October 25, 2022

“But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,”2thes 2:13 nkjv

Sanctification is applied justification. By its very nature justification does not have a progressive character. It is God's declaration of righteousness. The focus of justification is the removal of the guilt of sin. The focus of sanctification is the healing of the dysfunctionality of sin. Since all spiritual blessings, justification and sanctification included, are the Christian's the moment he or she is "in Christ" ( Eph 1:3 ), sanctification is total and final in one sense ( Acts 20:32 ; Acts 26:18 ; 1 Cor 6:11 ). Yet, unlike justification, sanctification also continues until it will be consummated when Jesus Christ returns. For then we will be like him ( 1 John 3:2 )perfect and complete. Sanctification, therefore, has an initial, progressive, and final phase. A believer's present preoccupation is with progressive sanctification ( 2 Cor 3:18 , note the present continuous tense, "are being transformed"), by which the child of God lives out the implications of initial sanctification with an eye to the goal of final sanctification. The sanctified life is victorious ( Rom 8:37 ), though it is lived out in the context of temptation and suffering. God promises the "overcomers" in Revelation 2 and 3 to restore all that was lost in the fall... In sanctification, the believer is simply applying the implications of his or her justification.
(Bradford A. Mullen…
https://www.biblestudytools.com)

It seems to me that “sanctification” can be likened unto proper nutrition from eating wisely and sufficiently to maintain a health body and lifestyle. If we carelessly abuse our bodies through junk food habits and lack of rest and proper care, then we can expect, in time, that the health of our natural bodies and minds will deteriorate.

Our spiritual condition, so it seems, is dependent upon our “management” and care of our intake of Biblically spiritual food and application of it in our lifestyles… It would also seem that Yahweh graciously justified us (His work only, something beyond our reach), and initiated the sanctification process in us, and handed us the responsibility to maintain it so it would progress and grow until the day of our redemption in the world to come. Sound familiar… that is exactly what He did for Adam and Eve in the beginning… but they fumbled the opportunity and listened to the lies of the Devil (worldly advice). The picture, to me, is that Yahweh lets us each decide our own “Adam-like” role in the game of life. How are we each doing in our “tending and caring” for the garden (our progressive sanctification), not unlike Adam’s only responsibility… how do we measure up applying the implications of our justification.?

Shalom… John