Once I understood more of God’s unconditional love, I could start to understand how sanctification actually works.  In researching for this post, I came across a really cool connection that I’d not seen before. Looking into scripture on sanctification led me to Hebrews 10:4-10, 14-18.

“For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
Wherefore when he [God] cometh into the world, he saith,

Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure.

Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin
thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God.

He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.
By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.
Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,

This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord,
I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

As I read through that, I recognized the teaching of sanctification as being God’s work with our cooperation; God asks not for sacrifice and burnt offering but for us to allow him to write his law on our hearts.  The interesting connection came when I read the part indented above. It looked like Paul was quoting the old testament, and it sounded familiar. Then it hit me – Psalm 40!

Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done,
and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee:
if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened:
burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,
I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.
I have preached righteousness in the great congregation:
lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.

I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness & thy salvation:
I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.
Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD:
let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.  (Psalm 40:5-10)

Once when I was struggling with the concept of grace, God’s love, works, liberty, etc. one of my therapists brought up Romans 6:1-2 – “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”  They explained that “when we truly understand the love of God, the grace he gives us (both unmerited favor and power to overcome), and how much he wants us to draw near to him in relationship, the absolute last thing on our minds is to go out and sin!  We’re ready to fall down before him and worship.”

I know at the time I heard this, I wanted so badly to believe it!  Over time it became more real, AND I really struggle to hold onto it and believe it every day. Another result of believing God’s love and grace means I have to give up my idea of who I am and see myself through God’s eyes.  That’s both scary, as I know I have a lot of sanctification left, and awesome, as I can seek rest in the knowledge that I don’t have to earn his love.

I want to digress from therapy and write more about progress and perfection.  For many years, I thought I had to earn God’s love, and that belief coupled with my perfectionism made for a bad combination. I’ve heard sermons over the years that speak of our works being a result of our love for God, our service for him, and the outpouring of his grace in our lives; it just didn’t make sense to me.  If my works don’t earn God’s love, then why do them?  All of my therapists – ACCFS, TK, and the one I’m seeing now – have taught me about God’s unconditional love, and through their teaching, therapy, and the lessons learned at TK, they’ve helped me work at changing the tape in my head to say, “God loves me. Nothing I do makes him love me more. Or less. Whatever I do is to thank him and glorify him.”  Understanding that God desires a relationship with me and isn’t just waiting for me to mess up made all the difference. It’s not easy, and there are many days I fail, but I know I can come back to the open arms of my Father.

One time I did a word study on faith and works as laid out in James 2:18 – “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” The definitions in the Strong’s Concordance for some of the key words were interesting.

1. Faith (G4102 pistis) – moral conviction, especially reliance on Christ for salvation, assurance
2. Works (G2041 ergon) – toil as an effort or occupation
3. Without (G5565 choris) – separately or apart from
4. By (G1537 ek) – denoting origin, from, out; often of completion.

So, if I wanted to rephrase the verse using these definitions, I could say, “Show me your reliance on Christ for salvation apart from your effort, and I will show you my reliance on Christ for salvation completed by my effort.”  → our works come after our faith or as a result of our faith. Our works don’t save us. They don’t cause God to love us more or less. They are to be an outpouring of our thanksgiving to God for that salvation.

This is supported by Titus 3:4-8, Ephesians 2:8-10, and Philippians 2:12-13.

Titus 3:4-8 – “But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

⇒The word used for works here is the same word for toil/effort in James.
⇒This very clearly shows the order of truth – God loves, we have faith, we are justified by grace, we show his love and our thanks to him by our works.

Ephesians 2:8-10 – For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

⇒The word used for works here is the same word for toil/effort in James.
⇒God chooses our works.

Philippians 2:12-13 – Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

⇒Work out (G2716 katergazomai) – accomplish, finish, fashion, perform
⇒Worketh in (G1754 energeo) – to be active, efficient, be mighty in, show forth self, work effectually in.
⇒Our work is to accomplish something, and God’s work is mighty, efficient, showing himself.

This is getting kind of long, so I’ll stop here. Next time, I plan to write more about progress, sanctification, and rest.