By: Dale Weckbacher
1 Thessalonians 5:23
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.
(ESV)
Everyone who has made a profession of faith in Jesus as his
or her savior should wear a construction zone sign, indicating they are under
construction and a work in process. While
the goal of living a life for Christ is purity and perfection, we are still
fleshly beings that do not always do what we know we should do (Matthew
5:48; Romans 7:15-20; 1 Timothy 4:12).
This work in process is a work of sanctification in the life of a
believer or the setting apart of one’s life for serving Christ in this world
and eternal life in the presence of God.
The challenge for believers as they go through this process is that it
occurs while they are living in fleshly bodies in a corrupt world. However, God does His sanctifying work in
this context as a demonstration of God’s transformative work in the life of a
believer to a world needing Christ (James
1:2-4; Romans 5:3-5). While going
through this sanctification process, it is important for believers to,
1)
Have a daily connection with God through prayer
and study of the Bible – The process of sanctification begins with the renewing
of a believer's mind through losing conformity to the world and its way of
thinking through a renewal of thinking according to biblical principles (Romans
12:2). This mental renewal occurs
through regular and consistent exposure to the Bible (2
Timothy 2:15). This occurs each week
as believers gather to hear the Bible taught from the pulpit, but for the renewal
to thoroughly sanctify an individual, it must also include personal study. There is also a need for continual prayer as
this is how we communicate with God in support of each other (2
Corinthians 1:11; Romans 15:30).
2)
Have a heart of forgiveness – Those outside the Church
view those in the church as perfect in Christ and when they see a Christian
fail, are quick to point out hypocrisy. What
these individuals are missing is that Christianity is about forgiveness and not
perfection. Jesus provides the greatest
example of forgiveness when he forgave his accusers from the cross for their
failure to realize He was their Messiah (Luke
23:24). Unfortunately, Christians advance
the perception of perfection when they behave moralistically by putting down
those that sin. It is important and
biblical for Christians to model the example of Christ and forgive those that
wrong them remembering that forgiving one that sins is not condoning the sin
but following the example of Christ.
Instead of lashing out in condemnation of one’s sin, a sanctified
individual will point them to the source of forgiveness Jesus Christ who has
forgiven them (Matthew
6:14-15).
3)
Seek opportunities to serve God despite imperfections
(Romans
7:15-20) – Churches financially survive through the efforts of
volunteers. While salvation occurs
through grace and the work of Jesus on the cross, faith in Jesus is a dead
faith if it is not followed up with works (Ephesians
2:8; James 2:20). Our theology and knowledge
of God and His Word must go beyond an academic exercise to something practical
in our lives, and the lives of others. Even
the demons have good theology and know who God is (James
2:19). It is important to see James
2:20 in context by interpreting it in the context of James
2:19. James is not saying that good
works bring salvation into the life of a believer but instead that the academic
knowledge of who God is must have practical application in one’s life for faith
in God to have life. When believers
volunteer to serve Christ, they are not doing it to find salvation but as a way
of demonstrating the love of God in their lives. The demons believe in God and shudder in fear
while believers believe in God and serve out of love for God and others.
4)
Live a life of hope of the return of Jesus and
invite others to join in that hope (1
Thessalonians 4:13-18) – While God is performing the construction project
of sanctification in our lives, it is important to keep our eyes on the prize of
an eternal reward of glorification and eternity with Christ. The work of sanctification is a construction
project which involves some demolition as we are transformed from conformity to
a corrupt world system to a godly worldview (Romans
12:2). However, by keeping our eyes
on the prize of eternity in the presence of God, we can endure the struggles
that come with sanctification knowing it works for our good (Jeremiah
29:11; Philippians 3:12-14; Romans 8:28).
Such is the hope of those choosing to profess Jesus as their
savior.
If you are reading this and lack the hope of eternity with
God, I invite you to pray with me now to receive justification and eternal life,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). You died, spent three
days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord of my
life.
Just like how people can drive cautiously through a
construction zone, we can live for Christ even though we are under
construction. While making this drive,
we must be diligent in the practice of spiritual disciplines by having a daily
time with God in prayer and study of God’s Word. While drivers usually want to avoid construction
zones, this is one people need to travel on for it leads to eternity with
God. Therefore, those on the
sanctification highway must invite others to take the justification onramp, go
through the construction zone of sanctification, and join us with God for
eternity. May God bless everyone reading
this post.
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