Week 8 Doctrine: Sanctification Day 1 - What is Sanctification/Dying to sin. Scripture - Romans 8:29, 2 Timothy 2:21, Romans 6:6, & 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Devotional - Sanctification is the process of God working in our hearts. He reveals our sin to us in an effort to makes us more like Himself. There are two parts to our sanctification. The first part is dying to sin. By turning away and saying no to our sin, and asking God to cleanse our hearts from all of our sinful desires, we become more and more like Jesus. It doesn't happen all at once, but with the Holy Spirit's help, slowly, over the course of our entire life, we are transformed more and more into the image of God, becoming like what He always intended for us to be. Questions - 1. What does sanctification mean? 2. What is the first part of sanctification? 3. Who helps us say no to our sin? Day 2 - Sanctification/Living to righteousness. Scripture - Galatians 2:20, 2 Peter 1:2-4, Galatians 5:16, Hebrews 9:14, & Exodus 31:13 Devotional - The second part of sanctification is righteousness. It is not enough to not do bad and sinful things, we must also, with the Holy Spirit's help, do good things. Righteousness means, doing what is right in God's eyes. We do this most easily when we delight in following God’s will more than following our sinful heart. Our desires for sin become less as we delight in God more. Sin brings death and obedience brings blessings and life. As our hearts grow in faith, we learn to love what God loves and hate what God hates. Because Jesus conquered sin for us by dying on the cross, we can conquer sin in our hearts with the Spirit's help. Questions - 1. What is the second part of sanctification? 2. How does the spirit help us live in righteousness? 3. If sin brings death, what does obedience bring? Day 3 - What does God require of His people? Scripture- Deuteronomy 29:29, Micah 6:8, & 1 John 5:2-3, 2 Peter 1:3 Devotional - What does God want His people to do? He wants His people to honor and obey His written will found in scripture. It is silly for us to think that we can love God in ways that He hasn't commanded us to. Many people have made up different ways to serve and love God; these ways are not valid. We are not allowed to follow God according to our imaginations. God has given us all that we need to know Him, and all that we need to love and serve him rightly. Questions - 1. What does God want His people to do? 2. Where can we find out how we can love and obey God? 3. Can we make up our own ways to love and serve God? Day 4 - Producing good fruit. Scripture - Galatians 5:22-23, Matthew 3:8 & 7:17-18, Philippians 2:13, & John 15:1-8 Devotional - Producing good fruit is something that a true Christian does. Though they may be baptized and confess that Jesus is their salvation, some Christians are not really part of God’ eternal family, their actions betray them. Jesus says that a good tree produces good fruit, any branch that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fires of hell. This may sound scary to you, but it shouldn't be. It actually brings comfort to those of us that are part of God's eternal family. The reason that we may bear fruit when other people bear bad fruit is not that we are great gardeners. That is silly. The Great Gardener that created the world in 6 days is the very same gardener that helps us bear good fruit; the fruit of repentance, sanctification and good works. God is the one that works in us for His good pleasure and to accomplish His purposes. Questions - 1. What kind of fruit does a good tree produce? 2. What kind of tree does a bad tree produce? 3. Who enables the good tree to produce good fruit? Day 5 - Building a kingdom Scripture - Psalm 24:1, 2 Corinthians 5:20, Matthew 4:17, Matthew 24:14, & Acts 1:8, Devotional - What is the Kingdom of God and how do His people help build it? Scripture teaches us that God builds His Kingdom, and its borders will eventually expand to cover the whole earth. By His death on the cross, Jesus won back the right to rule the Earth and is now ruling it as King. The Earth belongs to the Lord. As Christ's disciples, we are told to expand the Kingdom by pushing against darkness and proclaiming the gospel of Jesus. Questions - 1. How did Jesus win back the Cursed Earth? 2. How much of the earth belongs to Jesus? 3. How do Christians build Jesus' Kingdom?