Biblical Sanctification

There is a great confidence that Christians have when they know all is well between them and their Lord. What joy a child of God has as they rise from communion with Him feeling the freshness of grace once again renewed. Previous sins committed were a token of pending judgment, but the blood of Jesus was affected once again in their lives and all was taken care of. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18

This is common knowledge to all that have lived for God any period time. Yet there is an existence of Christians that can be found who seemingly don’t know where they stand with God. I’m not speaking of those in the common church world who prayed the man-made “sinner’s prayer” and allegedly “accepted” Jesus by public announcement. I speak of those who wholly turned away from sin, we’re baptized in Jesus’ name and fire baptized of the Holy Ghost. In spite of that wonderful experience though, still lingering inside them is a sense of unsettledness.

How does someone initially submit to the power of redemption but then the depth of revelation in that redemption slowly become obscure? Without a doubt the problem isn’t a faulty message, but a faulty believer. This is a shame too, because until one comes to the conclusion of who they are in Christ they will never walk in complete victory. It’s imperative that a Christian knows where they stand in God’s eyes!

Condemnation is a byproduct of faithlessness. In Romans 8:1 it says there is “…no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…” This truth is contingent upon the facts of the rest of the verse though: “…who walk not after the flesh (doing whatever feels good to the human will) but after the Spirit.”

When someone’s sin has been forgiven yet they are unable to walk in the assurance of their forgivness, there are at least 2 causes for this:

1. The devil is lying to them telling them they aren’t forgiven. This means a significant level of carnality is working within them still because the devil’s influence on us minimizes the deeper we the walk in the Spirit

2. They are still indulging in some shape, form or fashion in the very thing they are supposed to be cleared of. It may be they have stopped outwardly but it is still continuing inwardly. Or possibly, other unrelated excesses are being committed which grieve the Spirit.

These are very sad circumstances too because until the source of the problem is revealed and dealt with, spiritual growth will be stunted. If the answer is selling out to God and letting Him take control then it must be done. Someone who has not completely “set their house in order” will level out a place spiritually that God doesn’t intend for them stay at anyway. The answer lies in simply trusting the blood of Christ over the past and for the future while resisting the lies of the devil. There are people that are truly covered under the blood who don’t have an ounce of confidence in that covering because the devil is lying to them. Then there are those not covered who trust in something yet to be extended to them in its full essence.

Proclaiming salvation yet doubting its assuredness is really just dead faith in an absent condition. Whether they admit it or not, the world is full of denominational folks that have a sinking feeling and are without confidence in their alleged salvation. This is compounded by denominational ministers preaching the Eternal Security heresy, then insinuating saints are still active sinners but are still automatically forgiven because they at some point articulated a prescribed salvation formula that only required they “…accept Jesus as their personal Savior…”

The erroneous “once saved, always saved” message is unscriptural. Time would not allow all the verses denouncing this heresy but a few are: James 5:19-20, I Timothy 5:12, and I Corinthians 9:27. Furthermore, to irreverently go about life without any prayerful self-examination and awareness of your need for God’s grace will lead to certain failure. (I Corinthians 10:12) Becoming a Christian (Christ-like) does not merit license to behave with no form of accountability. To think one can behave ungodly with the assumption God will forgive them by default is disgraceful; what a false sense of security!

It is imperative we examine ourselves with objective eyes, not with a prejudice leaning towards self-justification or self-denial. The facts are we have not put on immortality and perfection yet so realistically sometime or another we’re going to need God’s mercy. Furthermore, when God forgives people of sin, He is fully aware they don’t become faultless when He does. How many people have started out to live for God, but after falling short of His glory just decided to give up. They initially surrendered to God’s mercy, but faith waned and they lost confidence in His grace to carry them on.

There is a difference between the mercy of God and the grace of God to some degree. Complete forgiveness for all mankind’s sin was obtainable at Calvary’s conclusion; this opportunity exclusively came by way of God’s mercy. The opportunity to personally experience forgiveness could be by definition grace as this opportunity is not deserved by any. A practical account could also be conveyed by this: an incident that brought offense to someone was committed but the injured party forgave the offender. (Mercy)

Circumstances revealed the offender had in addition done something else offensive to the victim prior to their reconciliation. But this was brought it to the victim’s attention beforehand by the offender in order to prepare them for the effects as well as make restitution for it. When the additional offence came to fruition, it had already been settled between the two parties and forgiveness was extended. (Grace) In the beginning mercy was issued and grace awaited the approaching incident, but it was on the basis of the full reconciliation.