Work of The Triune God

Introduction: Hebrews 12:14 and Review

0:02 The Word of God recorded in Hebrews 12 and verse 14 says, Follow after peace with all men, and the holiness or the sanctification, without which no man shall see the Lord. Now if anything is plain from these words, it is that sanctification or holiness is an indispensable part of that salvation by which sinners who deserve the pangs of hell will one day look upon the living God himself with joy and with peace. Therefore, as we proceed in our studies of this aspect of sanctification,

0:56 one of the cardinal blessings of salvation in Christ, may we do so with all of the diligence of mind and seriousness of heart which the subject demands. Follow after the holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. For several weeks our attention has been concentrated upon

1:24 that marvelous provision of God's saving grace that comes to us couched in the biblical term sanctification. And I have suggested that this doctrine can be viewed as a massive mountain of gracious provision with three major peaks constituting its essence. The first peak, definitive sanctification or sanctification begun.

1:53 The second peak, progressive sanctification or sanctification continued, and the third peak, climactic sanctification or sanctification completed. Having examined the major biblical testimonies to the great reality of definitive sanctification, that is, the dimension of God's sanctifying work in which all who are sanctified

2:23 are brought to a radical breach with the power and the dominion and the service of sin, we are now concentrating upon the second peak of this biblical doctrine, progressive sanctification. In our initial study last Lord's Day, we established the fact of progressive sanctification, the necessity for this process of sanctification, the essence of of this progressive aspect of sanctification and the goal of this element of God's saving work. Now this morning we take up the very vital subject of the agents in progressive sanctification, or to state it in the form of a question, who is responsible for and active in the process of sanctification?

3:21 having demonstrated from the Scriptures that all who experience definitive sanctification go on to the experience of progressive sanctification, having seen that the necessity of that process arises out of the reality of indwelling sin, the imperfection of the graces of the new man, the purpose of God to deal with it by a process,

3:49 having discovered from the Scriptures that the essence of that process is negatively the putting to death of sin, positively conformity to the image of Christ, having seen that the goal is nothing less than total conformity to Christ, we must then come to grips with the question, who is responsible and active in that process? Is it God? Is it God?

The Importance of the Question of Agency

4:19 If so, is it God alone? Is it the renewed creature? If so, is it the renewed creature alone? Or, if it is God and the renewed creature, are they both active agents in the process? Now, as we open up this aspect of our study this morning, I want, first of all, to say something concerning the importance of this question.

4:51 progressive sanctification is an indispensable element of salvation in Christ, it should not surprise us that that arch enemy of the souls of men has bent much of his fiendish energy to creating confusion on this very vital point. You follow the line of reason. Progressive sanctification is an indispensable

5:22 element of salvation in Jesus Christ. Because it is, the enemy of the souls of men has expended and expends much of his fiendish energy in creating confusion on this point. Throughout the history of the church down to the present hour, the evidence of this confusion is profuse.

5:52 And as with so many other matters of Christian truth and practice, the errors arise fundamentally from the distortion of truth, or from holding one set of truths at the expense of other truths. As Dr. Packer has said in his statement on this point, it has become almost proverbial, stating a half-truth as a whole truth,

6:22 creates a whole untruth. Now it is true to say that Jesus Christ is truly God. That's a truth, but it's only a half-truth. If we then go on to say Jesus Christ is only God, we have stated a whole untruth. It is true to state that Jesus Christ is truly man.

Error One: Sanctification by Naked Human Effort

6:50 But if we make that half-truth, the whole truth, and say, He is only man, we have stated a whole untruth. And again and again in the history of the church, great confusion has come in this matter because of stating a half of the truth as the whole of the truth. And the errors with regard to this question of the agents in progressive sanctification have can be found ranged basically under two categories. And I'm calling them sanctification by naked human effort on the one hand, or sanctification by the negation of human effort on the other hand. That shouldn't be too difficult to remember. Sanctification by naked human effort.

7:44 Those who have espoused this error have seen in Scripture the many exhortations directed to believers which clearly teach that the believer is an active agent in the process of sanctification. Such people see in the Scriptures the exhortations to put off the deeds of the old man. They see the exhortations to put off

8:14 on the virtues of the new man. They see the vivid biblical imageries of warfare, of athletics, and seeing this body of biblical truth, the many analogies concerning the battle and the conflict and the conscious engagement of all of the believers' faculties, that they take that set of truths and concentrate exclusively

8:43 upon that set of truths, and they end up with a practical doctrine of progressive sanctification which could be described in these terms, sanctification by naked human effort. Now wherever that mentality prevails, generally speaking, a defective view of justification will be either its root or its companion,

9:13 Furthermore, there will be an absence of an appreciation of the doctrine of union with Christ as indispensable to sanctification, and generally speaking, such a view and practice of progressive sanctification will be characterized by asceticism, that is, a looking upon things as evil that are not evil,

9:39 by legalism setting up rules and regulations that the Word of God nowhere sets up, by an emphasis upon external things, and generally speaking, by a heavy, morbid, joyless brand of Christian experience. And one of the most tragic results is that it often fosters a spirit of self-righteousness.

10:10 John Owen is bold enough to say, mortification from self-strength carried on by ways of self-invention unto the end of self-righteousness is the soul and substance of all false religion in the world. And I speak this morning out of a deep and growing pressure of pastoral concern.

Error Two: Sanctification by Negation of Human Effort

10:38 that we as God's people understand that any doctrine of sanctification by naked human effort held either in theory or in practice is a deflection from the teaching of the Word of God. But then on the other end of the spectrum, we see a teaching of sanctification by the negation of human effort. Those who have espoused this error have also seen some truths in Scripture. They open up their Bibles and they see the Lord Jesus praying, Father, John 17, 17, sanctify them in thy truth. Thy word is truth. It is the Father who does the work of sanctification. Furthermore, they read texts like Galatians 2, 20, I have been crucified with Christ.

11:34 Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And those words grow larger and larger and more glorious and more profound until their whole view of progressive sanctification is the indwelling Christ living in me. And then they make a switch and even go beyond the language of Scripture, Christ living through me. They see in their Bible such teaching as John 15,

12:04 I am the vine, you are the branches. And they look at that so long and they begin to draw conclusions from it. What does a branch do to bear fruit? Did you ever go by a fruit-bearing branch and hear it groaning or struggling or working up a sweat? No, all it does is stay rightly related to the main trunk and the main stalk of the vine or the tree. And it just stays there and the fruit just comes from the light that flows through. And suddenly...

12:34 they begin to say, ah, that's it. The way to be truly sanctified is to negate human effort. Let Christ live His life through me. Let the life of Christ flow through me. And so biblical statements, remember now, not statements imported from the Koran or from the Book of Mormon, but biblical statements are brought together and become such an exclusive object of concentration and

13:02 as to result in a doctrine of sanctification by the negation of human effort. Now, generally speaking, wherever this view prevails, it's because there is a defective understanding of how the divine agency operates in the life of a Christian. It's epitomized in a couple of lines from a hymn written by someone of this school of thought, and these are the words of the hymn, Holiness by faith in Jesus, not by effort of my own. And that couplet is sung with great devotion by earnest Christians who are convinced that

13:56 that the way to make progress in sanctification is by the negation of effort, holiness, by faith in Jesus, not by effort of my own. Now, without in any way casting aspersions upon the character of the man who suffered greatly for the cause of Christ, I'm talking about teaching. This is the overall emphasis of such writers as watchmen need.

14:25 the normal Christian life. Hannah Pearsall Smith, the secret of a happy Christian secret or the Christian secret of a happy life. The formal, official teaching, for the most part, identified with what is called the Keswick or higher life movement. And again, let me underscore, this is not an attack upon the character or the Christian graciousness

14:52 of men and movements. I'm simply trying from a pastoral standpoint to give you some practical understanding of this aspect of error. Furthermore, there is usually a defective understanding of the different actings of faith with respect to justification and sanctification. They try to identify the same actings of faith in justification in which I go wholly out of myself to rest in another for acceptance before God. And they say in the same way, I believe upon the Lord Jesus to be my life and my sanctification, and as there is no effort of my own involved in that faith unto justification, so there is no effort in that faith which is involved in sanctification.

15:47 Now wherever this view prevails, generally it will bring in its train a crippling subjectivism. You see, if I'm negating conscious human effort, if it's Christ who lives his life through me, then the essence of the highest attainment of sanctification is to neuter.

16:09 all the conscious actings of my own judgment, my own will, my own affections, and to be passive in allowing the life of Christ to be lived through me. And I speak from experience that it leads to a crippling subjectivism in which one waits for inner impulses of the indwelling Christ to play a tune upon the mind and upon the spirit, so fearful that of motions of remaining sin and corruption and carnal effort, that one becomes utterly paralyzed, waiting for the divine impulses of the indwelling Christ. Many times it leads to wild fanaticism, and the Lord gets blamed for things that are contrary to His work, or it can lead to an ungodly skepticism.

17:06 People say, I've tried it, it doesn't work. And it doesn't work. Because you're seeking to live contrary to reality and to the method of God. And I have seen the skepticism of people who have taken these verses and the wrong teaching built upon them and say, I've tried it, but it doesn't work. Nothing's real. And it often leads to a subtle antinomism. Because you see, if the indwelling Christ leads you to do something, then it's all right.

17:36 even though it may be contrary to God's objective standard in His law and in His word. Well, I've taken an inordinate amount of time to underscore what may appear to be an inordinate amount of time to underscore the importance of the question before us this morning. The question is, who are the agents in this process of sanctification? Who is responsible for this process?

Stating the Biblical Answer: Trinitarian Agency and the New Man

18:03 But my friends, if you knew you were to take a trip down a road that you saw was strewn with wrecked cars and mangled bodies on either side, surely you'd want to know how those cars got wrecked and those bodies got mangled before you ever went down that road. And that's all I've tried to do this morning, is to say when we go down this road of biblical teaching concerning progressive sanctification, particularly the issues Who is the responsible agent? This road is strewn with wreckage. The wreckage on the one hand of sanctification by naked human effort, and the wreckage on the other hand of sanctification by the negation of human effort. Well then, what is the essence of the teaching of the Word of God? Having considered the importance now, secondly, what is the essence of the biblical teachings?

18:59 When we turn to the Word of God with this question, who is or who are the agents in the process of sanctification? The answer of Scripture is clear. The triune God and the new man in Christ in the entirety of His redeemed humanity. Now time will only permit our taking up the first half of the answer this morning. The agency...

19:28 of the triune God in the process of our sanctification. When we become disciples, we are brought into a saving relationship to the one true and living God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And therefore, according to Matthew 28...

19:53 When we were baptized, we were baptized into the name, singular, of that one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now that is not just a theological concept. The fellowship and communion of saving religion is Trinitarian fellowship and communion.

20:19 And so it is natural for the Apostle Paul, when pronouncing a benediction upon the people of God at Corinth, to use Trinitarian language when he speaks in 2 Corinthians 13, 14, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. In many of his greetings there is this pervasive prayer Trinitarian terminology, grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Spirit implied as the one whose fruit it is to create in us the experiential peace and all of the graces that flow out of the fullness of Christ. Now, why am I saying that?

The Agency of the Father

21:14 I am saying that in order to set the stage for our study in the Scriptures in the time that remains, to demonstrate that in the process of sanctification, there is an agency nothing less than that of the entire triune Godhead. And in that sense, our sanctification sanctification is as much the work of God as is any other facet of salvation in Jesus Christ. First of all then, look at several texts which indicate the agency of the Father in our sanctification. Turn to John chapter 17. John chapter 17. Our Lord says,

22:07 in what is commonly called his high priestly prayer, a prayer in which he is concerned for the well-being of those for whose sake he is about to die, prays for them in the language of John 17, 17, sanctify them in the truth. Thy word is truth. As thou didst send me into the world, even so sent I them into the world, and for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. Now, without going into an analysis of the particular dimension and aspects of sanctification which are envisioned in this passage, this much is clear.

23:00 that the Lord Jesus, who is about to lay down His life for His sheep in His death upon the cross, is conscious that if the sanctification of those for whom He is to die is to be effected, it is the Father who must effect it. And so He prays, Father, sanctify them in the truth. Thy word is truth. And a parallel passage to this is back in John 15.

23:30 in the vine branch metaphor or analogy. Jesus in John 15 says, Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he, that is, the father who is the husbandman, takes it away. And every branch that bears fruit, he, now who is the he? that He is the Father who is identified as the husbandman or the vinedresser or the caretaker in verse 1. Every branch that bears fruit, He is actively cleansing it that it may bear more fruit. So here is the direct, the specific agency of God the Father in the ongoing process of sanctification.

24:24 And then the emphasis of 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, a passage we consulted last week in another connection, is very emphatic. 1 Thessalonians 5 and verse 23. Those of you who have some acquaintance with the original will know why I've said it is very emphatic. It would not be out of place at all to read it this way. And the God of

24:53 peace, even that God Himself sanctify you wholly. And may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire without blame at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calleth you, and calling is essentially God.

25:17 the work of the Father who also will do it. So here again, we have the agency of the Father in the ongoing process and the ultimate culmination of the sanctifying work. And then one other text, Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 20. Now the God of peace

25:43 "...who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep." Here, obviously, a distinction between the Father and the Son. "...the God of peace, the Father, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep, God the Son incarnate, the Lord Jesus, with the blood of an eternal covenant, even our Lord Jesus, make you perfect in every good thing to do His will." working in us that which is well-pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. And here the writer to the Hebrews envisions once more the direct active agency of the Father in working in us that which is well-pleasing in His sight. Now granted, He does it through Jesus Christ.

Practical Implications of the Father's Agency

26:39 He does it in terms of the work of Christ. But there is this active agency of the Father. Well, you say, Pastor, that's obvious. Why labor the point? We're not stupid. No, I don't believe you're stupid. But I want you to have some of these key texts clearly in mind. And furthermore, I want you to understand the practical implications of understanding what these texts teach. If we are self-disciplined, consciously aware of the fact that in the process of sanctification, it is God who is now our Father in terms of the glorious grace of adoption, who is active in our sanctification then, amidst all the struggles, all of the defeats, all of the perplexities, all of the agonies of the process,

27:36 We need never lose sight of the glorious filial context in which the process is being carried on. We are sons of our Father who have struggles with remaining sin. We are not guilty criminals shrinking off in a corner, fearful that the angry judge of the universe is about to summon us into His court and damn us to hell.

28:07 It is the Father who is active in the process of pruning. The Father who so loved us as to give His only begotten Son to die for us. The Father who has put forth the arm of His power effectually to call us into union with His Son. The Father with all the plenitude.

28:32 of His paternal love and compassion and pity and knowledge of what we are, it is the Father who is active in the process as our Father. Now, is that dry-as-dust theology? My friend, it ought to make you shout that it is the Father who is active in this work. And so understanding that will help us to press on in the atmosphere of filial devotion and even filial penitence as well as filial confidence. And another practical result of understanding the agency of the Father is this. It will keep us from a Jesus-only mentality and a Spirit-centered attitude

29:23 which are of the very essence of false religion. We have not joined a Jesus-only cult. We were baptized into the name of that God who is Father, Son, and Spirit. And at every stage of the development of the life of God in Christ, we are under the canopy of Trinitarian dynamics.

The Agency of the Son

29:50 in the process of our sanctification. And with the terrible spate of charismania, with its preoccupation with Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, that seems to be so spiritual, there is something foreign to the climate of the New Testament that is decidedly and pervasively a Christian centric, trinitarian religion. And we must never lose sight of the fact that the Father is at work in the process, but the Son is at work, our Lord Jesus Christ. It is in union with Him and the conscious cultivation of that union that grace is given to make progress in sanctification.

30:46 Ephesians 1, 3, the text to which we have returned again and again, where God is blessed because He is the God who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. Is progressive sanctification a blessing of our salvation? Yes. Well, then ultimately it is derived out of Christ.

31:12 And in union with Christ so that we may say with John of his fullness have we all received. And so it's not surprising to find the language such as we see in Paul's prayer in Philippians 1. Turn to it with me please. Philippians 1. As the apostle is concerned with the progressive sanctification of the Philippians. Notice the language by which he gives vent to that concern in prayer.

31:42 Philippians 1.9 And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, so that you may be sincere and void of offense until the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are through Jesus Christ.

32:12 unto the glory and praise of God. As he envisions his desire that they be without offense, in a sense the negative aspect, that there be nothing contrary to the profession that they have made. He is concerned positively that there be this fullness of the fruits of righteousness. But he says in his prayer, they are through Jesus Christ.

32:37 That is by His direct and constant agency operative in the hearts and lives of the people of God. Because the Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ. Romans 8, 10 And as the Spirit lives in us, He lives in us as the Spirit of Christ. This is why Paul can say, I have been crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth.

33:08 In me. Now, He doesn't live in me in such a way as to replace my identity or my personality or to absorb me into His own deity. No, no. But He lives in me by the Spirit, and it is by the Spirit that Christ does live in me, so that Paul can say, as he does in Colossians 2 and verse 6, "...as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord," So walk ye in Him, rooted and builded up in Him, and established in your faith even as you were taught abounding in thanksgiving. Well, we could multiply texts which indicate that it is in this living bond of union with Christ.

33:56 that the process of sanctification is carried on, and that the Lord Jesus is imparting His own virtue to the lives of His people. But more than that, He is active in the process not only by His indwelling, but by His constant advocacy and intercession. You see, one of the great problems in progressive sanctification is sin in the life of a believer.

34:22 And it is with respect to that problem that Christ is advocate and intercessor. So John says in 1 John 2, 1, My little children, these things I write unto you that ye may not sin. That has to do with the goal that is to be before them in the process of sanctification. But if any man sin in pursuit of that goal, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ.

34:48 righteous one, and he is the propitiation, or is propitiation, for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the world. It is in his work as advocate and intercessor that our Lord is active in every stage of the process of sanctification. Again, to quote Owen, or to paraphrase him, he states in Volume 3 in his work on the Holy Spirit, that there is nothing in the way of any grace conferred in the process of sanctification that does not come to us as the fruit of the intercession of Christ. And isn't that the teaching of Hebrews 7.25? He is able to say to the uttermost, from definitive sanctification to climactic sanctification, and why is He able to do it? Wherefore, He is able to say...

35:46 To the uttermost. All that come unto God by him. Seeing he ever liveth. To make intercession for them. Though time will not permit an opening up of this. Surely our Lord's words to Peter. Open up a whole dimension of glorious truth. Satan hath desired thee to sip thee as wheat. But I have prayed for you. And when you are turned again.

Practical Implications of the Son's Agency

36:13 Let your faith fail not when you are turned again. Strengthen your brethren. The whole teaching of John 17. Our being kept from the evil one. Our being kept from those sins which are inconsistent with a state of grace. Are all the fruit of the intercession of Christ. Now why is it practically important to be convinced that that the Lord Jesus Christ is as active in our sanctification as He is with respect to providing the grounds of our justification and our adoption. Well, there are many reasons. Let me suggest one or two. First of all, so that we may understand that the very essence of the Christian life is a life lived in communion and union and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

37:09 We do not simply, as it were, look back to His mighty acts in time upon the cross for us. But we are to live in constant, present communion with Him, in cultivated dependence upon Him. And therefore we must understand His active agency in the process of our sanctification.

37:37 To think of Him in the various dimensions of His present ministry on our behalf. And there are times in the process of sanctification when it is more appropriate to think of Him as the indwelling Christ who strengthens us for a given task. But then when the conscience is laden with guilt, to think of Him as the advocate and the intercessor who pleads our case in the presence of the Father. in times of confusion and felt weakness, to think of Him as our great Shepherd who bears His weak and vulnerable lambs and sheep in His bosom, all the many facets of the way in which Christ is presented to us. Why? Because we need all of Christ in all the dimensions of His glorious Person for all the demands upon us in the process of sanctification.

The Agency of the Spirit

38:35 But then, of course, the Spirit is an active agent in our sanctification. It's proper to say in a special sense, in the economy, that is, in the divine structure of apportioning specific aspects of responsibility for our salvation, in a peculiar way, sanctification is the work of the Spirit.

39:03 So that the Apostle Paul can use the very terminology of 2 Thessalonians. That God from the beginning hath chosen us unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 13. And here, though the reference is to definitive sanctification, it could well be more embracive.

39:32 that our very salvation is one which has as an indispensable element the sanctifying work of God, which is peculiarly the work of the Holy Spirit. The peculiar glory of the new covenant is that it is an administration of the Spirit, 2 Corinthians chapter 3. And so in this process, if there is sin to be mortified, by whose power to be mortified? Romans 8, 13. If ye by the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the flesh, ye shall live. Are there Christ-like graces to be cultivated? Where do they come from? Galatians 5, 22. The fruit of the Spirit. It doesn't say the fruit of the Father and the Son, but the fruit of the Spirit. Now granted, where the Spirit is, the Father and the Son are. We believe in one God, indivisible.

40:32 And yet, in the economy of grace, it is peculiarly the work of the Spirit to produce in us love, joy, peace, longsuffering. Are we to be made like Christ? Is that the highest expression of the very essence of this sanctifying work of God? Then 2 Corinthians 3.18 attributes this work of making us like Christ, particularly to the Holy Spirit.

41:00 2 Corinthians 3.18. But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into that same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. And it is the Holy Spirit who in a peculiar sense is active in this process. Now, I ask the question again, what practical difference does it make? Is this all again just a theological lecture? No, no. God has revealed this in His Word that saints who are struggling on their way to the celestial city may do so in the triumphs of the provisions of grace. And if the Spirit is active in

41:49 in the mortifying of sin, in the production of Christlike graces, in conforming us from one stage of glory to another to the very image of Christ, why, how necessary then that we cultivate on the one hand a sense of dependence upon the Holy Spirit. Though the mode of His working is a mystery to us, at every point along the way, No matter how consciously we engage all of our faculties in the mortifying of sin, and we must. For Jesus said, If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, cast it from thee, hand offend thee, cut it off, cast it. Those are vigorous words. I'm told to run with patience the race that is set before me. I'm commanded to keep under my body, but,

42:43 I understand that the Spirit alone ultimately can make effective all of the activity of the believer. Then what a spirit of dependence I will learn to cultivate upon Him. Furthermore, I will be careful not to grieve Him. If He withholds His active, efficacious power, all of my efforts will be in vain.

43:11 So right in the middle of a passage dealing with progressive sanctification, Paul says, Ephesians 4.30, Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. Don't grieve Him, because a grieved spirit becomes a withdrawn spirit. Not withdrawn in the sense that he departs the believer and he is taken out of a state of grace. No, no, Paul was careful to guard it. Right in that text, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed not unto the day that you so grieve him that he leaves. No, ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. But oh my friends, do we not long to have his mighty, efficacious power at work in us?

43:55 enabling us to make progress in grace that otherwise cannot and would not be made if He is a grieved spirit. We will be careful to cultivate what the Scripture calls the communion of the Holy Spirit. Not only cultivate the filial delight of knowing we are sons and daughters, and in this process it's our Father who's pruning us, Not an angry judge, not an insensitive and distant deity, but it's our Father who prunes us, the Father who knows our frame, who will not always chide nor keep His anger forever. The process is carried on in fellowship, in union, in communion with the Son, who indwells us by the Spirit, who intercedes for us, who is our advocate, but it's carried on by God the Holy Spirit.

44:51 Oh, how careful we will be to cultivate dependence upon Him. How careful we will be not to grieve Him. And to us, then, communion with the Holy Spirit will be more than a notion. My admiration for John Owen leaks out many times. But Owen, as no other author I'd ever read, actually has a treatise in which he opens up the Scriptures showing that the believer's privilege in cultivating conscious communion with each of the persons of the triune Godhead in this great process of sanctification. Well then, in summary and conclusion this morning, in answer to the question, who is responsible for this process of sanctification? Who or what are the agents at work? The first part of the answer is clear.

Summary and Three Concluding Applications

45:47 God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, the triune God is the active agent in the process of our sanctification. Now that's the truth, but it's only half the truth. God willing, next week we'll take up the other half of the truth, that the new man in Christ, in the full engagement of all of his redeemed faculties, is an act

46:17 agent in the process. But we've only taken the first half this morning. And in the light of that, I want to say three simple things in conclusion. Number one, do you see why there is no sanctification unless you are savingly joined to this God? The Word of God says you must follow after that sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord unless you are made a holy man.

46:46 You'll never enter a holy heaven and look upon a holy God with delight. But my friend, you can't be made holy unless God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost would work in you to make you holy. And God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost will never work in you to make you holy until you deal with the great issue of your controversy with this God. The controversy arising from your sin as a fallen son or daughter of Adam, As a rebel who has a carnal mind, enmity against God, not subject to His law. As one who loves his sin and loves his own way. And who sits this morning under a canopy of infinitely frightening wrath and judgment. Oh, my friend, listen. You must be holy or you'll perish. But you cannot be holy until you're reconciled to the God with whom you have a controversy.

47:45 But this is the good news of the gospel. That that God with whom you have a controversy. So loved the world is to give his only begotten son. And he sets his dear son before you in the gospel. And commands you to stack arms. Lay down your weapons of rebellion. Own your undoneness and your nakedness.

48:12 Cry to that God to have mercy upon you for the sake of His Son. And as you embrace Christ and you become a justified and adopted sinner, you then are placed on the road to becoming a sanctified sinner. The second thing I want to say by way of concluding application is, may none of you, May none of you take this teaching this morning that God is the active agent in sanctification and derive from it the heresy of letting go and letting God. Or the idea that, well, God will only work insofar as I let him work. No, no.

49:04 If God has initiated this whole thing, He's going to carry it on. Philippians 1.6 Paul says, Being confident of this very thing, that He who hath begun a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ. And any teaching that says the whole process ultimately depends on whether or not I let God work is a travesty of the teaching of the Word of God. Puny little man...

49:34 Who is going to stymie God? Never. And then finally, in the light of this teaching, surely there is no room for human glory if we make one half of an inch of progress. It's because God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost have been at work in us. Left to ourselves remaining sins,

50:03 And the pressure and influence of the world and a wicked, scheming devil are enough to take us back to what we once were. And if we make progress, then in the language of 1 Corinthians 1.31, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Let him glory in the Father, in the Son, in the Holy Spirit.

50:31 by the combined activity of the entire triune Godhead is affecting in you, in me, that work of sanctifying grace. Surely any thought of pride, if we've been able to subdue and mortify a given sin, if we have been able to cultivate a grace that does not grow upon Adam's stalk,

51:02 Surely any thought of pride or self-congratulation is contrary to the whole spirit of the gospel. And even after we add to today's teaching the balancing statements of Scripture, that we are active agents in the process. May we never so construe that teaching as to think that the ultimate efficacy lies with us. Though God works in us to will and to do so that our willing and our doing become part of the process, it is only because He works in us to will and to do that we do will and we do do. And therefore, since of Him and through Him are all things, therefore unto Him and to Him alone be the glory, the praise, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory, the glory

51:58 and the honor. Surely no intelligent Christian takes any credit for his justification or his adoption, does he? He says, it lies solely in the righteousness of another. My adoption rests completely in the work of another. My friend, in the same sense, though there are elements of difference in the outworking of this blessing of saving mercy, ultimately, all of the glory and the praise is to be rendered to God and to God alone. Are you glad it's that way? Oh, I trust you are. And if you feel uncomfortable with that, then it could well be that you have the heart of a Pharisee and not the heart of a Christian

52:51 Let us pray. We would worship you, Holy Father, our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Father, Son,

53:22 and spirit, one God, in the mystery of all that you are is the one in three, and the three in one, how we bless you that in grace and mercy you have come to rescue us from sin, that you are at work in your people to make them into your own moral image, and we thank you

53:51 That that work will be completed. In everyone. Upon whom you have set your love. We pray for those. Who yet sit. In their sins. With a controversy against you. Oh God be gracious. Make the word preached today. Effectual to their salvation. Help us as your people. Not to be drawn aside.

54:21 By those errors in this matter that have ruined their thousands, crippled their ten thousands. O God, help us, help us as your people to understand and to walk in the light of the whole of your truth. Seal your word to our hearts. Receive our thanks for your presence with us. Be with us as we leave this place, as we go to our homes, to our tables, to our To the fellowship of loved ones, grant that this day may prove to be a day mightily owned of your own power for our progress in grace. We ask through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.