The Christian life is a journey of sanctification. So, what exactly is sanctification? Sanctification is the work of God in us, whereby we are separated from sin and consecrated to His service. At the moment of salvation, we are sanctified in Christ so that our position before God is one of complete holiness. When we die, we will be perfectly sanctified, having been freed from the presence of sin and perfectly into the image of Christ, a concept known as glorification. Between salvation and glorification, we cooperate in the process of sanctification by consecrating ourselves to God, changing through growth in Christ-likeness, and confessing our sins regularly. From the moment we are saved until the day that we die, we should be becoming progressively more like Jesus in our thoughts, words, and actions. We put off sin from our lives, and we put on Christ-like behavior. Our thinking continually changes, improving to be more and more consistently in line with God’s way of thinking. As we go through life, we learn to devote more time and energy to God’s purposes and less to our selfish desires.
When God’s work of sanctification is unhindered, God’s peace and joy can fill our hearts. We can withstand the storms that will come without our spiritual house being flattened. Life will still be full of unexpected circumstances, but we are safe in the knowledge that they are all a part of God’s plan to make us more like Christ. If we want to experience the joy and satisfaction God designed the Christian life to bring, then we must live a life of sanctification.
When God’s work of sanctification is unhindered, God’s peace and joy can fill our hearts. We can withstand the storms that will come without our spiritual house being flattened. Life will still be full of unexpected circumstances, but we are safe in the knowledge that they are all a part of God’s plan to make us more like Christ. If we want to experience the joy and satisfaction God designed the Christian life to bring, then we must live a life of sanctification.