Dear Cornerstone Family,
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
After last week’s message in our new sermon series in 1 Corinthians, Growing Together in Wisdom, I had several great conversations about spiritual growth. Two of the conversations were quite practical in nature. The questions were centered on how we grow more into who we are—namely, those who are “sanctified in Christ” (1 Cor. 1:2).
For starters, this happens by grace. As we saw back in January in our study of Titus, Paul writes, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self- controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Titus 2:11-12). Notice, grace is carrying out the work of sanctification. Grace has the power to train you and me to say no to ungodliness and yes to a self-controlled, upright, and godly life.
At the same time, sanctification is going to require work—hard work, in fact. Though we are utterly reliant upon the power of God’s grace and Spirit to sanctify us, we do not just sit back and relax and wait for sanctification to happen. Rather, we “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12). The Spirit and the work of grace compel us to “strive...for holiness” (Heb. 12:14) and to “make every effort” (2 Peter 1:2) to grow more like Christ.
In 1 Corinthians, Paul is going to urge the Corinthian Christians to put grace to work in their lives. One of the truths we’re confronted with over the course of the letter is that sanctification requires the wisdom of cultivating holy habits. If we are truly committed to spiritual growth, we will learn the wisdom of a sacred routine—taking up practices and disciplines that will direct our attention and affection away from the world and onto God and His kingdom.
No surprise, this doesn’t happen by osmosis. We must make intentional and specific commitments to not be conformed to the world (Rom. 12:1). For instance, it’s not sinful to be on social media or watch the news, but true wisdom knows that such activities exert a powerful influence over us and over time can have the effect of bending our lives away from the Lord and toward the world. The wise man or woman knows, for the good of their souls and in honor to God, that they will need to curb, place limits, even fast from media, news, sports, entertainment, etc., in order to give themselves more fully to the disciplines and practices that will form Christ in them (Gal. 4:19).
We need to hear this! Please be reflecting on your habits as we move through this letter. Ask yourself the hard questions. How much time am I on social media? How much attention am I giving to the latest presidential election news alert? Are memes and Instagram reels more regularly woven into my day than Bible reading, meditation, and prayer? Am I treating sports with more reverence than the Lord’s Day? Am I more committed to my couch and the new series on Netflix than my brothers and sisters in Christ and attending a Home Fellowship Group? These questions and others like them will help you identify where course correction is needed. As we embark on this study in 1 Corinthians, let’s recommit to helping each other become who we are—sanctified in Christ (1 Cor. 1:2).
Your servant,
