Growing in Holiness: Understanding God's Role and Yours

Nothing is more critical than the priority of sanctification in the life of the church. In these days, it is popular to make much of justification—what our sovereign God does for unworthy sinners. But there is pervasive indifference to the doctrine of sanctification—what the believer pursues to the honor of our all-worthy God. No one has been better equipped to address this than R. C. Sproul. It is wonderful to think of him now experiencing glorification and still speaking to us about sanctification.

John MacArthur, pastor-teacher, Grace Community Church; president, The Master’s University and Seminary

"No one in recent years has been more mightily used to bring about a resurgence in the knowledge of the holiness of God than R. C. Sproul. In his book Growing in Holiness, this luminous theologian provides us with much-needed instruction about our personal pursuit of holiness. Written with typical Sproul genius, this book is one you simply must read."

Steven J. Lawson, president, OnePassion Ministries; teaching fellow, Ligonier Ministries; professor, The Master’s Seminary

Reading R. C. Sproul is always like standing in a room when the lights are switched on: everything suddenly becomes clear. This book is a beautiful example of that. With keen wisdom and a light freshness of style, it clears away confusion, opening up long vistas of insight into the sweet truths of the gospel and their implications for our lives. Young Christians should read this and get clear bearings for a lifetime of fruitfulness; mature Christians should read this and be refreshed. I cannot recommend this highly enough; it is a must-read for us all.

Michael Reeves, president and professor of theology, Union School of Theology

© 2020 by The R. C. Sproul Trust

Published by Baker Books

a division of Baker Publishing Group

PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287

www.bakerbooks.com

Ebook edition created 2020

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

ISBN 978-1-4934-2135-0

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2016

Scripture quotations labeled NASB are from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Scripture quotations labeled NKJV are from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Italics in Scripture quotations are the author’s emphasis.

Dr. R. C. Sproul is represented by the literary agency of Wolgemuth & Associates, Inc.

Contents

Cover    1

Endorsements    2

Half Title Page    3

Title Page    5

Copyright Page    6

1. Pressing Toward the Goal    9

2. Overcoming the World, the Flesh, and the Devil    33

3. Doing the Right Thing    59

4. Assurance of Salvation    75

5. Confidence in Christ    95

6. The Priority of Love    115

7. The Fruit of the Spirit    141

8. Maturing in Christ    169

About the Author    181

Back Ads    183

Back Cover    188

1

Pressing Toward the Goal

Knowing where we’re going is crucial, but so is knowing how to get there. When we embrace the Bible’s teaching that God created us so that we might praise Him through holy living, it is tempting to seek quick fixes and fast solutions. One of my greatest pet peeves is hearing Christians say things like Come to Jesus, and all your problems will be over. Are you kidding me? I don’t think my life became really complicated until I became a Christian.

When I think of my pre-Christian days, there was a sense in which, even though my life was empty of any meaning or any significance, it was a whole lot simpler. For the most part, I did what I wanted to do. I had been able to sear my conscience to such a degree that I could enjoy myself without feeling a terrible amount of grief or remorse about it. But with the rebirth of the human soul also comes the rebirth of the human conscience.

The person who has become a Christian is now playing life for keeps. We begin to take life so much more seriously because we realize that it is indeed a serious enterprise. Unfortunately, conversion does not annihilate our propensity for sin. Christians are like the figures we see in comics—engaged in a moral battle, with an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other. We are torn between the two and greatly influenced by each side.

The Christian life is indeed a complicated matter. God certainly helps us grow through the grace He gives in abundant provision. But great growth still requires great labor.

I remember those initial weeks after my conversion when I read the whole Bible through from beginning to end, like a novel. I’ll never forget the impact it had on me, reading it that way. I understood very little of it, but it still had an overwhelming influence on me.

However, I was in great distress and anxiety because, as I read it, particularly the Old Testament, I thought, Wow, this God is playing for keeps. If I’m going to be a Christian, it’s going to be all or nothing at all. I don’t know why, but one of the first books I chose to study in depth was Philippians. I remember reading through the book and coming upon this passage: Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Phil. 2:12–13).

Those verses were weighty to me because I began to see that spiritual growth is something that, in the ultimate sense, rests in the grace of God. He is working in us, through us, and with us. But at the same time there is an admonition for us to work out our salvation. I understood even then that spiritual growth, this progress in the Christian life, is a matter of labor, of toil. It may be a labor of love, to be sure, but the apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, chooses that word carefully and precisely: work.

Sanctification is not a casual endeavor. Paul tells us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Now understand, this is not the fear and trembling of someone who cowers in the darkness out of total intimidation or some kind of paralyzing phobia. Rather, he’s writing about a labor of care and of concern and of diligence that we take very seriously—to the point of fear and trembling. We don’t tremble before our human adversaries in fear. We tremble before God and we do so with hope, knowing that God is working within us. We work because God works in us to work.

In my first study of the book of Philippians, I remember marking this significant section:

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 3:12–14)

As a newborn Christian, those verses hit me between the eyes. The apostle Paul, the greatest saint of the early church, declares to his congregation, I haven’t reached the goal yet. I haven’t attained it. I’m not perfect yet. And here I was, being impatient. I had been a Christian for three or four months, and I couldn’t understand why I hadn’t crossed the goal line yet. But the apostle Paul shows how this pilgrimage is something that lasts our whole life. That was difficult for me.

Consider the various kinds of runners. Some run the 100-yard dash, while others run marathons. Each event requires a completely different psychology. I’m a sprinter, not a marathon runner. I would much rather tackle shorter work that has a clear beginning and a clear ending than projects that last for several years. I like to be able to see the finish line and give everything I have in a short burst of energy to make it to the end.

But that’s not the way the Christian life works. The Christian life is a marathon. You have to learn perseverance. You have to keep on keeping on. You have to know how to press on with the work. That’s why I felt the poignancy of Paul’s words when I read them carefully: Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on. We don’t simply keep on. We press on.

The Greek word translated here as press indicates applying force, applying pressure (if I may borrow from the word itself). So how does that apply to us? We tend to live from spiritual high to spiritual high. We hope that we will be sanctified in large doses, all at once. We want to relax and celebrate the victory in the 100-yard dash. But the Christian life is different. You run a 100-yard dash, but as soon as you break the tape you’re exhausted. You fall to the ground, panting and gasping for breath. But then the first thing you hear is, On your mark, get set, go! and you have to do it again. You have to press on.

We don’t finish this race quickly and that can feel discouraging. But notice why Paul perseveres: I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:14). It’s as if Paul is testifying, I’m running a race for heaven. I’m running for the prize that the Father has stored up for his people from the foundation of the world. I’m going to obtain that for which Christ has obtained me. Christ has possessed me that I might possess heaven. That I might receive the treasure that He has stored in His Father’s kingdom.

Paul continues, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind . . . (Phil. 3:13). Paul had no time to waste dwelling on his failures. His concern was always the next step. His vision was fixed on heaven.

God is calling us, even now. We usually think He is calling us to do this or that task—to live in this or that city. And those realities are true. But even further, Christ is standing in heaven calling us to Himself. That’s where we have to keep our vision: on the goal line, on the end point, which is exactly where Paul’s vision was set. The reward for all the pain in our souls and for all our patient endurance is Christ