Good evening. Welcome back to Systematic Theology. We're up now to session number 63. We're continuing through our study of the Order of Salvation or the Ordo Salutis. And once again, the Ordo Salutis is just a way of showing the logical order of God's steps of applying redemption to his people, those who he elected in eternity past. And I printed the steps of the Ordo Salutis again in your notes. We're continuing tonight our look at step 4a, which is progressive sanctification. Now, when we began studying progressive sanctification, I gave a couple of definitions. And the first is from the reformed theologian, William Ames, and here's how he defined it. Sanctification is the real change of a man from the filthiness of sin to the purity of God's image. The other definition was from the Westminster Shorter Catechism. which defines progressive sanctification like this. Sanctification is the work of God's free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God and are enabled more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness. Now, in the previous studies, we've seen that our progressive sanctification is a work of God the Holy Spirit. This step in the Ordo is, it's part of God's project. We are God's handiwork. God is the primary worker in our progressive sanctification, but in this step, we come alongside of God and we also work. The Holy Spirit gives power and direction to progressive sanctification, but we also come alongside and work. And that work comes in two categories, mortification and transformation. Now, mortification is putting to death the deeds of the flesh, and transformation is the process where we're beginning to be transformed into the image of Christ. Now, in our previous study, I used the word vivification instead of transformation. Now, the word vivification, it's used by many great theologians going back in history, but in retrospect, I realize that the term can lead to misunderstanding because some might look at the word vivification and think, This means we can somehow bring ourselves to new life. Of course, we don't bring ourselves to new life. The step we're at now, progressive sanctification, presupposes that God has already given us new life in regeneration and has already changed who our master is in definitive sanctification. So going forward, I'm going to use the word transformation to refer to transforming our mind, will, and affections in progressive sanctification. In progressive sanctification, the Holy Spirit is working in us, and we come alongside and work in mortification and transformation. This is the goal that we aim for in progressive sanctification, the moral image of Christ. We won't reach that goal before the resurrection, but we still aim for that target. All the benefits that we receive in redemption are won for us by the merits of Christ. His finished work and the application of these benefits are by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does act directly upon us in progressive sanctification to apply grace in our lives. If God chose, the Holy Spirit could apply the grace of progressive sanctification directly to us without using any activity that involves our participation, but God chooses to use certain avenues where we participate in granting this grace of progressive sanctification. In other words, God uses means to move us toward the image of Christ. Reformed theologians call these activities means of grace, means of grace. So we can think of the means of grace as being a kind of toolkit, if you will, that the Holy Spirit uses to move us toward the moral image of Christ. Does God need tools? No, of course not. But for this step in the Ordo Salutis, progressive sanctification, God chooses to use a toolkit, so to speak, with tools that we participate in. And that toolkit is the means of grace. Now what this means is that we shouldn't expect to grow gradually into the moral likeness of Christ as if by magic. The Holy Spirit is the primary worker, but we come alongside and work. And that work involves the means of grace. The toolkit may not look flashy. It involves a hard work of prayer and reading and applying scripture and hearing the scripture taught at the gathering of the saints. and we may wish for flashy things like miracles, but God uses the well-worn kit of proven tools that he has personally chosen. A very important means of grace is our reading and study of scripture. The theologian Burkoff spoke of the importance of scripture as a means of grace this way. He wrote, the Bible is also the means which the Holy Spirit employs for the extension of the church and for the edification and nourishment of the saints. It is preeminently the word of God's grace and therefore also the most important means of grace." Burkhoff was focused here on the scriptures as preached in the churches, but I would extend that to include our private reading and our private study of the scriptures. The scriptures are powerful, not because the Bible is some kind of self-help book of moral persuasion. Instead, the divine person of the Holy Spirit is working supernaturally through the very Word of God. I'm gonna read next from 1 Thessalonians 2. 1 Thessalonians 2. Now in this chapter, Paul is showing that his apostolic ministry is genuine. He was bold in preaching the gospel even while he suffered persecution. And he had a kind of parental love toward the congregation. refusing false motives such as greed. And as we come to verse 13, Paul thanks God that when they received the word of God from the preaching of Paul and his apostolic team, they accepted it as the word of God. I'll read from 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 13. And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, You accepted it not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. Which is at work in you believers. When Paul brought the gospel, the word of God to them, they received the word as it truly is. It wasn't just Paul saying these things. It was the apostle Paul bringing the very word of God, the scriptures, can only be a means of grace if we accept it for what it really is, the very words of God. Then Paul goes on to recognize that the word of God is at work in the believers. As it says at the end of the verse, the word of God, the gospel was powerful to save them in the past. And as Paul was writing this letter, the word of God was still presently at work in them. The Greek word we see translated as at work means power at work or capability at work. The word of God has great power. And in the case of these believers, the Holy Spirit was using the word of God, harnessing power to do work in those who had accepted it as God's word. Once Paul points out that the word of God was presently at work in them, Now he shifts focus in the next verses to how they'd become imitators of other true churches, even in the face of persecution. The word of God was continually working in them, sanctifying them, even while the forces of darkness were arrayed against them. It's true that the Thessalonians didn't have the completed canon of scripture like we do, but the word of God that they had and that they had received was at work in them. The Holy Spirit, was working in them by this means of grace, what we know as the scriptures. The scripture as a means of grace. And if we agree with Burkhoff, the most important means of grace is emphasized in another place in the book of 2 Timothy. As we come to 2 Timothy 3.14, Paul is emphasizing the importance of scripture as a means of grace. And I'm gonna read what's probably a familiar passage to most of you, 2 Timothy 3. verses 14 to 17. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Now this passage is so clear on the importance of reading scripture and studying scripture and hearing the scripture taught. First, verse 16 tells us that all scripture is the anustos, or God breathed. And this is the only time in the New Testament this word is used. And it may be that Paul actually coined this Greek word. God is the source of scripture. And this word, God breathed, tells us of the close connection between God and his word. Paul then goes on to tell Timothy four ways that the scriptures mold our Christian lives. These four profitable ways are essentials that we can have the benefit of this result in verse 17. that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. And this completing is the equipping for every good work. In other words, we're being equipped for good works as a result of our progressive sanctification. This equipping doesn't happen without the Holy Spirit working through scripture as a means of grace. The four ways mentioned here that the scriptures mold us are given in four words, teaching, reproof, correction, and training. Now, two of these profitable equipping activities that the Holy Spirit works using this means of grace are related to mortification. Remember that mortification is the part of our progressive sanctification where the passions of the flesh are being put to death. Now the two equipping activities we can tie to mortification are reproof and correction. Reproof and correction. What is reproof? Reproof is an expression of strong disapproval. Mortification of our old self involves bringing two kinds of errors to light. Errors of doctrine and errors of behavior both need to be exposed. The Lord then reveals his strong disapproval of the old habits in the pages of scripture. The Holy Spirit works through this means of grace to bring us to agreement with the Lord, to disapprove of these old habits ourselves, and to mortify these ways. Then the next word, correction, involves making things right. It involves a U-turn from what scripture is reproving. Part of the mortification of fleshly habits is making a U-turn from the old habits. Mortification involves restoration from what God strongly disapproves of. The Holy Spirit is graciously working in us to do this. And we also come alongside to work. But the grace of God in this work uses means, which we call means of grace, in this case, the scriptures. Now we can tie the other two profitable activities to transformation or being molded to the image of Christ. The scripture is profitable and needed for teaching. To be molded into the image of Christ, which is transformation, we need instruction. Just as mortification involves dying to our errors in both doctrine and behavior, transformation involves instruction in proper doctrine and behavior. We need the Holy Spirit to instruct us in proper doctrine and in how to live in Christ-likeness. The Holy Spirit teaches us using means, the means of Scripture. We come alongside by reading and meditating on Scripture. I'll turn to Romans chapter 15, verse 4, Romans 15, 4, which is another place that tells us of the instruction of Scripture. For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope. Now we come to the other profitable item for transformation mentioned in that second Timothy passage, training in righteousness, training in righteousness. Scripture gives us instruction in proper doctrine and behavior. It's also a means of the Holy Spirit providing us ongoing training in new actions, new habits. Training doesn't end with initial instruction. It requires ongoing reinforcement, like a child being trained. Like children, we are being trained, nurtured in a new culture, the culture of the heavenly city. Verse 16 tells us what the target of this ongoing training is. The target is righteousness. When we were first saved, we were justified and righteousness was then imputed to us. We are now legally righteous, but now God is progressively molding our thoughts, words, and deeds toward experiential righteousness, toward Christ-likeness. Now, another means of grace or a part of the toolkit that the Holy Spirit works with in our sanctification is prayer. The Psalms are filled with prayers to the Lord for his grace, and I'll read an example from Psalm 86, verse six. Psalm 86, verse six. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer. Listen to my plea for grace. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer. Listen to my plea for grace." The Heidelberg Catechism has this question, why is prayer necessary for Christians? It answers the question this way, because it is the chief part of thankfulness, which God requires of us. and also because God will give his grace and Holy Spirit to those only who with sincere desires continually ask them of him and are thankful for them. In our desire to mortify the old fleshly desires and be transformed, we need God's grace. The Holy Spirit works in us using both the means of grace of scripture and the means of grace of prayer to strengthen us against sin. Matthew chapter 26 has a passage that relates to prayer as a means of grace, as we ask God to keep us from sin. Now you may remember that when we looked at definitive sanctification, back a few studies ago, definitive sanctification, we saw that at the moment of salvation, we changed masters. Sin is no longer on the throne of our hearts, but the old fleshly desires are still there to some extent. Now in progressive sanctification, we seek to put those old fleshly desires to death. That is the mortification part of our progressive sanctification. And we come alongside in this work of mortification, but the primary worker is the Holy Spirit. Not only is scripture a tool the Holy Spirit uses in mortification, but prayer is also a tool in this toolbox we call the means of grace. I'm going to be in Matthew chapter 26 next, verses 40 and 41. This is the scene of the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus is praying to the father in his sorrow as he contemplates the work of the cross that he is about to undertake. He had asked Peter, James, and John to watch with him. The fact that Jesus was praying should have been an example to them to also pray since they also needed divine help in their lives to keep from temptation. but they were asleep. They were neglecting the means of grace. I'll read from Matthew chapter 26 verses 40 and 41. And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, so could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. As Christians, because sin is no longer our master, we desire to mortify our sins, but as Jesus warned, the flesh is weak. We still have residual fleshly weaknesses to mortify, and those weaknesses fight against us. It is the ongoing work of the divine person of the Holy Spirit within us to war against sin, and we come alongside in the work. Jesus uses this occasion to give them two imperatives, two commands, watch and pray, watch and pray. The Greek word for watch emphasizes to be in constant readiness. This word is also in the present tense in the imperative mood, meaning that their watchfulness, it wasn't just for this moment. There's this readiness and watchfulness against temptation was to be a continuous, ongoing habit of life. We are to be on constant alert status. The other imperative was to pray. The Holy Spirit working in us uses tools or means of grace. Part of that toolkit is prayer. The Greek word we see as pray, it's also in the present imperative, meaning it's a command. It's to be an ongoing habit of life. So we can see two commands that are to be ongoing habits. We are to be on alert status against temptation at all times. Also, we are to pray for divine help. In these two commands, watch and pray, we can see the work of the Holy Spirit in mortification, and we can also see how we come alongside and work. We pray for the work of the Holy Spirit in defending us We also remain on alert and watch against the enemy. Prayer is a necessary means of grace, a means used by the Holy Spirit for mortification of sins. And prayer is also a means of grace for transformation. Psalm 119, verse 25, which is where I'll be next. Psalm 119, verse 25. This verse combines prayer and scripture in this work of transformation. It reads, my soul clings to the dust. Give me life according to your word. My soul clings to the dust. Give me life according to your word. The psalmist recognized that his soul clings to the dust. the impulses of the flesh still have a hold on him. His body was alive, but he knew that just having bodily life wasn't true life. He needed greater degrees of spiritual life. He needed to die to fleshly impulses because his soul was clinging to the dust. But his prayer, as he cries out to God is, give me life according to your word. He needed transformation. He cried out, give me life. This means of grace, prayer, was in an alliance with the other means of grace, scripture. Give me life according to your word. We've looked at two means of grace, two items in the toolbox by which the Holy Spirit causes us to progress in sanctification. And there's other means of grace in addition to scripture and prayer. The Holy Spirit uses events in our lives. or what we called in previous studies, special providence, what we go through in life, what the Lord allows, what the Lord brings us through as a means of grace to cause us to grow. Gathering with the saints in church services is a means of grace. What we're doing here tonight is a means of grace. We worship the Lord together in song. We're encouraging each other in the faith. We're studying the scriptures. But Lord willing, my goal is to touch on additional means of grace when we get to the doctrine of the church in upcoming studies. Like any doctrine, there's always going to be alternate teachings that go to extremes. And the doctrine of progressive sanctification, it's no exception. It seems like much of proper doctrine is steering for the proper straight path between two extremes. Now I used to ride a motorcycle down one peaceful agricultural road out in Ventura County and the road, this road had two ditches on either side of the road and straying from the straight path into either ditch would result in a lot of hospital time or worse. And like that road, much true Christian doctrine is steering a straight path between two errors, an extreme on one side and an extreme on the other side. The two ditches we need to avoid with the doctrine of progressive sanctification involves two vocabulary terms. And those terms are over-realized eschatology and under-realized eschatology. Now we're going to pick those words apart a little. You may have already heard the term eschatology. It comes from a Greek word meaning last. One of the doctrines we're gonna get to later on will be eschatology, the study of last things. We are right now, all of us, headed toward the eschaton, or what is of the last things of this age in the beginning and ongoing nature of the eternal state. So the next part of this term is the word realized. To realize something is to make it actually happen, to make it take form, At the resurrection, our eschaton will be fully realized. In other words, eternity will come into its final form for us. There are some benefits of salvation that we have now. For example, our sins are expiated, meaning we have perfect forgiveness. Then there's other benefits of salvation that await the final eschaton, such as our glorious resurrection bodies. Right now, before the eschaton, we live in the time of the already and the not yet, the already and the not yet. We have a foretaste of heaven already, but the fullness of it is not yet. Now we can put these words together. Under-realized eschatology denies the already of our salvation. It takes what God is already doing in us and it delays it until heaven. Over-realized eschatology, it's the opposite. It's grasping for more of heaven than we can have right now. It tries to pull the not yet into the now. When it comes to our progressive sanctification, these two ditches on either side of the road to stay out of are over-realized eschatology and under-realized eschatology. Now first, we're going to look at over-realized eschatology, which is thinking that we can have more of heaven than what's available to us right now. With progressive sanctification, over-realized eschatology is thinking that we can eliminate all sin from our lives during this present age. This is called perfectionism. John Wesley, one of the founders of the Methodist Church in America, held to perfectionism. Perfectionism gives man in this present age more credit than he deserves. There are Methodists who believe that they have risen above all known sin in their lives. We might think that anyone who spends any time at all reviewing their own thoughts, words, and deeds could not possibly believe such a thing. But what perfectionists will sometimes do is to redefine their sin as mere mistakes. John Wesley held that believers are made perfect by love and therefore Any of our remaining shortcomings, well, they're just mistakes and not sin. If you bring up, say, an unkind word that they shouldn't have said, they don't categorize it as a sin. They will say it was just a mistake. That was a human foible. It was a minor weakness, just a mistake. Wesleyan perfectionism holds that Man could choose salvation in his own strength. That's their first error. Then they go on to say that since man chooses salvation in his own strength, he can also just simply choose to turn away from sin altogether and achieve freedom from all known sin in this life. Now there are some who teach perfectionism based on what I'm going to read next. It's in 1 John 3. I'll read from 1 John 3, verses 6 to 10. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning. No one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning. for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this, it is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother." Now, the trouble with that interpretation of John, the perfectionist interpretation, is that now they have John basically being at odds with himself, with what he wrote previously in 1 John. I'm going to read from a couple of chapters back. 1 John 1, verses 8 to 10. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us. In the time of the apostle John, there may have been some associated with the church who claimed that they had spiritually advanced beyond all sin. They may have boasted about their maturity, that all remaining sin within them had been destroyed. Perhaps they sort of demoted any of their actual sins to just being mistakes of human frailty. But John strongly corrects this error and calls it a self-deception. As Christians, we still do sin and we need ongoing divine forgiveness. So how do we reconcile what John wrote in chapter three with what he wrote in chapter one? The chapter three passage in the King James can lead to a false conclusion. I like the King James in a lot of places, but the way it phrases 1 John 3.6 doesn't convey the real meaning to modern ears like the ESV translation handles it. I'm gonna read the verse from the King James. Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not, Whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. From the King James, it might sound absolute. That one who abides in Christ sinneth not, or simply does not sin, period. Now the ESV that we previously read interprets the Greek from verse six a little bit more accurately when it says, no one who abides in him keeps on sinning. What John is pointing to is a person who's characterized by willful, ongoing, unrepentant sin. And this has to be true because John also says in chapter one, it is to say, if we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. John gives the remedy to our sins as Christians. We must confess them to God and receive forgiveness. So what John is saying when we compare chapter one with chapter three is that for Christians, sin is no longer on the throne of our hearts. We serve a different master now. We owe nothing to the flesh. Therefore, we don't live lives that are abandoned to willful, unrepentant sin. We don't claim that we know Christ, then just continue on our merry way with sin ruling our lives as before. We have been definitively sanctified, meaning that our master is now Christ and not sin. And now we're also being progressively sanctified. Those who believe in perfectionism, they can't point to the letters of John for support. John clearly says that if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and God's truth is not in us. John presses the fact that sin is serious and we must continue to work alongside the Holy Spirit in sanctification. But that work won't be complete until the resurrection. Now, many times in churches that hold to perfectionism, Coming to this state of living above all known sin, it's taught as a second blessing. They teach that the first blessing is to be justified. But they teach that there's another, more elevated class of Christian. And they might call this a higher life, or laying all on the altar, or victorious living. Instead of sanctification being a process that all Christians participate in, this higher life is only for those at an elevated level, those who have gone on to the second blessing. For some of the people who believe this, the second blessing, they claim it comes as kind of like a second act of faith after their conversion as a result of some powerful emotional experience. Now, when we look at the doctrine of progressive sanctification, we need to steer a straight path between two ditches on either side of the road. One of those ditches we just looked at is perfectionism. Now we come to the ditch on the other side. If perfectionism is over-realized eschatology, claiming to have too much of heaven right now, the opposite is under-realized eschatology. There are benefits of the last things that we are meant to have a foretaste of right now. One of those benefits of grace is progressive sanctification. We are meant to progressively grow in Christ likeness. We won't be completely finished in this life, but we are meant to progress. The opposite error from perfectionism denies altogether the necessity of progressive sanctification. And this opposite error is the error of the carnal Christian. Maybe some of you have heard that term before, carnal Christians. This error of the carnal Christian was taught by Lewis Sperry Chaffer in a book he wrote clear back in 1918. And in that book, he claimed that all of mankind can be divided into three groups. The first group is the natural unregenerate man. And this group, they're unsaved, they're unchanged spiritually altogether. The second group is the carnal man. And he's a saved Christian, but a babe in Christ who walks as a mere man. And then the third group, the last group, is the spiritual man, the Christian who has moved on from being a carnal Christian. Schaefer described the second category, the carnal Christian, like this. He wrote, though saved, The carnal Christians are walking according to the course of this world. They are carnal because the flesh is dominating them. The objectives and affections are centered in the same unspiritual sphere as that of the natural man. Chafer held to this error, that there may be no real difference in terms of ethics or behavior between an unsaved person and the carnal Christian. One can be a Christian and regard progressive sanctification as just optional. For the carnal Christian, sin still has dominion over him. Sin is still on the throne of his heart. The carnal Christian can supposedly still claim to be a Christian, but he can continue in a lifestyle of unrepentant sin. Now, some defenders of this doctrine explain this. by their theory on the nature of man. Now, in previous studies, we've looked at the fact that humans have two components, the spirit and the body. And this view is called dichotomy. But there is another theory, one that I believe to be in error, that human nature is in three parts, body, soul, and spirit. the body being the physical aspect of man with five senses, and then the soul being the will, emotions, intellect, and sense of morality, and then the spirit being a religious or spiritual aspect. Now, some who claim that there are such a thing as carnal Christians state that the new nature we receive affects the spirit, but not necessarily the soul. The carnal Christian is affected by the new birth in his spiritual and religious aspect way up here, but the soul down here might resist the new birth. The regenerated spirit should affect the soul in a positive way, but the soul may end up resisting this. Where that ends up is the teaching that there's such a thing as a carnal Christian. People who hold to the view of the carnal Christian say that there's three categories of people, The unsaved, the saved and spiritual Christian up here, and then the carnal Christian down here somewhere. The carnal Christian, in their view, is saved, but he continues in a lifestyle of unrepentant sin. His spirit is regenerated, but his soul has resisted the influence of his spirit. But the fact is, all of humanity is only divided into two categories, regenerated and unregenerate. There's only two categories of humanity, regenerate and unregenerate. All of scripture points to this twofold division. There is no third category, a sort of in-between. People who teach the doctrine of the carnal Christian will point to 1 Corinthians 3, which is where I'll be next, verses one to four. And here, Paul is taking the Corinthian church to task for creating divisions in the church. And these divisions, came from people identifying with different teachers, leading to factions in the church. And Paul had to point out that all good teachers of the truth, they're all on the same team, and forming factions is a sign of immaturity. Read from 1 Corinthians 3, verses one to four. But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ, I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, I follow Paul, and another, I follow Apollos, are you not being merely human? Now, people who believe in a separate category called carnal Christian point to the fact that Paul could not address them as spiritual people. In verse four, Paul says that when they form factions in the church, they're behaving as merely human, as the ESV translation phrases it. The term carnal comes from the King James, which translates verse four as, are ye not carnal? But here, Paul's not accusing the Corinthians of being in a third spiritual category. Well, more than unregenerate, but in a separate category that is carnal and less than spiritual. Instead, they were spiritually immature in this area. And like all of us Christians, they needed spiritual growth. If we were to allow for a third category of human, the carnal Christian, we'd be saying that, well, God's satisfied with a half-finished project. Those whom God has elected in eternity past, well, they will definitely walk the entire path of the ordo salutis. At this lifelong step of progressive sanctification, some will progress quicker than others. The progress will be better at some times and slower at other times. Now, the Corinthians that we just read about, They're not in a third category of human exempt from sanctification, but they did need to be exhorted in particular areas. They were acting in a merely human way, a merely carnal way in certain areas, but they were not in some kind of separate category of human. As we go through the course of our Christian lives and our sanctification progresses, the fruit of that progress becomes more evident. Scripture has a name for our outward actions that are the result of our new birth and our sanctification. And that name is good works, good works. If you'd like to follow along, I'm going to be next in Ephesians chapter two, verse 10, Ephesians 2.10. As we come to this verse, Paul is drawing a strong contrast between our former life before salvation, when we were spiritually dead, and now that we have life. God is the one who's done this work of new life, and we can't take credit for it. In verse nine, Paul states that our own works could not have contributed to our justification in our new life. We can't boast that our own works had anything to do with our new life. But Paul's not done speaking about works. Now that we are saved, and God has changed us from bad trees to good trees, we now bear good fruit. I'll read from Ephesians chapter two, verse 10, where Paul tells us about the good works that result from God's work. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. This verse, verse 10, tells us several things. First, we are God's workmanship. We are God's project. We didn't save ourselves. And any resulting good works, they're a result of God's project. Next, God's project didn't come to completion when we were first saved. God is still working in us and we come alongside in work. God didn't justify us and then tell us, well, okay, now go out and do good works strictly in your own power. We are still God's project. We do come alongside and work, but the power and direction come from God. Good works would be impossible without the ongoing empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Then next, we were created in Christ Jesus for these good works. The doing of good works is not for a special category of Christian who receives kind of an optional second blessing and goes above and beyond. We were created in Christ Jesus for good works. We can't separate good works from God's project as though good works were some kind of an optional side project. It's not like when someone hires a workman to renovate their kitchen and they ask you, do you want the optional farmhouse style sink? Good works are not optional. They're part of God's project. In fact, the verse tells us that God prepared these good works beforehand, that we should walk in them. We have been predestined by God to have our lives reflect these good works. I'm gonna be next in the gospel of Luke chapter 17, verse 10, Luke 17, 10. This verse settles the question for us in whether we are building some kind of moral bank account ourselves when we do good works. When we do the good works that arise from our sanctification, this doesn't put God somehow in debt to us. Good works are not meritorious for salvation. The presence of good works presupposes that we're already regenerated and justified. Good works are the good fruit from a tree that has already been made good by God. God has already saved us by the merits of Christ. We must not think of our good works as meriting justification. If our own good works somehow had merit for justification, then we'd have to ask, well, how many good works are necessary to be justified? What quality do they have to be before we're really justified and saved? As we come to Luke chapter 17, verse 10, Jesus is instructing his disciples in what their proper view should be concerning our service to him. So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, we are unworthy servants. We have only done what was our duty. The Westminster Confession of Faith tells us what we need to take away from this passage. It says, They who in their obedience attain to the greatest height, which is possible in this life, are so far from being able to super arrogate and to do more than God requires as that they fall short of much in which duty they are bound to do. To pick that apart a little bit, in other words, even if you perfectly accomplished every good work that God predestined for you. And you rose to the greatest obedience possible in this life. You were unable to make God in debt to you. We've only done what was our duty and not beyond that. Now, when I read that definition from the Westminster Confession of Faith, you may have picked up on a strange word that the confession uses, which is the word super arrogate. This is not super irrigate, like if you left your sprinklers on too long and super irrigated your lawn. The word is super arrogate. Super irrigation means to do more than duty requires to do more than duty requires. In the Roman Catholic church, super irrigation describes the works done by Mary and Roman Catholic saints that supposedly go above and beyond what was their duty. So, The Roman Catholic Church compounds several errors. The first error is that one can earn forgiveness of sins by good works, which they call the sacrament of penance. The second error is that an especially devout person, a saint, can perform so many good works that there is an excess of merit. That is supererogation. That excess of merit goes into a kind of a moral bank account or a treasury of merit that the Roman Catholic Church holds. And that treasury of merit is supposedly available to the Roman Catholic Church and their priests to dispense to the faithful when the faithful do their works of penance. Jesus left no room for this error in Luke 17.10. We cannot perform works of super irrigation, building surplus merit or any saving merit of our own in a moral bank account as though we could make God indebted to us. Instead, the way we look at good works from our standpoint is that we've only done our duty. And there's one last point to cover on good works, and that's to give a definition of what good works are. The Heidelberg Catechism defines good works this way. Only those which proceed from a true faith are performed according to the law of God and to his glory and not such as are founded on our imaginations or the institutions of men. So first, a good work that comes from true progressive sanctification has to proceed from true faith and for God's glory. Unsaved people, They may do works that are impressive to other people from a moral standpoint, but if a person is unsaved, their works do not come from a true faith and they don't do them to the glory of God. One passage where we can see the inability of unsaved man to please God is in Hebrews chapter 11, verse six, Hebrews 11, six. In this section, Paul, who I believe to be the author of Hebrews, is naming people in what's been called the hall of faith. And these are examples of people who obeyed God out of faith and who received special mention for their works that came from faith. Hebrews 11.6, and without faith, it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Back in session 32, we looked at the doctrine of total depravity. A total depravity doesn't mean that everyone is as evil as they could possibly be. Instead, it means that there is no part of man left uncontaminated by the fall of Adam. When we were unsaved, we had no capability to will any spiritual good that accompanies salvation. We were incapable by our own strength to save ourselves or even to prepare ourselves for salvation. God had to grant us regeneration or the new birth, the resulting saving faith and justification all by his power. However, because of God's common grace, unsaved mankind is not as evil as they could possibly be. Unsaved people, they do things that from our standpoint are beneficial things. And I'd rather live next door to an unsaved neighbor who shows kindness rather than one who doesn't. but acts of what we called civic righteousness done by unsaved people, not only cannot save, but they're not defined as good works. As Hebrews chapter 11 tells us, without faith, it is impossible to please God. Without the foundation of saving faith, good works cannot be done. Again, I like to interact with nice people, but just as being a nice person will not save that person, just being a nice person does not result in good works from God's viewpoint. As a Heidelberg catechism says, good works are only those that proceed from a true faith. Likewise, good works are those works done by believers out of true faith and also for God's glory. I'll be next in the book of first Peter chapter four, first Peter chapter four. And here, Peter is instructing his readers to live in accordance with who they are in Christ and to leave fleshly passions behind them. They are to be sober minded. They're to love one another. They are to use their spiritual gifts to benefit one another. I'll read from first Peter chapter four, verses 10 and 11. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God, whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies in order that in everything, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to him belong glory and dominion forever and ever, amen. Paul writes here of the two major categories of spiritual gifting, the category of speaking and the category of serving. We are to exercise what gifts God has given to us to serve one another, recognize that we are stewards of what God has given. Then Peter gives the motivation and the final result of these good works in order that in everything, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. Part of the definition of good works is that they have a target, a goal of glorifying God through Jesus Christ. What's the alternative to our activities being directed to glorifying God? The alternative is our works are targeting glorifying ourselves. Next, good works are guided by God's law, a law that shows how to love God and love neighbor. We can't make up activities from our own imaginations and then call them good works. And an example of a work from the imagination of man, is the Roman Catholic practice of reciting prayer formulas using the rosary. This is nothing but the vain repetition of prayer that Jesus warned us against. A few minutes ago, we looked at how our good works do not build some kind of moral bank account, making God somehow indebted to us. This is because scripture tells us from our viewpoint, we're only servants that even at our best, we've only done our duty. But that doesn't mean that God in his grace will not reward our good works on the final day. God rewarding his people will be out of his grace, not because we've earned reward above and beyond our duty. God's grace in rewarding good works is lavish grace. That grace extends to rewarding even small acts, things we'd consider maybe insignificant. I'll read the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. Chapter 10, verse 42. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward. Even this action that we would consider insignificant, a cup of cold water is noticed by God. And on the final day, believers will be lavishly rewarded even for this. where it says he will by no means lose his reward. The Greek uses a double negative, which is the emphatic negative. The ESV translates this emphatic language as by no means. Jesus' promise of reward to his flock for their good works is emphatic and it's sure. The other amazing thing about what Jesus is saying is the contrast between the smallness of the good work versus the lavishness of divine reward. Spurgeon wrote this about this particular verse. He wrote, this, which seems so little, the Lord notices, notices when done to the least of his followers. Evidently it is not the cost or the skill nor the quantity that he looks at, but the motive. That which we do to a disciple, because he is a disciple, his Lord observes and recompenses. He does not reward us for the merit of what we do, but according to the riches of his grace. so we can separate how we look at reward for good works from two points of view. Our point of view should be that we're only engaged in our duty as servants. But from God's point of view, even though our good works are not perfect, our good works are acceptable in Christ and will be rewarded by God in his grace. And I do want to further cover the subject of God's rewards to believers at the final day. But my goal is to cover that subject when we get to eschatology or the study of last things. And we've come to the end of our time tonight. And when we move on at the next study, we'll look at the last step of the ordo salutis, perseverance in holiness, or as it's more often called the perseverance of the saints. And I'm going to close with this quote from Spurgeon. which emphasizes the hatred that Satan has toward our sanctification and good works. The quote also emphasizes that the reason good works survive the attack of the enemy is because the Lord himself is working in us. Here's what Spurgeon wrote. Our good works are the subjects of Satan's attacks. A saint never yet had a virtue or a grace which was not the target for hellish bullets. Whether it was hope, bright and sparkling, or love, warm and fervent, or patience, all enduring, or zeal, flaming like coals of fire, the old enemy of everything that is good has tried to destroy it. The only reason why anything virtuous or lovely survives in us is this, the Lord is there.