June 24, 2009

• Postcards from God in England: sanctification is gloriously messy!

  While in England, as soon as I came across this sign, I knew I wanted to snap a picture of it.

  

  I wasn't exactly quite sure what I might use it for, but as I had yet another conversation with Norm (see the comments section of my last blog entry), it became pretty clear to me. We were having a discussion about two aspects of sanctification. The first is our need to see our sin, to be crucified with Christ and to put off our sin, and the second is to put on Christ and to live in the power of the resurrection. I had emphasized the former in my post yesterday, while Norm made a comment about our need for the later. Both come from our having a right view of God. Of course, we need to have both things happening: putting off sin and putting on Christ. To even speak of these things, we're limited, for they're really outside the realm of words in many ways. Plus sanctification is never a simple 1-2-3 cookie cutter formula. If you're looking for "Three steps to a holy life" (or perhaps some would say 12 steps), or if you're looking for "The Dummies Guide to Sanctification," you won't find it. Yes, it's simple in some ways, because it really boils down to the life of Christ coming into our hearts by faith, our being united with Him and His continuing process to work in us so we might increasingly submitting to His Spirit, so His will might become our will. Of course, as that works out in real time, it's messy. Sanctification is messy. Sanctification is messy because sanctification involves real people like you and me! Sanctification involves real life and real problems and real struggles. Sanctification involves our sin nature and our lust and our flesh and our evil desires and Satan and temptation. That 's what makes sanctification messy. There's a battle going on. Paul writes in Galatians 5: the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

  Yet, on the other hand, because sanctification also involves the Father, Son and Spirit, that makes it glorious. We are not left to sanctify ourselves. Sanctification is God's work in us. I like the sign above that says: "FOR CHILDREN WITH AN ADULT." In terms of our sanctification, no matter how old we are, no matter how mature we are, no matter how many years we've been saved, we're all children in one sense or another because God is our accompanying adult. It is He who will see us through all the messiness of sanctification. And no, it's not all fun and games as the sign says. There will be spilled glue, permanent marker in places it wasn't intended, scattered Cheerios, runny noses, temper tantrums, paper cuts, shoe laces to tie again and again, spilled Kool-aid, vomit, skinned knees, etc., etc. Yes, it's messy, but because God goes through it with us, it is glorious!

  Perhaps we might say:

  Sanctification is messy,
  Sanctification is glorious,
  Sanctification is gloriously messy!

  Though our sanctification is messy, our sanctification is assured. Though our sanctification is being worked out in real time, yet in God's eyes it's already been accomplished. I don't really understand that and I don't think we can really understand that except to say God works outside time as we know it. We are chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. I don't get that. There are some things we're not intended to get, and I'm fine with that.

  We must always keep in mind that God's will for us is sanctification (I Thes. 4:3) and we know that God would never work against His purposes for His own children! Plus, if we are Christ's, we have the glorious Trinity pulling out all the stops, working for us to sanctify us and conform us to the image of Christ.

  For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. Romans 8:29-30.

  But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. II Thessalonians 2:13.

  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. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. I Thessalonians 5:23-24.

  And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Hebrews 10:10.

  I love those verses. Sometimes I know we (I!) can look at how little we've progressed in the Christian life and we can see how little we resemble the Lord Jesus, we can be tempted to despair, but let us look to these verses as a reminder that once God has chosen us and set His love on us and put His Spirit in us, our total sanctification is assured. He sees us as already glorified! We are already seated with Him in heavenly places. We have been sanctified once for all. Again, I don't understand that, but all I can do is rejoice in that! In God's eyes, we are already sanctified and already glorified!

  Of course, that doesn't mean we sit back on our laurels and do nothing! And that doesn't mean we turn a blind eye to our sin. By no means! Or, as Paul says in Romans 6:1 (KJV): "God forbid!" In other words, God has not showered His mercy and grace on us and given us eternal life only so we might live life how we please. We are not to live our lives presuming upon his mercy and grace. That's exactly the point Paul was making in the first part of Romans 6, (right after he so wonderfully explained the doctrine of justification by faith in Romans 1-5):

  What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

  Paul's is saying that justification by faith does not mean "Once saved, always saved; therefore it doesn't really matter how I live my life. I'm secure in Christ. I've got my 'fire insurance.'" No, not at all! The person who truly understands the rich mercies and lavish grace and amazing love of God poured out at Calvary for wretched and vile sinners, the person who truly sees a glimpse of the glory of God who justified us freely by faith in Jesus Christ, such a person could never presume upon God's grace and never make God's grace cheap. Our sin ought to grieve us. If your sin does not grieve you, you need to examine your relationship with God. And if you've heard a version of justification by faith that says it doesn't matter how you live, or if you believe that yourself, go back and read through the entire New Testament, particularly Romans and First John. With the gift of salvation always comes the call to live a holy life. But then we cannot forget that along the call to live a holy life, God gives us the means to live that life!

  When we are saved not only is Christ's righteousness credited or imputed to us, so God declares us not guilty, but Christ's righteous life comes to dwell in us, i.e.-His life is imparted to us by means of His Holy Spirit so we might be able to walk in newness of life and live the holy life God calls us to live. Because we now have Christ's resurrection power, we have the ability to live a holy life. Therefore the true believer who has been indwelt with the Holy Spirit will never be able to continue or persist in living in a sinful, ungodly and unholy life. Christ's Holy Spirit won't allow us do so. He will bring conviction to us and lead us to confession and repentance.

  So, yes, our salvation is a free gift, but with that gift comes a responsibility: a responsibility to work out our salvation with fear and trembling and to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we've been called. But along with that responsibility and calling, God gives us the means to fulfill that responsibility and calling. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation; God never gives His children a command for which He does not provide the power to us to keep that command. Christ is not only our righteousness but also our sanctification (I Cor. 1:29-31). That's what Paul unpacks in much of the rest of the book of Romans. In more theological terms in Romans 6-8, where He reminds us of the life available to us now as the Spirit has come to dwell in our hearts by faith, and then in really practical terms (Romans 12-16), which is where our sanctification gets messy and where the rubber really meets the road, so to speak. It's one thing to talk about being holy, it's another to actually do so in the real world, in the here and now, with real people!

  So, in real time, our sanctification is still in progress; it is an ongoing process and it is an often a very messy process, but yet we can have full assurance that one day it will be completed since our sanctification does not depend on us, but on Christ's ongoing work for us and in us!

  For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Hebrews 10:14.

  For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one origin. Hebrews 2:11.

  And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6.

  To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. II Thessalonians 1:11-12.

  He's begun the work, and we will be certain that He will complete the work!

  That said, it doesn't mean our sanctification is automatic. We don't just sit back and coast and do nothing and expect instant sanctification. Paul reminds us:

  Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13.

  There's a balance here, because we do work out our sanctification, but we can only do so through the power of Christ's Holy Spirit. We have no power in and of ourselves to sanctify ourselves. Notice Paul's words: it is God who works in us. Yes, we work, but in reality it is all His work, therefore, He alone receives all the glory. We have no boast. Our salvation from beginning to end is all of Christ.

  I heard Michael Eaton talk about the day Jesus will say to us, "Well done, good and faithful servant."  Eaton said in reality what we ought to say at that point (and most likely will say) is, "Well done, good and faithful Savior," akin to the twenty-four elders casting their crowns at Christ's throne. Any good work we do for Christ is only by means of God's Holy Spirit who is working in us!

  Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13.

  However, though it is all Christ's work in us and all to his glory, we still must work. If we look through the New Testament epistles we find active words and phrases such as:

  walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh

  do not present your members to sin, present yourselves to God

  let not sin reign therefore in your mortal bodies

  consider yourself dead to sin but alive to Christ

  Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him...

  seek the things that are above

  set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth

  put to death therefore what is earthly in you

  but now you must put them all away

  put on then...

  let the Word of Christ dwell in your richly

  let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

  purify yourself as He is pure

  confess

  let us walk properly

  do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers

  be separate from them...and touch no unclean thing

  but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires

  let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God

  As we look at these commandments, it's implied that we have a choice: we can choose whether we will put off the old man or put on the new man. Prior to being saved, we had no choice. Keep in mind that the New Testament letters were written to the people of God who had the Spirit of Christ dwelling within them. If you are not a Christian, you cannot begin to live the Christian life because you do not have Christ dwelling in you. We can only keep these commandments through the life of Christ indwelling our souls. Christianity is not a set of moral teachings or a philosophical system: it is a life. As Henry Scougal put it: "the life of God in the soul of man." When we are born into this world, we were dead in our sins and transgressions. That is our default state. Apart from the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, we remain slaves to sin, to self and to Satan. We have no inclination to follow God. We have no interest in being holy and righteous; we have neither the ability nor the desire to live holy and righteous lives. Our minds and hearts are enmity against God. But for those who have been born again by His Spirit, that all changes. Christ has come to dwell in us to renew and transform our minds, hearts and wills, so we might have the desire and the ability to live holy lives. Paul describes that contrast in Romans 8:

  For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

  You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. 12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Romans 8:5-14.
  

  Paul tells us that those who are Christ's have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in them and the Spirit will quicken and empower those believers to live to please God. If the Spirit dwells in you, the Spirit will help you present yourself as a slave to God, to live to God and no longer to sin and self. Paul writes: If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. I really like the KJV translation for that verse which includes the word mortify; I think it carries so much more weight: For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. We have no ability to kill sin, to mortify sin, to overcome sin and live a holy life apart from the Holy Spirit. It is only as the Holy Spirit dwells in us, will we increasingly desire to be holy as He is holy, and we will more and more hate our sin and want to be rid of it, because our sin will become increasingly abominable, intolerable and undesirable to us.

  Because sanctification is the result of Christ's work in us, it will continue and our final sanctification is assured, but in the meantime, it's messy!

  Don't be surprised or shocked when your sanctification begins to get messy! God knows it will be messy! Trust that He who began that work of sanctification will complete it in you! When you see the mess, keep looking to the one who foreknew you, predestined you, called you, justified you and glorified you! Keep drawing on His power to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. And remember, if God is for us, who can be against us? Christ is continuing to work to sanctify His Church!

  Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. Ephesians 5:25-27.

  Sanctification is messy,
  Sanctification is glorious,
  Sanctification is gloriously messy!

  ---

  Related posts:

  Lessons about Spiritual Formation from H-O-R-S-E
  Encouragements to press on: the Creator upholds His new creation
  why we need a new heart (Bible reading - Matthew 5)

  • 5:02 PM
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