It was a great night! Tonight, we kicked off with a fun game where each student was randomly given a sticky note with a name on it. Each student had to embody that person and act it out in a way that we could all guess. It was incredibly awkward and funny. Afterwards, we went back into the student room for worship.

NOTES

Over the last several months, we’ve discussed the reality that there must be a God. We talked about how God is involved in our world and how the existence of the idea of Good vs Evil means that there must be a standard, a standard that resides in God. We’ve also talked about how Jesus is God and how he died on a cross so that we could be in the right relationship with Him. 

Many who dislike Christianity and those who have perverted Christianity claim that this means that you should be done with everything, and you can continue to live your life, just like you did before, but now you may try to be a little bit nicer. They say that no real lifestyle or mindset change should take place. But that’s not the case.  So today we are answering the question, “Why do I need to change?”

To answer this, we need to first remember something specific about God: He is Holy. We see Him called holy time after time in the bible with verses like Isaiah 6:3

Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

This idea of God being holy means he is completely void of all sin. He doesn’t tempt us with evil, He doesn’t lie, He doesn’t do things with malice to hurt us. He is perfect.  What’s interesting is that He calls us to be the same.

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

In Leviticus, God gives very specific commands to His people to do things that were counter-cultural to separate themselves from others, to mark them as holy. Some of those things were meant for the priests only, but many were for all people. But there’s still this idea that the people of God should stand out in some way.

On this side of the cross, we find that this aspect of being holy takes place with two distinct actions we call sanctification. Sanctification is the process of God’s grace by which we are separated from sin and become dedicated to God’s righteousness. 

At this point – I asked the students if anyone was feeling warm. I went over to the thermostat and turned the temperature down.

The first aspect is called “Positional Sanctification.” This is where we move from the aspect of a sinner bound for hell to a sinner saved by grace. When you give your life to Jesus, God looks not at you, but rather he looks at his Son. No longer are you guilty of the sins that lead you to hell. He separates you from what you were.

In 1 Corinthians 6:11, Paul just listed off a group of individuals who would not be considered saved by God’s grace, then says this: 

And that is what some of you were. 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. 

When I turned on the AC, the thermostat said the temperature was 70 Degrees. But the room was going to take a while to cool down to that. When we come to Christ, positionally, we are saved. But the actual transition into being what we are meant to be takes a minute. The objects in the room will eventually cool down and become 70 Degrees. This leads us into the second aspect of sanctification.

This is what we call “Progressive Sanctification.” This is where you grow into the position that you’ve been placed in.  This idea of continual growth shows up throughout the scriptures, but one main verse is 2 Corinthians 3:18. For context, Paul is talking about how some people have a veil over their spiritual eyes to see the truth of who God is, but those who turn to Jesus have that veil removed so that we can see things differently. He then says this:

So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

This verse highly suggests that there’s a process of growth and transformation. Back to our illustration about the AC, there’s a device that allows me to see the temperature of objects in a space. The room may feel fine, but there are aspects that aren’t quite at the right temperature yet. But the only way i can tell is if something shows me.

For us, as we are being transformed into what we are called to be, the thing that shows us what needs to change is the scriptures.

So what are we supposed to change? What are we not supposed to walk in? In Colossians 3:5-9, we see the very things that need to change in us.

So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.  Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. 

But even in this passage, we again see the grace that God has for us in verse 10:  Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.

It needs to be stated that this is not a simple matter of learning a new behavior; it’s a matter of changing how we think and we see things. Look at what Paul says in Romans 12:2

           Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 

Here we are told that this transformation requires us to think about what we do and why we do it differently. We aren’t changing just to fit in. Our desires change completely as we renew our minds. As we walk with Christ, our desire to do good, to live righteous and holy, outweighs our desire for sinful things.