Dear Explorer,
Read John 17:17
Jesus prayed that God would sanctify us in truth. Okay, what does sanctify mean?
It means to "set apart for God's use or holy purpose". Now the primary problem with sanctification is that many religions teach that we are to sanctify ourselves. Then we get the word "sanctimonious."
What is the definition of sanctimonious?
Notice that Jesus was asking GOD to sanctify US. He did not tell us to sanctify ourselves! What does that look like?
When we invite Jesus into our life – He comes in! Jesus forgives our sins and the Holy Spirit comes in and fills our emptiness and that initial step is called justification.
The next step is for the Holy Spirit to begin to teach us how to be more like Jesus. That process is called sanctification. It's a process that ends on the day we start the final step.
The final step is when our physical BODY dies, and the Holy Spirit takes our SELF to Heaven for all eternity with Jesus. That step is called glorification.
Those 3 steps -- justification, sanctification and glorification -- are all included in the word "salvation." We are saved from emptiness, we are saved from SELF direction, and we are saved from Hell and separation from God for all eternity. Pretty cool, huh?!
Day-by-day the Holy Spirit speaks to us -- correcting us, convicting us, encouraging us, growing us, counseling us, enlightening us, etc. until we become step-by-step more like Jesus. Many times, I've watched spiritual babies begin their journey and I've watched them be transformed right before my eyes as the Holy Spirit leads them to become more like Jesus. I've watched their vocabulary change, their dress change, their relationships change, even their mannerisms change. In many new followers – there's even a physical change in their faces and bodies as God removes the guilt and shame and pain and sorrow from their lives. They almost radiate with Jesus inside of them.
In my own life, God is still at work changing me -- dealing with more subtle details like attitude and motive and teaching me more about trusting God and not becoming impatient with Him. It's a journey that will continue until I enter Heaven.
But there's also a warning here -- let's don't overlook it. Jesus says, "Sanctify them in truth. Thy word is truth." Jesus understood that we are very vulnerable to counterfeit voices. How do we know for sure that we are hearing the Holy Spirit's voice and not our own SELF or even Satan's encouragement in the wrong direction?
God's Word is truth. Here Jesus is reminding us that the Holy Spirit will NOT guide us to do anything that is contrary to Scripture. It's like the sights on a gun -- both must line up to get an accurate shot and hit the target. So, the more we read and study God's Word, the easier it will be to know for sure where the Holy Spirit is guiding us. We'll readily recognize when there's a counterfeit voice trying to get us off track because it won't line up with Scripture.
The Holy Spirit will use the Bible to teach us many things. So, the more you are studying God's Word, the easier it is to understand the Holy Spirit's leading.
In His service, dale
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