The Act, er, Journey of Sanctification

To the elect -

After the historical, overwhelmingly merciful act of salvation, that is, Jesus Christ's atoning work on the cross and the grace (free gift) to believe by faith that his death and resurrection alone are enough to pay for our sins and grant us salvation, God provided yet another gift. He said he would not leave us as orphans but would give us Himself, through the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit's work is to not only call us and renew us to a living faith with God through Christ, that is, salvation, but it is also sanctification. We no longer are controlled by our original, sinful nature, sometimes called "the old nature," but instead now are a "new creation" in Christ by the indwelling of His Spirit.

The struggle I sometimes face in this all-out war of our original, sinful nature and the Spirit of Christ is that I focus on the visible and the internal.

• Visible: My 3 year old keeps asking me the same question, despite my same answer.
  
• Internal: My thoughts when I am cutoff in traffic on the way to work are not always Christ-like, dare I confess and easily "heard" by God.
  

These examples are easy to "see" by me. Yet, they are not the whole truth.

In an interview today, USA Track and Field’s chief executive, Doug Logan, said (of the recent USA track team's performance at the World Championships), “This is not a sport of breakthroughs. If you see week-to-week or month-to-month chopping of three seconds or four seconds, you ought to start asking questions. It’s a sport of progression." (from Alan Abrahamson's blog on universalsports.com)

[I include this quote because, 1) Track and field is one of my favorite sports; 2) It is a succinct sports analogy that describes our life in Christ, post-conversion. As a side note, I think God is gracious to use sports and other day-in, day-out examples to communicate His truths that are already expressed in the Bible.]

The truth is, God is at work in us both to will and to do his good pleasure. (Phil 2:13) Sanctification is both an act starting at regeneration and a journey, a progression, only completed when we are at home with Christ in heaven. Typically our life is a series of progressions with a few breakthroughs.

So to apply the truth of progressions, that Christ by His Spirit is continually at work in me, I need to periodically and soberly assess my character.

• Do I see a greater patience towards drivers cutting me off in traffic (what's my internal chatter)?
  
• Am I understanding that my 3 year old will not converse with me like my 21 year old and, hence, am I patiently repeating my instruction to her?

If so, I need to give thanks to God for working His character in me. Apart from him, I can do nothing (John 15:5), so, how can I boast (Rom. 3:27)?

--CFM