What does it mean to be sanctified? According to Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, the definition of sanctification is “consecration” and “purification.” God’s children have been secured from the clutches of death to remain in His holy presence and righteous kingdom (consecration). But to remain in God’s presence, the child must be free of decay and rotting carnality (purification). Thus, God transforms the sinner into a saint through the purifying cocoon called sanctification. To be true, when a person turns to Christ and becomes a child of God, they are immediately called a saint, which is the title of those who are sanctified.

Positionally, they are perfect in God’s eyes. Practically, however, every saint is a work in progress and wrestling in the cocoon in order to break free from the world’s gravity and soar on the back of the dove. But our sanctification is foremost contingent on God’s immutability. In writing to the Philippians, the apostle Paul confidently stated, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). God always intended, not only to save souls, but to transform them into the image of Christ, which includes making them perfect.

But how does God do this? What is the process of sanctification?

Oftentimes Christians assume being sanctified involves charitable service. And the more they serve God by doing good, the closer they feel they are to God, making them a better person or a good Christian. But is this God’s process? Actually, God is much more interested in our hearts than what we do for Him. He wants us to seek His face and draw near to Him before anything else. Martha, in the midst of her frantic service, discovered this was the one necessary thing Jesus desired and an area she was struggling in (Luke 10:38-42). Though God can and does use our service to help sanctify us, it isn’t His primary method. He starts within the intimacy of our relationship with Him.

Therefore, our primary objective should be knowing God as deeply as possible. According to Jesus, this is what eternal life is all about, “knowing God” (John 17:3).

When knowing God is our primary objective, the sanctifying work of God is far more effective. This does not diminish the ability of God’s effectiveness in our lives. He is all-powerful, but it is of our willingness to allow Him to work in our lives. The fact is, we are God’s project (Ephesians 2:10), and He will not rest until the work is finished since our sanctification is His immutable plan.

Now if God is concerned primarily with the welfare of His people and not so much their charitable service, then should Christians engage in the work of God? The short answer is, yes. Of course!

The second half of Ephesians 2:10 says we’ve been created in Christ Jesus to fulfill the good works He prepared for us. Before the creation of time, God prepared works for His children to accomplish. Since God is immutable (unchanging), the works of His hands are unchangeable. Meaning, there are certain things God has set in place for every one of His children to do. Things ranging from good deeds, to career paths, to ministry assignments. The psalmist wrote, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He (God) delights in his way” (Psalm 37:23).

God has predestined our steps that we might accomplish His work and fulfill His will. But only the steps of “a good man” are ordered by the Lord. The good man is the person surrendered to God and walking in step with the Holy Spirit. And because they’re close to God, God’s desires have unconsciously become their desires so that the things they want to do are actually the things God wants them to do. Which explains why God delights in their way. The path they have chosen (of their own free will) and the tasks they’re doing is the completion of the pre-planned works of God and the fulfillment of God’s will. But the real reason God is delighted with them is because the completion of His works is born from intimate communion and sanctified thinking i.e. because their heart belongs to God, their mind is aligned with Christ’s, and they’re living to carry out His will.

The bottom line is, God is longing for us to know Him that others may come to know Him through the tasks He calls us to perform.

And the best way of fulfilling Gods immutable plans is by remaining close to Jesus. This relieves us of the pressures of trying to figure out the will of God for our lives. I wonder if the children of Israel ever grew anxious wondering if the daytime cloud or the night fire was going to move (Exodus 13:20-22)? Did they walk around looking up murmuring over the motionless cloud? Or did they rest in the assurance that as long as they remained under the cloud, they were in the center of God’s will? Jesus is our cloud by day and the fire by night. As long as we remain in Him, we are being sanctified and fulfilling the will of God. Our work is knowing God. His work is changing us. When we realize this, then we can rest in His immutable plans and promises (Hebrews 4:1-3).

Christians are free from sin’s rule, but not from its attempts to regain control. The battle that exists inside all of us, between sin and the new nature, will continue until we get to Heaven. This fact, however, is not a bleak one. The Bible tells us that Jesus rendered sin powerless at the cross. Being in Christ, we are not obligated to submit to sin’s dictates and desires. We can, by the Holy Spirit, make the right choices and take the proper actions to keep sin from regaining control of our thoughts, actions, and words. Here are five practical ways we can do this:

1. LOOK TO CHRIST AND HIS CROSS

The scene of God’s holy, incarnate Son suffering and dying on the cross is a shocking and horrific one. He became our sin and satisfied God’s wrath in order to rescue and redeem us from sin’s rule over us. This motivates us to love God and hate sin and to choose pleasing God over disobeying Him.

2. MAINTAIN A CLEAR AND CORRECT VIEW OF GOD

In Genesis 39, Joseph refused to commit sexual sin on this basis: “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9) How we think about God impacts how we think about sin. Seeing God as being, “Holy, Holy, Holy,” causes us to admit, “Woe is me,” and to regard sin as “unclean” (Isaiah 6).

3. DEVOTE YOURSELF TO GOD’S WORD

This includes reading it. Thinking about it. Obeying it. Psalm 119:11 tells us this, “I have stored your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” God uses His word to wash us and to make us clean (John 17:17; Ephesians 5:25-27). This is His work in us called sanctification; He is transforming us into the likeness of Jesus. By immersing ourselves in God’s word, we experience its purifying effect and sin-overcoming power.

4. BE DILIGENT IN PRAYER

In Matthew 26:41 Jesus told His followers, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” Prayer is our offensive weapon against sin. It is a devastating blow against it; for this reason, it’s so hard to do. Jesus said, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” When it comes to prayer, we need to have a wartime mindset. We cannot afford to wait until we feel like praying before we pray; it has to happen consistently and continually. When temptations come, the first 10 seconds will generally determine the outcome. In this window of time, pray. In doing this, God provides the help and power we need to resist it.

5. CONFESS YOUR SINS TO GOD ON A REGULAR BASIS

Confession is the admission of our sins against God. In doing this, two things happen: First, God forgives us. This is affirmed in 1 John 1:9. Second, God renews in us a right attitude toward sin. In confessing our sins, we see the truth again that sin is evil, offensive, unclean, destructive, and full of hatred towards God. With this renewed understanding, we will reaffirm our love for God and refortify our defenses against sin.

In closing, I’d like to remind you of this message of the Gospel: Christ has set you free from sin’s rule. Daily live in this reality.

(For more on this subject, read Romans 6 and 8).

Sometimes it seems like Christians have a particular knack for looking down on and judging one another. Often this has to do with differences in personal convictions over grey areas. These are areas where Scripture does not give an unequivocal “thou shalt not…” or “do this…”, requiring Christians to work out a of wise approach to the matter at hand as they navigate the issue through life. In Romans 14:9-23, Paul deals with how to approach the question of convictions in amoral areas in a way that honors Christ and our brothers and sisters in the process.

“19 Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeedare pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. 21 It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. 22 Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.” (NKJV)

The passage contains four important principles for Christian unity:

Be Careful How You Define Sin

“All things indeed are pure.” In other words, if the Bible doesn’t say something is sin, you must not universally define it as sin. If the Bible is silent on a particular issue, or gives freedom in an area, or doesn’t set forth a specific stance, then no Christian, no matter how insightful and spiritual they think they are, has the right to declare it as sin or universally unacceptable. There are plenty of things the Bible does say are sin (which you would think would keep us busy enough as it is). Interestingly, spiritual pride is near the top of the list. As soon as you take any of your own, personal convictions and try to force it on others or turn it in to a blanket rule for all Christians, or simply quietly look down on others who don’t share your conviction, you have effectively become a Pharisee. These areas of conviction include things like moderate alcohol use (as opposed to drunkenness, which is clearly prohibited in Scripture), birth control, watching Harry Potter, eating bacon, playing cards, listening to secular music, using electricity, and on the list goes.

Follow Your Conscience

“Whatever is not from faith is sin.” This means that if you are personally convinced God doesn’t want you to do something, even though the Bible is silent on it, then don’t do it! For you it would be sin! The reason it would be sin is not because the thing or action itself is wrong, but because, in as far as you are convinced, it would be disobedience to God, and that is sin. So stick to your convictions. Live by them if you believe God is leading you to. Just don’t force them on others because then you’ll have a much bigger problem than eating bacon or watching Harry Potter.

Serve Your Brother, Not Yourself

“It is good not to do anything by which your brother stumbles.” That is, if the option is between using your freedom to do what you want and serving your brother, we should always go with the latter. Always. We are given great freedom in Christ not so we can do whatever we want, but so that in surrendering it for others we may become more like Jesus. The Cross of Jesus proves without a doubt that serving others is more important than standing on your rights. Those who have freedom in an area should be mature enough not to force their freedom on one who has more sensitive convictions. But does that mean we have to stop drinking coffee, eating bacon, watching TV and using electricity just cause it might stumble someone, somewhere in some hypothetical situation?

Wield Your Freedom in Love

“Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God.” To answer the previous question, no, to serve others with our freedom doesn’t mean that we become as strict in our convictions as they are. It does mean that we use our freedom with discretion and readiness to surrender it for others. The principle is not “if this might stumble someone, somewhere, I should never, ever do it.” Otherwise you’ll end up being a raw food vegan who doesn’t use electricity because “somewhere out there” is a vegan Amish person who might be stumbled by your freedom. But the thing is, love doesn’t exist in “theory”, only in practice. The principle Paul states here is this: “If my freedom in a given area does stumble the person I’m with right now, then in his presence I will refrain.” So enjoy the freedom God has given you, but use your freedom in places and ways it won’t stumble others. At the very least, you can enjoy your plate of bacon as you sit before God in solitude and thank Him for making pigs so delicious. Don’t worry, it won’t stumble Him. Understand, this principle does not mean we stop using freedom. But it does mean we surrender it at times for the good of those people we are actually serving and whom it would stumble at that moment.

If we as Christians would all apply these simple Scriptural principles, there would be a lot less petty fighting and contentions among the body of Christ.

Final Disclaimer

One disclaimer should be mentioned at this point: if a person is attempting to set up their own, personal convictions as a law for all other believers, it really means they are trying to set themselves up as God, since He is the only One who has the right to establish commands for all Christians. In that case, what we should do? We should do what Jesus did: contradict and break pharisaic pseudo-laws boldly. And if they are contradicting the will of God through their man-made convictions, we should ignore them and even be willing to rebuke them. Jesus often practiced this when the Pharisees attempted to thwart the work and will of God with their extra-biblical convictions. Jesus’ response was to boldly contradict them and continue on with the work His Father was doing. He even seemed to take delight in pressing the buttons of religious Pharisees at times. After all, He could’ve avoided offending their sensitivities if He wanted to, but He didn’t. Perhaps this was to show those upon whom the Pharisees had laid their burdens that one can truly love God without all the extra baggage of man-made restrictions.