Ep 889 – Sanctification – Matthew 9:10-13

How righteous do you have to be? When it comes to salvation, how good does God expect you to be? These kinds of questions have plagued believers for more than two centuries. Few of us would deny the fact that we are sinners who tend to sin regularly. And we know that God is holy and cannot tolerate sin in the lives of His people. So, it only stands to reason that we must live righteous lives if we hope to have any kind of a relationship with God. But is that what the Bible teaches? Is that what the doctrine of sanctification is all about? In Matthew 9:10-13, Jesus reveals that He came not to call the righteous, but sinners. He didn’t die on behalf of those who had their spiritual act together, but for those whose lives were marked by sin, not sanctification. Jesus died for sinners. And it was His death that made righteousness available to those who could never have produced it on their own. When we come to faith in Christ, we receive His righteousness, and by virtue of that, we receive a right standing with God the Father.