RCCG SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER'S MANUAL: OCTOBER 1ST, 2017 LESSON FIVE (5) — THE SANCTIFIED LIFE

LESSON FIVE (5): THE SANCTIFIED LIFE [OCTOBER 1ST, 2017]

OPENING PRAYER: Father, let my whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

BIBLE PASSAGE: JOHN 17:9-23 KJV

9: I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

10: And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.

11: And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

12: While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

13: And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

14: I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

15: I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

16: They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

17: Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

18: As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.

19: And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

20: Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

21: That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

22: And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

23: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

MEMORY VERSE: 1 Thessalonians 5:23 “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

LESSON INTRODUCTION - In the Old Testament, sanctification frequently denotes the ceremonial or ritual consecration of any person or thing to God. Thus the Hebrews as a people were holy unto the Lord, through the covenant with its rites and atoning sacrifices(Exo 31:13).

Sanctification is the second work of grace after salvation that every believer must experience. The understanding of the concept, process and practice of sanctification shall be dealt with in this lesson with the help of the Holy Spirit.

LESSON OUTLINE 1- SANCTIFICATION- CONCEPT AND PROCESS

i. To sanctify means to make holy or set apart for God. Genesis 2:3; Exo 19:23

ii. Sanctification is making truly and perfectly what was defiled and sinful.

iii. It is a progressive work of divine grace upon the soul justified by the love of Christ

iv. It is gradual cleansing from the corrupt nature to a spotless nature with exceeding joy. John 15:3; Jude 1:24

v. The Holy Spirit does the work of sanctification in conjunction with the word of God. John14:26; 17:17; 2Thessalonians 2:13; 1Pet 1:2

vi. Every Christian should be holy as God is holy. 1Pet 1:15-16

vii. The blood of Jesus sanctifies believers from all sin. 1John 1:17

viii. Through the same process of the death on the cross, the Lord Jesus saved us from penalty of sin and prepared us spotless for Heaven.

LESSON OUTLINE 2:- PRACTICES AND BENEFITS OF SANCTIFICATION

i. It is the progressive work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer from the moment of salvation to perfection.

Romans 6:13; Col 3:10; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 1John 4:7; 1Corinthians 6:11

ii. Faith in the Lord Jesus is an important ingredient in the work of sanctification. Galatians 2:20

iii. The truth of the word of God also plays dominant role in the process of liberation of the believers from bondage to liberty and from all sorts of spots to spotlessness. John 8:32

iv. A sanctified believer is a holy believer. A holy believer is humble. He/She abhors evil and denounces self

v. Sanctified believers are very sensitive to spiritual things and are bonded to Christ. Galatians 2;20; 1Corinthians 2:13-16

SUMMARY - Sanctification and truth are inseparable. Those who love to be sanctified must love the truth which is the word of God. John 17:17

CONCLUSION - Jesus sanctified Himself for the sake of the believers. Believers too must live a sanctified life for the sake of Heaven to behold the glory of Christ at last. John 17:19,24

CLOSING PRAYER

i. Father, let me be with Christ in glory at last.