Dare to Believe God Sanctifies
Once we have been saved by grace, God calls us to be sanctified or made holy by grace too. Look at what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3 NIV)
This was a wonderful revelation in my own life. For years, I knew I was saved, but I thought I would only be made holy when I died. I thought I would forever be sinning like everybody else, but at least I was forgiven.
But God in His glory showed me in His Word that he wills my sanctification. I read these words in 1 Peter: “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”” (1 Peter 1:14–16 NIV) I realised: God wants me to be holy. Why would he call me to something I could never attain??
I also read these words on 1 John: “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” (1 John 3:6 NIV) God wants me to be holy. Why would he say ‘don’t continue sinning’ and then say ‘but you’ll always continue sinning until you die’?
Daring to Believe: Embracing God's Sanctifying Grace
Soon I was stuck in this predicament: because I knew that God expected me to be holy, but the harder I tried, the more I failed and sinned.
What’s the answer? I lamented. Am I doomed to a life of sinning, letting God down? Or am I missing something?
I was missing something. I was missing that God sanctifies, not us!!! I was trying to sanctify myself, to show God that I was holy by my self-willed acts of goodness… He was saying only I can make you holy, my child. DARE TO BELIEVE that I can make you holy by grace! Believe in MY power at work in you, and you will resist temptation. Believe in MY sanctifying grace at work in you, and your life will follow that belief. Don’t believe that you have to cleanse and empower your heart. Believe in MY cleansing and empowering, and then live in that belief.
I dared to believe. It changed everything. I was free at last! And then for a while I stopped believing, and did my own thing again, and the old sins crept back in. But I knew this time that it was my own doing.
I dared to believe again, and I was freed once more.
BELIEF in God’s sanctifying power was the key. Praise God for sanctifying my soul, and countless others before me who have testified to this. Will you dare to believe? Will you dare to believe in the sanctifying grace God offers you?
Belief in Sanctification: Embracing God's Transformative Grace
It’s easier, no doubt, to believe that God will not free you, but will JUST forgive you. That way, you can do what you want, and just claim his forgiveness. But that’s not the way for us friends. Remember what Paul wrote, it is the will of God that we be sanctified.
And oh it’s a wonderful blessing to the soul to be free. Of course, his sanctification doesn’t make us perfect. We are still frail, fragile, limited, prone to mistakes and hidden faults. But His grace can break the power of willful sin in our lives - dare to believe it today. Join the countless ones who have dared to believe in God’s sanctifying their souls. Give yourself to God and believe that He cleanses you in that moment you believe and every moment going forward.
Then you can wake up every morning saying I believe God saved and sanctified me by His grace.
