How Sanctification Works
A Word on Sanctification
There has been a debate since the days of the Apostle Paul, regarding salvation by faith versus works.
I'll give you a hint. It's neither. It's Grace. Both Faith and Works rely on human power in some way
But, I want to talk about sanctification, and I'm going to use an analogy to do it.
Sanctification comes after salvation.
We get saved by hearing God calling us, and turning to Him (Repent) and confessing Jesus as Lord.
Let me break it down.
Everyone who is saved was called. That is grace. We realize that God is real and he is there for us and wants to save us. We believe what He has told us in our heart. That is faith. We turn to Him and ask Him to save us, confessing that Jesus is our Lord. That is faith and works. (Romans 10:9-10, James 2:26)
Salvation and sanctification are kind of like getting a job.
You need a job so you fill out an application. The human owner decides whether he needs you and if you can make him money.
But,
God wants you. He made a way for you, before you even knew you needed one. He doesn't care about your
background or skills or college or attitude. He just wants you to come.
So if you want Him, you are hired. God trains you and gives you everything you need to serve HIM. He is the boss. Remember this.
So, now comes sanctification. Which is where God works in our lives to change us. A lot of changes occur when we first get saved. But, there are things that we need to work on our whole life.
Let's continue with the analogy.
So, let's say you show up late to work.(sin)
A human boss warns you and threatens to fire you. (Punish you and throw you in hell)
But. God is not like that. He forgives you and looks into your life to see
what's up. He might change your mind. Or make some adjustments to your
circumstances so you can be on time, without a rush or hurting yourself
or others. He works to correct us or solve our problem, or set us free from some bondage. he does not cast us away.
That's how it works. God works in us and with us to fix us.He saved us already, now He continues to work. That is sanctification. The Holy Spirit helps us to grow, if we are willing to listen.
Too many people believe their heavenly father is like the boss or their earthly father. He is not.
God is not a slave driver. He doesn't need to be. When He speaks something, he knows for a fact that it will happen. There is no doubt.
Sometimes sanctification leads to correction or brokenness. When we get saved we are basically giving ourselves to God, because we need Him and He knows whats best. So, we have given Him permission to work on us as He sees fit. (Prov. 3:11-12)
In our lives we often find that we have gone the wrong way or that we have become entangled with some problem. Perhaps a hurtful lifestyle or addiction.
In order to grow us and help us, God must sometimes take drastic measures to set us free from bondage. We might be at what we call rock bottom and lose everything and everybody. We might become broken. It's terrible and painful, but He is there with us to protect us.
Like a refiner's fire.He controls the heat to melt the precious metal and remove the dross or crud. All of this works to make us of greater use by Him. (Malachi. 3:1-3)
We often find ourselves broken by this process of correction or setting us free.
This brokenness leads to meekness.
People think meekness is weakness. It's not.
Brokenness is like a powerful horse being broken by his master. He does not lose his power, but he becomes usable. This is meekness.
This is sanctification.
This is why some folks have their lives torn apart after they get saved. God is setting them free. He has saved them, now He is working to remove things that are bad for them.
The temptation at this point is to fight what is happening, or run away. But, that only makes things worse.
Remember Jonah.
God spoke to Jonah and Jonah refused. He ran away. All kinds of bad stuff started happening to Jonah; storms and even getting swallowed by a fish, till he was broken and accepted God's will.
Prison or a hospital bed could be your fish.
Turn to God. Read His Word. Listen to the Holy Spirit.
When you turned to God and asked Him to save you, He promised He would. Sanctification is a part of that. We never really know how bad we are and how much God must remove from us. We sometimes, need a lot of pruning in order to bear fruit for the Kingdom.
Remember, God is with you. You have turned to Him and He is there, no matter what you are facing.
Remember ALL things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. (Rom 8:28)
Everything that happens in our life can be used by God to grow us and serve Him. The key is to turn to Him in everything. Suffer in Him. Do not run from Him.
Not everything bad that happens is caused by God. We have an enemy. We live in a fallen world. We also do things to cause problems for ourselves. But, EVERYTHING can work for our good, when we turn to Him and give it to Him.
I have had terrible things happen in my life. Most of it was my fault. Most of it was because I listened to the enemy.
But, I love those terrible things because God used them to set me free.
Would I change it?
I wish I had not been so foolish. But, it all drew me closer to God, and made my life better. So, I would not change it for the world.
When we know Him, He becomes more valuable than this world, this life, family, or anything we can think of.
That is how sanctification works.
It works to build the relationship. If you really know Him.
-----
Bio:Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.
Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/
Follow Him on Free Life Blog: https://myfreelifeblog.com/
Read His Spiritual Writings on Blogger: https://chrisbunton.blogspot.com/
Buy a cup of Coffee
Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public
Photos by the author
No comments:
Post a Comment