What is Sanctification?
Living in the Freedom of the Spirit
Why do you go to church?
It's a question worth pondering. Some attend out of habit—it's simply what they've always done. Others come because they have responsibilities: teaching Sunday school, serving as ushers, or singing on the worship team. Many seek the moral teachings and values that church provides for themselves and their families. And then there are those who come searching for truth, reaching toward something they haven't quite grasped yet.
But there's another group—the resolute. These are people whose faith is marked by firmness and determination. They gather because they love Jesus and His people. They come because they long to hear God's word, because they yearn to meet Christ, because they need the God-centered reorientation that worship provides. They cannot conceive of a life following Jesus that doesn't include His bride, the church.
The difference? Freedom. The resolute don't come because they have to—they come because they want to.
The Battle Between Flesh and Spirit
In Galatians 5, the apostle Paul addresses a fundamental tension in the Christian life: "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."
This freedom Paul speaks of is revolutionary. Early Christians struggled with the question of whether they still needed to follow Old Testament law—particularly circumcision—to be saved. After all, God had established circumcision as a covenant sign with Abraham in Genesis 17. For generations, it marked someone as belonging to God's people.
But Jesus changed everything. His death on the cross freed us from trying to keep a covenant we could never perfectly maintain. Now, all who place their faith in Jesus are children of God—not through works, but through faith alone.
Paul warns against adding anything to the finished work of Christ. When we say, "Yes, Jesus saved you, but you also need to do this," we diminish what Jesus accomplished on the cross. We cannot add to something already completed.
The Works of the Flesh
Yet Paul includes a crucial asterisk: don't use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.
The works of the flesh come in categories. There are the "big" sins we easily condemn: sexual immorality, sorcery, orgies. Most of us can confidently say we don't engage in these.
Then there's a second tier: impurity, fits of anger, drunkenness, sensuality. Some might check these boxes occasionally, but many still feel relatively safe.
But the third category catches everyone: enmity, strife, jealousy, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, and envy. These "small" sins—the bad thoughts about others, the discontent with our own lives—reveal that the flesh works against all of us.
And then there's the greatest work of the flesh: idolatry.
We think of idolatry as bowing to carved statues, something ancient people did but we've outgrown. Yet idolatry is "extreme or excessive attachment and devotion to someone or something other than God."
Do we spend more time on our phones than in our Bibles? Do we talk more about politics than God's kingdom? Do we praise or curse people made in God's image? All sin is idolatry because we place that sin ahead of God.
Paul's warning is sobering: "Those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." All sin—big or small—separates us from God and leads to death.
The Fruit of the Spirit
But here's the beautiful truth: life in the Spirit desires things that lead to life, not death.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Let's unpack what these really mean:
Love is a choice, a verb, an action. It's not warm feelings but choosing to do good to others because it's right.
Joy removes circumstances from the equation. It's choosing to see the good in all things, focusing on how God is with you and growing you through difficulties.
Peace is not the absence of conflict but healthy resolution to it. Peace is rooted in empathy and understanding.
Patience requires seeing life through another person's eyes, recognizing they're probably not trying to irritate you the way you're allowing yourself to be irritated.
Kindness means doing what is kind—not just for their benefit, but for yours. When you speak well and do well to others, it changes your heart.
Goodness is simple: always do the right thing. As 1 Peter 3:9 says, "Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless."
Faithfulness means being trustworthy to your word. Your faithfulness reflects your faith in God's promises and His faithfulness.
Gentleness is acting toward others how you would want God to act toward you.
Self-control is the freedom to choose your response. Between stimulus and response, you have self-awareness, imagination, conscience, and independent will—all allowing you to decide how to react.
Paul concludes: "Against such things there is no law." When you follow the fruit of the Spirit, you fulfill all of God's law because this is what it's all about—loving and serving one another and God.
Freedom in Christ
Martin Luther once hated the expression "righteousness of God" because he knew he could never be good enough. He exhausted himself trying to be obedient. Then Romans 1:17 reminded him that we are made righteous by faith. Luther discovered freedom in the Spirit, later teaching, "I did nothing; the Word did everything."
This is the heart of spiritual freedom: knowing that God has freed you from the consequence of sin, that His goodness knows no bounds, that His Spirit draws you to Him.
When your eyes are fixed on this hope, the Spirit naturally flows through you.
Think of yourself as a charioteer between earth and heaven. A black horse pulls toward worldly things; a white horse pulls toward heavenly things. When you focus on what the white horse desires, the black horse loses its appeal. When you focus on what Christ has done and won for you in heaven, earth loses its grip.
A Simple Challenge
Here's a practical way to reorient your life toward the Spirit: for the next 150 days, read one psalm each day. Just five minutes with the Lord at the start of your day, focusing on His goodness.
When you do this, you'll discover how easy it becomes to live free in the Spirit, how naturally the sanctified life flows from a heart focused on God's promises.
Your spiritual walk should not be exhausting. Jesus said, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." Freedom in Christ means you want the things of the Lord—not because you have to, but because your heart has been transformed.
That's life in the Spirit. That's freedom.
Grace and peace,
Why do you go to church?
It's a question worth pondering. Some attend out of habit—it's simply what they've always done. Others come because they have responsibilities: teaching Sunday school, serving as ushers, or singing on the worship team. Many seek the moral teachings and values that church provides for themselves and their families. And then there are those who come searching for truth, reaching toward something they haven't quite grasped yet.
But there's another group—the resolute. These are people whose faith is marked by firmness and determination. They gather because they love Jesus and His people. They come because they long to hear God's word, because they yearn to meet Christ, because they need the God-centered reorientation that worship provides. They cannot conceive of a life following Jesus that doesn't include His bride, the church.
The difference? Freedom. The resolute don't come because they have to—they come because they want to.
The Battle Between Flesh and Spirit
In Galatians 5, the apostle Paul addresses a fundamental tension in the Christian life: "For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."
This freedom Paul speaks of is revolutionary. Early Christians struggled with the question of whether they still needed to follow Old Testament law—particularly circumcision—to be saved. After all, God had established circumcision as a covenant sign with Abraham in Genesis 17. For generations, it marked someone as belonging to God's people.
But Jesus changed everything. His death on the cross freed us from trying to keep a covenant we could never perfectly maintain. Now, all who place their faith in Jesus are children of God—not through works, but through faith alone.
Paul warns against adding anything to the finished work of Christ. When we say, "Yes, Jesus saved you, but you also need to do this," we diminish what Jesus accomplished on the cross. We cannot add to something already completed.
The Works of the Flesh
Yet Paul includes a crucial asterisk: don't use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh.
The works of the flesh come in categories. There are the "big" sins we easily condemn: sexual immorality, sorcery, orgies. Most of us can confidently say we don't engage in these.
Then there's a second tier: impurity, fits of anger, drunkenness, sensuality. Some might check these boxes occasionally, but many still feel relatively safe.
But the third category catches everyone: enmity, strife, jealousy, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, and envy. These "small" sins—the bad thoughts about others, the discontent with our own lives—reveal that the flesh works against all of us.
And then there's the greatest work of the flesh: idolatry.
We think of idolatry as bowing to carved statues, something ancient people did but we've outgrown. Yet idolatry is "extreme or excessive attachment and devotion to someone or something other than God."
Do we spend more time on our phones than in our Bibles? Do we talk more about politics than God's kingdom? Do we praise or curse people made in God's image? All sin is idolatry because we place that sin ahead of God.
Paul's warning is sobering: "Those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." All sin—big or small—separates us from God and leads to death.
The Fruit of the Spirit
But here's the beautiful truth: life in the Spirit desires things that lead to life, not death.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Let's unpack what these really mean:
Love is a choice, a verb, an action. It's not warm feelings but choosing to do good to others because it's right.
Joy removes circumstances from the equation. It's choosing to see the good in all things, focusing on how God is with you and growing you through difficulties.
Peace is not the absence of conflict but healthy resolution to it. Peace is rooted in empathy and understanding.
Patience requires seeing life through another person's eyes, recognizing they're probably not trying to irritate you the way you're allowing yourself to be irritated.
Kindness means doing what is kind—not just for their benefit, but for yours. When you speak well and do well to others, it changes your heart.
Goodness is simple: always do the right thing. As 1 Peter 3:9 says, "Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless."
Faithfulness means being trustworthy to your word. Your faithfulness reflects your faith in God's promises and His faithfulness.
Gentleness is acting toward others how you would want God to act toward you.
Self-control is the freedom to choose your response. Between stimulus and response, you have self-awareness, imagination, conscience, and independent will—all allowing you to decide how to react.
Paul concludes: "Against such things there is no law." When you follow the fruit of the Spirit, you fulfill all of God's law because this is what it's all about—loving and serving one another and God.
Freedom in Christ
Martin Luther once hated the expression "righteousness of God" because he knew he could never be good enough. He exhausted himself trying to be obedient. Then Romans 1:17 reminded him that we are made righteous by faith. Luther discovered freedom in the Spirit, later teaching, "I did nothing; the Word did everything."
This is the heart of spiritual freedom: knowing that God has freed you from the consequence of sin, that His goodness knows no bounds, that His Spirit draws you to Him.
When your eyes are fixed on this hope, the Spirit naturally flows through you.
Think of yourself as a charioteer between earth and heaven. A black horse pulls toward worldly things; a white horse pulls toward heavenly things. When you focus on what the white horse desires, the black horse loses its appeal. When you focus on what Christ has done and won for you in heaven, earth loses its grip.
A Simple Challenge
Here's a practical way to reorient your life toward the Spirit: for the next 150 days, read one psalm each day. Just five minutes with the Lord at the start of your day, focusing on His goodness.
When you do this, you'll discover how easy it becomes to live free in the Spirit, how naturally the sanctified life flows from a heart focused on God's promises.
Your spiritual walk should not be exhausting. Jesus said, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." Freedom in Christ means you want the things of the Lord—not because you have to, but because your heart has been transformed.
That's life in the Spirit. That's freedom.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Dave
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