Great Doctrines of Salvation

Okay, the subject matter continuing on from last week is the topic of sanctification. What does sanctification mean? Simple definition. It means to work as hard as you can to get better, right? Do as many spiritual push-ups as you possibly can so God will be really happy with you and He'll bless you, right? What does it mean? Get involved in programs. Write bigger checks. What does it mean? It just means to be set apart.

And the synonyms are words like sanctify, saint, holy, consecrate, dedicate, holiness, and consecration. We talked about some of the synonyms like holy and we talked about saint. Saint is used 50 times when referring to Israel, 62 times when referring to believers. And it is associated more with the quality, or I'm sorry it's never associated with the quality of their daily life.

So if I say to you, Chris you're a saint, What do I mean? What do I mean when I say that? He's been set apart in the plan and purpose of God for a specific thing. Because you are being sanctified conditionally, which we'll talk about in a little bit, you are a saint. So according to the author, what things are not meant by sanctification?

The one we talked about last week is the idea of sinless perfection. Sinless perfection is, I think, probably the meaning most attached to the word sanctify, that it doesn't mean that at all. And it all comes really back out of John Wesley. That was his whole program of spiritual growth. was to arrive at sinless perfection. Now, is it possible for believers to be sinlessly perfect while still here?

Only in position to the Father, because He sees us through the filter of the Son. So we are, because we are set apart positionally, God views us as not... well, maybe I ask it in the form of a question. Is there such a thing within the body of Christ as a saved sinner?

No. How many think there is? How many think, no, there isn't anything as a saved sinner? That's all sinners. That's me. But you're... now, let's talk a minute. When you are saved, when you believe in the person and work of Christ, and you are identified with the death, burial, and resurrection with Christ. From a positional standpoint, are you still a sinner? Oh, not positional. Okay. Positionally, there's no such thing as a forgiven sinner.

Because if your Christian life was based on the fact that you were a Christian sinner, you're still a sinner. And God can't accept you in his presence if you're a sinner. Do you see that? So when he sets you apart, he sets you apart positionally as a new creature in Christ in which you are no longer a sinner. You no longer occupy the position of being a sinner.

Now conditionally you might sin, And we'll talk about past, present, and future in terms of sanctification in a minute. But I think it's really important for believers to understand from a positional standpoint who you are, which is how God views you.

And he did it. Why would he do it that way? Why would he set up a system whereby you were identified with Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, and so you could have access to him And from his perspective, you're no longer a singer. Why would he do it that way? Because he wanted to? Yeah, he wanted to. He wants communication with us, fellowship with us.

There you go. That's really the answer. You know, in the Jewish economy, in the temple, where was God? In the little room. He's behind the curtain, right? Where are the rest of the people? They're on the other side. So a holy God could get that close to a sinful humanity, but they were separated by a curtain. And he couldn't look on it.

That's right. And so one guy a year got to go in there, but he had to go in with blood and atonement. But when Christ died, that curtain was ripped from the top to the bottom. which meant that God was satisfied about the separating principle, sin, with mankind and he could come out now, he could set apart persons, recreate them in Christ and he could have fellowship with them on his level, not on theirs, on his. See? And in order to be on God's level, you can't be a sinner positionally. Okay? Alright with that?

So, sinless perfection is not what sanctification or holy means. Because, you know, there are holy men and women and mountains and all kinds of stuff and they've got sin in them. And the other thing that this word does not mean is no past improvement. In other words, this whole idea of getting better is not sanctification. The world functions on getting better. I'm better today than I was yesterday. I'm more educated and I sin less. I smell better. I'm richer. I'm something better than I was yesterday. That does not have anything to do with being sanctified. You have been set apart by God and you couldn't say that God is improving, could you? Is he improving? And the other thing that it doesn't imply is finality.

In other words, are we called to, from a conditional standpoint, are we called on a daily basis to a higher degree of holiness? More separation? Conditionally? Every day? Conditionally I already have it all? Okay, am I called conditionally to a greater setting apart on a daily basis? Be ye holy for I am holy?

I think so. Yeah, conformed and transformed. and being set apart and so we're called from a conditional standpoint not to improve ourselves, not to be better than we were, but we are called moment by moment to be more set apart than we were before. Do you understand that? Now that gets to be a little nerve-wracking sometimes because you think well if I'm going to be set apart to him I've got to give this up or whatever happens, this happens to be.

Faith has a lot to do with it. As you grow in the knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and he woos you, he's wooing you away from something to himself. And that is the conditional set of partners. He doesn't do it by twisting your arm or giving you one of these or pushing you. He woos you, he draws you. So the things that you were not... things that used to be part of you that he wants you to separate from, you begin to gladly do it. Because you find him more valuable than whatever your little pet thing was. You understand? Does everybody understand that? And we all have those in our life where there are certain things that kind of are a little citadel of my identity.

It's like men. When you meet a man for the first time, say you shake hands with him and get introduced to him, among men, what's your name, what's the second thing you ask him? What do you do for a living? Right? What does that say? It identifies in your mind where this guy goes in the pecking order. So here comes a believer and he's growing spiritually and God will separate him from that mindset. What do you do? What would the Apostle Paul have said to, hey Paul, what do you do for a living? What would he have said? Not I, but Christ. How about that?

So, this setting apart especially for men, primarily, it's like guys that are in business who think, well, how can I be a committed, set-apart Christian and still support my family? Understand the question? Now, you guys that work for the government, you wouldn't understand that. But the rest of us who are in the free enterprise system, we understand that. because we know that nobody pays us for getting up. We get up and work and we hope to get paid at the end of the week.

So here I am as a husband and a father working really hard to support my family and the Lord comes to me and says, I want you to be separated unto me and right away what does your mind say to you? That's okay, but I'm going to starve if I do that. But the Lord persists. So what does a guy eventually end up doing? Quit his job. But you actually, you balance it. You find a balance. I think that's a good answer because I think that's what really happens. But what if the Lord keeps calling?

Let me give you an example. I called up Myles Stanford. This was 20 years ago. I was a young, excited Christian, and I was thinking, I ought to be in the service of the Lord somehow. I mean, these guys around me are all doing this cool stuff. I need to be doing some of that, because that's what Christians do. And so I said, well, I need to do that. And he said, no, you don't. He said, spiritual growth and being set apart to the Lord from a conditional standpoint is like this.

When the things that God has called you to do, and your work begins to interfere, then you start thinking about doing it full time. Up until that time, you go to work every day, you do whatever God has called you to do, because you'll, in every one of your sphere of influences, wherever you live and whatever you do, you're God's man in that environment.

And you're set apart to that thing. Do you understand that? You could be a mom, a dad, installing hardwood floors, banker, basketball coach, whatever you are. You are God's person set apart to Him in that environment. You don't need to quit all that and get on a boat and go to Africa. You don't need to do that. Because wherever you're going, whatever you're doing, that's what God has called you to do. And you've been set apart to that.

Those of you who are moms, any tougher job around than being a mom? Not that I know of. It's the toughest job in the world. And the most important one. You've been set apart to that. So, sinless perfection, there's no moral improvement or betterment. You're not going to be more moral today than you were yesterday. Right? Or not? You might be. But it's not through your work, it's through your understanding from the Holy Spirit.

Let's look at some verses. For sinless perfection, look at John 17, 19. John 17, 19. The Lord Jesus Christ is praying to the Father. And He says to the Father, sanctify them by your truth, or set them apart by your truth. Your word is truth. So, does that sound like sinless perfection? Here's the thing. The Lord Jesus is talking about Him being sanctified. Was there ever a time that Christ was not sinless? Did He ever ask the Father to make Himself sinlessly perfect? No, but He did ask Him to be set apart.

The next one, moral improvement, John 10.36. 1036, do you say of him whom the Father sanctified or set apart and sent into the world you are blaspheming because I said I am the Son of God? The point being is that does God ever need to be improved? Answer, no, because he already is holy. It's a basic character of him. So there's no moral improvement. The word saint or sanctified does not mean moral improvement. And here's, is sanctification necessary for salvation?

Let's look at 1 Corinthians 7.14. 1 Corinthians 7.14. Somebody read it.

For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. So the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the believing wife. Does that mean that the unbelieving husband gets saved? What do you think? Do you think his chances are improved? The unbelieving wife is sanctified by a believing husband or maybe this way, you You're a believing wife and your husband's not a believer and you have children, are the children set apart?

Absolutely, your whole family is. But that does not mean that if you're sanctified does not mean that you're saved. You okay with that? So there can be people in your life because they are associated with you that are set apart, like your kids who aren't saved yet. They've been set apart just because they're associated or part of you. Doesn't mean they're saved.

Right, and I mean it would be unfair, wouldn't it? You could have the life of Riley, your husband is saved, and you just fly in there and say, okay, I'm saved too now, keep it going. Do you think fairness has anything to do with it? Well, wouldn't that be awful?

Well, it's interesting, you know, I look at Anecdotally, I look at my own family. You know, I'm really glad that John is in my family. I'm glad he's not in somebody else's family. You know, some non-believing family and didn't have the influence that he's had growing up. I'm really glad that he is. But I, just because he's in my family, he's got to make the faith decision about whether he's going to be saved or not.

And I tell him, I say, you know, John, when you go out and hang around with your friends, and you have a girlfriend, if you're a believer, if she's with you, she's set apart. And so are your buddies. And you have to remember that wherever you go, the Spirit of God is in you. And the people you're associating with are sanctified because you're with them, or they're with you. doesn't mean they're saved, but they are in a category of being set apart because they're associated with you.

And so we talked last week about that meaning that God has more than an ordinary interest in those people because they are with one who is truly sanctified. That's a great way to put it. Everybody hear that? That's just a wonderful way to put it. He has more than an ordinary interest. in those that are not saved but are sanctified or set apart because they are associated with you. It's really cool.

But the consequence, you have to have that faith in Christ. Well you have to be a believer. Right, because there's a consequence if you don't. Well if I don't then I'm not set apart and neither are they. I'm just another guy. Okay, but I'm saying if you're in a family and they all believe, but you don't, but you're sanctified, your consequence though, if you go up to heaven or wherever you go.

Oh, if I'm saved or not. Well, you can't put it, well, my chances are better of salvation or not. Well, I mean, the grace of God that's spread to everyone is just, you know, how can you resist so great a salvation? I didn't get exposed to the gospel until I was 35. You know, the guy standing next to me, he got exposed to it too, but he didn't respond. Yeah, that's the word, respond. Yeah, so.

Well, I think that's the confusion too, is the, kind of like the family plan salvation, because dad's safe, we're all safe, or no, but we are set apart. What I find interesting though, like this morning with the kids, we're in Acts 16, we're talking about the Philippian jailer, and the Bible clearly says that he got saved and his whole family. And that's not the only place that says that.

Every single one of them had to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Can you imagine a jailer coming home with Paul and Silas in the middle of the night and saying, Hey, Mrs. Jailer, let's bandage these boys up. And oh, by the way, listen to what they got to say. And they're all, so they have a little food, get bandaged up, and they go back to the jail.

I would say that, I know in my family, I was the first one in my immediate family to get saved. And I think from that, not that I evangelized them, a lot of them got saved. And we grew up, you know, go to Mass every Sunday, Catholics. I could go to any college I wanted to as long as it was Catholic. Real freedom. Yeah, real freedom.

Mike, I think being a family member of someone who's unsaved makes it so that that person is more likely to make a decision one way or the other. I think that's a true statement. I think that's a true statement. Because the Word of God causes action. either toward him or against him. It doesn't return void. What you find is that the influence of a believer in the environment they're in, especially in a family, has tremendous effect on them. Because, like it or not, a non-believing family is a chaotic environment. I don't care how proper they are.

The only people that have any rest in their hearts are believers. They're the only ones on the planet. The Lord Jesus' invitation was, come to me all you who are heavy laden. I guess that included everybody. And I will give you the one thing you cannot get for yourself. What is it? I'll give you rest for your souls. Anybody outside of Christ does not have that rest. I don't care what they're smoking. They just don't have it.

Right? So they come to Christ and they believe on him and they find this rest and this peace that passes understanding. Here's their sibling standing next to him, looking at him thinking, I've known you all my life and where did that rest come from? Boy, you've got something that I've never seen before. What is that? It's visible. That's where it happens.

That's why the sanctification, the person next to you or your sibling, or they may be the kind of people that say, I'm not having any of that. I like unrest. Well, some people, it's their comfort zone. Well, it's everybody's comfort zone until Christ comes in their life. Yeah. Because they're coping. Coping is the big word. Coping.

And if you come to the Lord, He gives you this thing, and He says to believers, not only that, if you have an issue, come to me and lay it out to me and I'll give you the peace that passes understanding. He doesn't say that to non-believers. And what price is that peace? Could you afford to buy that? No. So why doesn't sanctification mean sinless perfection? Why doesn't it mean that? Nobody? Focus is on yourself. Oh, that's good. That's good. I put the answer in another place and I can't find it. The answer I wrote down. Anybody?

What does Marchbank say? Why isn't sanctification sinless perfection? Well, we know that it isn't because Jesus said, I sanctify myself, and we know that he was never in trouble. Yeah, he wasn't a sinner. So is every true believer in Christ sanctified, or are there some who, though saved, have never been sanctified? No, not at all. You Democrats, are you sure?

In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God and Sophonies, our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus. Call to be saints with all who in every place call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord, both theirs and ours. Every single person in the body of Christ is set apart. Everyone, Romans 10, 13, for whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

But sanctification doesn't automatically mean salvation, and we've covered that. Are we sanctified because of anything we've accomplished or anything we are? You say, no. I say, well, listen, I exercise faith. Don't I get credit for that? I've got a comment for him, but it wouldn't work in a Bible study. So you don't get points for your comment. I know. There you go. The only reason that we're set apart is because of our position in Christ. Because He set apart, so are you.

1 Corinthians 1.30, but of Him are you in Christ Jesus. He did it. Okay? Who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, a brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God, He did it. You're set apart because He did it. So when you wake up tomorrow morning and say, Boy, I don't feel very set apart.

I better work on that. Wait a minute. You didn't do it in the first place. It's like those who doubt their salvation. You had nothing to do with your own salvation. Nothing. Can you go to God and say, Look, I did this much. You did this much. I'm reneging on this, so I guess I'm losing my salvation. whose idea in the first place was salvation and who carried it out? God did. And he comes to you and says, now, this whole program that I have together, I'll accrue it to your benefit if you'll do one thing. What is it?

Believe. You'll believe. And oh, by the way, your believing gives you no credit because the value is in who and what you believe, not in the fact that you believe. You alright with that? So the Lord Jesus is not improvable, so he's not getting better. Now, there are three tenses to sanctification in the Word. What are they? Everybody, I'm assuming, took at least a grammar class that had tenses. Do you know what tenses are? What are they? Past, present, and future. So, in the Word of God, Sanctification is talked about in past tense, present tense, and future tense. Past tense. Did I give you the verses?

Hebrews 10.10?

Alright, Hebrews 10.10. Somebody read it. What number am I on?

Well, we're going to Hebrews 10.10, maybe we are on number 10. Yeah, I'm number 10. Try to keep up with me.

Okay, Hebrews 10.10.

By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Oh gee, once for all. What does that say? done in the past tense. We are done. That's with the enduring results, right? No, past tense is an aorist tense, completed action in the past. It could be perfect tense there, which would be completed action with abiding results, but I think it's arist. Is it perfect tense? Well, I have written down perfect tense. That's fine, yeah. So, we've been eternally set apart by God when we believed, and it was because and by the work of the cross. How about present tense?

Let's look at 1 Thessalonians 5.23. This is 4.3.

I'm sorry, 1st Thessalonians 4.3 is fine. Anybody? Well this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you should abstain from provocation. Is that the way? Yeah.

Or 1st Peter 1.15, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all of your conduct. So there's an appeal in Paul and Peter for people to function on an ongoing basis as set apart.

When he says, this is the will of God, your sanctification, he means now. Your conditional being set apart that you should abstain from fornication or sexual immorality. Do you really have to have somebody tell you as a believer that you shouldn't be promiscuous? That's the first thing that hit me the minute I was saved. That's no longer allowed, you know, because that doesn't fit with who I am as a believer in Christ. Sinning is not part of who we are.

Well, and we have a moral compass, don't we? You may have a moral compass before you're saved, and I don't know how reliable it could be. I mean, I could be a good Methodist that believes in abortion and not be saved. Is that a good moral compass? The Word of God is the compass. But back to the point. The point is that there are verses and a lot of them that talk about the sanctification as an ongoing process, conditionally, so that your condition will line up with your position. How about in the future?

Ephesians 5.25, 6 and 7, probably a good example. Husbands, love your wife as Christ loved the church, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her. Now watch this, that he might sanctify her and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that he might, future, present her, present her to himself, a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that we should be holy and without blemish. So, there's a future sanctification in which the body of Christ gets presented to Christ perfect. No sin. Holy. Set apart.

And oh, by the way, you guys that are husbands, you've got the same job. Your job is to present your wife holy and blameless before Christ by the time you're done. How's it going? I mean, you talk about a serious husband looks at a verse like that and he has instant dependency on the Spirit of God to carry that out because he knows he can't. But what's cool about it is, look what God intends to do in a marriage.

It's kind of cool, isn't it? So, any questions about that? Past, present and future. Did we read 1 Thessalonians 5 coming 3? Did we? No. Well, do we need to? Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of the Lord Jesus. Future. That goes into the future. Question 11. I'm in a hurry.

Which of the above are positional and which are conditional? Obviously the past sanctification is positional. Wouldn't you agree? How about present? Wouldn't you say that's conditional? Your sanctification process is conditional. How about the future? It's positional, sure. So how does our everyday practical progressive sanctification come? I'm going to pick a bone with the author here.

He says, that the author says, yielding yourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ is the way it happens. Now, I'm going to make an issue about that because I don't think that's all there is to it. On Wednesday nights we have been studying Romans 6 and I'm learning so much this time through Romans, it's amazing. In the study of Romans 6, 6.3 says, know ye not that as many as you were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death. The key word in that verse is know. Don't you know? Do you do know that? Do you know that? I'm asking you, do you know that?

We didn't have a ceremony. We did have what the Bible calls, the Word of God calls, an identification with Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection. Everybody in this room, the minute you believed, the Spirit of God placed you into Christ at the point in which He died. So you died. And what's the word death mean? Separation. What did you get separated from? Your sin nature, a lost system, the world system, and Satan. Right? Positional truth? Yes.

Is it important that you know that? How important is it? Yeah, of course. Yeah, it's critical that you know that information. Okay? So when it comes to answering the question, how does practical progressive sanctification come? The first thing is you've got to know about it. You've got to know what God did. You see that?

Okay. Romans 6, 4, Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death. Oh, I remember that. That's a joke. Are you listening? I don't remember being buried with Christ. How do I know that? He's telling me. That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father.

Is that true? Yes, because the Bible tells me. Even so, we also should walk in newness of life or be made possible that we should walk, have a new walk of life. The noun there is life, not walk. How do I know that? because the Word tells me. Is it important that I know that? Boy, is it ever. It's one thing to know that my sins have been paid for. It's another thing to know that I personally have been dealt with by God when it comes to my relationship to sin. So, maybe ask another question.

Is it important for you to know which side of the cross you live on? Which side do you live on? Is it important? Cross is a cross is a cross. Okay, here's the cross. This is before the cross and this is after the cross. Which side do we live on? This side. Not this side. If you don't know this information, you're here. Right? You're not here. You're believing everything here. I'm still a sinner. No, I'm not.

I'm dead, buried, and resurrected with Christ. So knowledge is really, really important in Romans 6. What's the second thing you think would be important? Well, one more thing about knowledge. Romans 6, 6, knowing this, that my old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be put out of business, that we should no longer serve sin. I need to know that. I was crucified. It's a finished fact. My relationship to sin was separated so that sin would no longer have dominion over me. I've got to know, because I've got to know what to believe. So the next word that's important is the word in 6.11. Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead, indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ.

This word reckon can be the word consider. can be the word acknowledge a fact that's already true. So here, again, back to answering the question, how does everyday practical progressive sanctification come? Number one, it's knowledge. Number two, it's reckoning, consider, believe. The word reckon here is the word logizimae. And here's what this word means.

If I took her purse And she had a list of everything that was in there. And she said, so I took it all out, and we went, okay, there's one of these, and two of these, and one of these, and three of these. At the end, I would say, I reckon all of this stuff is in the purse. Why do I reckon that to be so?

Because that's what's there. So when God says you need to reckon yourself dead unto sin, and alive unto God. That's the second thing about I'm to know and I'm to believe what I know. OK, you're right with that. Let's see, I reckon what we know must be believed on an ongoing basis.

It's not felt. It's a fact only. And that's what makes it hard, because you don't feel it. Like, you can hear a song and you really like it and you remember it, because it's got emotion involved in it. When God says to you in his word, you are dead, crucified, buried and resurrected, how much emotion is involved in that? Nothing.

It's just information. When I put faith in my reckoning myself to be dead and alive, it becomes operational when I believe it. Every single believer, these facts are true of every single believer, but until he knows it and believes it, it's not operational in his life. Okay?

Now, here's the last thing you need to do, or not need to do. Romans 6, 12, and 13. Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lust. Neither yield, and that's the word present, In other words, don't present yourself, your members as instruments of unrighteousness under sin, but present yourself unto God as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

So, as a believer, with my knowledge of my co-crucifixion with Christ, death, burn, resurrection, and the fact that I believe it, God comes to me and says, okay, in your life you have two choices. What are they? Who am I going to yield myself to? Either to my sin nature or to the Holy Spirit. I think those are the three steps of progressive sanctification.

You have to know, you have to believe, and you have to present. So here I am in a circumstance as a believer with the knowledge that I have and the faith that I have and I'm tempted to steal her purse. Now I can say, oh I can't do that because if I get caught I'll be in trouble. But boy, the desire to take it is really strong. And as a matter of fact, the harder I try not to, the more I'm sucked into it. Now maybe that's not a good example, because I would never be tempted to steal. But I might be tempted to sexual sin, or I might be tempted to drink when I shouldn't, or I might be tempted to tell a lie in a situation that would benefit me.

So here's my choice. I know I was crucified with Christ. I have that knowledge. And I believe it to be true. And so right now, rather than steal or not steal, here's my choice. Am I going to yield myself or present myself to the Spirit of God to control me? Or am I going to present myself to myself to sin so I can go steal the purse or do whatever? Those are my only choices. Progressive sanctification, I think, that's the formula. Does it not make sense?

Is that not an example of where the law arouses your sin appetite? Yes. You know, in Romans 7, Paul goes through that whole thing and he said, I wouldn't have known what strong desire was, except the law said you will not have strong desire. And when it said that, the strong desire was oozing out of him. So he gets down to 14, or he said 14 before that, and he says, well, I can either let sin control me, and the law put on that sin, which means the strong desire is going to be coming out all over me, or I can present myself to the Spirit of God as the one who's alive from the dead, and let him handle the sin. That's progressive sanctification, I think. It's more than what Marchbank says it is.

You all right with that? What do you think about the formula? I mean, I like the formula a lot. Now, if you want to know about if that's the formula and it works so well, how come Romans 7 comes after 6? It's because a believer says, OK, I understand all this, but we've got to have a little law, don't we? We've got to mess with it some, don't we? So I've talked about this in a previous class.

Every believer has to deal, or every human being has to deal with what I would call levels of power. Wouldn't you say that the most powerful, the person most powerful of all is God, right? Nobody surpasses human power. He's omnipotent, which means he's all-powerful.

Would you say that the power Would you say that the power of the sin nature and the power of Satan in the world is stronger than my power to resist it? What do you think? No, I'm not talking about dependence. I'm just talking about the power. Is the power of sin stronger than my ability to stop? So how do I stop? By having faith. Identify yourself in Christ.

What I do is, the bad news is that level 3 can never beat level 2. The good news is that level 3 can plug into level 1. I can plug into God. What is level 1 and 2? What are you talking about? I should have said that. Divine power is level 1. Level 2 is the power of sin and level 3 is human power. So I have the ability to walk in the Spirit, which means that I am abiding in the power of God. I win. Okay? That's the second bell, right? Did I get through all the questions?

The level is divine power, God's power. Level two is the power of sin, of the sin nature, Satan or the world. And three is human power. And we have the ability, as I said, to tap into level one. Okay, let's close. Father, how we thank you for your grace and how we thank you for our position in your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, resurrected and glorified. Father, we present ourselves as those that are alive from the dead. for the progressive sanctification that is your desire, that we might be set apart to your son for his own purpose as father. We thank you. We pray in his precious name. Amen.