This blog post is the first in a series of posts about sanctification of the believer by the Holy Spirit.
“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”
Titus 2:11-14 (NIV)
Do you have a “worldly passion” for food? Do you “live self-controlled”? This is the first in a series of blog posts on sanctification--the process that the believer experiences by the Holy Spirit in becoming more Christlike. The process of sanctification occurs after the salvation conversion “born again” experience via baptism of the Holy Spirit. In short, sanctification is transformation from the inside-out. Importantly, it is received, not achieved, although our submission to and participation with the Holy Spirit is part of the process. Sanctification is the opposite of many methods that mankind has invented to produce behavior change and with different results—sanctification results in permanent change whereas many attempts at behavior change yield only temporary results at best (think diets). It is the way to overcome ungodliness and worldly passions and live a truly self-controlled life.
I write this blog to encourage brothers and sisters in Christ who struggle with food and to share what God has done for me. As I begin this series of posts about sanctification I begin by saying that I am not a “better Christian” or a “more mature Christian”, nor do I have a “better relationship with God” because I am not in bondage to food or body image anymore. I am just a free-er Christian, in that area, and as my relationship with God has deepened that freedom has carried over into other areas of my life. This is not about comparing (or, God forbid, judging) our relationships with God based on our struggles (or lack thereof) with food. While my relationship with God may be better in this area than my sister or brother believer who has an out-of-balance relationship with food, God wants relationship with us in all areas of our life. Who am I to say that my sister or brother doesn’t have a very good relationship with God, even perhaps better than mine, in many ways? It is God Who reveals these things to us, individually. Nothing I write in this blog is meant to be used to evaluate or judge anyone’s relationship with God (and which I doubt can be measured). That is for each individual alone to evaluate with God. God has put it on my heart to be a witness of what He has done in my life and to help edify the Church. My desire is to assist the body of Christ to better health, and examining our relationship with God is a critical part of healing for the brothers and sisters in Christ who have kept God at a distance from their food behaviors. But it is just as likely that the sister or brother who is struggling in this area may have an excellent overall relationship with God. Sanctification is a spiritual issue, and the fruit will be evident, but there are different kinds of fruit trees. The huge variety of fruit trees glorifies God all the more.
So as I begin a series of blog posts about sanctification, the same goes. I am not “more sanctified” than my struggling brother or sister in Christ. Who would dare to measure sanctification? Whenever the Bible mentions being “perfect” in Christ and like our heavenly Father by far the primary characteristic is love (Matthew 5:43-48, Ephesians 5:1-2). The most Christlike believers love as Christ loves, even enemies. So thinner believers may or may not be further along in the process of sanctification with God (you can’t tell a book by its cover). As an extreme example, a bulimic believer may look much more “sanctified” if we go by outer appearance, but may actually be in a severe struggle at a very elementary level of faith. In our culture we are immersed in messages of comparison and may be conditioned to making comparisons in our everyday lives and larger life goals (as in the competitiveness in school and sports, efforts to get into college, seeking employment and even a mate). While we bear responsibility for participating in the usually futile practice of comparison, the marketing agencies also exploit this weakness for monetary gain. But the Truth is we are all equal in God’s sight--pastor and pauper, thin and obese.
There is no place for comparison in the Church.
A Matthew Henry commentary of Philippians 3:12-21 (where Paul talks about pursuing Christlikeness) from the Bible Hub website communicates this so well:
“This simple dependence and earnestness of soul, were not mentioned as if the apostle had gained the prize, or were already made perfect in the Saviour's likeness. He forgot the things which were behind, so as not to be content with past labours or present measures of grace. He reached forth, stretched himself forward towards his point; expressions showing great concern to become more and more like unto Christ. He who runs a race, must never stop short of the end, but press forward as fast as he can; so those who have heaven in their view, must still press forward to it, in holy desires and hopes, and constant endeavours. Eternal life is the gift of God, but it is in Christ Jesus; through his hand it must come to us, as it is procured for us by him. There is no getting to heaven as our home, but by Christ as our Way. True believers, in seeking this assurance, as well as to glorify him, will seek more nearly to resemble his sufferings and death, by dying to sin, and by crucifying the flesh with its affections and lusts. In these things there is a great difference among real Christians, but all know something of them. Believers make Christ all in all, and set their hearts upon another world. If they differ from one another, and are not of the same judgment in lesser matters, yet they must not judge one another; while they all meet now in Christ, and hope to meet shortly in heaven. Let them join in all the great things in which they are agreed, and wait for further light as to lesser things wherein they differ.”1
Amen! So let us consider the process of sanctification for our edification and for the edification of the body of Christ without comparison or judgment. The area of body weight, in particular, is fraught with the tendency to compare, which only furthers the opportunity for self-condemnation which feeds the overeating cycle. Let us not participate in that.
How Does Sanctification Happen?
Once a believer is baptized with the Holy Spirit in the initial conversion upon receiving Jesus Christ the process called sanctification begins. Sanctification means “to make holy”. This process continues until we are resurrected in our glorified bodies. Believers are sanctified through faith in Christ, by the indwelling Holy Spirit which Christ’s blood purchased for believers, and by the Word of God. It is a continual progressive transformation of perfecting, though we are not perfect until we meet Him in our glorified bodies:
“Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2 (NIV)
“And we all who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV)
We are being transformed, we are not yet fully transformed, so accept the process and don’t let perfectionism sabotage your efforts. Furthermore, we cannot sanctify ourselves—it is a work of the Holy Spirit, and it is by God’s Grace. It is the sanctity of the Holy Spirit that sanctifies us. Do you see why being continually “filled with the Spirit” is so important? In the process of sanctification our growing love for God replaces our love for the world and unholy affections. It is a process that the Holy Spirit enables us to participate in and we do have a responsibility in the process. It is God’s will that we be saved, Spirit-filled and sanctified to become more Christlike and more like the Father as His adopted children. In fact, we are saved to be sanctified—the Father’s plan is not to save us for us to remain in our sad, sorry state. Be encouraged that God has provided the Holy Spirit to help us in becoming sanctified because it is His will for us. (For more on how to be continually filled with the Spirit see previous blog posts Be Filled With, Walk In, Be Led By the Spirit and How Can I “Be Filled With the Spirit”?)
It’s worth noting in a nutrition and health-focused ministry that the goal isn’t that we be sanctified so that we can achieve certain health goals and feel better about ourselves. Of course what God wants for us is always for our good, and improved (even optimal) health is a welcome result of the process, but sanctification goes far beyond only our physical bodies being healthier. Sanctification--the opposite of what the world offers--is transformation that happens from the inside-out, unlike diets which attempt to transform from the outside-in. Sanctification results in permanent change, whereas diets result in change that is usually temporary at best, if at all. Gluttonous eating will get better, but it is part of the process of being holistically changed, not just behavior change. Our behavior does change as we participate with our responsibility in the process, but sanctification is much more comprehensive than just physical behavior change, involving the whole self—spiritual, emotional, psychological and physical. Sanctification is thorough, permanent change.
The process of sanctification—the transformation the world strives to replicate but never quite achieves—is the topic of upcoming posts.
Footnotes
1. Henry, M. (n.d.) Philippians 3: Matthew Henry’s commentary. Bible Hub. Retrieved May 27, 2024, from https://biblehub.com/commentaries/mhc/philippians/3.htm
N.E.W. LIFE (Nutrition, Exercise, Wellness for LIFE): Biblical Support for Health and Freedom from Bondage to Food and Diets
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