What is Sanctification?

I used to wonder what that term meant when I was a new Christian. Whenever I did ask, the answer elders gave me sounded so convoluted that I zoned out. Consequently, I never quite grasped that concept.

It's quite simple. When a person believes in their heart that Christ rose from the dead and confesses that Christ is their Lord, the Holy Spirit enters into that person and begins to make positive changes. It's like microwave cooking. The radio waves enter the food and agitate the water molecules. Their increased motion creates heat which cooks food from the inside out. This is why born again Christians appear half baked to non believers.

What are these changes? First, a born again (born from above) person falls in love with God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit. All the old habits such as swearing, telling dirty jokes, and the like suddenly seem repulsive. So does selfishness and human pride become disgusting to the regenerated person.

Sanctification takes time. We like everything to happen immediately or sooner but that doesn't work with the new life Christ gives us. Just as we had no influence on our physical birth, we didn't earn our new spiritual life.

The child analogy also works in regard to the growth of our trust in the Lord. Christians give in to sin on occasions, just as children get into mischief. But God is merciful to forgive us our wicked behaviour when we ask his forgiveness with an attitude of humility.

I've learned much in the forty-six years of my new life in the family of Christ. I wrote these lessons down in a book called How I Was Razed: A Journey from Cultism to Christianity. Contact me for details on purchasing this wondrous story of God's awesome providence.