Holiness and Sanctification

Rom 12:11
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
KJV

Eph 1:4
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
KJV

1 Peter 1:16
6 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
KJV

Holiness, so far as it appears in man, is an outcome of God's gracious work in salvation and yet not without the proper exertion of one's own free will and the putting forth of strenuous effort (Eph 4:22-24).
(from The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. Originally published by Moody Press of Chicago, Illinois. Copyright (c) 1988.)

There have been times in which I have relayed to another that I am struggling with an area of sin in my life, a lack of holiness. Occasionally, I have gotten the response, "You are being too hard on yourself. Don't you know who you are in Christ? There is freedom in Christ!"

So I have asked myself the questions, "Am I viewing myself too harshly?", "How then shall we view ourselves?" It would appear that there are two extremes that people can portray. One side views themselves as lower than dirt, with no value in themselves, almost hopeless for any chance of victory over sin. The other side views themselves free from every bondage in this life and therefore is free to live how they please.

This has caused me to delve into the meaning of sanctification.

"The more holy a man is, the more humble, self-renouncing, self-abhorring, and the more sensitive to every sin he becomes, and the more closely he clings to Christ. The moral imperfections which cling to him he feels to be sins, which he laments and strives to overcome. Believers find that their life is a constant warfare, and they need to take the kingdom of heaven by storm, and watch while they pray."
(from Easton's Bible Dictionary, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

So, after we repent of our sins, turn to Christ and surrender our lives to Him, is that the end of the story? Is it simply a get-out-of-jail-free card that gives us license to live how we want, taking advantage of His grace, mercy and forgiveness?

"God is a God of grace, you know."

Rom 6:1-2
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
God forbid.
KJV

(Just for clarification...Yes, there IS grace for the one that has their heart towards God, that is repentant of their sin and is willing to change their sinful ways. Grace, mercy and forgiveness are phenominal aspects of God that we should never forget and should cause us to be in awe of His goodness.)

I have heard it said that when a person gives their heart to Christ, that is not the end, it is the beginning and now the hard work begins. I agree. I have experienced it.

Some have witnessed to unbelievers by saying, "Come to Christ. It will bring you peace and happiness." I would submit that though God wants us to be happy, He is much more concerned with our holiness. It is through holiness that we can experience true joy and peace with God.

It is [Paul's] constant and compelling moral appeal: You belong to Christ; live with Him, live unto Him (Col 3:1-4; 1 Thess 5:10). It is no formal belonging, no external surrender. It is the yielding of the life in its passions and purposes, in its deepest affections and highest powers, to be ruled by a new spirit (Eph 4:13,20,23-24,32; compare Rom 12:1).
(from International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c)1996 by Biblesoft)

There is a yielding, a surrendering, of our hearts and will to His. It is dying to self. We are no longer our own. We were bought with a price. That takes effort and is usually quite uncomfortable. But here is the exciting part:

Now the Christian's surrender is not to an outer authority but to an inner, living fellowship. The sanctified life is thus a life of personal fellowship lived out with the Father in the spirit of Christ in loving trust and obedient service. This positive and vital meaning of sanctification dominates Paul's thought. He speaks of living unto God, of living to the Lord, and most expressively of all, of being alive unto God (Rom 14:8; compare 6:13; 2:19). So completely is his life filled by this fellowship that he can say, "It is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal 2:20).
(from International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c)1996 by Biblesoft)

We are not surrendering to a totally authoritarian, impersonal God. Christ is IN us as believers!

Now, are we to be perfect as soon as we are saved? The standard that we are called to live is high. We are called to holiness, to be like Christ, who is perfect. Our salvation is instantaneous, yet, sanctification is a process. The question becomes not only are you moving forward or backward in relation to Christ, but are you moving at all? Is there a hunger for more of Him, more righteousness, more compassion for the lost, more love? And, do you grieve when that's not within you?

The question is not simply, Is this man sinner or saint? It is rather, What is he becoming? This matter of becoming is the really vital issue. Is this man turned the right way with all his power? Is his life wholly open to the divine fellowship? Not the degree of achievement, but the right attitude toward the ideal, is decisive.
(from International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c)1996 by Biblesoft)

So it is a process, lived out with effort on our part. What is it that I heard one time? "Sitting in church doesn't make you a Christian any more that being in a garage makes you a car."

Jesus even had to put forth effort to surrender His will to the Father's in the Garden of Gethsemane. He sweated drops of blood in the process, but when the part of Christ that was fully man totally surrendered to the Father, there was peace, obedience and steadfastness to do the most difficult thing this world has ever known.

All is from God; we can only live what God gives. But there is a converse to this: only as we live it out can God give to us the life. This appears in Paul's teaching as to sanctification. It is not only God's gift, but our task. "This is the will of God, even your sanctification" (1 Thess 4:3). "Having therefore these promises .... let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness (hagiosune) in the fear of God" (2 Cor 7:1). Significant is Paul's use of the word "walk." We are to "walk in newness of life," "by (or in) the Spirit," "in love," and "in Christ Jesus the Lord" (Rom 6:4; Gal 5:16; Eph 5:2; Col 2:6). The gift in each case becomes the task, and indeed becomes real and effective only in this activity. It is only as we walk by the Spirit that this becomes powerful in overcoming the lusts of the flesh (Gal 5:16; compare 5:25). But the ethical is the task that ends only with life. If God gives only as we live, then He cannot give all at once. Sanctification is then the matter of a life and not of a moment. The life may be consecrated in a moment, the right relation to God assumed and the man stand in saving fellowship with Him. The life is thus made holy in principle. But the real making holy is co-extensive with the whole life of man. It is nothing less than the constant in-forming of the life of the inner spirit and outer deed with the Spirit of Christ until we, "speaking truth in love, may grow up in all things into him, who is the head" (Eph 4:15).
(from International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c)1996 by Biblesoft)

Whew! That gets me excited. As I step forward towards God in surrender to His will, He provides the strength and power to follow through. As I die to my desire to lash out in anger and frustration at my children and choose to talk and listen and correct in love, God provides the strength to do just that. As that hurdle becomes easier I then desire more. It may be a desire to smile instead of frown, to let my children know how much they are loved, accepted and appreciated. I have to put forth effort to raise the edges of my mouth, but as I do, He gives the power to do so in sincerity.

When my flesh cries out, "I WANT IT MY WAY!!", I must choose to do right. I must choose to die to myself and hand over that spot within me to Christ. Then His strength comes and holiness is given prominence over fleshly desires.

...and then He smiles.