Our salvation is great both in its past and its continuing accomplishments. Last week we began to think about salvation as a past experience; this week we look at salvation as a present or ongoing experience. Sometimes a person may feel reluctant to make the confession, “I am being saved.” The fear is that such a statement somehow calls into question the certainty and completeness of justification by faith, as if it is incomplete and must have ongoing additions. Properly understood, salvation in its present tense in no way diminishes the force and truthfulness of the confession, “I have been saved.” Upon reflection we usually understand that conversion is not the end of Christian experience but its beginning. This week we want to think about the continuation of the Christian life following a person’s initial confession of faith in the Savior.
Meaning of sanctification
The process of growing as a Christian is what we commonly understand as sanctification. Thus thinking about the progress of the Christian life calls for us to ponder the meaning and implications of sanctification. In short this term speaks of the ongoing process of a saved person becoming a more Christ-like person. The root meaning of sanctification is holiness, which carries the idea of being set apart. God taught ancient Israel that the temple and its contents were holy. This meant that the structure and its furnishings were separated from secular or everyday use and set apart unto spiritual service.
Increasingly set apart
With both the thought of being increasingly set apart from all that is sinful or ungodly while being progressively set apart unto all that is Godlike, we might think of sanctification in terms of growing a more holy life. Just as justification implies the dual dimensions of rescue from sin’s penalty and full acceptance by God, so sanctification implies its own dual dimension of becoming increasingly set apart from all that is worldly, sinful or unlike Christ while increasing in godliness of character and deeds. We must always think in terms of being “set apart from” and being “set apart to.”
If we think of justification as having been saved from the penalty of sin, we might think of sanctification as being progressively saved from the practice of sin. In the words of a familiar hymn, we implore God in song that He save us from wrath and make us pure, which the song describes as sin’s double cure — salvation from both sin’s penalty and its power.
Growth in grace
When we consider salvation as sanctification, we are helped by identifying various means God uses to cause growth in grace and likeness to Christ. Among these means is reading, study and meditation in the Bible. Closely connected with hearing God’s voice of truth in the Word of truth is prayer. Through prayer we converse with God, so that our communication is always two-way: God speaks to us and we speak to God. Christ is building His Church not merely so Christians might have somewhere to go and something to do on Sunday. Keeping company with vital Christian friends can be an incentive to becoming more vital in our own spiritual development. Fellowship with fellow-believers is another of the provisions made for our sanctification. Just as physical strength is increased by exercise, so spiritual growth increases through glad exertion in service to Christ by serving others.
Based on our growth as Christians, just how accurate or believable is our confession, “I am being saved?”
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