When we recognize that we are freely justified by his grace and that only the meritous work for our salvation is the Cross-work of Christ, we ought to gain assurance of our salvation. We should recognize that our own works avail nothing for our salvation. We should place our trust solely in the meritous work of Christ on the Cross. And knowing that without Christ’s enabling we cannot do good works then we should recognize our total and complete dependence upon Almighty God, and continually seek His help.

We should be mindful of the blessed assurance of redemption and find comfort and solace in the words of Christ:

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. [John 10:27-29]

Turn with me to Romans chapter eight, and pay special attention to the words of this familiar passage:

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. [Romans 8:28-31]

God makes use of all things that come our way for our sanctification: our triumphs; our trials; our affliction; our hardship, and our sorrow over sin. He uses these things to mold and shape us—he uses all these things to sanctify us. And we endure all these things through Christ who strengthens us. Also, the Apostle Paul is affirming a very clear sequential order of salvation—predestination, effectual calling, justification and glorification.

We’re fully sanctified on V-Day—on our day of Victory—when Christ raises up all believers in perfect, incorruptible and glorious resurrection bodies to make manifest his power and his glory. And on that glorious, climatic day, we shall enter his heavenly kingdom. We will no longer be defiled and corrupted by sin, and no longer scourged with death and suffering, and it will all be to the glory of God!

The final phase of redemptive history is our day of glorification, which has yet to come.

And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. [Romans 13:11]

The doctrine of glorification refers to the time of Christ’s Second Advent, when all true believers—living and dead—will have full and final redemption and the process of sanctification will be completed!

Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. [John 13:31]

On our glorious Day of Victory, God raises up all believers in perfect, incorruptible and glorious resurrection bodies to make manifest his power and His Glory. And on that glorious, climatic day, we shall enter his Heavenly Kingdom. We will no longer be defiled and corrupted by sin, and no longer be scourged with death and suffering, and it will all be to the glory of God! And as the Congregationalist preacher Jonathan Edwards proclaimed, God’s ultimate end is the manifestation of His glory in the highest happiness of his creatures. God gets the Glory and those of faith get the free gift of life everlasting.

More than a half-century ago, General Dwight D. Eisenhower inaugurated the D-Day invasion on Normandy beach with these hallowed words:

Soldiers… You are about to embark upon a Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everyone march with you… you will bring about the destruction of the German war machine, … and security for ourselves in a free world. Your enemy is well trained, well-equipped and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.

Brothers and sisters, likewise the Christian walk is indeed like a great crusade! Each and every day we wrestle against the wiles of adversary the devil.

The Apostle Paul reminds us,

You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ [2 Timothy 2:3]

We must take up our Cross, walk in faith, and follow Him. And remember we have an advocate and a savior in Christ Jesus. At that Cross of Calvary, before Christ gave up spirit, he declared, “It is finished.” At that moment, Christ freed us—all those of faith—from the of sin and secured our eternal destiny. Paul reminds us,

…If God is for us, who can be against us? [Romans 8:31]

Indeed, death is swallowed up in victory!

O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? But thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. [1 Corinthians 15:55;57]

And while our D-Day has already arrived, we patiently await our V-Day—our glorious day of Victory—when we are raised in glory. Now, brethren walk in faith for…

…Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen! For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. [Hebrews 11:1-2]

Brethren as you continue on your great crusade as a Christian soldier, progressing in your on-going sanctification by the Holy Spirit, continue to walk steadfast in faith, redeeming the time. And put on the whole armor of God to quench the firey darts of your adversary, the devil, and always…

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. [Hebrews 12:2]

Truly, God is the author and finisher of our faith! Let us give thanks.

Onward Christian Soldiers, composed by Arthur S. Sullivan, 1871. (1) (2)

# posted by Ryan S. : 1:00 PM