The Key to Holiness - Jesus

August 4, 2013 Evening:

Title: The Sanctifier of the Sanctified

Old Testament Passage: Psalm 104:31-35 – May the Glory of the Lord endure forever.

Gospel Passage: Mark 11:15-19 – Jesus Cleanses the Temple

Sermon Text: Hebrews 2:11a “For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source....”

Sermon Point: Jesus is cleansing a new temple.

[11] For he who sanctifies

Our lives now have a very important purpose. Though each person may struggle with some of the details of his or her calling, we are all called to be holy, set apart for God, and filled with His Spirit as the new temple of God. We live in the midst of a world that has been defiled by sin. But if we confess our sin, He is gracious and just, not only to forgive our sin, but also to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

This is the will of God, your sanctification.

The One who sanctifies is God. He is holy, and He makes us to be holy by the gift of Himself. We have Christ in us, the hope of glory. Peter says that we have been made partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

and those who are sanctified

Our Father in heaven, Jesus His Son, and the Holy Spirit of God are together the Source of sanctification in the church. We who have faith in God are the object of God's loving motions of sanctification. Our Lord, who disciplines those He loves, is not content to leave us unclean. He sees the impurity in us, just as surely as He saw the problem in the Old Testament temple, which had become a den of robbers.

The Lord will use His Word, among other means of grace, to show us our stains and to enable us to walk as a new holy temple of the Lord.

all have one source. (out of one [are] all)

The words that are translated here, “all have one source,” are literally, “out of One all,” or “all are of One.” The author wants us to see the closeness between God and His people through Jesus Christ.

The Lord's intention is not the building of an imposing structure that will impress men, but the gathering of a people that will be a living holy temple for His presence forever. This is the way that He has chosen to display His glory into eternity, through this temple of people. He has zeal for this glorious house.

Applications:

1. Sanctification is your primary calling in life. How is that work going? How has the Lord sanctified you during the last month? What holiness has He worked in you?

2. Do you feel all alone in the work of holiness? That feeling is not accurate or helpful. If you are in Christ, then He is in you, and all are of this One. Knowing that and learning to rely on Him in your work of sanctification may be the key to real progress.

3. There is no way to be sanctified outside of Christ.