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Audio Links Date Occasion Topic Speaker
Play |
Download  		 Sep 25 2005 AM Worship Complete service Paul Stith
Play |
Download  		 Sep 25 2005 AM Worship Sermon Spiritual Understanding (1 Corinthians 2:6-16) Paul Stith
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Download  		 Sep 25 2005 Bible Study Set Apart to God: Progressive Sanctification -- What Can We Expec? Stan Reeves

 

Sermon Outline

 

Spiritual Understanding

1 Corinthians 2:6-16

 

“I fear that the cross, without ever being disowned, is constantly in danger of being dismissed from the central place it must enjoy, by relatively peripheral insights that take on far too much weight.  Whenever the periphery is in danger of displacing the center, we are not far removed from idolatry.”

            D. A. Carson, The Cross and Christian Ministry, p. 38

 

 

 

1.  The Message of the Cross is superior to the message of the world (6-10a)

           

It is superior because it is not some passing fad or a philosophy of the current day which is all the rage. 

 

            It is superior because it is the plan of God since before the foundation of the earth. (7) 

1 Peter 1:10-12, 20

 

 

            It is superior because it is the only provision for our glory.

 

 

2.  The Message of the Cross is revealed through the Scriptures (10b-13)

           

 

3.  The Message of the Cross is illuminated by the Spirit (14-16)

 

 

In Application:

 

1.  Is all of human wisdom to be rejected?  Why or why not?

 

2. Why can't man know God? What has man attempted to do through the different religions in the world?

 

3. People sometimes say, "I found God. " What is wrong with saying that? Explain.

 

4.  What are some very good issues or directions in which people can become so deeply involved that they displace the message of the Gospel?  How so?

 

5. What does the word "revealed" mean in 1 Corinthians 2:10? Through whom was God's truth transmitted to man
 

 

Bible Study Outline

Progressive Sanctification -- What Can We Expect?

I. The starting point is conversion

A. Justification and adoption -- forgiven, no longer need to attempt a works-righteousness. (position)

B. Definitive sanctification -- death to sin, resurrection to life in Christ (condition)

* the biblical expectation is that there will be an immediate break with old, sinful patterns and a new obedience and consistency in our lives. (I Cor. 6:9-11)

II. Progressive sanctification is a struggle with mixed results

A. Rom. 7:14-25

-agony over sin and failure

-love of God's law in the innermost person

-trust in Christ for deliverance and a desire to be delivered

Note: Romans 7 isn't a statistical description of success.

B. Our nature as saints -- what it's not (2 Cor 5:17, Rom. 6:6, Col. 3:9-10)

-not two men, two dogs, or two natures

* confuses our core identity

* this gives the impression that there is no assurance of "breaking the tie"

* and that we're not responsible for the acts of the "evil twin"

* and that there is a part of us that is unredeemable and unchangeably evil

C. Our nature as saints -- what it is

-The Christian is one renewed person with two struggling principles, a struggle in which the new principle has the upper hand and is destined to conquer the old.

The old principle is called the "law of sin" (Rom. 7:23) and the "flesh" (Gal. 5:17). The new principle is called the "Spirit"

III. Real progress in progressive sanctification is assured for the true Christian

A. Rom. 6:20-22 – consequence of release

B. Titus 2:11-14 – God's purpose

It is our responsibility to pursue/struggle/fight/work.

 

Boyce, Abstract of Systematic Theology:

When, however, this sanctification is said to be progressive, it is not meant to deny the imperfections before referred to, nor to assert that there is a constant rise upward to God and toward his holy perfection. The Christian life on earth is a warfare with sin, and the believer is not always without failure. He often yields to temptation, sometimes falls even into most grievous sin. ..But the progress of sanctification is nevertheless continuous. These temptations and struggles enter into that progress, and not only they, but even the sins and falls which mar the Christian life. The process of sanctification is like the ascent of a mountain. One is always going forward, though not always upward, yet the final end of the progressive movement of every kind is the attainment of the summit. Sometimes, because of difficulties, the road itself descends, only more easily to ascend again. Sometimes certain attractions by the way cause a deviation from the route most suitable for ascent. Often it is feared that there has been no higher attainment, often that it has been but a continual descent, until, perchance, some point of view is gained from which to look down upon the plain whence the journey was begun and behold the height which has already been overcome. Often, with wearied feet, and desponding heart, the traveller is ready to despair, because of his own feebleness, and the difficulties which surround. But he earnestly presses forward and the journey is completed, the ascent is made, the end is attained.