I’ll never forget what one of
my Sunday school teachers said when I was a young boy.
He said, “Your actions
speak so loud, I can’t hear what you say.” For some reason, that has always
stayed with me. I don’t remember anything else he said that Sunday morning, but
I do remember that.
I have noticed over the
years, and I have spent a few on this earth, that those words are so true in
the lives of most folks, mine included. How many times have we said one thing
and done another? Come to think of it, we’ve all been there.
Why are we like that? Now
come on, admit it. We have all been guilty at one time or another, but why?
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
(Romans 3:23 emphasis mine)
“As it is written, There is none
righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that
seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become
unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an
open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is
under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are
swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of
peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans
3:10-18)
WOW! There’s our answer. We
are fallen creatures. None of us measure up to a sinless standard. Only God is
perfect in all ways and in everything. He wants us to measure up to His
standard, but we can’t on our own.
Even those of us who are true
Christians, who have been clothed with the righteousness of the Son of God,
still cannot measure up to a sinless life as long as we are in these earthly
bodies. This is one of my greatest reasons for my longing to be with Jesus in Heaven
after I leave this world behind.
It is very difficult to
imagine being in Heaven with Jesus, and having absolutely no sinful thought,
but that is His promise to me and all who come to Him to be saved.
As a Christian, our life on earth
is very rewarding because Jesus lives within us by His Spirit, but our
perfection will not occur until we are with Him in glory. This is our ultimate
sanctification.
This is why we don’t always
live up to what we say. This is why someone may say of us, “Your actions speak
so loud, I can’t hear what you say.” We long for our perfection in Christ.
Regeneration delivers us from
the old person of sin. We are born again and made a new person in Christ Jesus.
Justification delivers us
from the penalty of sin. When we are saved, God declares us not guilty because
we have rested our faith in Jesus.
Sanctification delivers us
from the power of sin. When we are saved, God sets us apart for Himself by the
baptism of the Holy Spirit. We are set apart to glorify Him.
Glorification delivers us
from the presence of sin. When we are finally with our Lord, God removes any
presence of sin. We are unable to sin.
Sanctification simply means
that we are set apart and declared holy by God in Jesus, but we experience sanctification
in three ways:
1.
Positional
sanctification – God sets us apart for Himself. We are justified in Him. (1 Thessalonians 4:7)
2.
Progressive
sanctification – We set ourselves apart in service to our Savior and Lord. (1
Thessalonians 4:3)
3.
Perfected sanctification
– We enjoy the sinless perfection God has made possible with Him in Heaven. (1
Thessalonians 3:13)
Progressive or experiential
sanctification concerns our spiritual maturity as a believer in Christ Jesus. The
Holy Spirit works in us to help us become Christ-like.
“And be not conformed to this
world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove
what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2)
It won’t be easy. Satan will
throw many barriers in our way, but the Holy Spirit is always there to pick us
up, dust us off and help us on our journey to become as our Savior would have
us be. When we fail as a child of God and break the fellowship we have with
Him, He wants us to confess our sin/s and get back on track.
“If we confess our sins, he
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
The Lord desires that we live
by faith in Him and not by our own works for He says, “Be ye holy for I am
holy.”
“As obedient children, not
fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as
he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because
it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:14-16)
No, even a true Christian is
not perfect. We still live in an earthly body with our old sin nature. The
apostle Paul speaks of the constant battle between our old sin nature (the old
man) and our new nature in Christ (the new man) in Romans 7:15-25.
So if we hear a voice calling
out to us, “Eh! What was that?” maybe we are being reminded of our progressive
sanctification that needs some fine tuning.
When we put our faith in
Jesus to save us we were born again; regenerated and justified.
We were also sanctified at
the cross and the empty grave (position).
One day we will be perfectly
sanctified with our Savior and Lord in Heaven.
In the meantime, we should
keep our eyes on Jesus and mimic Him. That is progressive sanctification.
“And be not conformed to this
world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove
what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2)
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
Rapture Ready: http://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html
