I’ve been thinking a lot about salvation recently. We as Christians often have a limited view of it, seeing it as just the “moment” we prayed the “Sinner’s Prayer” to accept Jesus as Savior as a child, teen or adult. But salvation is meant to be so much more than a onetime thing. Instead, we are to commit ourselves to accepting an aspect of it anew every day.
Three Aspects of Salvation
Understanding how salvation is supposed to impact our lives can be summarized through three terms that may be familiar to you: justification, sanctification and glorification. I am not prepared to do a complete analysis of each, but I do link each term to a more detailed explanation. Roughly, justification is the aspect of salvation we tend to think of most: the “one-time act” of accepting Jesus as Savior through which “we are declared righteous and holy by God based on our faith in Christ’s atonement on the cross.” Sanctification occurs as a result of justification and is “the ongoing process of being made righteous that continues throughout our lives on earth.” It requires active commitment to experience fully. The last aspect, glorification, is the ultimate one that we will experience only when we get to heaven and witness “God’s final removal of sin” from the lives of Christians.
The three aspects of salvation can be summed up as relating to the past – i.e., justification (when we are justified, our sin is no longer counted against us – we become “new creations”); present – the sanctification process that occurs in this life; and future – glorification, which happens only after this life. (Whew! Please consult additional sources if needed:))
Being Sanctified
I’m focusing on sanctification. God has really been revealing to me in a new way that, once we are justified, on this earth sanctification is the aspect of salvation that makes the most practical difference. While we cannot save ourselves from sin, if we do not commit to sanctification salvation will have little impact on how we live. In Philippians 2: 12 – 13 The apostle Paul admonished the church of Philippi to essentially commit to sanctification:
12Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.Paul wasn’t saying the church needed to earn its salvation, but in order to have God work through them “according to his good purpose” (v. 13) they would have to actively pursue sanctification through serious, constant effort. The “fear and trembling” was not referring to being afraid, but rather an awe of God that totally relies on Him. The rationale is provided in the following verse: “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” When we recognize God’s power and are humbled by it, we allow Him to make changes in our lives – for Him to “save us” all over again!
Sans Sanctification
A picture of our Christian lives without committing to sanctification highlights why we need it to save us daily.
When we don’t make sanctification our aim The Gospel has no real power in our lives, and there is no distinguishable difference between us and someone who does not know Christ. A lack of commitment to sanctification is why we often freely justify our sinful behavior based on other aspects of our identity that should be trumped by an identity in Christ. For example: “He cheats because he’s a man” or “she lies because it’s how she was raised.” We may all have sins that we are prone to, but the power that comes through walking with Christ daily is great enough to enable us to conquer any sin. When we commit to sanctification, we see ourselves making those changes we may have believed we could not – and growing spiritually in the process!
Sanctification is also how we gain a spiritual, biblical perspective in our world. As Christians we are called to have a different view of the world than those who do not know Christ. Romans 12: 2 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” As the verse highlights, it begins with our minds, and it is only through renewing them that we are able to see our world with true spiritual specs.
By contrast, when we do not commit to sanctification our thinking can be blinded to God’s principles. We don’t see a value in reading our Word daily, fellowshipping with other believers or serving, because we only have so many hours in the day. We mock the whole purity thing. We’re okay with all the world’s forms of entertainment, even if they put our thinking at odds with Christ’s commands.
Further, choosing sanctification saves us from the “cheap fixes” society offers for life’s problems. For example, the Gospel keeps us from taking a “self-help” approach to our challenges. Our world has a book, character, program, or “positive thought” that we are supposed to rely on to change what we do not like about ourselves – and only those things. The Gospel also prevents us from approaching situations based only on what we think is practical or what makes “common sense.”
The Word of God teaches this about our wisdom: it ultimately fails us. Proverbs 14:12 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." The Bible also says that God’s plans for us are excellent: “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” We never get lasting fulfillment from any “self-help” kit featuring the world’s designs. Committing to sanctification results in us knowing that we can only see what is in front of us, and without the God who has eternity in His hands we cannot live abundantly, to the full.
The Gospel, in its pure form, also keeps us from religion for its sake. It stops us from judging our status with God based on superficial “marks” such as how many generations of ministers we have in our families, what Christian practices we follow or what denomination we do – or do not – belong to. We recognize what wretches we are, and that it is only through God’s power constantly at work in us individually that we can live differently – no religious institution can save us.
The God Who Keeps Saving
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, committing ourselves to salvation in this life allows us to see The Gospel become so paramount in our lives that it is like our DNA; we must breathe it daily. Further, we share it with others. We start to preach Christ crucified in everything we do – our words, thoughts and deeds. We sound like the Apostle Paul, who could boldly say, as a result of committing to sanctification following justification, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).
Ultimately, The Gospel is about life change only He can bring. His power, through The Gospel, saved us once, and, as we allow it, saves us still.
