(Heb. 10:10). We now bear His seal of ownership. The Holy Spirit comes to indwell our hearts by grace. There is also progressive sancti fication (II Cor. 3:18). This has to do with spiritual maturity and Christian growth (II Pet. 3:18). We should become increasingly like Christ that He might be glorified in our lives. This process is final ized when we become like Him in eternity (I John 3:2). You men tioned that you may still have "faults." Let us name that difficulty correctly as "sin"! It is true we may not want to sin sometimes, and yet we know from experience that it does happen. This is the purpose of the epistle of I John. In chapter one verses 8-10, we have the prob lem and the prescription God has provided. When we come to Christ, the old nature is not irradicated. We should cast ourselves com pletely and constantly on the Holy Spirit for power, cleansing, and conformity to the will of God! Q. Newton, Kans. " Would you please explain I Timothy 1:20? I believe this is one of those "unus ual passages." A. From a first reading it would seem that Paul had delivered these two men to Satan, as though they could have lost their salvation. In reality it is actually as though Sa tan was being used to punish these two. God, in the Old Testament, delivered Job to Satan, with per mission to do anything to His ser vant but to take his life. The Lord was sure that Job would not fail in the hour of temptation. This is just the opposite. It was Paul's apostolic prerogative to pronounce judg ment in this manner. It was not that the two would be lost, but
faith which every devout Jew ex ercised in believing that God would hear and accept his sacrifices. As to this second problem, there is a world of difference in the two sayings. Satan desired to usurp God's place in the universe. This is always the danger of pride. As we sing, "I would be like Jesus," we're simply seeking, out of humility, to emulate His peerless life here on earth. We see how He was victori ous over sin and temptation. We desire to be, too. Christ went about doing the Father's business. Is this our desire as well? Are we willing to stoop down and serve others? We also note that Christ was absolutely intolerant of false doc trines. His strongest words of condemnation were pronounced against those who believed con trary to God's truth. In this area as well we need His example as our guide. Our prayer should be that in every way possible we might be like Jesus. Q. Eugene, Ore. " How can you preach eternal security in the light of Bible verses that teach one must be sanctified? We may still have faults but we do not intentionally sin. While we still have tempta tions the Lord helps us to over come them." A. There is always a danger when a verse of Scripture, or even a phrase, is taken out of context. Never wrest a verse from its orig inal setting. That will always be dangerous. You must realize the way in which "sanctify" is used in the Bible. No where does it refer to sinless perfection (I Cor. 6:9-11). When we receive the Lord Jesus Christ by faith we are positionally sanctified. This means we are set apart for God's eternal purpose Page 32
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