Johan Malan, Mossel Bay, South Africa (September 2014)
Scripture reading: “For we are God's fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor. 3:9-16).
Paul uses the parable of the building of a house to demonstrate the two basic aspects of our spiritual life, i.e. justification and sanctification. The foundation is absolutely unique and indispensable: “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11). He is the rock on which a wise man builds his life (Matt. 7:24). Therefore this rock is also called “the foundation of repentance” (Heb. 6:1). Already in the Old Testament David referred to the Lord as his rock and deliverer (2 Sam. 22:2).
When Paul says that he has laid the foundation, he speaks of people who were led to repentance and salvation in Christ. We must believe in Christ our Saviour in whom we receive a new, born again life. This refers to our justification, while the subsequent erecting of the house refers to sanctification and the enablement by the Holy Spirit towards our commitment in serving the Lord after conversion. It is in this context that things may go horribly wrong, resulting in some Christians being failed disciples who will appear before the judgement seat of Christ empty-handed – only just saved but nothing more than that.
Justification is a work of grace which the Lord Jesus alone can do for us. Paul says that when we were still sinners we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son (Rom. 5:10). It is a perfect salvation which we must only accept by faith, thereby becoming born again. The new life which we receive from Christ may be described as imputed righteousness since it is graciously offered to us as a gift without any works or merit on our side – we can only appropriate it by faith. All that the Lord Jesus expects of us is to turn around on the path of sin, confess our sins and receive Him as our Saviour. The foundation of the new life is then laid.
However, we should not let the matter rest there but immediately proceed to pursue the experience of sanctification in our new life: “Therefore let us go on and get past the elementary stage in the teachings and doctrine of Christ (the Messiah), advancing steadily toward the completeness and perfection that belong to spiritual maturity. Let us not again be laying the foundation of repentance and abandonment of dead works (dead formalism) and of the faith [by which you turned] to God” (Heb. 6:1; Amplified Bible). There must be progress in our spiritual life, and we should not make a half-hearted start in which we again and again try to lay the foundation of repentance. We should continue to pursue the upward call of God for our lives.
Every saved person is commanded to live holy and to please God in everything he does: “… as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct” (1 Pet. 1:15). All Christians should heed this command after conversion as this phase of our spiritual life is on the level of co-operative righteousness: “For we are God’s fellow workers” (1 Cor. 3:9). We should give our full co-operation to work out God’s plan for our lives.
This commitment in no way implies that we should try to serve the Lord merely through human works. No, we cannot sanctify ourselves and truly serve the Lord in our own strength, even if we think we can. Only the Lord can cleanse our hearts and fill us with His Holy Spirit. This experience is described as complete sanctification as opposed to initial sanctification which is received at the first purging of our sins (2 Pet. 1:9). Paul says regarding the second experience: “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it” (1 Thess. 5:23-24).
To be able to receive this blessing we should first confess and forsake everything of which the Holy Spirit convicts us, including the carnal state in which we still remain after conversion. The old, sinful nature of man is firmly established through the force of habit, and it opposes the Holy Spirit who regenerated us: “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Gal. 5:17). If we fail to make a complete surrender to conquer the flesh and its lusts, we will continue to build with wood, hay and straw on the foundation of our repentance. In the process of sanctification it is therefore expected of us to fully put down and mortify the old man who was only in principle surrendered at conversion, but who subsequently still maintained a large measure of control over our lives.
Paul says to saved members of the church in Ephesus: “… that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbour,’ for we are members of one another. ‘Be angry, and do not sin’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labour, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:22-30).
Christians can indeed grieve the Holy Spirit if they continue to harbour the flesh with its sinful inclinations in their hearts, thereby allowing it to keep on exerting its influence. They should realise that they cannot fully be endued with the new nature of Christ before they have dealt with all spiritual blockages. Every person has his own peculiar inclinations and weaknesses, of which the indwelling Holy Spirit will convict him. In Paul’s exposition to the Ephesians quite a number of typical sins are specifically mentioned. He also gives the same teaching to the Colossians and emphasises that the sins which they confessed and repented from at conversion, should be followed up by the putting down of the remaining sins in their lives when they fully surrender themselves to the control of the Holy Spirit. He says to them:
“Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. [That was before their conversion]. But now [after being saved] you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him” (Col. 3:5-10).
There were revivalists such as Charles Finney who suggested that we tackle this problem in a very practical manner by compiling a list of all the sins, weaknesses and problems of which the Holy Spirit convicts us. Work systematically through the list and settle your case with the Lord. Also become reconciled to people whom you have harmed in any way. Forgive those who have injured you, as only in this way you can overcome evil with good.
Can you see that in complete surrender we should again search ourselves and absolutely forsake everything which grieves the Holy Spirit? Without this action, sanctification will never become a reality in our lives. We certainly have the promise of sanctification, but we should adopt a state of mind which will make it fitting for God to fulfil these promises: “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1). After our hearts have been cleansed the Spirit of God will fill and control us.
As far as the process of sanctification after a full complete surrender is concerned, we should realise that we are involved with a lifelong process of more holiness and increased conformity to the image of Christ. We will never achieve the objective of perfection but we should nevertheless move in that direction. Paul says: “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me” (Phil. 3:12). Furthermore, we must also be mindful of the fact that for as long as we are still in a human body, there is always a possibility of fleshly actions. Although we are no longer in a carnal state, we can nevertheless still be tempted to act in a fleshly way and to sin because of our human weaknesses.
If a Spirit-filled Christian fails to immediately confess and forsake sins which have been committed by him, it can potentially lead to a dangerous situation of backsliding since the flesh would then gain a measure of control over that person. We should also sincerely admonish fellow-believers if we notice that one or other sin is gaining a foothold over them: “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted” (Gal. 6:1). We should daily take up our cross by which we have been crucified to the world and the world to us (Luke 9:23; Gal. 6:14). In this way we can ensure that the congregation remains spiritually sound and thereby fulfil its commission to make the light of the gospel shine in a dark world.
What will happen if believers neglect their duty to honour the command towards holiness? In that case they would allow the sinful nature of the flesh to continue living and paralysing them spiritually. The flesh will oppose the Spirit, leading to a situation in which the particular persons will not become spiritually matured and never have the boldness to serve the Lord. To the contrary – they will cause many problems in the congregation, and that was exactly what Paul’s problem was with the church in Corinth: “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” (1 Cor. 3:1-3).
The more immature, carnal Christians there are in a congregation, the lower the spiritual standard is and the bigger the need for holiness, revival and spiritual growth. Paul was greatly concerned about the spiritual condition of the church in Corinth. He even asked them if they realised that they were a temple of God in which the Holy Spirit dwells. It was with a view to this fact that he reminded them that everyone should take heed how he builds on the foundation Jesus Christ – carnal members who build with wood, hay and straw, i.e. perishable things with no value for eternity, will appear in a deceived and disappointed state before the judgement seat of Christ with empty hands, saved yet so as through fire.
Dr. Andrew Murray also warns in his book “Die Goddelike Geheim” against a spiritually fruitless life: “As long as we fail to subject ourselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the flesh will keep on controlling us.” Dr. John Rice, a former revivalist in the US, encountered problems with carnality in various American churches and expressed himself as follows on the great significance of sanctification and filling with the Holy Spirit:
“Being filled with the Holy Spirit was a very important thing throughout the New Testament; yet it is much minimized in the modern pulpit. … I want to remind you again that this is commanded. This is not to be left up to your judgment. Anyone who is not filled with the Holy Spirit just is not in the will of God. Anyone who is not filled with the Holy Spirit is living a life of disobedience, a life more or less of fruitlessness. The reason you are not winning souls is that you are disobedient, is that you are not seeking and not having upon you the fullness of the Spirit of God. … You have churches that are filled with everything else but the Holy Ghost. That is the trouble. Your children are going to Hell because you are not filled with the Holy Ghost. You talk to people; it does not do any good. Why? Because you are not filled with the Holy Spirit. Year in and year out Sunday School teachers have unsaved children in their classes but never get them saved. Why? Because they are not filled with the Holy Ghost. Your own children grow up to the years of accountability, and year in and year out you never win them. Why? Because you are not filled with the Holy Ghost.
“We preachers, God forgive us preachers – I am for the preachers; I do not mean to be critical of them – do you know what is wrong with us preachers? We have nearly everything in the world; we have good training; we have degrees; we have good organization; we have good literature; we have good equipment; we have everything except the important thing, that is, the power of God!
“Do you want to be filled with the Holy Spirit? If you really want to, the conditions of God must be met. One of them is obedience. … Are you ready to lay self on the altar, count self dead, crucified? And when self is crucified, will you come and follow Jesus, do what He says about soul winning? That is the kind of obedience the Bible is talking about. If you are not setting out to win souls with a holy passion, you do not mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You may want some ecstasy, but you do not want what God wants to give you. You are not going to have it unless you are after what God is after, and that is the conversion of sinners and the power of God to witness to them. The thing that God said He wanted you to have He will give to you if you will use it for what He wants you to do. He commanded you to go and preach the gospel, to go carry the gospel to sinners, to get people saved.” (Source: Fullness of the Spirit, by John Rice, 1945; Sword of the Lord Publishers, Tennessee).
The more Spirit-filled children of the Lord there are, the more evangelistic and missionary work will be done, and the more prayers will go up for the spiritual awakening of lukewarm, fleshly and worldly-minded church members who are uninvolved with the work of the Lord on earth. In answer to these prayers, God will work mightily in the hearts of those for whom we intercede. Paul writes about such an intercessor to the Colossians: “Epaphras, who is one of you, a bondservant of Christ, greets you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Col. 4:12). The will of God does not only include our conversion but also our sanctification: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification. … For God did not call us to uncleanness but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit” (1 Thess. 4:3, 7-8).
The key to revival is that individual Christians would trust the Lord for the blessing of sanctification, firmly believing that they will receive this blessing if they comply with the conditions set out in God’s Word. When they do receive this blessing their lives will bear witness of it and send out a strong message to people close to them. In their conversations they will often refer to justification as well as sanctification, and in this sense the saints themselves will become preachers, despite the fact that they may not be full-time, ordained pastors.
It was Paul’s expectation that young Jewish believers would soon become mature in sanctification and the knowledge of the Lord so that they could minister to fellow-Jews. However, he was disappointed with them because the converts did not proceed to seek the blessing of sanctification, thereby confining themselves to being babes in Christ. Because of this, their discernment was weak and Paul blamed them for this state of affairs:
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection” (Heb. 5:12–6:1).
There should be growth and progress, so that newly saved Christians could become spiritually mature, able to assist those who are still unsaved or only at an early stage of their spiritual pilgrimage. The fact is that, apart from basic evangelisation, definite actions should be taken to confirm young believers in the doctrine of holiness. “Babes in Christ” (1 Cor. 3:1) cannot be surrendered to their own fate, arguing that they will by themselves reach the stage of the victorious life. They are still ignorant on these matters and need to be instructed on spiritual growth.
More than a century ago, Andrew Murray was at the forefront of a revival ministry in South Africa. He did basic evangelistic work, followed up by explicit preaching on filling of the Holy Spirit. His books on sanctification as a further work of grace after repentance are still read in many parts of the world. He does not associate sanctification with ecstatic experiences, signs and wonders, but with a pure heart and to being endued with power from on high.
Other well-known revivalists from the 18th and 19th centuries followed the same approach. John Wesley’s converts assembled in halls where they received teaching on higher levels of spiritual dedication. Eventually there were more than 500 such groups. In America, DL Moody was a well-known evangelist. After he conducted an evangelistic rally in which many people turned to the Lord for salvation, these meetings were followed up by preaching on holiness. Dr. RA Torrey, who was later appointed principal of the Moody Bible Institute, was often requested to preach a week-long series of services on the filling of the Holy Spirit. These messages gave rise to a big change in the lives of many believers. His sermons were published and subsequently often reprinted. The book is titled: The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit.
From all these examples it is obvious that evangelistic work should be followed up by well organised programmes for spiritual growth, as that is the only way to ensure that converts do not stagnate by failing to fulfil their calling. The objective with preaching should be that, as far as possible, those who witness of salvation should also be able to witness about sanctification. Only under these circumstances will lasting and durable work be done in the expansion of God’s kingdom on earth.
From prophecies on the second coming of Christ it is also evident what the roles of justification and sanctification are. As far as their salvation is concerned, the glorified church in heaven will sing to the Lamb: “… You were slain and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9). Their salvation is solely based on Christ’s atoning work on the cross – they accepted it by faith and God gave them a new life which is built upon the Rock, Jesus Christ.
The role of sanctification is more specifically reflected by the marriage garment of the Lamb’s bride: “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (Rev. 19:7-8).
The righteous acts of the saints refer to the fruit of the Spirit in the lives of those who are already saved and belong to Christ. The righteous acts represent the fabric of the wedding garment. That is the reason why Paul says: “Pursue … holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). The bride of Christ should be adorned with a fitting wedding garment to be worthy to appear before the Bridegroom, and that is related to her sanctification. She cannot sanctify herself, but Christ can do it if she seeks after it with her whole heart: “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:25-27). The Lord Jesus is not only our redemption but also our sanctification (1 Cor. 1:30).
Only those who can testify about sanctification are building with gold, silver and precious stones on the foundation, Jesus Christ. They are working on their wedding garment. Those who persist with their carnality build with wood, hay and straw and spend their lives in pursuit of earthly things which have no value for the kingdom of God. It is therefore not self-evident that every saved person will necessarily build with the appropriate material on the foundation of his repentance. Many of them don’t do it, and because of that their humanly-inspired works will be rejected and they will stand empty-handed before the Lord – merely saved and without any testimony of sanctification.
Many of these carnal people are not even aware of their calling to be a temple of the Holy Spirit, and because of that they conceal the light of their testimony so that most of their friends do not even know that they are Christians. Because of this, they feel very comfortable in the company of worldly people. In times like these, a very clear call should be extended to carnal believers to seek the Lord with all their heart and to trust Him for the blessing of the filling with the Holy Spirit. Those who confess their sins and carnality will be cleansed by the Lord from all their unrighteousness; He will then fill them with His Holy Spirit and entrust to them a message of salvation and sanctification which they will be able to proclaim with boldness.
To those who have already taken the step of sanctification, the message is addressed that there are more exceptional heights to reach in their spiritual life. The Lord wishes to continue with His work of cleansing our lives so that we can bear more fruit – not only thirtyfold but sixtyfold and even hundredfold. The good seed of the Word which has been sown in a pure heart will yield much to the expansion of Christ’s kingdom on earth. The Lord calls all believers to reach their full potential.