Debbie wrote: > David, I am not understanding how you can > say "sanctification is not a process", and yet > that "holiness is a growth process" and that > a work has been begun in you which is not > yet complete.
Did I say that sanctification is not a process? I don't have time to look up the post, but let me explain a little more. I don't think I would ever deny the concept of sanctification being a process per se, but I might say it in a certain context. What I don't like is the idea that sanctification is the process of sinning less and less until one day you stop sinning and at that moment you no longer are on earth. To stop sinning is instantaneous. One stops sinning the moment they believe in Christ. If they were to sin later, they are taking their eyes off Jesus and starting to do their own thing again. So sanctification is something one jumps into as an act of grace, and then grace continues the process of perfecting holiness. The growth process is one whereby we grow just like Christ grew. It is not a growth of learning not to sin. It is impossible to learn how not to sin. Sanctification is a work of grace which is followed by a process of learning to maintain holiness in a sinful world. The temptations to sin continue from time to time, and persecution increases as one walks in holiness. We also learn greater ways of doing good works. Whereas one might help those in need who come to them, they might later learn to seek out those who are in need. Whereas before one did not rebuke others who sinned but only worked on themselves, they then learn to instruct others in the spirit of meekness. All of this is a growth process. I have this diagram I received through revelation many years ago that I have been wanting to put up on the website but never seem to have time. It is a picture of a triangular table which is the table of justification. The three sides have significance, but I won't go into that now. What is at one end of the table is a path projecting upward from the table into heaven, and it has an arrow at the top, indicating infinity in that direction. So one starts on the table of justification, and the path leading up from that is sanctification (Christian Perfection). Some people hang around the table, and some go dangerously close to one of the three edges, but the normal Christian life is to proceed along the path that moves upward. Perhaps that illustration will help you see how sanctification is something one immediately jumps into, and then becomes a process of perfecting holiness in the sight of God. If you have an interest in this, let me know and I can scan in a rough diagram I did many years ago, or maybe finish the computer graphic I started to make with it but never finished. There never seems to be enough hours in a day. :-) Debbie wrote: > Where I get the idea of superiority is from your > insistence that you don't sin. Unless I ignore it, > I have to do something with this statement, and > can only do so in view of the reality I am familiar > with--in this case, in the form of every other human > being I have met. You mean you have never met a Christian before who is holy and does not continue in sin? I find that very strange. Debbie wrote: > (That's what we do in evaluating statements we hear > from people.) If your statement is false, then you are > pretending to be superior. If it's true, then it can hardly > fail to be noticed that you must actually be superior to > everybody I know, in a quite astounding way. Wrong. Righteousness is a gift. Even if you found me to be free of the power of sin, that would not make me superior to you or anybody else because it is only Christ working in me. Furthermore, sanctification is promised not just to me, but to everyone who names the name of Christ. I am no more superior to you than you are to the person who has not experienced the forgiveness of his sins. Debbie wrote: > Incidentally, what on earth do you mean by "Oh > dear, I was afraid of that, I get the picture" in your > previous post? When a person has forsaken his sins, truly repented of them, he does not see them as being part of himself anymore. Therefore, he does not require a level of intimacy to talk about them. He perceives his sins to be in his past. However, when a person hangs on to sin, and there is this constant struggle, then a level of intimacy is required because they do not want to be judged or condemned for those things that he has allowed. Interestingly, when I preach on campus, I find many people willing to talk about all kinds of sins quite publicly that would make most people blush. Such people actually boast in their sin and the efficacy of Christ to cover such in their lives. Other people talk only in private, but still, will confess all manner of struggles with me, a perfect stranger. And then there are others who will not say what they struggle with. Those are the ones I am concerned about the most. Surely you understand why. Forgiveness and healing comes through confession. I'm being open here. Be prudent. Please don't pounce on me too harshly for the things I have said. Peace be with you. David Miller. ---------- "Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man." (Colossians 4:6) http://www.InnGlory.org If you do not want to receive posts from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and you will be unsubscribed. If you have a friend who wants to join, tell him to send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and he will be subscribed.
