Bob Josey - Thriving in Jesus - Introduction - Aug 8, 2021

Thriving in Jesus

Introduction

Pastor Joel Stroud, the author of the book we are using as a guide for this study, used the New King James Version as his base version. Therefore, for this study, I am also going to use the NKJV in referencing Scripture.

Have you ever known anyone of any age who refused to eat or drink anything? I’m not talking about being finicky or someone being on a hunger strike. The kind of person I’m training about usually has some type of medical problem and has to be fed intravenously or maybe forced to drink Ensure.

Do you know of anyone who says they are a Christian and attends Sunday School and worship service at Johnson Ferry or another good church on a regular basis, but does not have seemed to have grown spiritually? This person has told you that they rarely study the Bible because it’s not really interesting or relevant to them. Also, they continue to make unbiblical decisions in relation to their life. From your perspective, is there any reason for concern? What do you think might be the problem.

There are two main problems that may cause a lack of desire to grow spiritually. One, they were not saved. They just go through the motions. Two, Jesus discussed this one in the parable of the soils in Luke 8:14.

Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit (that leads) to maturity.

Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 even gives these believers a name.

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. ² I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; ³ for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men.

The New Testament speaks of three different types of men. The natural man who is lost and does not have the Holy Spirit residing in Him. The spiritual man who

is saved, has the indwelling of the Holy Spirt, and yields himself to the LORD. And the carnal or fleshly man who is saved, has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, but who does not yield himself to the LORD. The carnal Christian does unspiritual things because he is carnal or fleshly. The term carnal is not a reference to the physical body, but to the fallen nature which every believer retains as long as he is in his unredeemed body. The spiritual man is dominated or led by the Holy Spirit and the carnal man is dominated or led by his fallen nature. These carnal believers in Corinth had not grown spiritually but had remained in a state of carnality. There are two reasons why we know these carnal Corinthians were Christians. In 3:1 he called them brethren and babes in Christ. There are certainly Christians today who dominated by their fallen nature and can be considered carnal Christians.

Let’s imagine there is something called a spiritual scale. One is the lowest and ten would be the highest. A new Christian would be a number one on the scale. and ten would be a totally mature believer. The question for each of us to answer is where exactly are we on the spiritual maturity scale? Most of us have been saved many years and have been under the authority of good preachers and teachers such as Brayan Wright, Charles Stanley, Tony Evans, Adrian Rogers, Harrly Hammond, and Clay Smith. So, on a scale of one to ten, one being the lowest and 10 being the highest, where do you think you should be with the amount of spiritual light you have been given? But more importantly where exactly do you think you are?

Now let me ask you a few more questions that might help you decide where you really are on the spiritual scale.

• Do feel you are living the abundant spiritual life Jesus promised in John 10:10?

• Do you feel your life is spiritually fruitful as Jesus said it should be in John 15? In verse 5 Jesus said we should bear much spiritual fruit.

• Can you say the goal of your life can be characterized as “to live is

Christ” as Paul’s said his was in Philippians 1:21?

• Can you also say your life is described by the following characteristics: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control as seen in Galatians 5:22-23?

• Do you consider yourself a mature Christian? There is a definition of a mature Christian in Hebrews that we will study during this series.

• Do you do everything from an unselfish heart and with humility? Do you regard other believers as more important than yourself? Do you look out for the interest of others as you do your own personal interest as Paul exhorted us to do in Philippians 2:3-4?

Just from these few questions, I believe that all of us have to work to do in our spiritual growth. Growing spiritually is sometimes called growing in Jesus/Christ, maturing in Jesus/Christ. Instead of using these common phrases, I wanted to come up with something outside the box. Therefore, I entitled this series, Thriving in Jesus. We do not want to just grow in Jesus, we want to thrive in Jesus. The word thrive means to grow or develop well or vigorously. One who thrives is one who does well, is healthy, and strong. Our goal should be to grow or develop well or vigorously in Jesus which will make us a healthy Christian and a strong Christian.

There are two very important concepts I want to discuss today to help lay the groundwork for our series Thriving in Jesus. These concepts are justification and progressive sanctification.

JUSTIFICATION - Justification is the judicial act of God by which a sinner who trusts Christ as Savior is declared righteous. Being declared righteous is based on what Christ did for the sinner on the cross. A sinner is declared righteous by faith and faith alone in Jesus. After a sinner trusts in Christ, he or she then has a right standing before God. There is nothing whatsoever that can be added or subtracted from justification after one trusts in Jesus. It is complete and finished.

I want to emphasize that when a sinner trusts in Christ as their Savor, they are not made righteous but declared righteous. After church, you stopped into convince store to pick up a few things for lunch. While you were in there, a man without a mask robs the store. There were several people in there including the clerk who got a great look at him. The clerk pushes a silent alarm and the police come to arrest him. While in court, the judge finds out that the police forgot to read the thief his Moranda rights. Therefore, the judge declared him not guilty. Was he guilty? Yes, but because of a technicality, he was declared not guilty. In the same way we are sinners, but because we trusted in Jesus, we are declared righteous because God sees us in Jesus.

santification – Sanctification is completely different than justification. The word sanctification sounds mysterious, “holier-than-thou,” and a little scary. We imagine a sanctified person must have a gloomy face, dress in along black robe, and avoid an upbeat life. He might even be called a legalist. It might remind of you the spiritual advisor for the wife of the last Czar in Russian, who was Nicolai Romanov II. The spiritual advisors name was Grigori Rasputin That is not what biblical sanctification is all about. The word sanctification means “to be holy, to become separate, or to be set apart.”

Justification can be compared to a child being born. Whereas, sanctification can be compared to the growth of a child after birth until adulthood. After a child is born into God’s family by trusting in Jesus, the new child of God should begin to grow spiritually. This spiritual growth is called progressive sanctification. It like a progressive dinner; it happens in stages. A child grows in stages. A believer should grow in stages. As believer begins to grow in stages, they become more and more set apart to God and more set apart from sin. Justification is a one-time act of God but progressive sanctification is a continual process just like the growth of a child. Total spiritual maturity in Jesus is our goal, but we will not attain it until death or the return of Jesus. Sanctification is the greatest work God is doing in the Christian life, the process through which He is making us more Christlike for our good and His glory. The chart below compares justification to progressive sanctification.

Are there any Questions or Comments about justification or sanctification?

There is one other concept that is similar to progressive sanctification. That concept is transformation. To be transformed means that a marked change, as in appearance or character, usually occurs for the better. Transformation is a process not a onetime event like being born. A baby is transformed into an adult. We call this maturity. In nature it is called metamorphosis. A tadpole is transformed or changes into a frog and a caterpillar transformed or changes into a butterfly. In the spiritual realm a new born babe in Christ should begin a lifelong process of transformation into a mature Christian. Paul in two of his epistles used the word transformation.

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

In this verse1 Paul is encouraging his readers to present or yield themselves - body, soul, and spirit - to God as a living and holy sacrifice. In the Old Testament dead sacrifices were offered to God, but since the New Testament believer’s body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, the totality of one’s life and activities should be yielded or presented to God. A holy sacrifice is one that is “set apart to God and from sin.” The mercy or compassion of God gives the reason or basis for believers to yield or present themselves as a living sacrifice. The mercy or compassion of God was laid out by Paul in detail in chapters 1-11. A living and set apart sacrifice that is yielded to God is acceptable to God. An acceptable sacrifice or acceptable food that was eaten under the Law of Moses acceptable to God was considered Kosher. When a believer yields himself or herself to God as a living sacrifice, they are considered Kosher by God. As a Priest under the law of Moses performed his duties or ministries, they were considered services of worship. Today a believer who presents himself or herself as a living and holy sacrifice is performing his or her service of worship.

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Not only are believers to present themselves to God as a living and holy sacrifice but are also not to be conformed to this world. The word conform means to be molded like or formed like. It’s like putting cake batter into Bundt cake pan. After it’s baked, it will take the shape of the Bundt mold.

The term world is not the earth we live on but as defined by Charles Ryrie in footnote on 1 John 2:15 as “that organized system headed by Satan that leaves God out and is a rival to Him. Though God loves the world of men (John 3:16), believers are not to love at all that which organizes them against God.”

Before I read another definition of the term world, I want to explain what a pitcher plant is because he uses it in his definition. “Pitcher plants are several different carnivorous plants which have modified leaves known as pitfall traps—a prey-trapping mechanism featuring a deep cavity filled with digestive liquid. The plants attract and drown their prey with nectar”. (Wikipedia)

J. Garrett Kell, in his book Purity of Heart, defines world as “A Satan-inspired system that caters to fleshly cravings by promising fulfillment apart from God. Like the pitcher plant, the world radiates images and ideas that serve our sinful desires. The world aggressively markets sin. It assures great pleasures, but hides the price tag. It denounces what God glorifies and glamorizes what God denounces.^”

Instead of being conformed to this evil system run by Satan, a believer is to be transformed. The verb transformed is translated from the Greek word metamorphoo. A tadpole is transformed or changes into a frog in 14 weeks after birth. A caterpillar is transformed or changes into a butterfly between 5 and 21 days after being in a cocoon. A new believer in Jesus is expected to be transformed into a mature Christian if they live a normal lifespan. It’s very clear from the Greek verb metamorphoo that spiritual transformation is not something we do ourselves. It is something that God does to us and for us with our cooperation. How does God accomplish this? Through the renewing of our mind. We will discuss how later in this series how to renew a believer’s mind so they will know what the good, acceptable and the perfect will of God for their lives is.

2 Corinthians 3:18 is other verse that refers to the spiritual transformation of believers.

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Moses went into the presence and the glory of the Lord for 40 days and nights. When he returned his face was radiant and began to diminish little by little when he returned to the people. Paul is telling us here that in contrast to Moses, believers are being transformed or changed by the Holy Spirit from one stage of glory to another. This is what progressive sanctification is. It is maturing in Jesus in stages.

Our goal as believers in Jesus for studying the Bible is transformation and sanctification not just information. We must learn information and facts contained in the Bible to know what the Lord wants us to do and not do. Tadpoles want to become frogs and caterpillar what to become butterflies. Do you want to be transformed into the image of Christ? The Holy Spirit can never change you into what He wants you to be if you allow your Bible to remain in your bookshelf or on nightstand day by day.

For most of us we have little time left on this earth compared to what we have had. Even though it’s almost over for most of us, we should always strive to thrive in Jesus. One of our goals for the Christian life should always be to be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Another way of saying that is we should continue to mature in Jesus. During this series, we are going learn how to that.

Next week we are going to discuss chapter 1 of Rightly Related. Please read and study chapter 1 and ruminate over it.!

Questions or Comments?