Sanctification (Part 2b)

Sanctification is a process that takes time. How long? Well as long as we have left on this earth. Philippians 1:6 "For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus."

We need to trust that Jesus will perfect His work in us in however long we have left until the day we face Him. We also need to not judge and look down on others who might not be as far along in this process as we are. We need to trust that God is doing His work in our lives and we need to trust Him to work in the lives of those we love without our meddling (unless the Holy Spirit tells us to go talk to them about something, or if they are in blatant sin, in which case we have a scriptural command to confront them in love.)

Philippians 2:12-13 "So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."

This is something that takes work. We are instructed to work out our own salvation (not someone else's, by the way). Another translation says it this way "Keep on working to complete your salvation with fear and trembling, because God is working in you to help you want to do and be able to do what pleases Him."

God is the one who give us the desire to please Him and the ability to do what pleases Him, but it is still our decision whether or not we do those things, or run off into the darkness after our old lovers again.

Ephesians 5:26 "that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word..."
Jesus Christ sanctifies us with His blood (verse already quoted earlier), and cleanses us and washes us with the water of His word. This is how He sanctifies us. He buys us out of slavery with His own blood, the absolutely biggest act of love anyone can do. Then He takes His Word and uses it like water to wash us clean outwardly, and He takes His Word and uses it like a sword that is sharper than any surgeon's scalpel to open up our hearts and change our hearts.

John 17:17 "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is truth."
Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
Ezekiel 36:26-27 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances."

It is very common for someone who has just come to faith in Christ to be occupied in cleaning up his/her outer life. The first things to go are usually drugs, drunkenness, sexual immorality, lying, cheating, stealing, swearing, etc. Then God starts doing the deep work that takes longer... rooting out greed, pride, rebellion, lust, etc. These are the sins that live in the heart and motivate the external sins.

Anyone who has been reading my blog will know that greed and pride are 2 biggies that the Lord has been working on in my heart lately.

Now we know that God does this because He loves us. It's usually hard and involves time in the wilderness. He bought us back from slavery with His own blood and He uses His Word to wash us clean and do surgery on our hearts. So what do we have to do in this process, how do we work out our salvation?

That's part 3, coming your way sometime in the next week.