Are we there yet?

“There is no justification without sanctification, no forgiveness without renewal of life, no real faith from which the fruits of new obedience do not grow.” ~ Martin Luther

“Sanctification is a progressive work of God and man that makes us more and more free from sin and like Christ in our actual lives.” ~ Wayne Grudem

We chuckle when we here people jokingly say; “Lord grant me patience…and grant it right now!” We are like our kids on a long car ride who keep asking; “are we there yet?” We are an impatient people and we want instant gratification. We want quick answers to prayer, a quick end to trials and fast resolutions to our problems. We have what I call a sitcom mentality; we want everything wrapped up in a neat little bow after 30 minutes, after all it happens all the time on TV so why not in real life?

Sometimes I think we approach sanctification in much the same manner; are we there yet or I want it now! By way of definition sanctification is the same Greek word as holiness, “hagios”. Trying to boil it down in laymen’s terms; sanctification is a divine act of making a justified believer’s, (someone who has placed their faith Jesus Christ and accepted Him as Lord and Savior), moral condition into conformity with their legal status. That is a mouthful. In essence with God’s help and the indwelling Holy Spirit we received at the time of our salvation, we are jointly working to live a life that corresponds or has the same character as “The Standard.” The perfect standard is Jesus Christ.

In his book “The Pursuit of Holiness” Jerry Bridges states that holiness is not totally defined by a “…series of specific prohibitions…:” or a “…particular style of dress and mannerisms…” or the discouraging pursuit of “unattainable perfection.” Bridges states; “All of these ideas, while accurate to some degree, miss the true concept. To be holy is to be morally blameless. It is to be separated from sin and, therefore consecrated to God. The word signifies “separation to God and the conduct befitting those so separated.” Bridges goes on to say that the New Testament writers show that sanctification or the pursuit of holiness is a life long process and little by little we make progress. The progress is marked by contrasts; contrasts on how we used to live before our salvation and a contrast from the ways of the world.

The challenge for us as those transformed by the Gospel is how do we achieve this? We want freedom from a besetting or reoccurring sin and cannot fathom why God doesn’t take it away immediately. We think that the moment we confess it and repent or turn away from it that God owes it to us to instantaneously and miraculously take it away from us. We forget that God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9) and that the times we are most dependent on God and seeking Him is when we are pursuing holiness.

There is the tendency within our conservative Christian circles for “mature” believers (those who have been Christians for a longer time) to expect new believers or our Christian youth to display an instant spiritual maturity and immediate growth all the while forgetting that it may have taken us decades to develop our grasp and understanding of Christian living.

One of my friends said that he thinks Christians are looking for a “Twelve-step program” or a defined list of dos and don’ts or “how to guide” to holiness or sanctified living. The twelve step program was first introduced by Alcoholics Anonymous and Wikipedia defines it as a “set of guiding principles outlining a course of action from addiction, compulsion, or other behavioral problems.” Sounds allot like our struggle with sin and rebellion doesn’t it? The thing is we forget that we have something far better than a man-made code of conduct or list of rules…we have God’s Word and the Holy Spirit which are supposed to be our guide to the right course of action and right way to live.

One key factor that we seem to overlook in our desire for progress in our spiritual life and pursuit of holy living is that it requires our active involvement. It is not just as simple as “showing up” e.g. going to church on Sundays and occasionally reading our Bible; it requires two things we don’t like…obedience and discipline. In his book “Disciplines of a Godly Man” R. Kent Hughes talks about the need for “spiritual sweat”. Hughes states; “…we will never get anywhere in life without discipline, and doubly so in spiritual matters. None of us in inherently righteous, so Paul’s instruction regarding spiritual discipline in 1 Timothy 4:7-8 take on personal urgency: “Train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

In his Systematic Theology Wayne Grudem talks about the three stages of sanctification. It has a definite beginning at the time of our regeneration (salvation), it increases throughout our lives, and it is completed at death (for our souls) and when the Lord returns (for our bodies). He states that “Sanctification is imperfect at first and exists in different degrees of advancement in different individuals.” It is a journey and not a destination.

We all need to constantly remind ourselves that sanctification in our lives and the lives of fellow believers is a work of grace that is gradual and progressive. It is a life long process and each of us are at various stages or stops on that road and we need to show each other the same patience, mercy, grace and compassionate understanding that God shows us.

Keep in mind that God patiently waited and pursued you and I until we came to the end of ourselves and saw the depth of our own need. Having this mind which was in Christ Jesus requires, nay commands that we pursue holiness and remember that as it is a work of the Holy Spirit in our lives (1 Peter 1:2) so it is in our fellow believers. We need to let the Holy Spirit do the work in others and not try to take on that office as our own.

“All at once came the thought – If you are simply obeying the LORD, all the responsibility will rest on Him, not on you! What a relief!! Well, I cried to God – You shall be responsible for them, and for me too!”~ J. Hudson Taylor

Are we making any progress?