| Good Morning Everyone, Our theme for this month: “Be thankful” Our Bible verse for today: “To the church of God at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called as saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord – both their Lord and ours. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 1:2-3 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Be thankful for your sanctification” “Sanctification” is a fifty-cent theological word with a double meaning. It means both “to set apart as holy” and “to be transformed over time”. Sometimes it is confused with “justification”. Justification refers to the fact that we have been fully pardoned for our sins and are now treated by God as if we have never sinned. Sanctification is a result of justification. We are set apart and made holy before God because our sins have been wiped away. In 1 Corinthians 1:2-3 Paul was writing to the Christians in the city of Corinth. He stated that they had been “sanctified” in Christ Jesus. He wrote that in the past tense. It was something that had already been done to them by the Holy Spirit. In the moment they placed their faith in Christ they were made holy. That’s what 2 Corinthians 5:17 means when Paul wrote, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come.” As we learned in yesterday’s devotional, from the moment of salvation forward, God sees you through the righteousness of Christ – holy and pure and perfect. You have been sanctified, set apart as holy before God. But there is also an ongoing sense to the term “sanctification”. It is an event that occurred in the past in a moment of time, but it is also an ongoing process in the life of the believer that progressively transforms us more and more into the likeness of Christ. This is a process that will continue right up until the moment you leave this life and enter into heaven. Paul wrote about this in Philippians 1:6 when he said, “I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry in on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” However, although it is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives to bring about that ongoing transformation, we have a role to play in it too. We have to cooperate with Him. The amount of transformation, and the rate at which it occurs, will depend on the choices we make and the actions we take. Paul explained this in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5; 7, “For this is God’s will, your sanctification: that you keep away from sexual immorality, that each of you knows how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not with lustful passions, like the Gentiles, who don’t know God … for God has not called us to impurity but to live in holiness.” As a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ you have been sanctified – set aside as holy before the Lord. And, you are being sanctified – progressively transformed more and more into the image of Christ. I encourage you to spend some time this morning thanking God for your sanctification. God Bless, Pastor Jim |
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