I'm recovering from a cold, and the question I like to ask is "Do you think I'm getting better?" because I really want to know if it will end now or very soon. And the answer I usually hear involves the words "this shows your body is healing." The word "heal" is a word I like to hear these days. It's a slow and steady process, but it means I'll soon be back to normal.
It reminds me of how powerful that word is in the Bible. One instance of it is "I have seen his ways, but I will heal him" (Isaiah 57:18). On the days I'm feeling the sickest with my cold, I love to hear that it will get better. It will heal and is healing. And we can feel that way as Christians. On the days when we feel the worst, we can know that God is helping us grow and he's a forgiving God. Jesus' death and resurrection, and our faith in that, allows this to be true.
That reminds me of these verses: "He who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new'" (Romans 21:5).
Showing posts with label sanctification. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sanctification. Show all posts
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Expectations
One of the greatest discouragements in living out our faith can be unrealistic expectations. Unrealistic expectations about how Christianity will radically change our lives and how far we will get in sanctification.
Often the reality is that spiritually new Christians quickly find just how bad their life is. It is easy to judge our living as good or okay when we compare ourselves to the world.
Once we see the reality of the world as God sees it life is radically different. I often find Christians who seem to have no sense of sin troubling.
They may be truly sincere believers who fail to understand scripture. But without a sense of personal sin they truly lack a grasp of scripture.
It can be a failure of many churches to push those who seem spiritually "perfect" into leadership. Of course those people only seem perfect because when you speak with them they are oblivious to all the areas in which they sin and need to grow.
We all fail and all are in need of grace and growth. The awareness of sin and desire to improve is a gift from God. We cannot grow if we do not accept that we are in need of grace and that we have much need of growth.
God asks more of us than we can ever do. But he provides salvation not based on our limited efforts but freely based on the perfect life, death, and resurrection of Jesus to all who believe.
Often the reality is that spiritually new Christians quickly find just how bad their life is. It is easy to judge our living as good or okay when we compare ourselves to the world.
Once we see the reality of the world as God sees it life is radically different. I often find Christians who seem to have no sense of sin troubling.
They may be truly sincere believers who fail to understand scripture. But without a sense of personal sin they truly lack a grasp of scripture.
It can be a failure of many churches to push those who seem spiritually "perfect" into leadership. Of course those people only seem perfect because when you speak with them they are oblivious to all the areas in which they sin and need to grow.
We all fail and all are in need of grace and growth. The awareness of sin and desire to improve is a gift from God. We cannot grow if we do not accept that we are in need of grace and that we have much need of growth.
God asks more of us than we can ever do. But he provides salvation not based on our limited efforts but freely based on the perfect life, death, and resurrection of Jesus to all who believe.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Christlikeness
Often people like to talk about being or becoming more like Christ but underestimate the difficulty. Christ is perfect and we are imperfect people.
That doesn't mean we shouldn't try, and the good news is that the Holy Spirit helps every Christian in this. Through the Holy Spirit, God offers us help, even when we feel weak.
"It is the Spirit of God that enables us to grow and begin to keep his commandments. Each day we grow a bit by faith," Danny writes in "The Relationship of Justification and Works."
"Two of the Holy Spirit's chief delights are to show us the glory of Christ and to change us into the image of Christ," says John Stott in Life in Christ. "Sanctification is the process by which we are being transformed into the image of Christ by the Spirit of Christ."
In the book, Stott offers this example:
For more on this topic:
That doesn't mean we shouldn't try, and the good news is that the Holy Spirit helps every Christian in this. Through the Holy Spirit, God offers us help, even when we feel weak.
"It is the Spirit of God that enables us to grow and begin to keep his commandments. Each day we grow a bit by faith," Danny writes in "The Relationship of Justification and Works."
"Two of the Holy Spirit's chief delights are to show us the glory of Christ and to change us into the image of Christ," says John Stott in Life in Christ. "Sanctification is the process by which we are being transformed into the image of Christ by the Spirit of Christ."
In the book, Stott offers this example:
William Temple helped people in his day to grasp the Christian way of holiness by drawing an analogy between Shakespeare and Jesus, and declaring the impossibility of copying either. How could we ever write plays like Shakespeare's? How could we ever live a life like Christ's? It is impossible. The very suggestion is ludicrous. Ah, but if the genius of Shakespeare were able to enter us, then we could write plays like him, and if the Spirit of Jesus were able to enter us, then we could live a life like him. The good news is that although we cannot have the genius of Shakespeare we can have the Spirit of Jesus! The Christian way of holiness is not that we struggle to live like Jesus but that he by his Spirit comes to live in us.Some verses on the Spirit's work in becoming Christlike are 2 Corinthians 3:18, Romans 8:5-9, and Galatians 5:22-23.
For more on this topic:
- "Christian love is supernatural in origin. It flows from our union with Christ in his death and the Holy Spirit working in our hearts," Danny writes in "Christian Living is Based on the Gospel."
- "When we dig into the word, God can cause incredible things to happen if he dwells in our heart," Danny says in "Christianity Is About a Relationship."
- "When a man accepts Jesus and begins to be transformed by sanctification through the work of the Holy Spirit he becomes who he was always meant to be," Danny writes in "Becoming Somone." "When we follow God in faith our lives are enriched."
Friday, October 3, 2014
Hope for the Weak: Sanctification
Post by
Michelle Dowell, Contributor
God will continue and finish the good work in each one of us that he started, the Bible says (Phil. 1:6). When a person sees a personal area of weakness that continues to be that way, it can be disheartening to that person.
It may be a desire for more patience, less worry, or some other godly trait. Even though there might be some growth over time, there's that trap of comparison to others and a concept of perfection.
But the good news is that it's not our power alone that can help us grow. God is working in this world, in our hearts at times. If we believe in the sovereignty of God, it's not hard to believe that God has power to help each one of us grow over time (sanctification), and he says he will. Sanctification is the term for this, one word that means a sentence full of words.
If we are truly Christian, he promises to help us. The good work won't be complete until he returns, but we will be growing over time--possibly a step back here and there, but overall in the end farther than where we started.
If we are truly Christian, God's love for us and our love and gratitude to him makes us want to grow and be less weak. Our faith sometimes shows us our weakness more clearly: We care more deeply and therefore see more deeply.
It also means that it's a process. Wherever we go, there are ads selling us things that we hope will make us truly happy or solve some problem permanently. Whether or not that's the case for the product, this is not the case for our lives. There's no quick fix or total perfection gained at any point. But we don't need to be perfect to be loved, to be told "well done."
Michelle Dowell, Contributor
God will continue and finish the good work in each one of us that he started, the Bible says (Phil. 1:6). When a person sees a personal area of weakness that continues to be that way, it can be disheartening to that person.
It may be a desire for more patience, less worry, or some other godly trait. Even though there might be some growth over time, there's that trap of comparison to others and a concept of perfection.
But the good news is that it's not our power alone that can help us grow. God is working in this world, in our hearts at times. If we believe in the sovereignty of God, it's not hard to believe that God has power to help each one of us grow over time (sanctification), and he says he will. Sanctification is the term for this, one word that means a sentence full of words.
If we are truly Christian, he promises to help us. The good work won't be complete until he returns, but we will be growing over time--possibly a step back here and there, but overall in the end farther than where we started.
If we are truly Christian, God's love for us and our love and gratitude to him makes us want to grow and be less weak. Our faith sometimes shows us our weakness more clearly: We care more deeply and therefore see more deeply.
It also means that it's a process. Wherever we go, there are ads selling us things that we hope will make us truly happy or solve some problem permanently. Whether or not that's the case for the product, this is not the case for our lives. There's no quick fix or total perfection gained at any point. But we don't need to be perfect to be loved, to be told "well done."
Thursday, September 4, 2014
Endless Questions
Post by
Michelle Dowell, Contributor
One way questions are used in a way that is more harmful than helpful in theology is when they are endless.
After asking questions, at some point a person needs to come to a conclusion or take the information they have found and for that day decide what they themselves believe on the topic, even if it's that there isn't much knowledge on the topic.
It's impossible for a person to truly think about things if he or she is only ever asking for someone else's opinion or researching. That person needs to think about the facts and make a decision, even if it's one that isn't popular. It takes courage sometimes to stop asking questions and instead believe or make a choice.
And often people who keep asking the same questions over and over again in different forms are not comfortable with the fact that life is not perfect and we, as humans, won't be able to answer every question. (1 Corinthians 13:12 )
We need to have faith that even though we don't know everything, God does. And that's all that matters. Questions are great but when we can't find the answers after searching and thinking, we need to decide that it's okay.
Something we don't understand today might make sense later. We are going through the process of sanctification, which means that over time we are growing in the faith. There are so many things to learn and improve on in this life, and little by little we are growing and learning as God shows us and teaches us in various ways around us. In the meantime, we may need to be patient.
Michelle Dowell, Contributor
One way questions are used in a way that is more harmful than helpful in theology is when they are endless.
After asking questions, at some point a person needs to come to a conclusion or take the information they have found and for that day decide what they themselves believe on the topic, even if it's that there isn't much knowledge on the topic.
It's impossible for a person to truly think about things if he or she is only ever asking for someone else's opinion or researching. That person needs to think about the facts and make a decision, even if it's one that isn't popular. It takes courage sometimes to stop asking questions and instead believe or make a choice.
And often people who keep asking the same questions over and over again in different forms are not comfortable with the fact that life is not perfect and we, as humans, won't be able to answer every question. (1 Corinthians 13:12 )
We need to have faith that even though we don't know everything, God does. And that's all that matters. Questions are great but when we can't find the answers after searching and thinking, we need to decide that it's okay.
Something we don't understand today might make sense later. We are going through the process of sanctification, which means that over time we are growing in the faith. There are so many things to learn and improve on in this life, and little by little we are growing and learning as God shows us and teaches us in various ways around us. In the meantime, we may need to be patient.
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Growth and Admitting Flaws
Often in the Christian life our spiritual growth is hindered because we won't admit flaws. We cannot grow in areas if we refuse to admit we need to grow in areas.
The message of the bible is that man is under the curse of sin. The biblical ethic is so high that an honest understanding of its requirements tells us that we constantly fail.
God has grace on us and counts feeble attempts as a keeping of the law through the purifying blood of Jesus. Grace covers all our transgressions. We should not seek to sin because we have grace. If we are truly saved by grace the grace of God that saves us will naturally make us desire to do good works.
Grace which saves comes from our union with Jesus through faith in his death. The same union with Jesus that comes through faith also begins to change us degree by degree to be like Jesus.
It is faith in the cross which saves us and it is also faith in the cross which is the power which pushes us to grow in grace. Often it is easy to think that salvation and sanctification are caused by two different causes. We are saved and now need to figure out how to live.
Of course there is a need to figure out what Christian life entails, but the element behind both is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The link between justification and sanctification is that both events are tied together and driven by the same element faith in the work of Jesus.
Post: Our Way
The message of the bible is that man is under the curse of sin. The biblical ethic is so high that an honest understanding of its requirements tells us that we constantly fail.
God has grace on us and counts feeble attempts as a keeping of the law through the purifying blood of Jesus. Grace covers all our transgressions. We should not seek to sin because we have grace. If we are truly saved by grace the grace of God that saves us will naturally make us desire to do good works.
Grace which saves comes from our union with Jesus through faith in his death. The same union with Jesus that comes through faith also begins to change us degree by degree to be like Jesus.
It is faith in the cross which saves us and it is also faith in the cross which is the power which pushes us to grow in grace. Often it is easy to think that salvation and sanctification are caused by two different causes. We are saved and now need to figure out how to live.
Of course there is a need to figure out what Christian life entails, but the element behind both is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The link between justification and sanctification is that both events are tied together and driven by the same element faith in the work of Jesus.
Post: Our Way
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Becoming Someone
Man is created in the image of God. His greatness is derived from the image of God within him.
The image of God is marred by sin. Sin may seem exciting in the moment, but it deadens man making him worse for the sin.
When a man accepts Jesus and begins to be transformed by sanctification through the work of the Holy Spirit he becomes who he was always meant to be. When we follow God in faith our lives are enriched.
The law of God seems dull and a dreary business to sinful man. The law of course is meant to protect human happiness not hinder it.
God has our best interest in mind. This is evidenced in that God sent his only begotten son into the world to save man.
God's love for man is so great that he loved us while we were his enemies. God is on our side. It is our sin nature which tries to convince us that God does not have our interests in mind.
Of course the interest of man is faith in God. Man can only find true joy when he finds the joy in God.
The call of the bible to worship God may seem dull to sinful man. But it is man's true calling and man will only truly be happy when he finds the joy of his calling.
The image of God is marred by sin. Sin may seem exciting in the moment, but it deadens man making him worse for the sin.
When a man accepts Jesus and begins to be transformed by sanctification through the work of the Holy Spirit he becomes who he was always meant to be. When we follow God in faith our lives are enriched.
The law of God seems dull and a dreary business to sinful man. The law of course is meant to protect human happiness not hinder it.
God has our best interest in mind. This is evidenced in that God sent his only begotten son into the world to save man.
God's love for man is so great that he loved us while we were his enemies. God is on our side. It is our sin nature which tries to convince us that God does not have our interests in mind.
Of course the interest of man is faith in God. Man can only find true joy when he finds the joy in God.
The call of the bible to worship God may seem dull to sinful man. But it is man's true calling and man will only truly be happy when he finds the joy of his calling.
Thursday, July 10, 2014
The Three in One with the Christian
Post by
Michelle Dowell, Co-Contributor
A comfort to Christians is that when they feel weak and need help, they're far from alone. And it's not just God the Father who's there. The Trinity means that all three in one are on the Christian's side:
The Holy Spirit helps us each day through the process of sanctification, our daily growing stronger in the faith, in relying on God, who is the most important and powerful being in this world.
Jesus is at the right hand of the ever-powerful Father, interceding for us. And his recorded life on earth is a marvelous gift of words to guide us and assure us that he's on our side. Remembering his sacrifice for our salvation and repaired relationship with God the Father should allow us to see such value and hope in our purpose and life.
God the Father, all powerful and the creator--we have access to him through Christ. How wonderful. A torn relationship was repaired. And signs of his power and loving creativity are in the natural things around us. Such interesting and beautiful details and loaded potential are in all varieties and shapes around us. So much more than a human could ever imagine creating. We can only create reflections of most of these things.
The Christian is also a part of the body of Christ, the local church and other Christians. There are other Christians out there who care deeply if they know of a fellow Christian's need.
And God's common grace given to non-Christians, and his sovereignty, also helps non-Christians to help a Christian in need.
So, dear fellow Christian, for these many reasons, know you are not alone.
Michelle Dowell, Co-Contributor
A comfort to Christians is that when they feel weak and need help, they're far from alone. And it's not just God the Father who's there. The Trinity means that all three in one are on the Christian's side:
The Holy Spirit helps us each day through the process of sanctification, our daily growing stronger in the faith, in relying on God, who is the most important and powerful being in this world.
Jesus is at the right hand of the ever-powerful Father, interceding for us. And his recorded life on earth is a marvelous gift of words to guide us and assure us that he's on our side. Remembering his sacrifice for our salvation and repaired relationship with God the Father should allow us to see such value and hope in our purpose and life.
God the Father, all powerful and the creator--we have access to him through Christ. How wonderful. A torn relationship was repaired. And signs of his power and loving creativity are in the natural things around us. Such interesting and beautiful details and loaded potential are in all varieties and shapes around us. So much more than a human could ever imagine creating. We can only create reflections of most of these things.
The Christian is also a part of the body of Christ, the local church and other Christians. There are other Christians out there who care deeply if they know of a fellow Christian's need.
And God's common grace given to non-Christians, and his sovereignty, also helps non-Christians to help a Christian in need.
So, dear fellow Christian, for these many reasons, know you are not alone.
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Self Knowledge and Sanctification
Often in churches you see this great discomfort when people express what they struggle with. It is as if pastors fear that church attenders expressing their sins give credence that the sin is alright.
I personally do not think this tendency is correct. There is certainly an over sharing which is possible, but a knowledge of sin is necessary for growth.
I always find it far more concerning when you find church members whose lives are so perfectly together and seem to have no awareness of their sin. It is often just not true.
It is more often that their is a lack of awareness or a fakeness to the person than a lack of sin. We all need to grow and are all at different points in our journey. Some of us have started in worse places than others.
But all of us need grace daily and a lack of awareness of sin is always quite concerning. We cannot grow if we do not see that we need to grow.
It is difficult to solve a problem that one cannot see exists. And sometimes this is why God confronts us with ourselves.
We cannot grow in issues we do not see. And sometimes God purposely brings opportunities for issues to come to the surface for this reason.
I personally do not think this tendency is correct. There is certainly an over sharing which is possible, but a knowledge of sin is necessary for growth.
I always find it far more concerning when you find church members whose lives are so perfectly together and seem to have no awareness of their sin. It is often just not true.
It is more often that their is a lack of awareness or a fakeness to the person than a lack of sin. We all need to grow and are all at different points in our journey. Some of us have started in worse places than others.
But all of us need grace daily and a lack of awareness of sin is always quite concerning. We cannot grow if we do not see that we need to grow.
It is difficult to solve a problem that one cannot see exists. And sometimes this is why God confronts us with ourselves.
We cannot grow in issues we do not see. And sometimes God purposely brings opportunities for issues to come to the surface for this reason.
Monday, August 5, 2013
The Christian Life
Some Christians have a theology which tends to have a fairly unpleasant taste. I find that a common issue tends to be an over realized eschatology.
What this simply means is the person thinks that what is only possible in heaven can be achieved on earth. Basically the expectation of sanctification is too high.
Often the great irony is that since the expectation of sanctification is too high there is a need to dumb down the law of God. So the law becomes very easy to fulfill.
With an easy to fulfill law the actions of a person often seem to simply fail to comprehend the teachings of Jesus. This is true since the teachings of Jesus are impossible to live up to in this life.
Since we always live by grace and we can never get past grace in this life there is not a need to feel that we must fulfill the law perfectly. We should desire to do so but know that we will fail.
If we believe we have succeeded in fulfilling the law entirely we have already failed in some why. The question is simply where our failure is.
Grace is something apart form our works and actions. It is a proper relation to Jesus and his works and actions.
We are saved by being united to faith to the perfect earthly life of Jesus and his saving work on the Cross.
We do not need to feel that we must add something to the salvation we have been given. We should seek to please God, but as children already part of his family.
What this simply means is the person thinks that what is only possible in heaven can be achieved on earth. Basically the expectation of sanctification is too high.
Often the great irony is that since the expectation of sanctification is too high there is a need to dumb down the law of God. So the law becomes very easy to fulfill.
With an easy to fulfill law the actions of a person often seem to simply fail to comprehend the teachings of Jesus. This is true since the teachings of Jesus are impossible to live up to in this life.
Since we always live by grace and we can never get past grace in this life there is not a need to feel that we must fulfill the law perfectly. We should desire to do so but know that we will fail.
If we believe we have succeeded in fulfilling the law entirely we have already failed in some why. The question is simply where our failure is.
Grace is something apart form our works and actions. It is a proper relation to Jesus and his works and actions.
We are saved by being united to faith to the perfect earthly life of Jesus and his saving work on the Cross.
We do not need to feel that we must add something to the salvation we have been given. We should seek to please God, but as children already part of his family.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Cheap Grace Is No Grace
Most articulations of grace are very interesting. However one articulation of grace is fairly ugly "cheap grace."
Cheap grace is roughly a position that says that once saved by grace one can live as one pleases. A number of people reject grace as independent form law because of the fear of cheap grace.
The reality is grace is apart from works. But by ones works you can perceive the truth of the grace. A saving faith will never be followed by a life with no fruit.
A good saying is that: the faith which justifies is never alone. We are justified by faith alone, but that faith is never unaccompanied by works.
A faith which never produces works is dead. Because true faith unites one to Jesus and union with Jesus always produces improvement in ones life.
The improvements may be slow and gradual, but they will always come.
Cheap grace is roughly a position that says that once saved by grace one can live as one pleases. A number of people reject grace as independent form law because of the fear of cheap grace.
The reality is grace is apart from works. But by ones works you can perceive the truth of the grace. A saving faith will never be followed by a life with no fruit.
A good saying is that: the faith which justifies is never alone. We are justified by faith alone, but that faith is never unaccompanied by works.
A faith which never produces works is dead. Because true faith unites one to Jesus and union with Jesus always produces improvement in ones life.
The improvements may be slow and gradual, but they will always come.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Suspicion of Self
There is a healthy suspicion of self that comes with a healthy Christian faith. In life a lot you find that you are not always the person you had imagined yourself to be.
The good news for progress in the Christian faith in sanctification is to first admit when you are the person you had not hoped yourself to be. Most people who progress few steps in sanctification always act as if the sin they have done was an aberration rather than that it says something about oneself.
The excuses are easy, "I was too tired" or "I had a bad day." Certainly there is truth in these statements, but underneath them is that our sin does say something about our heart. We were not simply unjustly angry because we were too tired, the tiredness simply allowed an opportunity for something of our sin nature to slip out.
Many Christians fear viewing themselves as sinners. As if the perfect work of Christ can be undone by some action they have done.
The reality is that we have started with an infinite debt, and have been sanctified by a grace which is even more infinite. Your righteousness is not in yourself it is in heaven seated at the right hand of God.
We don't have to pretend that we have no sin, because to grow it is necessary to first admit what we struggle with. God's love is not dependent on our works rather God's love is dependent on his love for Jesus who has already paid the price.
The good news for progress in the Christian faith in sanctification is to first admit when you are the person you had not hoped yourself to be. Most people who progress few steps in sanctification always act as if the sin they have done was an aberration rather than that it says something about oneself.
The excuses are easy, "I was too tired" or "I had a bad day." Certainly there is truth in these statements, but underneath them is that our sin does say something about our heart. We were not simply unjustly angry because we were too tired, the tiredness simply allowed an opportunity for something of our sin nature to slip out.
Many Christians fear viewing themselves as sinners. As if the perfect work of Christ can be undone by some action they have done.
The reality is that we have started with an infinite debt, and have been sanctified by a grace which is even more infinite. Your righteousness is not in yourself it is in heaven seated at the right hand of God.
We don't have to pretend that we have no sin, because to grow it is necessary to first admit what we struggle with. God's love is not dependent on our works rather God's love is dependent on his love for Jesus who has already paid the price.
Friday, October 28, 2005
A German Saying
"A steady drip bores a hole in the rock." (German saying)
Recent events brought my mind back to this German saying. “A steady drip bores a hole in the rock.” Satan wishes to sift us. Satan is a slow drip that attempts to bore deeply into our being. Satan gives us slow almost unperceivable shakes. Each shake is like a drip of water trying to bore out a smidgen of goodness out of us.
As Christian the opposite is true. God is a slow steady drip boring out a smidgen of sin, with each drip. And God is a slow stead drip building us up in him. As Christians we need to turn our eyes to Christ and keep them on him constantly. When we turn our eyes off Christ, the drip of sin slowly bores a hole in our Godliness. But, as we gaze at the infinite beauty of God most clearly demonstrated on the cross we are slowly built up. God will bore all sin out of us Christians at the second coming, but all of eternity God will be a steady drip for us building us up. A steady drip that will cause us to wonder, marvel, enjoy, and forever praise our Father.
Recent events brought my mind back to this German saying. “A steady drip bores a hole in the rock.” Satan wishes to sift us. Satan is a slow drip that attempts to bore deeply into our being. Satan gives us slow almost unperceivable shakes. Each shake is like a drip of water trying to bore out a smidgen of goodness out of us.
As Christian the opposite is true. God is a slow steady drip boring out a smidgen of sin, with each drip. And God is a slow stead drip building us up in him. As Christians we need to turn our eyes to Christ and keep them on him constantly. When we turn our eyes off Christ, the drip of sin slowly bores a hole in our Godliness. But, as we gaze at the infinite beauty of God most clearly demonstrated on the cross we are slowly built up. God will bore all sin out of us Christians at the second coming, but all of eternity God will be a steady drip for us building us up. A steady drip that will cause us to wonder, marvel, enjoy, and forever praise our Father.
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