Supernatural Sanctification
5 min read
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
— 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
What a great encouragement this is. Paul’s statement here provides such great assurance of our salvation for those who believe. We need such encouragement and assurance because we are all prone to sin every day.
Some days, our sins may way so heavy on our souls that we might question whether we are even saved. But we see here that God is the One who sanctifies us; God is the One who keeps us blameless; and even if we may be lacking in faithfulness on any given day, God is always faithful.
And yet, we must not take God’s faithfulness for granted either. In light of this truth, we might be tempted to approach our sanctification as passive agents. We might think to ourselves, “God will do it, so I don’t need to do anything.” Why should I be remorseful over my sin if God will sanctify me? Why should I repent and seek forgiveness of my sins if God will make me blameless on the day of Christ?
On the one hand, I do believe that there is a supernatural element to God’s sanctification. The changing of our attitudes towards the sin in our lives is not natural. So in that sense, our sanctification has to be supernatural.
On the other hand, God’s process of sanctification includes being given opportunities to make a decision about whether to sin or not to sin. The supernatural work of sanctification cannot happen when we choose to sin. The supernatural work of sanctification can only happen when we choose to obey God.
And my personal experience is that even when I choose to obey God, my attitude towards sin does not change like a light switch. Maybe for some people, for some sins, their attitudes do change like a light switch.
Maybe a better way to think about this is that until my attitude towards any given sin does completely change, God will continue to provide opportunities to make a decision about whether to sin or not to sin.
When I surrender my will completely to God with regard to any given sin, that is when the supernatural work of sanctification happens.
Father, You are so patient with me. Thank You for bearing with me for so long. My spirit really is willing. But my flesh is weak. I pray to the Holy Spirit to help me surrender my will fully to Him in all things. In Jesus’s name. Amen.