Sanctification is God's Work in us...

October 9th entry in Oswald Chamber's, My Utmost for His Highest:

Building on the Atonement

"...present...your members as instruments of righteousness to God" (Romans 6:13).

I cannot save and sanctify myself; I cannot make atonement for sin; I cannot redeem the world; I cannot right what is wrong, purify what is impure, or make holy what is unholy. That is all the sovereign work of God. Do I have faith in what Jesus Christ has done? He has made the perfect atonement for sin. Am I in the habit of constantly realizing it? The greatest need we have is not to do things, but to believe things. The redemption of Christ is not an experience, it is the great act of God which He has performed through Christ, and I have to build my faith on it. If I construct my faith on my own experience, I produce the most unscriptural kind of life - an isolated life, with my eyes focused solely on my own holiness. Beware of that human holiness that is not based on the atonement of the Lord. It has no value for anything except a life of isolation - it is useless to God and a nuisance to man. Measure every kind of experience you have by our Lord Himself. We cannot do any thing pleasing to God unless we deliberately build on the foundation of the atonement by the Cross of Christ.

The atonement of Jesus must be exhibited in practical, unassuming ways in my life. Every time I obey, the absolute deity of God is on my side, so that the grace of God and my natural obedience are in perfect agreement. Obedience means that I have completely placed my trust in the atonement, and my obedience is immediately met by the delight of the supernatural grace of God.

Beware of the human holiness that denies the reality of the natural life - it is a fraud. Continually bring yourself to the trial or test of the atonement and ask, "Where is the discernment of the atonement in this, and in that?"

God's Love...

"The Christian witness through the centuries has been that "God so loved the world..."; it remains for us to see that love in the light of God's infinitude. His love is measureless. It is more: it is boundless. It has no bounds because it is not a thing but a facet of the essential nature of God. His love is something He is, and because he is infinite that love can enfold the whole created world in itself and have room for ten thousand times ten thousand worlds beside."

- The Knowledge of the Holy,
by A.W. Tozer

Healing the Broken Past

"The goal of facing our brokeness is not to wallow in the past but to reclaim it in such a way that it loses its destructive grip on the present."

- Mending the Soul, by Steven Tracy

Our Future Glory

This is a quote from Dr. Larry Crabb's book entitled, "Effective Biblical Counseling: A Model for Helping Caring Christians Become Capable Counselors," of which I think gives a clear statement of our current condition in light of the Cross of Christ and our future glory promised in scripture:

"Someday I will be glorified. I will be in heaven. Not until then will all my imperfections be removed. What God has declared to be true, that I am totally acceptable, He one day will make true in my actual being - I will be completely free from all sinful desires, thoughts, and acts. Until that time (which we usually call glorification), God is in the process of sanctifying me, of purifying me, of slowly helping me to become more of what He already has declared me to be. He has granted me the position of acceptability. now he instructs me to grow up to my position, to behave more and more acceptably. The motivation to do so is love. he has given me the Holy Spirit who tells me how to live and enables me to live that way. Because I am justified, my glorification is certain. I will reveal God's character when I see him for then I shall be like Him. But God has told me that in the time between my justification and glorification, I am to walk the path of obedience. Christian maturity involves becoming more and more like the Lord Jesus through increased obedience to the Father's will."

Motivational Speaking

I was recently reminded of how much I enjoy motivational speaking. I have always enjoyed speaking engagements, especially involving teenagers. I have taught and spoken in front of teenagers numerous times and the key to this audience is to get them actively involved in the topic of discussion. The reason for this is due to their developmental stage. I like to think of teenagers as child-adult hybrids because they still have mental processes similar to children, but are also trying to establish themselves in the adult world. A lot of this has to do with the quest for identity that they have and this desire can be met in two basic ways. Adolescents can either decide to pursue anonymity by trying desperately to fit in with the majority or they can decide to be the complete opposite of the majority where they can even be known to revel in an "outcast" status and it becomes part of their identity. However, those that tend toward this supposed "outcast" status still flock together, so to speak. Even rebels have a clique or group that they hang out with. The process of maturing occurs over time as adolescents begin to move from an ego-centristic frame of mind to one that is more holistic. This means that adolescents slowly stop acting in the world as if they are the center of the universe and they begin understanding that they are and need to be more connected to others. They begin to understand that things that happen in their world may have nothing to do with them. In order to accomplish this adolescents become much more mentally strong. They react more rationally in the world rather than emotionally. It is not that emotionality is weak or bad, but it is just not the overall controlling force in their lives any longer.

With all of this said, the reason this has to do with motivational speaking is because motivational speaking harnesses this mental strength that we learn about in late adolescence and early adulthood. I was reminded of this and impressed when a local basketball club beat another team in the NBA playoffs in only 5 games out of a possible 7 game series. It seemed they exhibited some great mental strength that I hadn't seen from them in a while. However, now that they are in the 2nd round and playing a new team, they seem to be a totally different team. They seem to be reverting back to adolescence and allowing the other team to intimidate them. They do not at all seem like they are playing with the proverbial "chip" on their shoulders that they had with the previous team. Some how, some way they must summon the mental strength that I know they have. I wish I could speak to them myself and give them a word of encouragement...

Our Spiritual Calling

This was in response to a 2-part post from a blog that I read (http://www.texasdualcitizen.blogspot.com/) in which the blogger was dealing with the tension between spiritual formation and works righteousness:

Part I:

I think this has to do with how we view the human heart in the midst of sanctification. I like to think of spiritual formation in light of an active vs. passive heart.

The passive heart is the one in which focuses control in life by what is exterior. This can be seen in an individual focused on gaining that promotion, getting married, or having kids. The implication that these individuals get stuck in is that they are not complete or fulfilled until they have reached these exterior goals in life. The opposite is also true in that if they do not reach these goals, then they are not fulfilled or complete.The active heart on the other hand is different. It is one in which focuses control inwardly, at the heart. This is a biblical view of the condition of the human heart, because scripture is clear that God focuses on our hearts and desires to change them. King David made this clear when he was responding to the conviction of sin in his life (death of Uriah and adultery with Bathsheba) in Ps. 51 where he said, "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."The goal of the active heart is to cooperate with God in the sanctification of our hearts by being introspective and focused on actively dying to self (taking off the old self) and instead actively living in Christ (putting on the new self) (Eph 4:1-5:20; Col 3:1-17; & Rm 7:7-8:39). This active view of sanctification should be the view all Christians abide by. Dr. Tom Constible comments in his study notes that, “Progressive sanctification is not something the Christian may take or leave. God commanded us to pursue it” (Titus 2:12; 2 Peter 1:3-11; 3:18). The only way we can do that is to strive to continually be in communion with Him so that we can become like Him. The common ways in which we are to commune with God is through prayer, scripture reading, and worship. Some of the more uncommon ways, but still very much needed in the Christian life, is obedience and love (1 Jn. 2:5). This active heart living is not to be done in order to gain anything that we do not already have. God has promised us abundant life and that is not just meant for eternity, but also now. From the very beginning of Christ's ministry on the earth He proclaimed that the "Kingdom of God" has come. It came when the King (Christ) arrived on the scene. We are now in the midst of the Kingdom of God, because we are in the age of Grace, which is through Christ's death and resurrection. Zane Hodges emphasizes this claiming, “…whenever you see a Christian living the Christian life, you are witnessing a resurrection miracle!” God wants us to be blessed as a result of and in the midst of our sanctification. His intention is to redeem us and return us back to the way He intended our relationship with Him to be from the very beginning (Gen. 1&2). He has saved us from what we deserve (death) and saved us to what we do not deserve (life). Scripture is clear that we are called to be holy, but we do that out of reverence and gratitude for the life we now have in Christ.

Part II: The struggle between Law & Grace

I also struggled with this and have found a couple passages to be quite helpful. The first is mainly Romans 7-8 (but could be the entire book of Romans), and the second is 2 Peter 1:3-11.

In this age of grace that we are currently in, the "already, but not yet" status of every believer is one of the biggest struggles in the Church today, but it is also one of the least addressed issue as well (at least appropriately and Biblically that is). I have to continually remind myself when I am frustrated with this issue that I am saved, I am being saved, and I will be saved is all true at the same time. This progressive sanctification is difficult to grasp and even more difficult to accomplish/attempt. One of the things that I discovered recently is contained in the dynamic of what Paul says in Chapter 7 of Romans, starting in verse 14 and through verse 25. I believe that Paul is talking about the Christian (already, but not yet) condition and not unbelievers. I think he was talking about the struggle he, himself had with the sanctification process. It is difficult to understand how impacting it is that we have been saved spiritually, but still remain stuck in our sinful bodies and this sinful world. The progression of Paul's dynamic at the end of chapter 7 of Romans leads the reader to identify with his frustration, but the important part is in verses 24 and 25 where he exclaims, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (because he knows he cannot do it himself) Thanks be to God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!" The point in which Paul came in verses 24 and 25 is surrender. Surrender is not just something that we do when we first come to faith in Christ, but is also something that we need to continue to do. Not out of salvific doubt, but out of our desire to be Christlike and holy. Christ's work on the cross restored our ability to come to the Father, one that Adam and Eve enjoyed (although briefly) in the Garden. This communion with our Creator was what we were designed and intended for. Sanctification is for our blessing and intended to lead us to the Father's healing and abundance, which we cannot access on our own. This is what Peter was trying to convey in his second letter and states it at the very beginning (1:3 – 4), “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

About Me

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

Chris Dockins, MABC, LPC-Intern, received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Southern Methodist University and a Master of Arts degree in Biblical Counseling from Dallas Theological Seminary.

He is a Licensed Professional Counselor Intern practicing in Flower Mound through the Center for Christian Counseling and under the supervision of Dr. J. Lee Jagers, who practices in Richardson, TX.

Chris has experience with helping individuals, couples, adolescents, and children through a number of different mental health related issues. He has a particular interest and heart for helping those that have a history of sexual abuse trauma. Chris is also serving the community in additional areas such as marital discord, parenting problems, and divorce recovery. On a general clinical level he can assist individuals, couples, adolescents, and children with things like depression, anxiety, addiction (alcohol, drugs, internet, etc.), adolescent issues, anger management, career/ministry, child abuse, communication, conflict resolution, domestic violence, family problems, grief/mourning, midlife crisis, missionary re-entry, pastor's families, phobias, physical abuse/domestic abuse, pre-marital, relationship issues, singleness issues/dating, spiritual issues, and suicide.

Chris worked at the Denton County Child Advocacy Center where he received his initial exposure to the overwhelming need for competent mental health professionals serving people with a history of sexual abuse trauma. There he helped families affected by sexual abuse regain composure due to their traumatic experiences. Through this experience Chris has learned how important it is to have faith in Christ because through Him we can endure great adversity (Phil. 4:13). "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:6). Through this biblical worldview, Chris understands that biblical counseling needs to be focused on the heart, because that is where God focuses (Psalm 51:17; 1 Samuel 16:7). It is easy to see that our actions are born out of our desires and beliefs, and scripture teaches that the source of our desires and beliefs is our heart (Luke 6:45; Romans 10:10).

Chris believes that life is complex and should not be compartmentalized by separating the different aspects of our lives. It is not healthy and definitely not biblical to pretend that our work life does not affect our home life and vice versa. Likewise, our faith in Christ cannot be separated from our experiences in the world because we are called to be Christ's missionaries (Matt. 28: 19-20). Sometimes we can get confused when these complexities of life overwhelm us. For this reason, Chris sees scripture as the source of truth that can help guide people through the tough seasons of life and lead them to their true calling of glorifying God. Scripture has many continuous themes running through it. These themes present us with an illustration of who God is. One of these themes is that He is a Redeemer. He is in the business of redeeming that which is corrupted. Through Christ, God has given us the privilege of accompanying Him in His redeeming plan. For this reason our lives are not our own.

Chris brings a heart for children, teens, and adults together with his love of scripture in order to serve the Body of Christ as a Biblical Counselor. His desire is to see that each individual member of the Body effectively serves Christ and his purpose.