Sanctified

There is a process where God allows us to become more holy in our living, and it is called sanctification. In this process, God shows us His mysteries, and those mysteries of life enable us to live a more holy life in the righteousness of God. We are still sinners, but forgiven sinners living in the freedom of God's grace, so that the natural man doesn't hold the reins anymore and the new man, the spiritual man, has now taken over. We have a desire to read the Word of God, and it stirs our heart, along with the Holy Spirit, and we change at our core, or at our roots. In fact, it is God's plan for our roots to grow deep in this process and thus enable us or empower us to live a life with vision and purpose that is centered on God's will.

In John 17, Jesus prayed to His Father, asking that this sanctification might be real and lasting, and in verses15-19 Jesus further explains what He wants for our lives. John 17: ¹⁵ I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. ¹⁶ They do not belong to this world any more than I do. ¹⁷ Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.¹⁸ Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. ¹⁹ And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.

As you can easily see, we are not living a willy-nilly life with no direction, but as Jesus prayed, we live our lives to be able to handle the ways of the world and leave the old nature behind and live the life of a born-again believer. In this world today, there is so much evil, and we don't just roll over and let evil win; we need to deepen our roots to be able to live this abundant life of victory and purpose. The key verse for me is verse 18, where Jesus prays the following ¹⁸ Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. It is not the purpose of Jesus to send us on mission without the tools we need to live this life of victory. I don't believe anyone should ever consider giving up their faith at all, but should see their faith grow as they are sanctified.

Paul knew this, and in his letter to the Colossians he wrote in Colossians 2: ⁶ And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. ⁷ Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. So there it is. The very basis and promise of following Jesus and deepening our roots in HIm. Our faith walk will become stronger, and the sanctification process will continue to draw us close to God. If you know Jesus, then you are sanctified, and the sky isn't even the limit of what God wants to do in your life. 1 Corinthians 2:⁹ That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared   for those who love him.”¹⁰ But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God's deep secrets. Want to know a secret? Get in the Word and you will find plenty of them.

The Pilgrimage Continues,

David Warren