SANTIFICATION (1 Thessalonians 4:1-8)

"Finally, brothers and sisters, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that, as you learned from us how you ought to live and to please God (as, in fact, you are doing), you should do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification..." (1 Thessalonians 1-3)

Beverly Roberts Gaventa writes:

“Paul’s strategy is a bit reminiscent of the mother who stands at the door and calls out as her child scampers off to play, ‘Behave yourself! Remember you are a Smith!’ Without ever being explicitly told what it means to be a Smith, the child learns that her behavior is to be consistent with that identity….They may even hear an additional warning, “We are not like the Blakes! Don’t act like them! Behave! ” (Interpretation: First and Second Thessalonians, 54)

Sanctification is the process of change and growth and transformation where I become like Jesus through the work and power of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification is the process of becoming what I am…becoming Christian…becoming like Christ. The more like Jesus Christ I become, the more holy I am…the more faithful I am…the less disobedient and sinful I am. Sanctification is the process that I, as a Christian, undergo so that I can be saved from myself. Through the process of my sanctification, I am being saved from my own sinful nature. I am being remade…refashioned…recreated…into the image of God in Christ.

The power and influence of sin are being destroyed in me. The power and influence of Jesus Christ are being increased in me. I am becoming what I already am…united with Christ. I am being sanctified. I am being made holy. I am being saved.