Set Apart for the Triune God

"When Peter wrote his first letter to churches located in modern-day Turkey, his readers were facing antagonism and persecution. How would you begin such a letter/ perhaps with words of sympathy saying how sorry you were that things had become so difficult? He began first by reminding them of their identity in Christ and then by breaking into a doxology. Peter's implied logic is: as you face life with all its trials do not lose sight of who you are and what you are for. be clear about this and you will make progress. Forget this and you will flounder and fall. The reason? Knowing (1) whose you are, (2) who you are, and (3) what you are for, settles the basic issues about how you live." So says Sinclair Ferguson in his new book DEVOTED TO GOD. This book was very influential in crafting this sermon. Union with Christ is a very great and glorious reality and yet we cannot expect to be sanctified passively, though there certainly is a passive side of sanctification. Spiritual freedom requires taking your sins by the throat, if we may so speak.