Smeagol is Free!
A hermitudinal view of...stuff...


7.21.2005  

Painful Process

A few themes keep coming to mind throughout the course of the summer. Over the next several days, I'll post thoughts concerning each of these themes. What's written should cover not only the objective, cerebral scope of things, but more importantly, how those objective thoughts are affecting my actions in a life full of subjective perceptions.

Confused yet? Me, too :)

Anyway, the topic of the day will be: Sanctification.

Tonight, I talked to Darren for a little bit. Our conversation was short, but ever so full of God's grace. The entirety of our dialogue was very convicting and encouraging, but it was something he said toward the end that has me thinking and pondering my little brain off. He said that being made into Christ's likeness is a painful process. Hmmm...it's painful...and it's a process. Such is the sanctification that is ours in Christ, is it not?

I got a voicemail from Scott earlier tonight, one of those accountability type of voicemails. In it, he said something to the effect of, "part of me doesn't want to have to make this call, but part of me still wants to make this call." In a sense, that is exactly what I've been thinking of when thinking about the painful process of sanctification. Our flesh does not want to be sanctified, because for our sinful flesh, sanctification equals death. For our souls, on the other hand, sanctification equals life, even if we do not see or understand that immediately. In Romans 12, Paul says that we are to be "transformed by the renewing of our minds." We must renew our minds by feeding upon the pure milk of the word of God, for as Peter tells us, it is by the truth of the Scriptures that we grow up and attain salvation. It is such nourishment that leads to the renewal and strengthening of our parched souls, and this facet becomes key in the process of pruning our lives of sin.

Is it any wonder then that even for Christ, the Word Incarnate, it was necessary to "make perfect" the Author of our salvation? Indeed, it is a great wonder! For Christ did not come to us to dwell among us as God did amongst His people Israel, either in the wilderness or in the temple. No, Christ came and experienced the fullness of the breadth and depth of life on earth, feeling every last tendril of temptation that the wiles of sin could possibly hurl at Him. He endured and was steadfast, yet was broken not by His own sin, but by the sins of those whom He came to save. Nevertheless, the breaking of His body upon the cross was no accident! Nor, for that matter, was the life He led in the flesh that led up to His redeeming death upon the cross. Why? Because that life of righteousness is the life that gave Him the right to victory over sin, and it is that life of righteousness which is bestowed upon the saints. Furthermore, the life of Christ assures us that there is no temptation of which He does not know, no temptation over which He does not have victory, and no temptation in which He does not grant us the same.

Now, having said that, I will acknowledge that those two short paragraphs are but a tiny portion of what could be said on sanctification, even by me, and I know very little of what there is to know on such an important topic. Yet, even that minimal knowledge of what the Lord does in the souls of the saints is enough to equip someone to seek Him through life.

At least, it should be enough.

It seems to me that my sanctification this summer has indeed been a process, and a painful one at that. I have been humbled, have learned what it is to want to and not want to do something all at once, have been shown the black depths of my soul, and have realized that the Lord's glory shines into those depths, revealing what lurks in the darkness.

Yeah, that's sanctification.

But He doesn't stop there. When the Lord reveals what lurks in our sinful hearts, He does so that we might feel horror at and grief over our sin, and that we might be driven to our knees to seek His gracious presence. It is no mistake that Peter tells us to "fix your hope completely upon the grace to be revealed at the coming of Christ." Even though we are already saved, we are still undergoing the process of sanctification, and though it is painful at times, we are strengthened through it with "joy inexpressible." Why? Because we have a hope that is sure, a Savior that is faithful, and a life in Christ that born of a seed imperishable.

Yeah, that's sanctification.

posted by Bolo | 11:14 PM
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