For this is the will of God, your sanctification…For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
(1st Thessalonians 4:3, 7-8. ESV)
Here is the will of God for our lives: our sanctification. Paul is quite clear. We ought not consider or inquire beyond this point, seeking some particular or individual calling, without first becoming firmly convinced that this general call to all believers is the fundamental call for every believer.
There are two errors we may commit regarding sanctification: we might show a terrible apathy towards it (which is the mark of a false conversion); or, we might have a well-intentioned negligence in favour of a particular calling or work that God has for our life. The first is a pernicious lie which conceives Christianity as nothing more than the redirection of God’s wrath to His Son. Repentance from our own sins; our fellowship with the Godhead; even our Christian living do not gather much consideration. Faith is simply a mental assent; all the while the kindness and forbearance of God is presumed upon (Romans 2:3-5). Sanctification is not simply ignored – it is not even conceived; and to turn from one’s sin is not even known as a criterion of salvation.
The second error we can make is to preoccupy ourselves with the work God has for our life, without committing to what He has already revealed to be His work in our life. What will God use me for? Why was I made? We do not realize that the general will of God for every believer (sanctification) is also the foundational will of God for every believer. We misunderstand things if we believe that somehow God would call us to some great and mighty work without first securing a steady foundation to build from – an obedient heart. But, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much…”(Luke 16:10), and useful to the Master for every good work is the one who has cleansed himself from what is unholy (2 Timothy 2:21).
Sanctification is the first and fundamental work of God in every believing heart. No work or calling on one’s life exists apart from this; and whatever particular calling we do have will never extend beyond the obedience we have already demonstrated, or our willingness to be holy. Any desire to serve God that does not come from a heart that has focused on personal sanctification and a willingness to cooperate with the Spirit in that process is (at best) a well-intentioned recklessness – at worst, pride. The standard for every decision is our sanctification; and any particular calling God has for the believer is built upon this.
What Sanctification Is
To be sanctified is to be conformed to the image of Christ. It is cooperation with the Spirit to cleanse ourselves from the worldly and sinful influences that hinder our walk with God (1 John 1:5-7) and are contrary to who we really are – children of God (1 John 3:1). The continual call of the New Testament is not a call to special works of charity, but instead a call of continual repentance. Christ Himself says this in Matthew 7:21-23: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” In James 4:7-8 we read: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Repentance bearing fruit over the course of one’s life is the will of God for His redeemed.
What Sanctification Is Not
Before we consider how we cooperate with this process, it would be worth noting what sanctification is not. Sanctification is not immediate perfection. As a process, it is a gradual transformation into the image of Christ. When we sin, our sanctification is not destroyed – it is only stalled, provided we confess our sin and move forward in the grace that Christ has acquired for us. For Christ is our advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1); who is faithful to us when we are faithless to Him (2 Tim. 2:13); who is just and faithful to forgive us and cleanse us from every sin we confess to Him (1 John 1:9); who is sympathetic to us and our weaknesses because He was tempted in every respect; and who will provide help in our time of need (Heb. 4:15-16).
Nevertheless, we should not think that because sanctification is a process we have liberty to sin. Grace abounds to the sinner – but that does not mean we sin so grace might abound even more. Paul writes against this. He writes: “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” The grace of our Lord is not a license to sin – rather, it is the freedom to pursue holiness without anxiety. The blood of Christ will cover us again and again – but the true believer will not look at this as an opportunity to indulge the flesh. “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.” (1 John 3:9).
Finally, sanctification is not a journey towards salvation, but a process that takes place after we are saved. Sanctification is becoming what we are. Because we are saved, we are children of a holy God (1 John 3:1). Once we are justified in Christ, we grow to become like Him. We are saved – then we live out our salvation, gradually becoming more and more like Jesus. “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him…” (Col. 2:6).
Conclusion
The will of God for our life is our sanctification – to become more and more like Jesus. This is not an immediate transformation, but a process. Neither is it towards salvation, but the product of it. The most important thing we can do is cooperate with this process; the next question to address is how.
