Sanctification

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

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. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

Sanctify - to make holy; set apart as sacred; consecrate.

to purify or free from sin. A process that starts after justification. Justification is where we are made right with God through a living faith in Jesus. Sanctification is being separated from this world and who we were. We begin to understanding more and more, what God reveals through justification, our own sinful state. We leave that person behind, 2 Corinthians 5:7. However, that part of us, at times, rears its ugly head.

Sanctification, the process of dying to ourselves begins and continues as long as we live In Him. While we are free from sins penalty we aren't freed from its presence.

God pulls our grip from this world and our old nature (sancifies us) through trials, and discipline in order to set our minds and hearts on our great need for Him. He helps us to put our entire trust in Him until we die or He returns. There‘s a battle between our old nature and new. Paul speaks of it in Romans 7 and speaks about the victory and continued battle in Romans 8.

Final stage: glorification, we may not know what we will be like, we KNOW we shall be like Him. That’s good news. When this life is over in death or Jesus’ return the process of sanctification that makes us look like his Son will be completed. It’s tough as we live this out. He doesn’t leave us to do it alone. He gives his childre, his Spirit. This makes the end result worth it.

Chewable for the day!