A Good Reminder--Sanctification

I am loving reading Leviticus! Even in this Old Testament book, written about the minutiae of the law, there is so much richness, so much truth, so much to learn about the Gospel.

I read these two verses today and was arrested from reading further, my attention riveted on the truth contained here:

Leviticus 20:7,8

"Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the Lord your God. Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the Lord who makes you holy."

First, there are two commands: "Consecrate yourselves and be holy" and "Keep my decrees and follow them". Thus, it would appear that this journey to becoming holy, this process, were up to us. We must do our part.

But read the last line: I am the Lord WHO MAKES you holy. Who makes us holy? God. Not us.

I think we would all agree that God is the one who justifies us--that is declares us to be righteous when we believe on the Lord Jesus. It is through Him that we are justified by grace through faith. However, I think many people believe that the sanctification part, the process of us becoming holy, more and more like Jesus, is up to us, or at least partly up to us. In actuality, sanctification is also by grace! It is not us, or our actions, that make us holy it is God who makes us holy--even apart from our "good works" after we become a Christian.

Jerry Bridges, in his book, "Transforming Grace" says this: "All Christians recognize that we are justified--that is, declared righteous--solely on the basis of the righteousness of Christ imputed to us by God through faith (Romans 3:21-25). But few of us recognize that we are also sanctified through faith in Christ." (pg 102).

He goes on to say, " . . . Christ has become our righteousness, holiness and redemption. {I Cor. 1:30} . . . Christ is also our holiness . . . All Christians look to Christ alone for their justification, but not nearly as many also look to Him for their perfect holiness before God. The blessed truth, though, is that all believers are sanctified in Christ, even as we are justified in Christ." (pg 102-103).

What does this mean? It means that when God calls us to be holy, as He is holy, He is the one who makes us holy. He sanctifies us. It is also through grace that we are sanctified. This IS good news! This is a weight lifted from our shoulders in this Christian walk, as His yoke is easy and His burden light. Yes, we ARE called to be obedient and faith without works is dead, but the truth is that our standing before God does not depend on us. The truth also is that good works are produced BECAUSE we are being sanctified, not in order TO BE sanctified. Thus, the good works are the fruit, not the vehicle.

So, rest in His grace today, as our means of justification AND sanctification. God calls us to be holy but it is HE who makes us holy! Rejoice that this is so and that the command to be holy is not up to us, for if it were, who could stand?

In Christ, Laura