Sanctification
“Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more…It is God’s will that you should be sanctified…”
1 Thessalonians 4:1, 3
As they would say in King James’s times, “Be ye sanctified.” We are to stomp on that natural love of sin and set apart ourselves unto God. Whether it’s willful rebellion or the tiny transgressions you sweep under the carpet of your conscience, from these things…separate yourself. No doubt about it; it’s a tall order. But a doable one.
That’s because you have help from out of this world. The Lord Jesus has undertaken everything that your soul requires, delivering you not only from the guilt of sin, through justification, but from the dominion of sin in your life, through sanctification. How? Through placing in your heart both the Holy Spirit and a new principle, a “bent for good.” You have power to follow through on life choices that please God, and that power is Christ: “[He] gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:14).
Listen to this little Bible lesson from Bishop J. C. Ryle:
“Justification is the reckoning and counting a man to be righteous for the sake of another, even Jesus Christ the Lord. Sanctification is the actual making a man inwardly righteous, though it may be in a very feeble degree. The righteousness we have by our justification is not our own, but the everlasting perfect righteousness of our great Mediator Christ, imputed to us, and made our own by faith. The righteousness we have by sanctification is our own righteousness, imparted, inherent, and wrought in us by the Holy Spirit, but mingled with much infirmity and imperfection.”
Lord Jesus, I realize that my own works have no place at all in justification—your work on the cross did it all. But my works are of vast importance when it comes to my sanctification. May I fight, watch, pray, strive, and take great, great pains to be holy!
Why Should We Love the Return of Christ?
Pastor John Piper joins the podcast to share a hopeful vision for the second coming of Jesus. Hear how anticipating the return of Christ can help people who are suffering with hardship and disability today, plus the importance of cultivating a deep love for the Savior as we await his return.
