The letter you have been waiting for arrives. You tear it open to read, “You’ve been accepted into medical school.” Oh, my goodness. At that moment, you are filled with excitement and joy. You tell everyone. The life you have wanted is now about to begin. The day arrives and you settle in. You feel like a brand-new person. But shortly into this long journey, you begin to realize that the process is hard, tedious. You’re pretty sure it will break you. At times, you wonder if you’ll ever make it. As you go along, you keep the end in sight… one day you will be awarded a license to practice medicine. And this is what keeps you from giving up.
This illustration is a visual of a theological term called SANCTIFICATION. And Paul shows us in this verse to the Philippians exactly what sanctification is. Sanctification applies to every believer. From Philippians 1:6, we can divide sanctification into three parts: POSITIONAL sanctification (God began the good work within you); PROGRESSIVE sanctification (God will continue His work); COMPLETE sanctification (until it is finally finished). So, let’s examine these three things.
Positional sanctification happens at the moment you come to know Jesus – the moment of salvation. In that moment, God pours out His righteousness into you (2 Corinthians 5:21); gives you a new position (Ephesians 2:6); releases you from the condemnation of sin (Romans 8:1); and makes you a brand-new person (2 Corinthians 5:17). You feel the change immediately. You are ecstatic, filled with joy. You want to shout it from the rooftop. Here’s the thing though… this is just the beginning.
Progressive sanctification is the process for which God continues His work in you… all for the purpose of making you more like Himself. And this process can be very hard. This is one of the many jobs of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This is where He may chip away, renovate, and clean out. This is where He shows us what we need to change or get rid of. But it’s also in this process that we can actually quench the Holy Spirit by not allowing Him to do His work of molding us. We may use excuses… that’s just me, that’s who I am. We may refuse the advice of others… I can’t do that. We may rebuke biblical discipline… that’s way too hard. All these things hinder the Holy Spirit from continuing the work in us that God began. Progressive sanctification is God working in us, but it’s also the responsibility of every believer to be actively involved in the process by yielding to His redemptive work.
Complete sanctification is the finished work of God in our lives when we are finally home with the Lord. This is the moment everything is complete. Amazing, huh? And the Bible says that in this place rewards are given out. Paul talks to the Corinthians about this day in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15… he says that there will be a fire and “fire will show if a person’s work has any value.” He goes on to say that “if the work survives, that builder will receive a reward.” I’m positive that when we allow sanctification to progress in our life, then rewards will be given. This the end sight… in other words, if we keep this in our line of vision, we will be more apt to let the Holy Spirit do the work of the Lord in us. And we will become more and more like Jesus… in every aspect of our lives. Let this encourage you today.