God loves. More directly, God loves us. He loves us so much that He condescended to the form of a man who lived a perfect, sinless life and took on the sin of mankind by dying a horrific, sacrificial atoning death upon a cross to be raised again on the third day. Now, by confession and belief in the work of Christ Jesus, we may enter into relationship with the Holy Lord Almighty through faith, known simply as conversion. While this is the entrance into the Christian life, there is much more.
While there are many post-conversion components to the Christian life, the most important is continual sanctification. Sanctification refers to the lifelong process of growth and repentance by which believers grow to be more in the image of Christ. At the onset, it must be asserted that sanctification is an endeavor that requires both the prompting of God and the intentionality worship of the believer.
As for the God part in sanctification, He provides believers with every good and necessary thing for us to grow in maturity to all godliness and faith (2 Pet. 1:3-4). This is called equipping. God equips us with every item needed to grow in righteousness. This means that believers have, already in their possession, all of the necessary elements required for sanctification. The challenge is that many believers either do not accept what they have or they simply do not know how to wield the tools of sanctification.
In the first sense, believers not accepting or believing that they already possess the tools for sanctification is a matter of faith. When we have faith that God has truly saved us and we have faith that He provides with everything needed to grow in maturity, we will overcome our doubt and grow in sanctification beyond our plateaued stagnation.
The second sense, not knowing how to wield the tools of sanctification, is a different deal altogether and is what sanctification is all about. The tools of sanctification can be summarized into four basic components: prayer, Bible study, fellowship, and service. Each of these things need to be done with intentionality by the Spirit in truth, love, and faith but they are all necessary for true and continued growth in sanctification. Many people become very good at doing one or two of these things and, because of that, they reach plateaus in growth. Therefore, in order for us to continue growing, once we become adept at wielding one element of sanctification we should strive in pursuit of the others.
To be sure, sanctification is process that is both difficult and lifelong. It is not without joy, the joy of growing in and to the Holy Lord is a beautiful proposition and a worthy pursuit. Therefore, we should all seek Him first and pursue, in faith, to become more like Him in Him. Luckily, God has already provided us with everything we need to pursue Him. Let us then run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us!
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