In Colossians 1:28 Paul manages to pack in a stunning amount of apostolic instruction on faithful ministry by writing, “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.”

Christ is the message, proclamation is the manner, and maturity is the aim.

MATURITY MATTERS

Faithful shepherds then are God’s ordinary agents to bring about, through the work of God’s Spirit and Christ’s appointed means, the sanctification of God’s people. God called His sheep before the foundation of the world that they would be holy and blameless before Him. Jesus Christ ascended on high and gave pastors to His church to equip her unto “the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

Sanctification plays a central role in pastoral ministry. Pastors must then think rightly and deeply about this core issue of our faith.

CLARITY AMIDST CONFUSION

Later this week the elders at IDC plan to spend extended time discussing the doctrine of sanctification and its implications for our shepherding. I, like the other elders, have been browsing through various resources to prepare for our meeting and in the course of my perusal I came across an old gem from the boys at Reformed Forum.

Back in January 2012 the now well-known debates on justification, sanctification, and pursuing holiness were just beginning to fan into full flame in the broader Reformed evangelical world. Nick Batzig was able to sit down with Kevin DeYoung and Rick Phillips for a roundtable discussion on sanctification. And oh how useful their dialogue was – and still is! Set aside fifty minutes of time this week to watch their interaction below.

The conversation is clear, pastoral, biblical, and edifying throughout.

DEYOUNG AND PHILLIPS ON SANCTIFICATION

Click here to download the audio of this episode.