************ Sermon on Belgic Confession Articles 24 & 25 ************
Doctrine: Sanctification
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on November 22, 1998
B.C. 24, 25
Luke 13:6-9
"Sinners Who Are Saints"
Introduction
Do you know who I see sitting in front of me this evening? Over there is Saint ____, and there is Saint ____, and I see Saint ____ and Saint ____ too. And standing in front of you this evening is Saint Adrian.
Few of us want to be called saints in the popular meaning of the word. We don't want anyone to think we have a "holier than thou" attitude. Most of us are turned off by people who "wear their religion on their sleeve" or who act piously in front of others.
I don't call you "saints" because you are so holy and pious. I don't call you "saints" because you are so good and perfect. I don't call you "saints" because you are so heavenly minded and on such a high spiritual plane. For if that is the definition of a saint, then only Jesus fills the bill.
Why, then, do I call you saints? Because that's the way the Bible speaks of Christians. The Bible doesn't hesitate to call us saints:
(Eph 1:1) Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:
(Phil 1:1) Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
(cf Rom 1:1,7; 2 Cor 1:1,2; etc)
What is a saint in the Bible? To be a saint does not mean the absence of wrong or sin. To be a saint in the Bible means to have the Spirit of Jesus living within you. To be a saint in the Bible means to consecrate yourself to God by fighting sin and living the new life. Not a single one of the saints on this earth are perfect, but we make it our goal to strive for this anyway.
Sinners who are saints – that's what we are dealing with today as we look at the doctrine of sanctification. Sanctification is the word used to describe the process of kicking the habit of sin. It is the word used to describe how a person becomes more and more holy, more and more Christ-like. Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit within us once we have accepted God's acceptance of us because of Christ Jesus.
Sin has two effects on every person's life. It's first effect is guilt. We are all guilty in God's eyes and worthy of hell and eternal damnation because of the sin we are born with as well as the sin we actually commit. This guilt is removed and replaced with righteousness because of the death and resurrection of Jesus. This we know as justification. The second effect of sin is pollution. We are all born with sin, the curse of sin, the effects of sin. Sin is to be found in every part of our existence. This pollution of sin is removed in sanctification by the operation of the Holy Spirit.
The doctrine of sanctification means that God's Holy Spirit has a goal in mind for us saints, for each of us who are God's children. It is a grand, sweeping, wonderful goal. It is a goal impossible for man on his own to accomplish. Do you know what this goal is? It is perfection! The Holy Spirit's goal for our life is perfection. He wants to make us all as perfect as Jesus is perfect.
This sort of goal cannot be accomplished overnight. It takes a life-time of work on the part of the Holy Spirit to make us perfect. Even then, it isn't accomplished until we leave this life.
Why does it take so long, you may ask? Because sometimes we resist the Spirit; other times we cooperate with the Spirit. God may work salvation in us. But it is we, with the Holy Spirit, who must work salvation out (Phil 2:12-13). Don't forget, we are sinners who are saints!
I True Faith Produces Good Works
A In Luke 13 Jesus tells us a parable about a barren fig tree in a vineyard. Each element of the parable represents something or someone. The owner of the vineyard is God; the gardener is the Spirit of Christ, the vineyard is Israel (or the church); and the fig tree is the individual believer.
We are told of a master who enters into His vineyard and heads straight for a fig tree to look for fruit. This is what God looks for in the lives of all believers – He looks for fruit, for good works, for proof that we are one of His children and belong in His vineyard.
On this tree, however, the master finds no fruit. So he says to the man who takes care of the vineyard, "For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any."
The book of Leviticus (chapt 23) tells us the God-ordained time sequence for fig trees. Fig trees are allowed three years in which to grow after being planted. The next three years the fruit is considered unclean and therefore forbidden. The fruit of the seventh year belongs to the Lord. Now, we are told the master has looked for figs for three years and found none. This means the fig tree has already lived for ten years in the vineyard and is still unproductive. When you further consider that in Palestine a healthy fig tree produces fruit ten months of the year, the situation appears hopeless.
The master proposes a radical response to the problem of the barren fig tree: "Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?" The barren fig tree takes up space that could be better used by a fruitful plant. It drains minerals, nutrients, and moisture from the soil that could be better used by the grapes or another plant.
In the Greek language the actual words of the master are more vivid than "Cut it down." The actual words are "Dig it out." The trunk, the stump, the roots – all are to be removed. The unfruitful tree is to be totally eliminated from the garden. This shows us how far the master is willing to go for the good of his vineyard.
This parable gives us some idea of how badly God wants to see the fruit of good works, holiness, and righteousness in the lives of His children. God wants His people to be fruitful, to be sanctified and holy, to be the saints they really are. And, if God does not find this fruit in us, then He wants us removed from His vineyard, from His church, from His garden. You see, unfruitful Christians are like unfruitful fig trees – they are a drain on resources. They take up time and energy that could be better used elsewhere in the Lord's vineyard. So, for the good of the whole church they must be removed.
B The Belgic Confession of Faith expresses the same thought so very clearly. True faith, says the Confession, is to have a radical effect on the life of the believer:
[it] regenerates him and makes him a "new man."
causing him to live the "new life"
and freeing him from the slavery of sin.
The Christian, having been justified, is now expected to lead a good and holy life. In fact, "it is impossible for this holy faith to be unfruitful in a human being." Faith is a "good root" which naturally produces fruit. This needed to be said for two reasons. First, the Roman Catholic Church charged the Reformation with having no place for good works. Don't forget, the Roman Catholics said that good works save you or help to save you. The Reformers, on the other hand, said that you are saved by Christ alone and not by works. So how do good works fit in? The Confession's response is that those who are justified are now expected to lead a good and holy life. The second reason the Belgic Confession had to say this is because some radical, fringe groups of the Reformation engaged in lawlessness and immorality; these groups believed so strongly in salvation by grace and not by works that they did away with the law.
C Examine your life, my brothers and sisters, for fruit, for good works, for holiness. If God were to walk through His vineyard in Trinity would He find fruit on the individual trees? Would He find fruit in your life? Would He find people who belong in His vineyard? Or, would He order you to be dug out of His vineyard and thrown away?
If you really are a child of God there ought to be evident changes in your life and lifestyle. If you really are a child of God you ought to be able to see a growing holiness in your life from year to year. If you really are a child of God, you should find yourself more and more able to keep His law. I am not asking you to compare yourself to the person sitting next to you or in front of you. Compare yourself to the way you were a year ago or five years ago. Is there a positive, holy change in your life? Does God find fruit on your tree?
II Good Works Motivated and Rewarded by God
A In the parable of the barren fig tree the gardener proposes a solution in order to make the tree productive: he will dig around it and add fertilizer. Since a fig tree does not require much care or attention what the gardener proposes to do is most unusual. But the gardener is willing to do this because the situation is desperate.
Notice, if the tree finally produces the fruit the master wants, it does so only because help comes to the tree from the outside. Renewal can't come from within the tree itself. It cannot gather the strength it needs from its own roots. The gardener must act to make the tree bear fruit.
It is the same with good works, with sanctification, with becoming more and more holy and more and more Christ-like. We can't take credit for the good we do. It is a gift of God. The fruit we bear is a direct result of God and His Spirit at work within us.
B The Confession of Faith wants to make sure we understand the same point:
... we are indebted to God for the good works we do,
and not he to us,
since it is he who "works in us both to will and do
according to his good pleasure ...
Good works are God's gifts to us; they are not our gifts to God. Therefore, God does not owe us a reward for our goodness.
It is God Who motivates us to do good works. It is God Who motivates us to lead a holy life. Sanctification may involve the will and action of man but without God's continuing work we stagnate or even slide backwards to our sinful ways.
It is God's grace that allows us to make progress from year to year and decade to decade. Certain old habits begin to lose their grip on us and certain new and better ones take their place only because of God's grace.
God even rewards the good works He enables us to do. He doesn't have to; yet, by grace, God does reward us for the good that He has enabled and motivated us to do. This ought to encourage us all to cooperate with the Spirit of Christ in becoming more and more holy and more and more Christ-like.
C God, out of grace, may reward the good we do. But, the good we do can never be the basis for salvation. You aren't saved because of good works; rather, you are saved for good works. Trying to save yourself by good works is like putting the cart in front of the horse or the trailer in front of the truck or the wagon in front of the tractor. It just does not work. We do good works because we are saved. We lead a holy life because we have been redeemed. Even the Ten Commandments emphasize this. In the introduction to His Law what does God say? He says, "I am the Lord your God, who brought out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." Before telling us His will the Lord reminds us that He is the God of salvation. In other words, our obedience to God's Law is to be our response to God's great act of salvation.
Why can't good works save us? Three reasons are mentioned by the Confession. First of all, good works are done only by saved people, not by people trying to be saved. The example the Confession uses here is a fruit tree. Good fruit can be obtained from a fruit tree only if the tree itself is good. You can't get good fruit from a tree that is bad. Likewise, Christian fruit can only come from those who are saved and not from those who are unsaved.
Second, good works cannot save us because even the good we do is not good enough.
... we cannot do any work
that is not defiled by our flesh
and also worthy of punishment.
Third, good works cannot save us because even one sin is enough to send us to hell and nullifies all the good we do:
memory of a single sin is enough
for God to reject that work.
Conclusion
The overall picture of Luke 13 presents God as a gracious and merciful God. Yes, the master finds no fruit and is angry about this. Yet, He is willing to be patient. He is willing to allow the tree more time to produce good fruit.
God is the same way towards us. God is patient with us when we do not bear the fruit He is looking for. This does not mean He is happy about it – for He still wants fruit. Nevertheless, God is willing to be patient.
The master's patience, however, is not endless. That is why the parable ends with these words about the fig tree: "If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down."
This warning is intended for us. There comes a time when God will stop being patient. He wants fruit. He looks for fruit. He will not be forever denied in His desire for fruit. Eventually, He will cast all those out of His vineyard who are unproductive, unfruitful in the Christian life.
Why is God so insistent on fruit? Because it is impossible for those with true faith to be unfruitful. It is impossible for saints – though they are sinners – to be unfruitful. And those who are unfruitful – we can only conclude that they don't have true faith. And, if they don't have true faith they don't belong in God's vineyard.