OUR LORD WHO SANCTIFIES US

When we come to the point where we believe in the salvation provided by our Lord Jesus Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit and we are then given the power to walk in the spirit and participate in the spiritual  things of the kingdom of God.

Our newly revived spirits are eager to plunge into the enterprise of following the will of God and immersing us in kingdom business. However, our earthly selves  remain fallen and there is no part of our flesh that can be redeemed. 

The scriptures plainly say that the flesh profiteth nothing in John 6 verse 63. This means that there is no undertaking that originates in our souls and bodies that will have any eternal merit. 

The only part of us that is spiritually profitable  is our spirit. Our spirits are connected with the Spirit of God and together, will work to  train our fleshly selves to cooperate with the things of the Spirit. 

The flesh will not want to do this. Spiritual activities like praying for other people, deferring to other people, serving other people and other pursuits of the kingdom of God are vigorously rebelled against by the flesh.

Sanctification is the process of bringing the soul and body into subjection of the Spirit and putting to death the works of the flesh.

Any success by our spirit in making the flesh follow the will of God is a step towards sanctification. This process is a long systematic procedure of narrowing down the options that the flesh has available. This restricts what our fallen selves can do so that our spirits can have greater and greater control over our flesh. This sometimes takes years of struggle, setbacks, stumbles and despair but in the end, our spirits run our lives and the result is that we more closely resemble the character and nature of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Peter explains it like this in the book of 2 Peter verse 5 - 8. "Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Bless the Lord.

Amen.