For most of us, when we turned to the Lord for salvation, we had no idea what our future Christian life would hold. However, Peter explains that salvation’s purpose was “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ…” (1 Peter 1:2). God intended much more for our lives than we had imagined. God not only knew our future, He mapped it out so that no matter where we travelled, we would be accessible by Him to accomplish His will.
That initial divine work of salvation, which included cleansing through the shed blood of Christ, was a work of purifying sanctification by the Holy Spirit. That was the Spirit’s beginning of a life-long commitment to never stop setting you apart for greater holiness and Christlikeness. “For this is the will of God, your sanctification…” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Just as the intrinsic ministry of the Holy Spirit is inescapable, so too is His ministry of sanctification.
God the Father knows what He wants for your life, and His Spirit is bound to fulfil His purpose. Sanctification is the process of “being transformed into his image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18). What a privilege, to think that the Lord wants us to accurately reflect His image. The Lord is intimately involved in this ever-changing ministry for the entirety of our time on earth. And upon completion of this life’s sanctification we get promoted to our heavenly home to enjoy eternal life (Romans 6:22). This is the rich and certain hope we have inherited from the Lord.
Although the Lord rarely sends advance notice of His intention to step up your sanctification, you can rest secure in the knowledge of His perfect purposes. You can believe Him when He says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). You can have confidence in “casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
He understands your disappointments, your confusion, and your frustrations. In His purposeful ministry the Holy Spirit “helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26). Rest assured; the Holy Spirit never fails to accurately present your case to your heavenly Father. Your innermost thoughts, feelings, weaknesses, and beliefs are perfectly delivered through divine language which surpasses human words. You are never as alone or without heavenly representation as the devil would have you think.
As many of God’s people will verify, during the deepest pains of change and sanctification, the Lord’s reassuring words to Paul still stand true, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
As you lean heavy into Christ during personal struggle, it can be with the expectation that the Lord will mature you to profess Christ as the apostle Paul did when dealing with his thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7-8). “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).
May the Holy Spirit have His way, so that “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
