What is sanctification?

God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through the sanctifying work of the Spirit [that sets you apart for God's purpose] and by your faith in the truth [of God's word that leads you to spiritual maturity]. It was to this end that He called you through our gospel [the good news of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection], so that you may obtain and share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. - 2 Thessalonians 2:13b-14 (Amplified Bible)

Whereas justification, accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and being declared righteous before God, is instantaneous and complete, the subsequent process of sanctification is an ongoing work of the Holy Spirit. Having been justified, Christ-followers now see sin as that which separates them from Holy God and seek to eliminate sin from their lives. Sanctification is the process of being set apart from sin and pursuing holiness. A person who has been justified will develop a strong desire to eliminate sin from their life and be conformed to the likeness of His image through the pursuit of holiness. The sanctification process is executed as the true believer fully yields to the Holy Spirit.

But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. - 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 (NLT)

Loving a holy God is beyond our moral power. The only kind of God we can love by our sinful nature is an unholy god, an idol made by our own hands. Unless we are born of the Spirit of God, unless God sheds His holy love in our hearts, unless He stoops in His grace to change our hearts, we will not love Him… To love a holy God requires grace, grace strong enough to pierce our hardened hearts and awaken our moribund souls. - RC Sproul (The Holiness of God)

We must hide our unholiness in the wounds of Christ as Moses hid himself in the cleft of the rock while the glory of God passed by. We must take refuge from God in God. Above all, we must believe that God sees us perfect in His Son while He disciplines and chastens, and purges us that we may be partakers of His holiness. - AW Tozier (The Knowledge of the Holy)

Have I developed a growing hatred for sin, not a dislike for the undesirable consequences or guilty feelings resulting from sin, but a true hatred and genuine remorse for my sin that ultimately nailed Jesus Christ to the cross?

Have I developed a passion for the pursuit of holiness by replacing "my agenda" with a complete yielding to the Holy Spirit's direction for my life?

Be Encouraged to pursue holiness by yielding completely to the Holy Spirit.

-Jeffrey Thornton