Have you ever been discouraged that your progress in sanctification is too slow or is up one day and down the next – well I have. It almost seems like I am a work in progress. Well, my friends that’s exactly who we are – we are all works in progress.
May I share a little theology here. There are actually two types of sanctification. One is called positional sanctification. The moment we become saved we are positionally sanctified in Christ. This is a one time event and is part of what happens to a Christian at salvation. The other type of sanctification is called progressive sanctification and as a Christian we will spend the rest of our lives working to become more like Christ. This second type of sanctification will have its ups and downs, periods when we will get discouraged, and many lessons to be learned on this journey to become more like Jesus.
I know on my own personal journey discouragement is something I have to fight against since it can be very easy to get down on myself when I seem to let Jesus down. Pastor Rick Warren shares some very good advice here that I believe can be very helpful for all Christians as we strive to be more like our Savior, when he states: “God changes caterpillars into butterflies, sand into pearls and coal into diamonds using time and pressure. He’s working on you, too.”1
Progressive sanctification is a lifelong process and by definition it takes time for God to work with His precious “works in progress.” Picture it this way, when we come to Christ we bring a lifetime of bad habits, evil thoughts, and wrong thinking with us. In my case, I came to Christ at age 28. That meant that I had 28 years of bad habits, evil thoughts, and wrong thinking that I needed to change.
Thankfully, over these past 40+ years as a Christian I have, through time, been able to work on many of these areas and made great progress with the help of God. But I still have work to do. I also have a choice to make. I can either choose to celebrate my progress and praise God each day that I am becoming more like Christ, as well as get excited for the rest of my journey here on earth, or I can get down on myself when I fall short on my road to perfection and get discouraged. Satan wants me to get discouraged but I am realizing that progressive sanctification takes time and I am learning to celebrate my progress more than my failures.
One other thing I noticed from Pastor Warren’s quote is that while caterpillars, sand, and coal are not very attractive the end product of butterflies, pearls, and diamonds are beautiful and precious to behold! And isn’t that just like us. We at salvation come to Jesus often as broken and unattractive sinners who God, through the process of time, is molding to be His special saints and treasured possessions.
And just how does He do this? Well as Christians, God will often send trials our ways, not to hurt us, but to help build up our faith so we can bring praise, glory, and honor to Jesus. I love what we read in (1 Peter 1:6-7): “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
You see this is the pressure part that Pastor Warren talks about. For the Christian, pressure or trials are often the only way to grow in our walk with the Lord and closer to Jesus. As our faith grows we will want to become more like Jesus and that is a beautiful thing! Time and pressure are part of the package that all Christians need to understand are necessary if they want to grow and mature in their walk with Jesus.
So, the next time you feel discouraged remember that we are all works in progress and that God is not finished with us yet. Let God continue to mold you more into the image of His son. Life is a journey. It’s training for eternity. And next to the Trinity you are the most precious things in the universe – for you are created in the image of God!
1 TOP 25 QUOTES BY RICK WARREN (of 720) | A-Z Quotes (azquotes.com)
“And just how does He do this?”
When talking sanctification, trials are certainly part of the process but the one thing that we can never lose sight of is our conformity to God’s law. Paul makes it very clear in Romans 7 that “The law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Then, in the very next chapter, he shows us the way to righteousness.
“He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.”
“The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit.”
God’s Spirit in us is the only way we can submit to His law and experience the work of sanctification through good times and times of trial.