Sanctification

Dr. Andrew David Nasellli (a.k.a. Andy Naselli), has completed some excellent doctrinal and historical study in the area of sanctification. How do believers grow to be like their Lord? What should they expect the experience of growing in holiness to be like?

Every believer experiences deteriorating attitudes toward God sometimes. Some believers are out of touch with their “inner man” and live with their heads in the spiritual sand. As a result, they may not recognize this tendency within themselves (and that is tragic). Denying reality is an old coping mechanism, but a dishonest one. Perceived or not, the attitude problem within us is real. Here are two issues related to these attitudes.

One sad but common sight is what I call “Christian brats.”

By “Christian brats,” I mean individuals who have been brought up in Christian homes, continue to attend or be involved in an evangelical church, but resent their faith as confining. They secretly wish that they had been born into a family of unbelievers so they could experience what “everyone else” is doing and not miss out on the fun. On one hand, such individuals may not have been born again by the Spirit of God; they are spiritually indifferent. On the other hand, I am convinced that many do know the Lord.

Being brought up in a fine Christian home has both advantages and challenges. Even with godly parents, children are not robots that can be programmed; they must choose to follow the Lord or not. We pray, hold our breath, and hope for the best. So much is in God’s hands.

Reprinted with permission from Faith Pulpit, November/December ‘05

^{Note: This article is reprinted from The Faith Pulpit (July/August 1996), a publication of Faith Baptist Theological Seminary (Ankeny, IA). It appears here with some slight editing.}

There is a great deal of confusion today regarding what is involved in victorious Christian living and what makes it possible. Some of the answers being given out are plainly wrong, and many others are only partially true. It will be in the teaching of the Scriptures that God’s answers will be found. It is not possible in this brief treatment to mention everything which could be said, but a framework will be developed to note God’s wonderful provisions for us in this area of victorious Christian living.

Provision #1: The Work of Jesus Christ

The death and resurrection of Christ are at the very heart of the gospel (I Corinthians 15:3-4) “Christ died for our sins … and He rose again the third day” the Apostle Paul declares. How are these benefits applied to us? Again, the Apostle states, “To him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5). It is by personal trust in what Christ has accomplished through the shedding of His blood and His bodily resurrection that salvation is appropriated. This is God’s gospel; yet there are false gospels abounding, such as the sacramental gospel—”I need the Church’s sacraments in order to be saved”, the Iegalislic gospel—”I must do something or obey some set of rules in order to be saved”, the whole gospel—”Social involvement is necessary in order to be saved”, or the full gospel—”I must have an emotional experience with the Holy Spirit in order to be saved”. The Bible’s attitude toward diverse gospels and their proclaimers is clear: “If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:9).

One of the main reasons why there is uncertainty about Christian living is due to the fuzzy thinking about the Gospel and the significance of trusting in Christ’s death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins. There are times when tolerance may be a virtue, but this is not true when it comes to Biblical teaching.

^{Note: This article is reprinted from The Faith Pulpit (March 2002), a publication of Faith Baptist Theological Seminary (Ankeny, IA). It appears here verbatim.}

I ended the last article with a discouraging note about the futility of the steps we often employ to guard against the flesh. Steps like being accountable and placing barriers of activity between ourselves and our temptation actually have “no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh” (Col. 2:23, ESV).

by Dr. Sam Horn

Packer, J. I. Faithfulness and Holiness. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2002. Hardcover, 256 pages. $17.99

I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Robert Delnay for SI. Dr. Delnay has taught at many fundamental colleges and seminaries during his life. He currently teaches at Clearwater Christian College. I did three interviews with him—the first two about his life and work and about the Northern Baptist Convention.

In this third interview, I asked him about the Keswick view of sanctification.