Sanctification

I tend to get lost in the details. If you put me in the woods, I will count the trees rather than seeing the jungle as a whole. This is useful, most of the time, but it also means that I can become so focused on my mistakes, failings, and sin that I have trouble seeing, feeling, and trusting in the love of God. As a new mom, this has been plaguing me lately.

This brings be to the topic of Sanctification. Sanctification is a concept that is more fully addressed in the New Testament, but it is just as relevant by looking through the Old Testament. The term literally means, “to make holy.” Throughout the Old Testament the people of God are repeatedly told to “be holy.” In fact, it is a precursor to the rephrasing of the 10 Commandments in Leviticus 19:

The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.’” (Leviticus 19:1-2)

And it is repeated in the next chapter:

“You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.” (Leviticus 20:26)

The act of being holy, and learning to be holy is the process of sanctification – and it’s not easy. The path to becoming holy is through obedience to God, where we set aside our own desires and thoughts and conform to the desires and thoughts of God. But, there is no specific formula to follow apart from loving God and loving others (Luke 10:27, Mark 12:30-31), because each person is created differently and goes through different paths in life. However, it is still something we are called to.

To the right is a chart that a professor at Denver Seminary drew during class to explain how Justification and Sanctification work. The difference between Justification and Sanctification is that when we are justified, we have the status of being sinless placed on us – we are wrapped in Christ’s holiness. Justification is demonstrated by the straight, blue line that goes vertical. Justification occurs when we commit to being a follower of Christ. When we, “confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” We receive salvation because we are wrapped in Christ’s holiness.

Sanctification, on the other hand, is the process by which we pursue holiness and conformity to Christ. Growth in holiness should follow justification and conversion, and is a sign of spiritual maturity. Sanctification is the squiggly, red line on the chart. We go up, down, forwards, backwards. This is not a straight line, and at times if we become so focused on our latest sin, mistake, or failure, we can completely miss the fact that we have grown, and are continuing to grow.

When we get to heaven, I am pretty sure my sanctification chart is going to look something like the above, or worse. And I’m okay with that as long as the trend is that I am getting closer to Christ’s holiness that already covers me.

Exodus 19:5-6 says, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

God has promised that our faith and obedience to Him will make us different, it will make us stand out – for better or worse – from the crowd. It means we are set apart from others for His glory and purposes. This is what sanctification is: the process of taking off the things of this world, and putting on the things of Christ; learning how to deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow Him.

For me, it is always a challenge to remember that God has called me to be his own, and when I feel that I am drowning in unrighteous living, that He is sustaining me, molding me, and growing me to be more like Christ. It’s a process. It doesn’t mean I should be okay with my mistakes and sin, but it means I should remember that I am redeemed and moving towards holiness.

This is a calligraphy piece done by my amazing mom. I have a copy of it taped by the chair in the nursery so I can read it and remember that God has redeemed me, saved me, and claimed me as His own.