Thursday | 23 January 2025

Sanctification is eternal life

In this season, the Holy Spirit is urging us all to be established in our sanctification as sons of God and members of the body of Christ. The Scriptures are clear – our sanctification is our eternal life. Stressing this point, the apostle Paul declared, ‘Pursue peace with all people, and holiness [lit: sanctification], without which no-one will see the Lord.’ Heb 12:14. Similarly, he taught that ‘having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness [sanctification], and the end, everlasting life’. Rom 6:22.

As a consequence of the deluding effect of their carnality, many Christians have not understood this point. Significantly, they have not recognised that their efforts to be acceptable to God are the primary impediment to their sanctification. These works belong to their self-sourced image, which has been crafted on the basis of their knowledge of good and evil. This is iniquity and leads only to death, no matter how sincere or pious they may be.

Deliverance from iniquity is a particularly important consideration for a young adult as they emerge from the covering of their parents’ faith and begin to carry the weight of accountability for their own life. Their natural propensity will be to find themselves through what they do and how they are received by others. This approach to life is an investment in a projection that only brings them under condemnation. These projections are not just a futile endeavour to know oneself. If a person is not delivered from this way of living, these projections will become a means of concealing one’s sin and the true condition of their heart, thus fortifying their condemnation.

Our deliverance from the iniquitous self-image that brings us under God’s judgement is through the cross. We must meet Christ personally, and must embrace our fellowship in His offering and sufferings, wherein we are being saved through regeneration and by the renewing of the Holy Spirit.