Made Clean: Sanctification (#KnowMore Part 7)
Welcome back, dear reader. It’s been close to a week since I last shared a post here, and now that all my business is done, I can place my focus on finishing this series and starting a new one.
Today I put up the last guest post in this series, written by my friend Jay Ngome. Yes, that’s a real name đ. The end of October marks three years of our friendship, and it’s been great being encouraged by him in my walk in times of despair. He’s a bass player, and a good one at that. Who knows, maybe you’ll hear him somewhere… We’ll see.
Without much ado, here’s the guest post on sanctification.
We looked at regeneration in the a previous post and in a nutshell:- Regeneration is rebirth; sanctification is growth.
In regeneration, God implants desires that were not there before: desire for God, for holiness, and for glorifying Godâs name in the world, desire to pray and worship; desire to love and bring benefit to others.
In sanctification, the Holy Spirit âworks in you, both to will and to workâ according to Godâs purpose, enabling His people to fulfill their new, godly desires (Phil. 2:12, 13). Christians become increasingly Christlike, as the moral profile of Jesus (the âfruit of the Spiritâ) is progressively formed in them (2 Cor. 3:18; Gal. 4:19; 5:22â25).
Regeneration is Rebirth; Sanctification is Growth.
Lazarus -Alive Man in death Clothes.
The man who had died came out,his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them,’Unbind him,and let him go.’ (John 11:44). Lazarus was brought back and made alive (given new life) but was still wrapped in death clothes, a representation of Born again people who were dead in trespasses and were made alive but are still wrapped in flesh(death clothes).
This flesh that gives fruit of sin as the apostle John points out in no uncertain terms. âIf we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.â (1 John 1:8.)
We have a corrupted mind that has been defiled by the things of the world, a heart that is deceitful above all else. Against such are we asked to wage war and strive to be holy as He who called us is Holy. We thus have to be delivered from this pollution of sin and transformed into the image of Christ. When he comes back we be fully transformed to be like him and be removed from the presence of sin(glorification).
Justification – delivered from the Penalty of sin
Sanctification -delivered from the pollution of sin
Glorification – delivered from the presence of sin.
Sanctification is the process by which you are transformed to have divine nature by the act of consistently putting sin to death by resisting temptation. This is what it means to cleanse the inside of the cup. (Matthew 23:26). This is an ongoing process, dependent on Godâs continuing action in the believer, and consisting of the believerâs continuous struggle against sin and As Paul says in Romans 6, itâs a function of your new nature in Christ.
Dependent on Godâs continuing action in the believer
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).
In 1 Thessalonians Paul prayed that the Lord would complete His sanctifying work in their lives. Just as with salvation, sanctification is not accomplished by our will or actionsâitâs the work of the Lord in the lives of His people.
After being born(Regenerated) we are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth.(Ephesians 1:13-14). He âworks in us, both to will and to workâ according to Godâs purpose, enabling His people to fulfill their new, godly desires (Phil. 2:12, 13). He also gives us assurance that God will surely complete this process of sanctification âHe who started a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christâ (Phil. 1:6).
Consisting of the believerâs continuous struggle against sin
âBut if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.â
1 John 1:7.
John would then call us to walk in the light. Walking in the light is the state of being obedient to do all that God reveals to you through the Holy Spirit. For example, when He shows you that you need to overcome greed,deceitfulness,or any other lust. This means both that you put to death through the help of the Holy Spirit all of the sin you are shown.
Paul would also tell us;
Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Colossians 3:9-10.
Conclusion
Our human nature is heavily consisted of wretched tendencies But the hope of the gospel is clear:
âHis divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.â
2 Peter 1:3-8
We are promised that we can be partakers of the divine nature by fleeing the corruption in the world that comes through our lusts. As we gradually overcome our sinful human nature it is replaced by divine nature.
Let us stay in obedience to Godâs Word and the Holy Spirit.