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Tag Archives: Practical Sanctification

We Didn’t Choose Christ

01 Thursday Oct 2015

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Devotional

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authority, Branches, Christ, disciples, Divine Call. Divine Care, finished work on the Cross, Fire, God's Economy, Holy Spirit, Husbandman, life in the Vine, Living Water, power, Practical Sanctification, rabbis, revolutionary Kingdom, students, teachers, upside down Kingdom, Vine

John 15_5

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ~ John 15:5, ESV

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide…. ~ John 15:16, ESV

 

 

In the Jewish culture, students (disciples) traditionally choose their own Rabbis (teachers). However, Christ reverses that tradition. He does the choosing. This reversal of Jewish tradition is typical of God’s Economy—His sovereign Plan for mankind. For example, God’s Kingdom is revolutionary primarily because it is an upside down Kingdom in which the first becomes the last, or the last becomes the first; the leader becomes the servant, or the servant becomes the leader; and so forth.

Now although most of today’s college or university students can choose their postsecondary schools, professors and majors, believers in Christ still do not choose Him. They also do not choose their calling(s).

Because of His finished Work on the Cross, Christ gets to choose who gets to abide in Him. In other words, the Vine selects who He wants to be His Branches. The uncomfortable truth for many of today’s believers to swallow is that we are not called to work in Christ’s Vineyard, because of a feeling within us, or because others believe God wants us to be preachers, pastors, Sunday School teachers, and etcetera. 

The bottom line is that Father God ordains us so that we can work for Christ in His Vineyard. Then too, even though the Lord is our true Vine, it is the Holy Spirit who is our true Husbandman. As branches, whatever we do or say that glorifies God comes from the Vine—comes from Christ via the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. This Divine Truth is why we have to allow the Life of the Vine (Holy Spirit) to flow through us so that we can produce the Fruit of the Holy Spirit. Since the Holy Spirit prunes and cleanses our lives, via Living Water and Fire or His Practical Sanctification Process, this is the reason why He (Life of the Vine) and Christ (the Vine) expect us to bear much fruit.

As moral free agents, we can choose not to follow the purpose Father God has for us—we can refuse to respond to the Vine’s Divine Call and the Husbandman’s Divine Care—but to do so will cause us to forfeit our fruit-bearing position in the Vine—to be deprived of our service privilege. The point here is that the only way we will be able to produce the Fruit of the Holy Spirit is to answer the Vine’s Divine Call and then yield to the Husbandman’s Divine Care. Shalom. 

 

~ from my soon-to-be-published manuscript – Keeping It Real: Daily Renewing the Mind

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Working God’s Perfect Will Out of Us

09 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Spiritual

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Tags

awe, Christlikeness, Divine enablement, faithful, fear and trembling, God's Perfect Will, Holy Spirit, katergazomai, obedient, Practical Sanctification, reasonable service, reverence, salvation, submissive, work out

Tools of the Trade

…Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. ~ Philippians 2:12b-13, NLT

What on earth does the apostle Paul mean in the above verses? Is he saying that our salvation can be lost? Is he telling us to live in a constant state of nervousness, worried that at any minute God will judge us unworthy to be His sons and daughters? Well, for some “religious” leaders, the answer to the last two questions is a resounding “yes.” However, a close examination of these verses proves that the apostle Paul is neither trying to instill fear into the Philippians’ hearts, nor is he warning them that they could lose their salvation.

In Philippians 2:12b, the apostle Paul uses the Greek word katergavzomai, which is transliterated as katergazomai. Now depending on which English translation many of us might be using, the Greek word katergavzomai often is translated in English as “work out,” “work hard,” or “carry out.”

What the Greek word katergavzomai actually means is this: To continually work at bringing something to completion or fruition. This is the definition used in Philippians 2:12b.

Therefore, based on the aforementioned definition of katergavzomai, it is clear that what the apostle Paul says to the Philippian believers also pertains to all believers. That which is applicable is this: Before the Philippians ever could demonstrate that the lifestyle they are living is the result of an unwavering and unshakable faith, they first had to focus their attention on and be profoundly concerned about working out of themselves God’s Perfect Will, which God has put inside of them.

According to the apostle Paul, the Philippian believers, and by virtue of being born again and saved, all believers in Christ, are working God’s Perfect Will out of them, when they are allowing the Holy Spirit (the Source of God’s Perfect Will or the Divine enablement in them; see Philippians 2:13) to complete for them His practical sanctification process. The Philippian believers, as well as all believers, also are working God’s Perfect Will out of them when they are obeying whatever the Holy Spirit prompts, leads, and teaches them about salvation’s ultimate goal: Christlikeness.

This understanding of believers having a Divine enablement (the Holy Spirit) inside them, who wills and is able to perform God’s Perfect Will in believers’ lives, not only is evident from what the apostle writes in Philippians 2:13, but also by chapter three of Philippians the apostle Paul obviously is referring to the Holy Spirit being that Source of God’s Perfect Will (that Divine enablement), which God Himself has put inside every believer. Paul writes:

No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,  I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. ~ Philippians 3:13-14, NLT

There can be no doubt that by the time the apostle Paul writes the above verses he has come to the conclusion that the only way he truly will know Christ Jesus and the power of His resurrection is by focusing his attention on and being profoundly concerned about (submissive and obedient to) the Holy Spirit’s practical sanctification process. In fact, the apostle Paul is confirming that by focusing on the goal of Christlikeness, and obediently pressing and reaching for that goal, he has learned the meaning of the “fear” and “trembling” he speaks about in Philippians 2:12b (ASV, ESV, KJV, NIV, etc.).

This “fear” apostle Paul mentions is nothing more than believers being so devoted to and respectful of God that they consciously choose to be totally submissive and voluntarily obedient to His Perfect Will. Put differently, in Philippians 2:12b, the “fear” apostle Paul speaks about is believers’ confidence (faith) in and awe (deep reverence) for the God who both designed and implements the plan of salvation, with all of its gifts and blessings.

Additionally, this “trembling” apostle Paul mentions is nothing more than believers having a humble attitude. They are putting no trust or confidence in their own ability and power. This “trembling” also means that believers intentionally are being seriously cautious; they continually are looking out for every kind of temptation that so easily could ensnare them, while they are pursuing the goal of Christlikeness. In other words, with the help of the Holy Spirit, believers’ humble attitude plus their healthy reverence for and devotion to God (the “fear” that keeps them shying away from any and everything that might offend God or discredit His name, and Christ’s name) are the motivating forces behind them obediently and faithfully carrying out their salvation to its ultimate conclusion, which is Christlikeness.

As a matter of fact, the apostle makes several references to this kind of “fear” and “trembling”—this obedience and submission that leads to being faithful to God’s Perfect Will. Perhaps the best Scriptures that explain what the apostle’s “fear” and “trembling” mean are verses 1-2 of Romans 12. In these verses, the apostle Paul is saying that when believers truly respect and revere God, then that’s when they are fulfilling their “reasonable service,” which is to be obedient and submissive to God’s Perfect Will. This “reasonable service” (being obedient and submissive to God’s Perfect Will) not only means that believers are being changed from the inside out, desiring only to do what God wants, but also means that believers are agreeing with God that what He wants is moral, pleasing, and achievable.

For the record, the original Source of believers’ salvation is Father God, and He has seen fit to place His Perfect Will inside each one of His sons and daughters by giving each one His Holy Spirit—the Source of the spiritual power, spiritual gifts, and practical sanctification in every believer. In other words, the Source of every believer’s will (desire or determination) is Almighty God, and He brings every believer’s will into harmonious agreement with His Perfect Will by allowing His Holy Spirit to work in each believer “…the desire and the power to do what pleases…” Almighty God (Philippians 2:13b, NLT).

For God’s Perfect Will to become every believer’s will (every believer’s conscious and natural choice), each believer must work out his or her own salvation. This working out of the Source God has put into every believer is accomplished when each believer repeatedly goes to that Source (the Holy Spirit)—when every believer continuously relies on the Holy Spirit’s power, authority, promptings, leadings, teachings, and so forth.

It is the Holy Spirit’s daily supernatural job to bring back to every child of God’s remembrance the Word of God he or she has been feeding on throughout his or her Christian life. It also is the Holy Spirit’s daily supernatural job to renew every child of God’s heart and soul so that he or she can come into Father God’s presence and worship Him in the “spirit” of awe and reverence—worship Him in Spirit and in Truth!

The Holy Spirit only can achieve His jobs when each believer has focused his or her attention on and has become profoundly concerned about working out of himself/herself God’s Perfect Will for his or her life. When what is inside a believer can be seen outside of him or her, that would mean this believer is doing the Perfect Will of God—demonstrating to others that the lifestyle he or she is living is the genuine result of an unwavering and unshakable faith. In essence, the believer would be demonstrating to others how much like Christ he or she has become!

The bottom line is this: Contrary to popular opinion, the ultimate goal of every believer is not to make it into Heaven. The ultimate goal of God’s salvation plan is to have every single one of His sons and daughters achieve Christlikeness. Once again, the only way to achieve this goal is through the work of the Divine enablement (the Holy Spirit and His practical sanctification process), which changes believers from the inside out.

With the aid of the Holy Spirit, believers are able to work out of them God’s Perfect Will for them—they are able to work out of them everything God has worked into their human spirits/hearts so that others will see the evidence (manifestation) of God’s saving Grace and His Holy Spirit’s sanctified work that are going on inside believers. More important, believers will know that their labor, the working of God’s Perfect Will out of them, will not be in vain, for they are promised that “…God, who began the good work within [them], will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” (Philippians 1:6, NLT; the bracketed word is this blogger’s emphasis).

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Holding Tightly To The Hope We Say We Have

23 Wednesday Dec 2009

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Devotional

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Tags

everlasting Gift, fellowship, gatherings, Practical Sanctification, Season of Giving, together, uniting

The Season of Giving is that time of the year when family and friends come together with plans to give the Gift of Life and gifts of love. Indeed, there are many gifts that are given on believers’ special day during the Season of Giving, and throughout the entire holiday season.  However, there is only one Gift that keeps on giving, and that Gift is Jesus the Christ—the everlasting Gift of life—for He is always there for us by way of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.

Now, even though the Word of God and the indwelling/infilling of the Holy Spirit are more than enough to sustain every believer, we are not here on this Earth just to satisfy our own physical and spiritual needs.  As long as sin is in the world, there will be believers who need to be encouraged, enlightened, empowered, and strengthened in their faith and their walk with the Lord—not to mention the countless number of unsaved individuals who must be evangelized.

Therefore, we must know that our Practical Sanctification means that the Holy Spirit is moving us to do useful acts of love that demonstrate who we are in the Lord. To this end, God uses all of His believers to encourage one another toward making better use of the Holy Spirit’s resources that are available for believers. Consequently, it should stand to reason that we must be in fellowship with other Christians, and that before we can minister effectively to others’ needs and before we can motivate them to make better use of their God-given resources we also must have spiritual mentors in our lives.

Since our MAIN goal in uniting with other believers is to encourage one another toward spiritual maturity and toward using our spiritual resources, then Holy Spirit-led believers also should use their church’s fellowship periods specifically for ministering to congregants’ natural and spiritual needs. However, before believers can motivate others to love and to do good deeds, they must make certain that they are faithfully consistent in their own spiritual lives!

Therefore, our spiritual growth, which our Practical Sanctification achieves, must not be hindered by our individual soul’s deficiencies. In other words, before we can minister effectively to others (Christians and unbelievers), we first must be able to demonstrate the moral fiber that is in agreement with Jesus the Christ’s characteristics! If we are faithful believers who truly have Christ-like characteristics that we steadily manifest, then we will be able to provide  honest answers to the following questions:

Are you holding tightly to the hope that you claim to have, without wavering? Is your hope in Jesus the Christ? Are you growing in God’s Holy Spirit? Are you uniting with other believers?  Are you ministering to other believers? AMEN.

“Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope that we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works” (Hebrews 10:23-24, NLT).

HAPPY HOLIDAYS 2009!


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It’s Time To Grasp The Heavenly Things Of God

28 Wednesday Jan 2009

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Devotional

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Tags

authority, divine empowerments, earthly things, God's anointings, God's desires, grasp, heavenly things, holiness, Nicodemus, Positional Sanctifcation, power, Practical Sanctification, righteousness, unbelief

In all of us there is a little bit of the unbelief seen in Nicodemus. Like him, we do not understand, completely, the full implications of God’s new covenant promised to Israel concerning the new ‘spirit’ and heart of flesh that God would give His wayward chosen people that would cause them to renew their love and commitment to God—an astonishing change in their attitude and demeanor that would move even Gentiles to become believers in Christ. Christ of course meant God’s sanctification process through which all of mankind—Hebrews and Gentiles—who were first born again then saved and justified could then be transformed into the image of Christ.

Since this spiritual Truth was way above the heads of the people in Christ’s day, Christ tells Nicodemus that He recognizes that because spiritual discernment is lacking in mankind, even in men and women who are of the type of high moral, religious, social, and economic caliber as is Nicodemus, no one FULLY will be able to comprehend the spiritual Truth concerning mankind’s total new birth process. Furthermore, Christ tells Nicodemus that because he did not believe in all of God’s earthly principles, he also will not be able to grasp heavenly principles with his own wisdom, knowledge and understanding.

Such is the case with many New Testament believers. Knowing that it is most expedient that every man and woman become born again and believing totally in that new birth’s full process are two completely different spiritual Truths around which we need to wrap our minds. The first spiritual Truth (we must be born again and justified), our Positional Sanctification, we readily accept by faith. However, the second spiritual Truth (we must be filled with the Holy Spirit), our Practical Sanctification, we try to comprehend, but our blasted unbelief causes us to miss the mark. It is time for us to grasp the “heavenly things” of God. Let us be born of God’s Holy Spirit in the true sense that Christ proposes, which is for us to become new creations in whom His Holy Spirit not only indwells but also infills with God’s desires and His anointings (divine empowerments) like spiritual gifts, holiness, righteousness, power, and authority. AMEN.

“If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell ye of heavenly things” (John 3:12, KJV; cf. Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:22-31)?

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Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen

Sanctified Child

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