The Process of Sanctification

UV 4297/10000 The Process of Sanctification Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through ( that is, separate you from profane and vulgar things, make you pure and whole and undamaged- consecrated to Him- set apart for His purpose); and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete and ( be found) blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I Thessalonians 5 v 23 God has called us, separated us from the world. He is the One who gives us eternal peace. We are no longer restless and insecure. We are confident of our salvation by faith in Christ. Yet, we are being sanctified so that we conform to the first born, Jesus. He is the One who sanctifies us and makes us pure, whole and complete. We are like the vessels in the temple that are consecrated and set apart for the Lord. Our spirit, souls and bodies are sealed with the Spirit of God, washed in the blood of Christ and we should strive to stay blameless or blemishless in the sight of God and man. We are accountable to God and Christ for every thought, word and deed. Christ uses the agency of the Holy Spirit and the word to sanctify and complete us. The more we yield to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and apply the word, the process of our sanctification is speeded up. The word penetrates like a surgeon’s scalpel to the point where soul and spirit and body meet. It also washes and cleanses our inner being. We should always be filled with the lively hope that Jesus is coming back as Lord, that the day of the Lord is near. Instead of being complacent, we need to be sober and alert, energetic and eager to meet the Lord. Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure for they shall see God.” Our eyes are opened to see God when our hearts and minds are purified. Our faith is not complete unless our inner being is refined and freed of all impurities, the lusts of this world. Both what goes into us and what comes out of us needs to be pure. The words we speak need to be sent through five filters to conform to the edifying “ THINK” and speak pattern the Lord commends us to practice continually: it it True? Is it Helpful? Is it Inspiring hope and faith in God and Christ and the good things of life? Is it Necessary? Is it Kind? We will not stumble, as St James wrote, if we are refining our speech by sending our thoughts and words through these five effective filters. Our tongues will be veritable instruments of peace and of salvation used by God.