Explores sanctification as a lifelong transformative process, enabled by God's Spirit, that shapes Christians to reflect the image of Jesus Christ.
Good morning, beloved family of God. It is a joy to gather with you once again, to lift our hearts and minds to the One who has called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light. We are here, not by our own merit, but by the grace of God. And in that grace, we find not only our salvation but also our sanctification.
Sanctification, this beautiful, transformative process, is the theme of our time together today. It is a word that perhaps we don't hear as often as we should, yet it is as essential to our Christian walk as the air we breathe. It is the process by which we are shaped, molded, and refined to reflect the image of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Ellen G. White once said, "Sanctification is not the work of a moment, an hour, a day, but of a lifetime." It is a lifelong process that begins the moment we are born again and continues until we see Jesus face to face.
When we think about our salvation, we often focus on the moment of conversion. That moment when we first believed, when we accepted Christ as our Savior. And indeed, that is a significant moment. But it is only the beginning of a lifelong process. This process is what we call sanctification.
Sanctification: This is the process by which we, as believers, are made holy. It is through this process that we are transformed into the image of Christ. It is not something that happens overnight. It is a gradual, ongoing process that continues throughout our lives.
We see this process at work in the lives of the early Christians: In the book of Acts, we read about how the Holy Spirit came upon the believers at Pentecost, filling them with power and boldness. From that moment on, they were different. They were no longer ordinary men and women. They were sanctified, set apart for God's service.
Being transformed: In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes, "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind" (Romans 12:2). This transformation is a key aspect of sanctification. It is not enough to simply set ourselves apart from the world. We must also allow God to change us, to mold us into the image of His Son.
This transformation is not something we can achieve on our own: It is the work of the Holy Spirit in us. As Paul writes in Philippians, "it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose" (Philippians 2:13). It is God who gives us the desire to do His will, and it is God who enables us to carry it out. This is a crucial point. Sanctification is not a matter of trying harder or doing more. It is a matter of surrendering to the work of the Holy Spirit in us. It is about allowing God to change us from the inside out.
Doesn’t mean we play no part in the process: On the contrary, we have a crucial role to play. As Paul writes in Philippians, we are to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12). This means that we are to actively participate in the process of sanctification. We are to strive for holiness, to seek to live in obedience to God's commands. But again, we do not do this in our own strength. We do it in the power of the Holy Spirit. As Paul writes in Galatians, "walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). It is by walking in the Spirit, by relying on His power and guidance, that we are able to live a life of holiness.
The Spirit's role in our sanctification is a beautiful and intricate dance ... View this full PRO sermon free with PRO
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