5/20/12- Images of Sanctification

I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, Be holy for I am holy.  (Lev. 11:45)

⁹ For we are co-workers in God’s service;you are God’s field, God’s building.

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. ¹¹ For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, ¹³ their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.¹⁴ If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

¹⁶ Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? (1 Corinthians 3:9-16) 

Q. 35. What is sanctification?
A. Sanctification is a free gift of God by which our whole person is made new in the
image of God, and we are made more and more able to become dead to sin and alive to
righteousness. 

(Picture of LMPC Men making a new sidewalk at church office)

• We are building the church. Brick by brick. Every time we attend worship. Every time we pray. Every time we do something for God instead of for ourselves. And we will also find we are building ourselves up- living for a purpose in the process.  Sanctification is the process of building.  It is described in the Bible as a process- like a plant growing (so abide in the vine); like a building being built (so rely on the cornerstone); like a runner running a race (so keep your eye on the prize); like a fighter fighting the good fight (working for the crown to come).  Sanctification is just a word to describe what happens after we get into the ring, into the race, start the building, start living as a Christian.  It is a mysterious, wonderous, and glorious pilgrimage through this life God has given us.  Sometimes God surprises us by causing us to grow through hardship and suffering.  Sometimes there is joy in the journey.  

  Prayer: Help me, Lord, to answer your call to grow, bear fruit, to love you in response to your love for me, to reach out to my neighbor for you have reached out to me.  Keep me from being complacent or growing cold in my love for you. 

5/16/12- Inclusiveness and Sanctification

¹⁵ Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. ¹⁶ For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷ The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17)

(The Balance in Sanctification)


WSCQ. 35. What is sanctification?
A. Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace by which our whole person is made new in the
image of God, and we are made more and more able to become dead to sin and alive to
righteousness.


Thoughts: What does holiness mean?  "Holy" means "other" or "separate."  We are told in the passage today to separate ourselves from love of the world.  In our day, many want to say that the only thing that matters is inclusiveness and tolerance.  If getting along is our only goal in life, what happens to holiness?  Biblical holiness is balanced by Biblical love.  Truth and love balance each other out.  But if inclusiveness is our main value, truth becomes secondary to including others.  If inclusiveness is the only value, is there any reason to stand up to a Hitler?  If inclusiveness is our only value, how do we include the intolerant?  Certainly prejudice is a sin.  It is an important sin we are called to avoid.  Jesus spoke of the Samaritan loving the wounded Jew.  He healed both the sinner and the saint- the Gentile and the Jew.  Jesus saw the self-righteous Pharisee and Sadducee as wrong, but also the sexually indulgent and decadent Herodian.  Jesus had a balance that we need to get back.  He balanced holding the truth in humility, with a willingness to reach out.  Those who value inclusiveness to the neglect of other values need to ask, what do I value as truth- and how do I know truth?    When we begin to call what God has said is "evil"- "good"- is not that a sign that we have somehow gone astray?  Calvinism reminds us to doubt our self-knowledge our self-righteous thinking.  Inclusiveness taken to its ultimate end becomes a runaway self-righteousness in and of itself.  Sanctification includes inclusiveness, but it is far more than that.  Sanctification is also "holiness" being "other" than the world.  Sanctification is defined not by ourselves, but by God.  God is inclusive, but He is also "holy other." The definition of sanctification really depends on your definition of God.  If God is seen most clearly even defined by Jesus Christ-the Word made flesh- then we should be able to see he calls us to repent into an "other" way of life, but He also reaches out in love.  For Him love and holiness balance out. 


Prayer: Help me to find your balance, your balance of inclusiveness, unity, and holiness.  Keep me from having an ideal that stops my ears to your Word. 

5/14/12- Sanctification

²³ May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23) 

¹³ But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. (2 Thessalonians 2:13)

Q. 35. What is sanctification?
A. Sanctification is a free gift of God by which our whole person is made new in the
image of God, and we are made more and more able to become dead to sin and alive to
righteousness.

Thoughts: "Sanctus" means "holy" in Latin.  Sanctification is focused on how we are made holy in this life.  It is the progression of holiness in our lives.  Justification and adoption are the beginning of the Christian life here, and sanctification is the growth in the Christian life.  The catechism reminds us that sanctification is not something we do apart from God.  Rather- growth in the Christian life is a gift from God.  We do not deserve to grow, growth is the gift of God.  Sanctification is a gradual thing.  Just as we cannot fully control our own physical growth- and it often happens when we sleep, so we cannot fully manipulate our spiritual growth.  The Sanctus Spiritus (Holy Spirit) is the One who sanctifies us- leading us, convicting us, inspiring us, encouraging us.  Since sanctification is gradual, it is not a one time act.  There is always room to grow, room to improve.  We never fully get to where we ought to be, but we can make progress.

Prayer: Help me Lord in my Christian life.  Keep me in your care, and help me to grow ever closer to you and your will for me.