In this one verse that we are looking at tonight, Paul gives us five key features about God that assist in the divine work of our sanctification.
I. His Person (2:13a)
For it is God
- The first truth about God’s part in the believer’s sanctification is His personhood.
- Most pagan deities are described as impersonal, remote, and indifferent.
- The True and Living God of Scripture is real and personal
- The God of Scripture has unimaginable love for fallen, sinful, mankind, which has rebelled against Him, blasphemed Him and slandered Him.
o God has such a great love for them, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
- God has even a greater love for those that belong to Him,
His Power(2:13b)
who is at work
- The second essential truth in our sanctification, is God’s divine power
- Above all else, it is God who is at work in the lives of His children
o He calls us to obey and through His sovereign power, empowers their obedience
- The word work, is from the verb energeo, which mean energey.
o God energized His children to obey and serve Him
o God’s power enables their sanctification
- Even before Jesus gave us the Great Commission, He promised the disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you”
- Above all else, God Himself is the believers’ supreme and indispensable resource and power.
- It is for this reason that sanctification will continue throughout the believers’ life.
o If we had to rely on our own strength, our sanctification would probably last no more than a day.
His Presense (2:13c)
in you
- The third essential truth about God’s part in the believers sanctification is His divine presence.
- The preposition in is often featured in Paul’s writings as he records the beloved truth that Jesus Christ dwells in believers’
- The Lord Himself spoke of His indwelling presence in John 17:22-23
The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
- God work uncreasingly for the welfare of His people.
His Purpose (2:13d)
both to will and to work
- The fourth essential truth emphasized here, which is at the heart of God’s work in believers’ sanctification, is His divine purpose.
- The phrase both to will and to work is best interpreted as referring not to God’s will and work, but rather to that of the believer.
o The will to do what is right before God must precede any effective work that is done toward that end.
o A genuine desire to do God’s will, as well as the power to obey it, originates with Him.
- To will, refers to thoughtful, purposeful choice, not to mere whims, or emotional desires.
o When we are filled with the power and presence of God, our will in life will be to glorify God
His Pleasure (2:13e)
for His good pleasure
- The fifth and final essential reality about God’s part in a believers’ sanctification is the overwhelming truth that God works in their sanctification for His own good pleasure.
- It is God’s will for us all, that we think and do what pleases Him.
- Because believers’ sanctification brings God pleasure, God grants to us the resources to pursue it.
- The sole purpose that we all have as believers’ is to obey, worship, and glorify God, and by fulfilling that purpose, we bring pleasure to God.
Closing
As we finish here tonight, we all must understand that sanctification takes a strenuous effort, but is nonetheless totally dependant on God’s power.
