Sanctification

We saw last week that in love God adopts us into his own family, calling us his children and authorizing us to call him Abba, Father. In Christ we have a new name, a new identity, and a new character. We are called "saints" or "holy ones". By his Word and Spirit, God is calling you to live a new life in Jesus Christ. Grace does not allow you to escape responsibility for your behavior; rather, grace furnishes the freedom and power for you to embrace responsibility in this life. "... if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" If you have not been joined by faith to Christ, you cannot be new. But if you ARE joined by faith to Christ, you MUST be new! You cannot remain as you were. The old has gone; the new has come!