 Good morning everyone. Thank you for joining class the last day of this week. Before we begin class, can I ask Isaac Bendy to lead us in prayer please? Okay, let us pray. Father in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who come before you this morning. We want to thank you for everything you are doing and you are going to do for us. We thank God for our lecturers. We thank God for all our classmates for making us meet today to listen to your word. We want to ask that your grace may cover us as we continue to go through the cause. Let the Holy Spirit impact your word, let the word be afloat in our lives so that we can be a good example to others. We thank you for everything in Jesus mighty name. Amen. Amen. Thank you. On Wednesday we began looking at chapter seven the doctrine of redemption and the doctrine of justification and sanctification. So on Wednesday we looked at what redemption means and to get a whole idea of this word redeem or redeeming redemption. We looked at various Greek words as mentioned in the verses in the Bible and scripture and we tried to understand or get a better understanding of what the doctrine of redemption is and we also looked at what we are redeemed from and what are the benefits of redemption. Today we look at the doctrine of justification and sanctification. So what do you understand by this term or this word justification? What do you understand by the word justify justification? Justification as you come to understand is like when you are accused and brought before the court of law just for an example and then in the cause of justice the the judge says you are acquitted you are declared free you are not guilty as charged you are set free. So justification is like Jesus redeemed redeeming us from the wages of sin that's my understanding. Thank you Isaac good understanding a good example as well the courtroom where you know the person who is convicted of doing something that is wrong is justified as pronounced not guilty and set free. Super she says someone who's the justification means declared righteous thank you. Yes Lubega you had your hand up. Biblical justification means we were guilty of sin and the innocent being Jesus Christ after being convicted for death he came in and said no let me take up the position of the sinner and he was killed on our part or he was crucified for our own sins so this is this is how I take it we were already guilty by the sin of one man Adam so we all were supposed to be to get our penalty which was death but an innocent man came and said instead of colleagues instead of John instead of who to be killed let me offer my innocence and the court was accepted and we was killed on our behalf. Thank you Pastor. Thank you for that good explanation yes we were sinful we are guilty but Jesus the righteous one the sinless one died in our place and took on our guilt our punishment and hence we were pronounced as not guilty as someone who's innocent completely forgiven and declared righteous yes in the courtroom of God we are standing as now as people were justified because of the righteousness of Jesus Christ because he took our punishment he took our place and hence we are justified thank you for that good detail explanation anyone else wants to add to what Isaac and Lubega said uh Subashi said declared righteous so what does righteous mean? Justification biblically means like when God forgives he justifies us like as if we have not sinned yeah as if we have not sinned never sinned. Thank you Rosalind for that explanation yes it's true that you know because of what Christ did for us on our behalf now we stand justified in the presence of God in the courtroom of God so to say we stand in his presence and God sees us just as if we have never sinned and it's because of what Christ has done for us and because of his righteousness so what does thank you Rosalind for that good explanation what does righteousness mean? Right stand with God. Thank you John yes righteousness means that we have a right standing with God that we are able to relate to God just like Adam and Eve had a right standing with God when they were created but when they sinned they became enemies of God they lost their standing with God but now we have a right standing with God and once we believe Jesus Christ as our person savior the word of God says in Ephesians that we are seated in heavenly realms that is our standing our standing is that we are you know made righteous or right in God's sight with no free from guilt free from all sin right also means that we belong to belong now to God's family we are sons and daughters and also right standing means that you know we are not seen as enemies of God but we are now friends of God thank you all for your valuable inputs appreciate that so justified basically means that like Isaac said you know we are in the courtroom and we are seen as sinners but because of what Jesus has done we are declared as acquitted we are declared not guilty we are completely forgiven we are made innocent and made just as if we have never sinned okay isn't that wonderful that the moment we accept Jesus as our Lord and our Savior that we are acquitted we are declared not guilty we are completely forgiven made innocent made just as if I never sinned just imagine you standing in that box where you know you are guilty of what you have done guilty of some wrongdoing and you deserve the punishment and you are so frightened whether you know I mean of course you're going into prison or it can be lifetime or it can be a death sentence that you have to face just imagine the the anxiety imagine the the shame imagine the pain that you're going through and suddenly the judge pronounces you as not guilty you know that is the extent of the love of God the Father that is such a great sacrifice that Jesus has made on our behalf so the next time you know we want to give in to our sinful lustful passions or desires or want to feed our carnal nature we need to always remember this you know where we stand where we were standing where we stand now you know we were standing as sinners but now we are standing you know the right hand of God we're seated in heavenly places that is our standing that is our position and we never want to bring disgrace or shame or pain to the one who has you know who has planned this for us and the one who sacrificed this for us and it says you know don't grieve the Holy Spirit Ephesians chapter 4 don't be the Holy Spirit that is in you okay so justification is an instantaneous legal act it's instantaneous means it happens the very moment we just accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior that very moment that very instant you know you know we are considered by God as you know forgiven of our sins and Christ's righteousness belongs to us God declares us righteous in his sight so justification as is an instantaneous legal act it's legal because it's lawful according to the law we stand condemned as sinners the verdict has already been passed death sentence but you know because of what Christ has done he took our place so it's an instantaneous legal act which means it's lawful it's an authorized act in which God considers our sins as forgiven and Christ's righteousness as belonging to us and we also know that justification is when God declares us righteous in his sight that means we are right with him we are no more seen as enemies or no more seen as sinners okay in Romans chapter 4 verse 5 we read that God justifies a sinner who repents not by excusing their sin or denying their sinners but by pardoning our sins so when God justifies a sinner who repents it's not that God excuses our sins it's or he denies our sins but he pardons our sins because of the full sufficient sacrifice that has been made for us okay so we look at some truths about justification just for us to learn a little more about what justification is so you know when we are justified it means that God declares that we that the penalty for sin has been paid the penalty for our sins that the sins that are committed in the past sins that are committed in the present sins that are committed in the future has already been paid and the price has been paid by Jesus Christ and we have the virtues of the perfect righteousness before God that means we stand perfectly righteous before God why do we stand perfectly righteous before God or what do we mean by saying that you know we are seen as perfectly righteous before God because of Jesus sacrifice because of Jesus's sacrifice yes because Jesus's righteousness has been imputed on us okay God declares us to be just but declares us to be righteous because not because of what we have done it's not because of our merits it's because Christ's righteousness has been imputed on us what does it mean that Christ's righteousness has been imputed on us any thoughts ideas on this what do we mean by saying that Christ's righteousness has been imputed on us it means that Christ you know God thinks because of Christ's righteousness God thinks of Christ's righteousness as belonging to us so when we say that God imputes Christ's righteousness on us it means that God thinks of Christ's righteousness as belong as something that belongs to us or regards it as belonging to us or he reckons it to our account now what does it mean of reckon it to our account or what does it mean he reckons we read this when we look at Abraham's life it says Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness so what does reckon mean reckon basically means something that is accounted something that is counted something that is imputed it basically means you know put down into one's account okay so it's like Christ's righteousness has been put into my account Christ's righteousness has been put into each one of our accounts and it is there and you can take it to be as it is there in your account and it is something that can be counted as a fact so we consider as righteous in God's sight not because we have taken that step of you know of asking him for forgiveness and you know asking you know acknowledging that we are sinners repenting of our sins asking him for forgiveness and asking Jesus to come into our lives sometimes we can have this kind of a spiritual pride or salvation pride you know it's like others haven't accepted Jesus Christ but I was humble in humble enough to you know to acknowledge that I'm a sinner when others consider themselves as not as that they don't sin what they're doing is not wrong but compared to them I'm humble enough you know to accept the fact that I'm a sinner I'm humble enough to tell God that you know I've sinned against him I've broken his heart I'm humble enough to ask him to come into my life and I'm trying my best you know to live a life that is honoring and pleasing in his sight now we can kind of take spiritual pride in that but I hope if you're you know following through the lessons very attentively use you can you would have noticed or acknowledge the fact that there is nothing about us that we can really say it's it's about us that has a kind of brought about you know God's grace or favor or his righteousness his justification or his redemption in our life it's basically God's grace his mercy it's a gift of course it's a it's a two-way process you know God so loved the world that he gave his only son but it also says that whoever believes in him you know shall not perish so it's it's something that God has done but we need to acknowledge it but let's not take pride in that because if you look at it you know it's none of our merits it's just God's gift and we are considered righteous in God's sight because Christ's righteousness has been imputed or it has we are reckoned righteous before God because of Christ's righteousness that means we are clothed in Christ's righteousness Christ's righteousness has been put into our account and we have that in our account and that's why God looks as as as if we are righteous okay so let's count it as a fact that you know we have been made righteous it's because God sees Christ's righteousness as belonging to us or regards it as something that is being reckoned into you know or put into our account okay the next truth about justification is the fourth one is that justification comes entirely by God's grace and as I said it's not anything that can be said because it's our merit or it's in ourselves but it's entirely God's grace can one of you please read Romans chapter 3 verses 20 to 24 please Romans 3 20 to 24 and somebody else can open up to Galatians chapter 2 verse 16 so as Rosalind reads Romans 3 20 to 24 someone else can open to Galatians chapter 2 verse 16 yes Rosalind would you like to read Romans 3 20 yes Romans 3 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe for there is no difference for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus thank you so we see that you know all of us have sinned fallen short of the glory of God but we are justified freely by God's grace that is through Jesus Christ thank you Rosalind can one of you please read Galatians chapter 2 verse 16 please Galatians 2 16 going that amen is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Christ Jesus even that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified thank you we cannot be justified by keeping the law the keeping the commandments because no one can be justified by just keeping the law but it is through faith in Christ Jesus and this is something that was a constant that's something that Paul constantly reminded the early church even as he writes letters to the church at Corinth Rome church at Ephesus Crete is constantly reminding them it's because of this Jewish converts who come from the Jewish faith into Christianity still bring in this rules and regulations you know of circumcision and keeping other rituals and bring in their Jewish fables and myths and genealogies stories which you know a kind of Jewish tradition holds but it's not in the canon it's not in the scripture so to say and they were trying to propagate that or trying to teach that to the Gentile believers saying that they need to adhere to all of this you know for their works of salvation so Paul was continually reminding the churches that it's not by keeping the law it's not by works but just we are justified by faith in Christ Jesus and it's a free gift and it's not by keeping the law so he talks about that in Galatians in Timothy his letters to Timothy and also in his book to the church at Rome Romans if you look at Romans chapter six seven talks about about the law and about sin okay so we are justified by faith in Christ Jesus and we know that even the faith that requires us for salvation is not something that is natural but it's also God given faith okay so what are some of the practical implications of justification since justification is a free gift and we receive it only by faith in Christ Jesus and what he has accomplished on the cross it kind of offers a hope a genuine hope for unbelievers it also for so that they can you know come to a place where they can accept the love of God the sacrifice of God and this free gift that is freely available because if you look at the other so-called religions you know everything salvation is by works they have two things but you know Christ has made it freely available for us it's just by putting our faith in the complete completed work in the completed sacrifice of Jesus and we receive it by faith okay and the another practical implication is that we can have absolute confidence before God or we have absolute confidence in God because he will never make us pay for the penalty for our sins so when we talk about paying the penalty for our sins it's basically death right the wages of sin is that like we read in Romans so you know we'll have this assurance that you know we will never pay the penalty for that that means we will enjoy eternal life right here now it is not something that is an just an eschatological hope that means something we're in the future where we will experience eternal life in heaven but it is a realized eschatology salvation is a realized eschatology eternal life is a realized eschatology that means it is something that we realize now in the present even though it is something way in the future that we will see it's complete a fulfillment complete picture complete glory but it's something that we can realize here now in the present so we enjoy eternal life we enjoy the benefits of salvation here and now and we have this assurance that we will never taste eternal death but we will enjoy eternal salvation and we can have this absolute confidence in God when we accept him as our personal savior that we have been redeemed that we have been justified God looks at us as if we have never sinned we are forgiven completely forgiven and Christ's righteousness has been imputed on us reckoned to us and we stand righteous because Christ's righteousness covers us it clothes us and God looks at us as we are righteous and justified in his presence okay so this is about justification anyone has any questions any doubts anything that you'll like to share any thoughts no okay if there are no thoughts or questions or queries we look at the doctrine of sanctification so what does sanctification mean what does the term sanctification mean it's a progressive work of God which makes a person more more or more Christ like thank you Zlatoli it's a progressive work of God which makes a person more Christ like yes Abu Bakr patient is pretty short processing through God and wish all believers become more like Christ thank you it's a work of God to and it's a process and through which a believer becomes more like Christ thank you anyone else okay so sanctification is a progressive work what does it mean by our what do we mean by saying it's a progressive work it's a continuous process continue something thank you Isaac it's something that is continuous you know it happens throughout our life we are redeemed once for all we are justified made righteous in God's side once for all it's an instantaneous act but sanctification is something that begins the moment we ask Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of our life but then it's something that continues throughout our life and you know it's the work of God and it is something that requires even our our cooperation so it's something that happens throughout our life it's a progressive work of God and man okay so it's requires our support it requires our cooperation so when I say that it requires our support it requires our cooperation what do I mean to ask God to sanctify us to cleanse us thank you Rosalind so yes Loubeka I think mom it it needs much as God is more powerful that is the most powerful being that does not need our support but on this one since God gave us a power of choice as we are living in this world after we've been justified by Christ we still live in a human body whereby we should keep on doing the right decisions that are Jesus like so that we continue in our process of salvation as we see as it is written in gems that are faith without works would be dead so we won't say that since we were justified we continue living a sinful life doing everything because we think it was finished on the cross but we should keep doing things that we think are moderately right as far as Christ lived in this world that's my submission pastor thank you Loubeka so yes God is sovereign but in his sovereignty is giving us a free will to choose we have chosen salvation but we also need to make the everyday choice every moment choice to consecrate our lives to choose to make choices according to God's will that pleases him we need to so you know so to say lay our lives the altar every day where we are consecrating dedicating and resubmitting our lives our areas of our life because when you're born again we are born made new in our spirit man but our mind and our bodies you know still have the same old cravings and tendency to tend towards sin the lust of the eyes the lust of flesh and the pride of life and so we need you know God to work in us and the extent that we allow the Holy Spirit to sanctify us to that extent he will sanctify us so if we you know say God I consecrate this area of my life but you know another area we when it comes to when it comes to our you know the way we speak you know no control over our tongue what we speak what we say then you know or maybe in another area we are in our thoughts we are maybe pure and clean or maybe we don't watch anything that is displeasing or dishonoring in God's side but we see that certain areas we have allowed the Holy Spirit to sanctify us but there are certain areas we still need to allow him like you know the area of how we use our tongues the way we speak you know so we need to consecrate every part of us our whole being so that it can be made wholly righteous in God's sight so yes it's a progressive work of God and it requires a cooperation to the extent that we allow the Holy Spirit to sanctify us to that extent he will sanctify us and you know he will free us from sin he will make our lives just like Christ so in our thoughts in our motives in our actions in our reactions in our attitudes in our behaviors we will tend to be more Christ alike okay Hebrews chapter 10 verse 14 says for by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified so you see here that you know the perfection forever happens only to those who are being sanctified it's a continuous process being not those who are sanctified but it says being sanctified so this this phrase he perfected forever those who are being sanctified makes it plain that the work of Jesus is effective only for those who are being sanctified those are consecrated themselves every part of themselves and the work of Jesus is capable of saving every human being but the work of sanctification is only effective in those who are being sanctified that means who are you know setting apart the members of their body or the faculties of their body every part of their being you know to God okay there are three stages of sanctification sanctification has a definite beginning that means it begins when a person is born again and you know when we are born again the power of sin in our bodies is broken and we no longer can continue to love sin can one of you please read one John chapter 3 verse 9 please one John chapter 3 verse 9 so sanctification happens when a person is born again and when we are born again the power to sin is broken we no longer can continue to love sin or you know continue to give into our own sinful habits one John chapter 3 verse 9 can one of you read please whoever has been born of God does not sin for his seed remains in him and he cannot sin because he has been born of God thank you so if you're born of God then you know you cannot sin okay the second thing is stage of sanctification is that sanctification increases throughout our life okay it happens throughout our journey in life the moment we accept Christ till the day we die we are set free from sin we are dead to sin at the same time you know we should not present our members of our body to sin and so that we do not become slaves of sin again but we have to yield to God as it's given in Romans chapter 6 in Romans chapter 6 it basically talks about you know talks about sin and not presenting our members of our body to sin and Paul there writing the church at Rome presents five action points that we must take to live a life free of sin in verse 11 he says you know reckon yourselves free from sin that means Christ righteousness has been put into our account that means you just reckon for yourself that you know you are no longer you know belonging to sin or account of sin is not there in your members anymore verse 12 he says do not let sin reign in your bodies in verse 13 Paul says to not present your bodies as instruments to righteousness he goes on to say verse 13 but present yourselves to God and he says in the same verse verse 13 present your members of your body as instruments of righteousness okay and he says you know the law is not able to keep you from sinning because the law does not strengthen you or support you not to sin the law only makes you aware of sin that you have missed the mark that you're fallen short of God standard but then Paul goes on to write in Romans chapter 8 he says with the help of the Holy Spirit and not by our own efforts we will be able to you know keep the law we'll be able to keep the commandments we'll be able to overcome the desires of the flesh and we will be able to please and offer our bodies as instruments of righteousness that is holy pleasing in God's sight because the Holy Spirit will empower us okay so please take time to read Romans chapter 6 this weekend it basically says that you know we shouldn't present our members of our body to sin will be because when we do that it becomes slaves of sin again but we have to yield to God okay and Paul also writes in Philippians chapter 3 verses 13 and 14 he says brethren I do not count myself to have apprehended but one thing I do for getting those things which are behind and reaching forward to the things which are her head okay so we need to look ahead and do things that are pleasing in God's sight Colossians chapter 3 verse 10 says and have put on since we put on the new man who's renewed in the knowledge according to the image of him who created him okay so let's renew ourselves every day mind soul spirit body so that we can be sanctified and be like Jesus okay so that is the the second stage of sanctification that it increases throughout our life the third thing is that sanctification is completed when the Lord returns or when we go to be with the the Lord Philippians chapter 3 verses 20 and 21 says for our citizenship it's in heaven and we eagerly wait for the Savior our Lord Jesus Christ okay and first Corinthians chapter 5 verse 23 and 49 says but each one in his own order Christ the first fruits afterward those who are in Christ at his coming okay so we are waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ when we will go to be with him and when that's when our sanctification will be the work of sanctification in our lives will be completed okay so we see that sanctification is a process it begins when we've when you're born again we accept Jesus as a Lord and Savior the Lord Jesus is the one who sanctifies us as we read in first Corinthians chapter 1 verse 30 but it also involves you know our role in that in that it involves us being active active and a passive role that we have to play so what is the passive role the passive role is we just trust God we pray and ask him to sanctify us and we yield to God's work of sanctification in us so that is a passive role when we pray and ask him to sanctify us and we yield to God's work of sanctification in us the active part is or the active role that we need to take is you know we need to put to death the deeds of the flesh okay Romans chapter 8 verse 13 can one of you please read Romans chapter 8 verse 13 one of you can turn to Romans chapter 12 verse 1 please so can one of you please read Romans 8 13 and someone else can read Romans 12 1 Romans 8 13 for if you live according to the flesh you will die but if you if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live yeah so we need to daily minute by minute as well hour by hour put to death the deeds of the flesh not live to fulfill the lust of the eyes and lust of flesh the pride of life but we need to live by the spirit when we live by the spirit we will put to death the deeds of our body that means our carnal nature will get starved you know it will no longer you know so rise up or force us to give into its sinful lustful passions because we are continuing to feed us spirit filled nature okay Romans 12 one can one of you please read that please Romans 12 one I just want to say therefore brethren we are for brethren by the martyrs of God that sent your body a living sacrifice only after to undo God which is your reasonable service thank you what is our reasonable service what is our reasonable worship to God it's offering or presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice holy pleasing and acceptable to God okay so only when we are allowing the world holy spirit to work in our lives to sanctify us can we present our bodies as a living holy sacrifice which is pleasing and acceptable in God's sight okay and then we need to also what is our active role we need to work out our salvation Philippians chapter 2 was 12 and 13 can one of you read that please Philippians chapter 2 was 12 and 13 Rosalind would you okay go ahead John therefore my beloved as you have always obeyed not us in my presence only but now much more in my absence work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who works in you both the will and to do for his good pleasure thank you so here we see that we need to work out our salvation with fear and trembling so even salvation is not just something that happens the moment we ask but Jesus to you know be the Lord and Savior of our lives but we need to work out our salvation daily you know with fear and trembling that means with respect honoring God you know for what he has done and honoring him with the the choices that we make and how we live our lives okay so therefore we need to continually build up a pattern and have habits of holiness okay before we close we'll just look at the differences between justification and sanctification justification is our legal standing that means it's our position the position of man before God sanctification is our internal condition of man you know whether we are living holy upright lives consecrated lives before God justification it happens once for all the moment we ask Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of our lives it happens at very moment happens once for all for all time but sanctification we know is a continuous process it happens throughout lives justification is entirely God's word we know we we learned that it's a gift of God it's not by anything that we do or not by our good works our merits nothing it's entirely God's work it's his gift to us but sanctification is something that we cooperate with God the extent that we cooperate we allow him to that extent we will be sanctified justification is when we are made perfect in this life sanctification is when we need to be changed more into his likeness justification is the same for all Christians but the sanctification is you know to the extent we are submitting consecrating laying our lives in the order to that extent so it's greater in some because they are consecrating their lives more they're concentrating their members their bodies more to God every area of their lives and for some it's less because there's some parts where God is in control some parts they are in control of their lives they are riding their cars they are in the driver's seat they are moving it forward so to the extent that we allow is the extent that the sanctification happens and it's greater in some and lesser in the others okay so that is about justification and sanctification or any questions anyone has any questions any doubts yes i have a problem not with the doctrine of foundation with the assignment on christiology yes i had the same problem which i rosalie uh on the section i see on the assignment that is missing so i said to classroom i responded to your message i said we have received it and i i have your assignment yes i have your assessment okay god bless you thank you yeah okay if there's no questions no doubts maybe you can take it in the next class you can go through your notes and when we meet on venice day we can clear your doubts and questions if you have any uh so have a good weekend have a blessed refreshing weekend and i'll see you all on monday okay bye everyone