Sanctification

So, we have talked about regeneration and justification, which leaves us with sanctification.  This one really amazes me simply because it is not a one time gift like the others.  Sanctification is truly the gift that keeps giving.

By definition, sanctification is: to make holy; set apart as sacred; consecrate; purify; free from sin; render legitimate or binding.  When believe in Christ we being the journey of sanctification, or the process by which God makes us holy and sets us apart as his own.

At the moment we repent and believe in Christ the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our heart.  His job is to work out our sanctification and keep us on track with the Lord.  I don’t fully agree with the Jiminey Cricket analogy, but can see a bit of truth to it.  The Holy Spirit can in fact be our conscious, but if we limit him to that we are missing out on so much.

Max Lucado wrote an amazing book entitled “Just Like Jesus.”  The focus of the book was how God loves us just the way we are, yet he refuses to leave us that way.  He wants us to be just like Jesus.  Lucado reflects on the life of Christ and how He is an example of how we are to live as Christians and follow our Heavenly Father.  He describes how the Holy Spirit works in us to change us, making us more and more like Christ every day.

When we look at the life of Christ as our example and the Holy Sprit as our agent of sanctification, or, if you rather, our guide, we have the perfect team to teach us how to live our lives holy and pleasing to God.

Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit bringing about a change in our entire nature.  Remember we have were born in a world of sin, given a nature of sin through Adam.  At salvation we were forgiven our sins, but our flesh still battles that sin nature.  The Holy Spirit is there to guide us, give us wisdom and wise council as we war against our flesh.  With every victory and defeat we learn valuable lessons on becoming the people God wants us to be.

 We are promised in Philippians 1:6 that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”. God has started a great work in each of us at the moment of salvation.  The Holy Spirit guides us to continue that good work in us, changing us and making us into the men and women God has called us to be.  He will not stop until Christ returns.  That is encouraging to me.  There have been many times that I would have given up on myself, but God loves me, God loves us, so much that he refuses to give up on us.  He will continue the process of sanctification in us until we go home or Christ returns.  Either way, the Holy Spirit won’t stop until the work is done.