Pleasing God through Progressive Sanctification

When there are just two choices on the shelf, pleasing God or pleasing self, choose wisely!  

True believers "make it our goal to please Him, whether we are at home in the body or absent from it" (2 Cor. 5:9).  Pleasing Christ and glorifying God (1 Cor. 10:31) is one of the major themes emphasized in the biblical counseling movement and rightly so!  It's also the central theme in Dr. R.C. Sproul's book on sanctification, "Pleasing God: Discovering the Meaning and Importance of Sanctification."  

The only perfect Man who has ever been provides a perfect life example of this life and death commitment.  Jesus Christ, God's "beloved Son" always pleased the Father (Matthew 3:17; 17:5; John 12:28).  On three occasions God spoke audibly from heaven and declared that He was well pleased with His Holy, Holy, Holy Son.  

When considering the perfect obedience of Christ the hymn writer rightly declares, "Oh to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer, this is my constant longing and prayer; Gladly I'll forfeit all of life's treasurers, Jesus Thy perfect likeness to wear."  As those justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone long to obey God and please Christ "in all respects' (Col. 1:10).  Unfortunately, the spirit is willing but the flesh is oh so weak (Matt. 26:41).  We need the Helper's help more than we often realize (John 14-16). When Christians fail to "walk in the Spirit" we need the LORD's tender mercies and forgiveness (1 Jn 1:7-9; Psalm 32).  Thankfully, we worship, love, and serve "the God of of all grace and second chances."

But back to our blessed Lord and Savior.  The Lord Jesus made it clear, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work" (John 4:34).  As the long-awaited Messiah (John 20:31), the incarnate Word of God (John 1:1-14), always yielded His human will to the Father's perfect plan (Luke 22:42).  Unlike us, the Son of God is intrinsically righteous, and unlike us, He always trusted and obeyed!

In the aforementioned book, Dr. Sproul writes, "In the Christian life, there is an upward call.  One does not move upward in a circle.  We are on a line going somewhere.  It is moving forward.  In a word, there is progress in the Christian life." It's not an easy road or a straight line to glory mind you.  It's often, two steps forward, one back.  One step forward, one back.  Three forward, two back.   In John Bunyan's classic, "The Pilgrims Progress" Bunyan understand the many dangers, toils, and snares that stand in the path of every Christian, not to mention, the sin "which so easily entangles us" (Heb. 12:1-3).  "But Mr. Bunyan also understood two vitally important truths about the Christian life:  we are pilgrims, and we make progress."  In the words of Ephesians 2:10, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."  Commenting on Ephesians 2:10, Sproul adds, "Jesus does not fashion His art on an assembly line.  His work of molding and shaping is done with infinite care and patience.  We have seen the bumper sticker, 'Be patient with me, God is not finished with me yet.'  There is truth in that statement."

Progressive sanctification is a process.  It is a gradual process.  Run from those who promote unbiblical paradigms of sanctification.  Be it from the hyper-grace movement or from those who promise a "second work of grace" followed by sinless perfection/instant sanctification.  On this point, Sproul notes, "Rebirth/regeneration is instantaneous.  Justification is instantaneous.  But sanctification is a lifelong process.  It involves a diligent struggle against a multitude of obstacles...It is a journey that takes us through the dark night of the soul, through the valley of the shadow of death, and through the wilderness of temptation."  The Puritans really understood this life-long struggle and holy war.  Hence, books like John Owen's, "The Mortification of Sin" and Thomas Watson's "the Doctrine of Repentance" and "Heaven Taken by Storm: Showing Forth the Holy Violence a Christian is to Put Forth in the Pursuit of Glory."

Sanctified sweat is to be expected.  Along the way we will sometimes succumb to the flesh, the world, and the Tempter's tailor made temptations.  The journey and final victory however are certain!  "Christ promises to go with us and to bring us out the other side.  Our Lord finishes what He starts... The Lord is intensely interested in our welfare and our maturing (Hebrews 12:5-10).  He wants us to learn more and more about God and how to please Him.  He wants us to find joy in pleasing Him (1 John 5:3; Psalm 119:97; Psalm 19:11)...He wants us to change.  He helps us to change.  This growth in pleasing God is called sanctification."

Resolutions of the Righteous

Best estimates tell us that nearly 40% of the population engages in the annual practice of setting New Year’s Resolutions. Those same statistics tell us that fewer than 8% of people actually fulfill their resolutions and that the majority have failed by the time February rolls around. There a number of reasons people make – and fail – their personal goals. Despite the high rate of failure, many of us recognize the importance of setting goals because we understand that “if you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.” The setting of and striving towards certain goals is a critical part of personal development and professional achievement.

When applied to personal sanctification, however, this old maxim still rings true. Godliness doesn’t just happen—you must be proactive in pursuing it. That is why we are given commands throughout Scripture towards that end. At the end of the day, there is a single resolution that matters before the Lord and it has to do with selecting the pathway your life will follow. For those reading this article who know and fear God, we know that righteousness is required from all of God’s people. With that in mind, as we look towards setting our priorities for the new year, how do we, as people who desire godliness, plan for righteousness? To help us answer that question let’s take a look at Psalm 1.

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.

Holiness and the Pursuit of Godliness: resource recommendations

The following resources are biblically sound helps as we seek to wage war against indwelling sin and pursue holiness.

1) J. C. Ryle-  Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots 

2) Kris Lundgaard- The Enemy Within: Straight Talk About the Power and Defeat of Sin.

3) John Owen- The Mortification of Sin.

4) Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is): Sexual Purity in a Lust-Saturated World

Colossians 3:5-11, Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, 7 and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him— 11 a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all.

Hebrews 12:14, Pursue peace and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.

(Understanding) Righteousness In Three Words

Righteousness is an important biblical concept.  As unrighteous people it is difficult to get our arms around the absolute holiness of God (see for example Isaiah 6 or Revelation 4-5).

Pastor John MacArthur provides a helpful summary of this key concept using three words: Law, Grace, and Obedience.

1) Righteousness is defined by Law. 

You want to know what righteousness is? What it is to be right with God?  Holiness is defined by the Law.  The holy Law of God defines perfect righteousness (see Rom. 7).  Our Creator's holy character is revealed in the righteous Word of truth (see Psalm 119).  As we gaze into God's righteous Law it reveals our many blemishes and moral imperfections (like a mirror). 

We need to be opposed to the light of God's word to not affirm that "there is none righteous, no not one" (Romans 3) and that we "ALL fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23; 6:23).  This leads to a very important question: How are you going to be righteous? 

2)  Righteousness is empowered by Grace. 

First of all, righteousness is imputed to us by grace and then it's imparted to us by grace (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4). So righteousness is defined by law and empowered by grace.  We can't keep the law and therefore we must throw ourselves on the mercy of God.  His holiness becomes ours through imputation (2 Cor. 5:21).  By and through God's sanctifying grace we are empowered to keep the law of God and grow in godliness. The fruit of faith and love is obedience (Eph. 2:8-10).  This transitions us perfectly into a third key principle.