The process of sanctification is accomplished through ongoing
exposure to the Word of God. That is, Jesus Christ not only saves us from our sin (its penalty and
power), but He divinely disposes of our
sin (its practice) through the ongoing operations of the Holy
Spirit. Although we are called to “be
perfect,” i.e. to emulate Christ
and strive toward His perfection,
we are cognizant of the fact that Heaven’s treasure actually resides within
frail, failing, human vessels…US. (Matthew 5:48 and II Corinthians 4:7)
Nevertheless, in cooperation with
the work of the Holy Spirit, we are commanded to sanctify ourselves. Not only are we to studiously avoid sinful situations
and practices, we are admonished to “abstain from all appearance of evil,” which implies that the gospel message
must never by diluted or compromised by any ungodly attitudes or actions over
which we have control. The Father
extends a precious promise to those of you who are willingly obedient to Him. As you perform your part, GOD will certainly complete
the process, i.e. the “God of peace [will] sanctify you wholly.” (I
Thessalonians 5:22-23 and Philippians 1:6)
Jesus Christ, our perfect example, modeled this pattern of cooperation
with The Father. In His high priestly prayer recorded in the
gospel of John, he intercedes to the Father on behalf of all believers: “And
for their sakes I sanctify myself…that
they also might be sanctified through the
truth.” Undoubtedly, our process
of sanctification is activated and enabled by the Living Word. Jesus declares, “I have given them thy word.”
And He prays that The Father
would “sanctify them [believers] through thy truth: thy word is truth.” Importantly, he petitions that The Father would not “take [believers]
out of the world,” but that He would “keep [believers] from the evil.” (John
17:14-19)
This sanctification process is only made
possible by “the washing of water
by the word.” It is the intention of Jesus Christ to
present us to The Father as “a
glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that [we]
should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:25-27) Christ’s ultimate goal is so lofty that it
defies human logic and seems to contradict what we see in ourselves and observe
in others. That is where faith comes into the picture.
Faith is the mover-and-shaker of God’s
Disposal System. In a word, our
faith positions us and then transports us into the perfect will of God. The irony is this: Even though we are not actually perfect, we are made perfect by virtue of our faithful
response to God’s word. For example, the
scriptures tell us that Abraham “believed
in the Lord; and [GOD] counted it
to him for righteousness.”
(Genesis 15:6) This underscores the fact
that “without faith, it is
impossible to please” our God. (Hebrews 11:6)
The bottom-line is this: Despite our present conditions and challenges, faith-filled disciples have already
attained the ultimate measure of victory. He has
already given us the victory…current circumstances notwithstanding. In the words of the Apostle Peter, “According
as his divine power hath given unto us all
things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of
him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” (II Peter 1:3)
Therefore, according to the
teachings of the Apostle Paul, despite the spiritual warfare in which we are
now engaged, by FAITH…we are already SEATED
IN HIM…in total victory!
Prayerfully consider the Word:
Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us
with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised
him from the dead, and set him at
his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Ephesians 2:5-7
5 Even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with
Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he
might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus.
In order to walk in total victory, believers
are advised to remain wide-awake, vigilant, sober and steadfast, which means
that we must always approach the things of God with seriousness and consistency.
(I Thessalonians 5:6-8 – I Peter 5:8 – I Corinthians 15:58) But believers should never stress, worry, doubt or become anxious about God’s method of bringing us into relational and
practical perfection. Why? In effect, there is an invisible sign hanging
on the shoulders of each and every believer.
It reads, ‘Under Construction!’ So ultimately, “it is GOD who works in you
both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13) Be watchful; be prayerful; be Word-full; be
consistent; be committed…but know
that both your salvation and your sanctification have been carefully and
completely crafted by your Creator. When
Jesus declared, “It is finished,” He proclaimed that the salvation process was
complete, and (by faith) that YOU are complete in Him. (John 19:30) Therefore, every
issue in your life that needs adjustment is already handled…via God’s Disposal System. Wow!
Double Wow! Triple Wow! Hear what The
Word says about those of us who believe:
“For we are God’s [own] handiwork
(His workmanship), recreated in Christ
Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined
(planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time],
that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made
ready for us to live].” (Ephesians 2:10, The Amplified Bible)
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