Our Refinement and Growth as Christians

The Doctrine of Sanctification

Through faith in Christ, believers are justified, or declared righteous before God, which sets them on a journey to walk with God. However, God’s people do not have to figure out how to live for God on their own. God’s Holy Spirit securely seals believers as God’s children, lives within them, and illuminates Scripture so they can understand God’s truth. Fellow believers are unified because the same Spirit also lives within them. The Holy Spirit embeds a divine desire and power within believers to resist sin, obey God, and increasingly grow to be like Jesus. 

Sanctification is the process by which the Holy Spirit sets the believer apart to live for God rather than sin and self. This progressive and ongoing growth in holiness offers evidence of the transformative new life God plants within His children.1 The Holy Spirit’s sanctifying power draws a believer to pray, feed on God’s Word, and thrive through fellowship with other believers. Serving God and others becomes not a duty but a delight. Seeking God and His glory permeates every aspect of life.2 

The inevitable ups and downs in a believer’s life seem random without understanding God’s gracious process of sanctification. Without recognizing God’s purposeful commitment to our spiritual growth, suffering appears only painful. The joys of life seem like brief, unplanned moments rather than God’s gracious gifts to express His faithfulness. The Holy Spirit helps believers realize God’s purposefulness to orchestrate their lives and prepare them for heaven. 

The process of sanctification can be painful but is always profitable for the believer. When we recognize God’s tender cultivation for our greater good, we cannot take credit for any blessings or spiritual growth we experience. A growing believer welcomes the Holy Spirit’s conviction of sin and empowerment to obey. God not only made a way for His children to enter heaven but sent His own Spirit to transform their hearts as they walk on earth. Sanctification ushers God’s presence and power into believers’ lives to bring hope, help, and holiness.

1. Growing in Christ: Romans 6; 8:1-17; 12:1-2
2. Seeking God’s glory: 1 Corinthians 10:31; Galatians 5:16-26; Ephesians 5:8; Colossians 3:1-17

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 17, The Gospel of John

Dying to Self to Live for God

The Doctrine of the Cross for a Believer 

Jesus does not call His followers to a life of ease and comfort. Throughout Scripture, Jesus emphasized the costliness of following Him. He often employed extreme language to convey His point. Jesus likened following Him to hating one’s father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and even one’s own life.1 He warned potential followers to count the cost.2 Jesus referred to discipleship as denying oneself3 and carrying one’s cross.4 

A believer’s cross does not necessarily refer to a specific burden, such as a long-term physical illness, ongoing temptation, or a strained relationship. Political rebels in the first century often received a sentence of death by crucifixion. Executioners forced the condemned individuals to carry their crosses to the execution site. The degrading display of carrying one’s cross symbolized an offender’s complete brokenness in submission to the authority one had transgressed. 

Similarly, the believer’s cross represents total surrender to Christ’s authority. Following Christ wholeheartedly requires deliberate surrender of personal plans and ambitions in complete obedience to Him, no matter the cost. Discipleship involves intentionally disowning “self” as the primary motivation in life. However, denying self does not mean ignoring, neglecting, or disregarding self. God purposefully uses the believer’s cross to restore us in His image and fashion us in the likeness of Christ. As we grow in Christlikeness, we become more fully the people who God created us to be. 

To live without appropriate regard for God and others leaves us wanting. With self as the driver for our dreams and desires, we fail to flourish as the people God created us to be. Inevitably, disappointment follows when our own wants and needs become our primary obsession. Living in a world dominated by self-interest reveals only brokenness and competing agendas. 

Jesus demonstrated a better way. Every word Jesus spoke and every action He took fulfilled His Father’s plan. He always sought the welfare of others. When we live for Jesus and seek to be like Him, our focus dramatically widens beyond the narrow attention centered on our little worlds. Self-denial never comes easy. However, life presents no higher calling than giving up our agendas for the Lord’s. In Christ’s kingdom, to die is to live. Death to self represents spiritual victory. 

1. Hate family and one’s life: Luke 14:26 

2. Count the cost: Luke 14:25-35 

3. Deny self: Mark 8:34 

4. Carry your cross: Luke 9:23; 14:27

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 16, The Gospel of John

Deliverance from Death

The Doctrine of Resurrection 

John records Jesus’s miracles as “signs” that purposefully reveal truth about Him. The miracle of Lazarus’s resurrection is John’s seventh example of Jesus’s power and authority. Jesus’s sign of raising Lazarus foreshadowed His own death-shattering and hell-defeating resurrection. This miracle also points toward the glorious resurrection of all who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Jesus’s death on the cross paid sin’s price in full, redeeming all God’s children. Jesus’s resurrection claimed victory over death for all who trust Him for salvation. Jesus’s resurrection stands as a foundational pillar of the Christian faith.1 Lazarus was raised up only to face death again later, but every believer anticipates a future resurrection to a glorified body with no death on the other side. The raising of Lazarus points to this future reality. 

While we await our resurrection after death, Jesus’s resurrection power works within God’s children today. Redeemed believers, indwelt and sealed by His Holy Spirit, die to their old ways of living—freed from sin’s bondage and reborn to live in joyful obedience to God’s will and ways.2 Jesus Christ brings new resurrection life to dead hearts.3 God calls believers to be salt and light on earth. He commissions His people as witnesses to Jesus Christ and His kingdom.4 Just as Jesus was raised, all believers will be resurrected in glorious bodies prepared for eternity.5 Jesus’s resurrection promises that all who believe in Him will be raised again to life eternal. 

Without understanding Jesus’s victory over death, people live without hope—gripped by the fear of death.6 Death’s shadow looms large for everyone, despite efforts to ignore or postpone the unavoidable approach of mortality. To see Jesus’s resurrection as a myth means forsaking humanity’s only hope for recovering everything that death steals away. 

Job expressed well the hope that upholds every believer: “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.”7 Jesus’s resurrection made Him the firstfruits of those who die and are raised to eternal life.8 God’s resurrected children will enjoy freedom from all darkness, pain, suffering, sin, and death. They will dwell in the eternal presence of God in the new heaven and new earth to come.9 Because of Jesus’s resurrection power, death does not speak the final word. 

1. Resurrection: 1 Corinthians 15 

2. New ways: Ephesians 4:22-24 

3. New life: John 3:3-8; Romans 8:11 

4. Salt and light: Matthew 5:13-16 

5. Future resurrection: Philippians 3:20-21 

6. Fear of death: Hebrews 2:14-15 

7. Redeemer lives: Job 19:25-26 

8. Firstfruits: 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 

9. Eternal joy: Revelation 21:3-5

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 15, The Gospel of John

Safe in the Good Shepherd’s Fold

The Doctrine of Eternal Security 

Jesus’s teaching in John 10 describes the safety and security believers experience as sheep who follow the Good Shepherd. Those who put their faith in Christ’s finished work do not have to speculate about their eternal future. Salvation cannot be obtained through human works, nor can it be forfeited when we falter. This is true because right standing in God’s sight rests solely on Christ’s perfection, not ours. The Holy Spirit “seals” or guarantees the eternal salvation of all people who put their faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice.1 When God initiates the good work of salvation and redeems a sinner, He continues perfectly unhindered until salvation’s glorious consummation.2

How do we explain people who first profess Christ as Savior, then later walk away from Him? While we cannot accurately assess anyone’s relationship with Christ, God can. Scripture teaches that God holds fast those who genuinely trust Him for salvation. In this life, believers continue to struggle with sin and doubt. However, God’s grip on the true believer is stronger than sin’s pull, feelings of doubt, or the enemy’s opposition.3 When doubts arise, our best focus is to passionately seek the Lord. The promises of Scripture stand firm as an anchor for the soul. Salvation is God’s work from start to glorious finish.4

Many people believe their salvation can be lost. Some walk away for a time and then return. Others who walk away may never have had real trust. We cannot know—only God knows. However, if salvation depends on our wavering obedience, we live life facing eternity without certainty. We do not adequately grasp Christ’s unconditional love and sustaining grace. Struggles that come when we sin cause doubts. Christ’s righteousness, not our own, secures salvation.

What a relief to understand that our soul’s security rests in Christ, not ourselves! We regularly experience the darkness lingering within our hearts. We recognize that we often love our sin more than our Savior. But we also recognize that we are sheep who hear our Shepherd’s voice. When we stray, Jesus comes after us. When we falter, He holds us up. Jesus carries us through. We will persevere in faith, not because we are strong, but because Jesus is mighty.

1. Christ’s sacrifice: Ephesians 1:13-14
2. Secure until salvation’s consummation: Romans 8:29-30
3. No separation: Romans 8:38-39: Philippians 1:6
4. God’s work in salvation: Romans 8:30; Philippians 1:6

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 14, The Gospel of John

Jesus Christ Gives Sight to the Blind

The Doctrine of God the Son 

At his first encounter with Jesus, the newly healed, formerly blind man did not realize who Jesus was. Newfound sight, pressing opposition, and growing understanding led this man to recognize the truth. He soon bowed before Jesus in belief and worship. The Lord Jesus Christ is none other than God’s own Son who came to seek and save the lost.1 Equal to and co-existent with God from eternity past, Jesus came into the world to live, die, and rise again.2 Only Jesus can rescue sinners and give eternal life to all who put their faith in Him.3 

Your response to Jesus determines whether you are spiritually blind or sighted. Like the man born without sight, we are all spiritually blind from birth. Only God can open blind eyes. The eternal destiny of every human rests on their response to God’s Son. One day, Jesus will return to earth and every knee will bow before Him.4 God has exalted His Son and given Him the right to judge sin and grant eternal life.5 To refuse Jesus is to choose spiritual blindness, which tragically results in an eternity separated from God. 

No one remains neutral about Jesus. Throughout history, the name of Jesus has divided humanity.6 The Pharisees denied evidence of Jesus’s divine authority as well as His healing power. Today, people continue to resist Jesus while ignoring the truth about Him. Spiritual blindness remains in those who fail to recognize who Jesus is and the saving work He accomplished on behalf of sinful humanity. To refuse Jesus is to turn away from the only true hope that exists. 

Believing in Jesus means seeing what matters most. When the Lord opens our eyes to behold Jesus, we see glimpses of His glory that will be magnified and celebrated throughout eternity. 2 Corinthians 3:18 speaks of the powerful transformation God sets at work in the lives of those who believe in Jesus: “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” What do you now “see” because Jesus has opened your spiritual eyes? How does gazing at Jesus give you a refreshed perspective on your life and the world around you? Seeing Jesus leads us to worship Him. The Son of God, exalted by the Father, will reign for eternity without rival. 

1. Seek and save: Luke 19:10 

2. Equal to God: Philippians 2:5-11 

3. Only Jesus saves: Acts 4:12 

4. Jesus’s return: Matthew 24:30; Acts 1:10-11; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–5:11 

5. The Son’s judgment: Matthew 16:27; 26:64 

6. Outcomes of belief and unbelief: John 3:36

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 13, The Gospel of John

Saved from the Death We Deserve

The Doctrine of Salvation from Sin’s Penalty 

Jesus encountered massive crowds and performed spectacular miracles as He walked among sinners. Yet, He sought out individuals. He also willingly revealed Himself to His resistant enemies. The self-righteous, proud, and indignant Pharisees exemplify sinful rebellion. Even so, to fully understand sinful nature, we need only look into our own hearts. Every human is born with a sinful nature inherited from Adam and Eve. Our sin convicts and condemns us, separating us from our perfectly just and holy God. We face the well-deserved punishment of death to pay the penalty that each sin we have committed deserves. 

God sent Jesus to die in the place of sinners to make atonement for the sin of all humankind. By dying on the cross, Jesus paid in full death’s penalty on our behalf. Jesus’s outpouring of amazing love saved us from the righteous wrath of God.1 Through faith in Jesus and His atoning sacrifice, all believers experience salvation. We are freed from sin’s power in our lives and given eternal life with Him. 

Without faith in Jesus, people walk through life dead in sin.2 Deceived by the allure of temptation to sin, death haunts at every turn. Tragically, those who bear sin’s punishment on their own await not only physical death but also spiritual death, which culminates in eternal condemnation and separation from God. Life is lived without hope. 

When we place our faith in Christ and His redemptive work on the cross, Christ sets us free from sin’s death penalty. The sin for which Jesus died will never rise to accuse or haunt a believer.3 Believers are also set free from sin’s present power over their lives. However, even forgiven Christians continue to sin.4 The Holy Spirit leads the believer to confess specific sins and grow in personal holiness.5 Believers are saved not only from sin’s eternal debt but also from a wasted life. How will you celebrate this wonderful gift?

1. Saved from wrath: Romans 5:9 

2. Sin’s penalty: Romans 6:23 

3. Death of sin: Psalm 103:11-12; Isaiah 38:17; Jeremiah 31:34 

4. Continue to sin: Matthew 6:12; Romans 7:14-25; James 3:2; 1 John 1:8 

5. Confession: Matthew 6:12; John 1:29; Ephesians 2:1-5; Hebrews 9:23-28; 1 John 1:9

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 12, The Gospel of John

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — One God in Three Persons

The Doctrine of The Trinity

As humans, we struggle to understand the width and breadth of God’s all-encompassing nature.1 The unity of purpose that exists and operates within the three persons of God is equally beautiful and mysterious. In John 7, Jesus revealed that He spoke on behalf of His Father. He promised the indwelling Holy Spirit as the source of living water to satisfy the soul-thirst of all who believe in Him. The unity among God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit continues to humble and baffle us.

The Bible clearly upholds the union of the three persons of the Godhead. Though distinct, all three are fully God and work harmoniously with one another to accomplish God’s plan. As God reveals His truth to us, we increasingly come to appreciate the majesty of the triune God we worship. God the Father sent God the Son into the world to save sinners.2 God the Holy Spirit sparks new life within believers; seals them as God’s children; and provides ongoing, indwelling power to live for God.3 The past, present, and future aspects of salvation involve all three persons of God.4

Anyone who fails to appreciate the beautiful cooperation and community among the three persons of God misses an awesome glimpse of God Himself. Though human limitations do not allow us to grasp the totality of wonder surrounding God, whatever we understand is more than enough to humble us before His greatness. Many attempt the impossible—to confine God to the boundaries of their intellect or personal approval. In Jesus’s day and ours, most people reject truth they cannot understand.

Jesus came representing His Father’s heart, accomplishing His Father’s will, and demonstrating His Father’s authority. The Holy Spirit draws us to Christ and gives us the power to surrender with obedience to the Father. Believers can rejoice in the boundlessness of God that exceeds the confines of their own minds. The simple unity, complex diversity, and amazing cooperation within the three persons of God should lead us to worship a God who surpasses us in every way. If you are a believer, will you marvel at all God has done to save you? If you have not yielded to God, in all His infinite wisdom and wonder, will you do so today?

1. God’s higher ways: Isaiah 55:8-9
2. The Father sent the Son: 1 John 4:14
3. The Holy Spirit: Acts 2:38; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30
4. Three persons: Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 2:30-36; Ephesians 1:3-10; Colossians 1:15-20; Hebrews 1:1-4

Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 11, The Gospel of John