| How We Are Saved, Part 17: God's Viewpoint - God Made Us Holy, Conclusion |
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| Written by David Lawrence |
| Monday, December 08 2008 00:00 |
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We began a study of the process by which God transforms us into the image of Christ, the development of personal holiness or sanctification, in our last study. The key passage is 2 Cor. 3:18. Paul refers to the same process of sanctification in Rom. 12:1-2: "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." As you read this passage, you note it is a command. It is something we are to do. So sanctification involves our actions. Yet it is in the passive voice "be transformed". It is something we are to allow to happen in our lives. It happens under the direction of the Holy Spirit, yet it is our lives. Sanctification is the course of our lives as Christians that pursues holiness. It is the only one of God's saving decrees that involves our cooperation. All the others, as we have seen, are done by God alone. We call that monergistic, meaning "the working of one." Sanctification is synergistic, meaning "working with." We cooperate with our Lord the Holy Spirit when we live the Christian life and exhibit spiritual growth and development as a Christian. Whether we realize it fully or not, every day we are coming to look more and more like Christ, and sin increasingly looks repulsive to us. Isn't God wonderful? |
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