Sanctification/Restoration
What I'm listening to: Gretal's Unreturnable Dirt and Grant Lee Phillips's Virginia Creeper
What is the process of sanctification? Simple. The process we go through to become more like Christ. "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death". (Romans 8: 1-2) This is the ultimate message of grace. We are not meant to live out lives as though trapped by sin. Paul goes on to later say in the same chapter another very simple message in verse 37 "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." The process of sanctification is a promised success, not failure.
There are many ways the process of sanctification manifests itself.
Scripture knows nothing of an isolated model of sanctification which takes place apart from human relationships. I find that fascinating. Here's why.
Would we need restoration without human relationships? Would sin exist if we were all islands? Or more importantly, can we become holy without love? And can there be love if you are an island?
I don’t want to confuse how I’m viewing the words “restoration” and “sanctification”. I think they are distinctly separately yet uniquely tied together. The process of becoming holy is a discipline. Not just of actions, but of love and emotions in both the spirit and the soul. (When I’m referring to the spirit and soul, I’m referring to the spirit as our communion with God and the soul is about our heart.) But I see restoration both starting and ending with the heart.
The fact the sin has battered down our soul is the reason restoration is necessary. God wants us to experience life fully, and without restoration, life cannot fully be experienced. Here’s the rub: This cannot be done without others in your life.
Though the people in your life may not be the reason you sin, they contribute to the pain. The pain sin affords.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m off the mark here or I’m missing a connection. I know that people are not the reason we sin. And I know they are not the only reason we need restoration. But there’s a connection here. A connection between the reason we need restoration and how that reason is only what can help heal us. It seems to me it’s appropriate to quote Nietzsche (blasphemy!) That which does not kill us makes us stronger.
What is the process of sanctification? Simple. The process we go through to become more like Christ. "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death". (Romans 8: 1-2) This is the ultimate message of grace. We are not meant to live out lives as though trapped by sin. Paul goes on to later say in the same chapter another very simple message in verse 37 "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." The process of sanctification is a promised success, not failure.
There are many ways the process of sanctification manifests itself.
Scripture knows nothing of an isolated model of sanctification which takes place apart from human relationships. I find that fascinating. Here's why.
Would we need restoration without human relationships? Would sin exist if we were all islands? Or more importantly, can we become holy without love? And can there be love if you are an island?
I don’t want to confuse how I’m viewing the words “restoration” and “sanctification”. I think they are distinctly separately yet uniquely tied together. The process of becoming holy is a discipline. Not just of actions, but of love and emotions in both the spirit and the soul. (When I’m referring to the spirit and soul, I’m referring to the spirit as our communion with God and the soul is about our heart.) But I see restoration both starting and ending with the heart.
The fact the sin has battered down our soul is the reason restoration is necessary. God wants us to experience life fully, and without restoration, life cannot fully be experienced. Here’s the rub: This cannot be done without others in your life.
Though the people in your life may not be the reason you sin, they contribute to the pain. The pain sin affords.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m off the mark here or I’m missing a connection. I know that people are not the reason we sin. And I know they are not the only reason we need restoration. But there’s a connection here. A connection between the reason we need restoration and how that reason is only what can help heal us. It seems to me it’s appropriate to quote Nietzsche (blasphemy!) That which does not kill us makes us stronger.
Comments