SANCTIFICATION BY FAITH!

the nick murrcolr brought up SANCTIFICATION BY FAITH! in another thread and even though I disagreed with his attack on the Anabaptist, I do however agree that true sanctification comes by Faith rather than works of self effort, When we try to have victory over sin by our own will power or self effort we find ourself in a Romans 7 situation.

Am I the only one who is discouraged by seeing conservative churches sponsoring AA meetings?? Why does the Church no longer believe and preach a Gospel with power, a real Gospel message, one that has the power to set the captives free, One that can instantly convict and cleanse and empower one to be delivered instantly from the bondage of habitual sin??

And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication

It seems clear to me that sanctification, the settingg apart of a believer to be a vessel unto the lords use, is by faith, a work of the spirit of God, not of my own effort. It also seems that holiness is indicative of a sanctified life. What i am not sure of is that we can equate an experience called sanctification with any arbitrary set of life changes that we call holiness.

I was raised to believe that sanctification was the work that caused met to rise above sin in every area of my life. (I was also taught that sanctification was a one time work of God, much like salvation or the baptism of the holy spirit, and that once i had prayed through, i would get up from the altar totally sanctified.) I was taught that on order to receive the gift of the baptism of the holy spirit, i must first be sanctified. since i equated sanctification with total victory over sin, and since I still saw areas of failure (sin) I'm my life, I assumed I was not sanctified yet and could not have faith to receive the gift of the baptism. Granted there was a bit of legalism mixed in in that i often tried on my own to"do better".

Then I came to understand thatI did not need to become perfect in order to qualify to receive the gift of the baptism, but i needed the indwelling power, dunimas, of the holy spirit so that i could overcome soon. that bought i received, and it was so sweet, so marvelous, so wonderful.

Now, as sanctified vessel, I have been growing for 23 years onto a man who increasingly bears the peaceable fruits of righteousness which we see in the flesh as works of holiness.

I am not for AA as a program. I don't think it is what the church needs to be doing. But i am not against drug and alcohol recovery programs being incorporated that offer ministry to men and women who are leaving addiction. i don't think they take away at all from the power of God to deliver people from addiction, even instantly.

We ate transformed by the renewing of our minds. people from lives of addiction don't think Biblically and rarely think as even a"rational man"would think. they need the word of God feed to then intensely and lots of prayer and discipleship. this is what these programs can offer.

Quote: the nick murrcolr brought up SANCTIFICATION BY FAITH! in another thread and even though I disagreed with his attack on the Anabaptist.

My name is Colin Murray my “attack” as you call it was more directed at legalism, I am sure there are many many Anabaptist that love God and are seeking for the truth (Christ)….

Quote: I do however agree that true sanctification comes by Faith rather than works of self effort.

Amen it’s the only way it can be attained…

Quote: Why does the Church no longer believe and preach a Gospel with power, a real Gospel message, one that has the power to set the captives free, One that can instantly convict and cleanse and empower one to be delivered instantly from the bondage of habitual sin??

In a nut shell the church is operating in the strength of the flesh rather than through the power of the Spirit of God. (That’s all the church mentioned now LOL so don’t just think it’s the Anabaptist)

Rom 7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

We should serve in newness of spirit, but we don’t we prefer to do it our own way in our own strength and fight the Spirit of God in us. God can never use a vessel in this condition so he has to gets us to a place where we yield our wills completely to the Holy Spirit in us…

So what hinders us A.W. Tozer explains it this way

Quote: the closewoven veil of the self-life which we have never truly acknowledged, of which we have been secretly ashamed, and which for these reasons we have never brought to the judgment of the cross. It is not too mysterious, this opaque veil, nor is it hard to identify. We have but to look in our own hearts and we shall see it there, sewn and patched and repaired it may be, but there nevertheless, an enemy to our lives and an effective block to our spiritual progress.

To be specific, the self-sins are these: self-righteousness, selfpity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love and a host of others like them. They dwell too deep within us and are too much a part of our natures to come to our attention till the light of God is focused upon them.

One should suppose that proper instruction in the doctrines of man's depravity and the necessity for justification through the righteousness of Christ alone would deliver us from the power of the self-sins; but, it does not work out that way. Self can live unrebuked at the very altar.

It (Self life) can fight for the faith of the Reformers and preach eloquently the creed of salvation by grace, and gain strength by its efforts. To tell all the truth, it seems actually to feed upon orthodoxy and is more at home in a Bible Conference than in a tavern.

It can be removed only in spiritual experience, never by mere instruction. Let us beware of tinkering with our inner life in hope ourselves to rend the veil. God must do everything for us. Our part is to yield and trust. We must confess, forsake, repudiate the self-life, and then reckon it crucified. But we must be careful to distinguish lazy "acceptance" from the real work of God. We must insist upon the work being done. We dare not rest content with a neat doctrine of self-crucifixion.

Insist that the work be done in very truth and it will be done. The cross is rough, and it is deadly, but it is effective. It does not keep its victim hanging there forever. There comes a moment when its work is finished and the suffering victim dies. After that is resurrection glory and power, and the pain is forgotten for joy that the veil is taken away and we have entered in actual spiritual experience the Presence of the living God.

Hi Colin,
RE: Colin wrote ///My name is Colin Murray my “attack” as you call it was more directed at legalism, I am sure there are many many Anabaptist that love God and are seeking for the truth (Christ)….///

Thankyou for clarifying this.

Wounderful insightful post.

Once I start to use Tozer then its all of him.

If you want here is the link to the article

http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/tozer/5f00.0888/5f00.0888.03.htm