If we start out with regeneration and end up at perfection, how we get there is sanctification. This daily devotional looks at how we become new creations.
Sanctification and Justification
“… But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (I Cor. 6: 11 ESV)
Sanctification is the evidence of justification.
Think about it. It has to be.
Sanctification is the transformation of mind, body, and soul, which begins with regeneration; gradually changes our nature and morals through the promptings of the Holy Spirit; and ends with perfected state of spiritual wholeness or completeness.
- Regeneration is being changed from spiritually dead to spiritually alive and the internal new birth and requickening that God brings about through the work of the Holy Spirit to give us new character.
- Spiritual death is the separation from God that occurred as a consequence of Adam and Eve’s original sin. The spiritually alive are those who have ABCDed, so they are no longer separated from God.
- Perfection means we reach a state of maturity because the combination of the spiritual graces form, when all are present, spiritual wholeness or completeness — holy, sanctified, and righteous.
- Spiritual graces are worldly morals that have been submitted to God to further His kingdom instead of enhancing this world.
- Sanctified means to be set free from sin.
- Righteous means we are free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws.
Justification is the act through the merits of Christ that makes us free from sin because we are following God’s moral laws. Jesus justifies us when we put our lives in His hand.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Glossary
In conversion, Jesus makes us free. Conversion is the product of repentance, when we turn away from our sins and return to God, that secures salvation. We get regeneration.
But that is only the start. We become new creations.
Oh, yeah. We have to change. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is passed away; behold, the new has come” (II Cor. 5: 17 ESV).
Glossary
That is what sanctification is all about. We are changing from what we were before conversion to mature disciples — what is needed to gain perfection.
It isn’t about just loving one another and being a good person.
It is about changing our motives, frame of mind, and habits. It works on all of us — our thoughts, feelings, opinions, and goals.
It works on our souls. Our soul is our spiritual part that is immortal.
Sanctification is about changing our focus and putting it on God.
This is why we say God takes us where we are. Salvation does start there.
Salvation is the gift of life through the deliverance from condemnation and sin to acceptance and holiness and changes us from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
- Holiness is the transcendent excellence of His nature that includes elements of purity, dedication, and commitment that lead to being set apart.
- Purity means possessing God’s moral character, having eliminated the stain of sin.
Glossary
But we don’t get to stay there. We have to become more like God. We have to gain His character.
But it is more than just going through a change. It is putting feet to our faith. Faith is a gift from God that enhances the conviction that the doctrines revealed in God’s Word are true, even if we do not understand all aspects of them, a belief which impacts our lives and distinguishes us from others.
We have to be active participants in changing our lives to reflect God. Becoming a disciple — and being a disciple — isn’t a spectator sport.
We have to work at it. We do this by seeking You.
The Work of Sanctification
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2: 12 ESV)
The change associated with sanctification is going to take work.
Paul recognized that. He called it working out our salvation.
God doesn’t just flip a switch, and we are that new creation. It is going to take a lot of work to change our motives, frame of mind, and habits.
That is how we build God’s character in us.
This is why we call sanctification a process. It is going to take time and effort to resist our sinful nature and embrace God’s holy nature.
It is also going to hurt. We are allowing God to cut the sin out.
That is the whole purpose of sanctification. We can’t get God’s character if we still have sin reigning in our lives.
Sanctification has three different prongs that are used to cut out sin. We have to be, do, and suffer in order to be sanctified.
Each part has its own challenges.
It seems kind of funny to list that we have to be like God when that is the goal in which we are striving in the process.
But we can’t wait until the end of the process to have God’s character — or be getting it. If we do that, we are not sincere in our conversion. Salvation really isn’t ours.
We have to show evidence that we are becoming like God. We show that by being like Him now.
It does take work to succeed in being like God. It isn’t just in our doing and being a good person.
The doing part has to be focused on doing for God in the way He wants us to do. We serve Him in the ministries into which He calls us.
We can’t love others because it is the right thing to do. We have to love others in order to show them how God loves them.
It goes back to our motives. Our motives have to focus on God, growing us to be more like Him, and expanding His kingdom.
Ouch! Yeah, suffering is part of it.
God points out the remaining sin in our lives as we go through trials. It is when we are dealing with the hard times, we want change the most.
We are more open to removing the sin when we go through trials.
Paul told us the benefits of sanctification. “Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work” (II Tim. 2: 21 ESV).
Growing through Sanctification
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Heb. 5: 12-14 ESV)
The whole purpose of sanctification is to get us to grow in grace and knowledge of God.
We don’t want to remain where we are at when we were converted. We need to grow from there.
We need to solidify what we believe. We do that by seeking God.
We have to obey God’s laws and commandments. That is how we learn about His character.
Reaching Perfection
“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (I Jn. 3: 2 ESV)
One day, the process will be over. We will truly be new creations because we will be changed to be as Jesus is.
The process is only completed in the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord is when we will be called home to Heaven.
That is the day for which we work.
Father God. We want to grow closer to You every day of our lives. It is our desire to become more like You. Help us to navigate the Sanctification Road so that we may do that. Amen.
What do you think?
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