Believer, Who Are You Trusting for Your Sanctification? by Lara d'Entremont
July 17th, 2023 • by Lara d'Entremont
I curled up in the grey, upholstered rocker in our living room with my newest book on prayer. It had stunning reviews, it had been recommended to me countless times, and it even sold well. I tucked my tired legs up underneath myself and leaned back as I cracked the book open.
This time, I’ll be changed, I thought. This time, my prayer life will be forever fixed.
I reached for it night after night and devoured its pages. But, when I finished, I wasn’t miraculously changed. Light didn’t glimmer around me as I was magically sanctified. The book was wonderful, practical, insightful, and helpful, but my prayer life still struggled.
Whenever I’m faced with a problem, I often get stuck in these loops of believing that this app, practice, habit, counseling session, or book will suddenly fix me. Surely, if I just implement the newest discipline, I’ll suddenly be changed, right?
Do you ever have these same thoughts? And are you likewise disappointed that the tools have failed you yet again?
Many of us seem to face this frustration. But what if our problem wasn’t finding the right tool, but our perspective on sanctification altogether?
“Both your salvation and your sanctification are gifts from God.”
The One Who Sanctifies
Books, apps, practices, habits—these tools are all God’s gracious gifts to us and can be instruments towards our change—but they are not the conductor. They can be a balm to our weary and sore hearts. Yet when we place all our hope in these tools rather than the One who, by his grace, makes them effective, we’re trusting in the wrong place. We’re no better than the Galatians Paul wrote to:
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? (Gal. 3:1–6 ESV)
We are quick to declare that we were saved by the sole work of God—that we were needy, wayward creatures requiring a miracle—but we aren’t as quick to look to God for our sanctification. We know we began by the Spirit, but we forget that we are sanctified by the Spirit as well. Because of this, we turn further and further inward to resolve our sins and desperately reach out for whatever tools seem the most sparkling and promising.
But Christianity has never been about looking inward—it’s always about looking outward. We don’t muster up strength from within to save ourselves; we are saved by grace (Eph. 2:1–9). It’s not up to us to dig down deep and grit our teeth to endure to the end; we are carried by our Savior through the inkiest nights and sorrows (John 6:37–40). Our growth in holiness and Christlikeness isn’t accomplished by completing checklists; we are sanctified through the means of grace freely given to us by the Holy Spirit indwelling us (Luke 22:14–20; 1 Pet. 3:19–22). We don’t find God or grow in knowledge of him by retreating inward to listen and discern—we look to his gracious Word. We aren’t called to walk through this broken world alone; Jesus promises to never leave us (Matt. 28:20) and places us in a community of fellow believers who are called our siblings in Christ (Heb. 10:24–25).
As Michael Horton put it: “We do not find some gifts, like justification, in Christ and then other gifts, like sanctification, in ourselves or even in the Spirit apart from Christ. In the same act of faith, one is justified and renewed. These are distinct gifts that must never be confused, but they are given together—with every other blessing—through faith in Christ.” Both your salvation and your sanctification are gifts from God.
The Slowness of Sanctification
Our hope starts to waver in God’s ability to sanctify us when he isn’t working at the pace we think he should. We see others who don’t struggle like we do, and we compare and try to model our steps after theirs in hopes that it will fix all our problems. Or perhaps we’re simply tired of waging war against this particular part of our flesh. When the sin dies slowly, we begin to wonder if we put our hope in the right place. So we stretch our fingertips towards the most promising tool or strategy we can find, hike up our boots, and put our heads down to plough forward on our own.
We’ve forgotten the simple promise the Spirit made to the weary and fearful Thessalonians through Paul: “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thess. 5:23–24). He is faithful. If you have trusted in God for the forgiveness of your sins, he will be faithful to sanctify you. He will not allow you to remain in your sins. He will cause you to hate them, and his Spirit will work in his own timing to make you more like Jesus.
Perhaps some of our impatience also comes from not recognizing the full extent of God’s work in us. We set our sights on a sudden removal of our sin and believe that is the only kind of work the Spirit does. We expect our hearts to be remade as quickly as an episode of Fixer Upper. If the sin still remains, we think God must have stopped working, and doubt is quick to grab that foothold: “Perhaps you’re not really saved,” it taunts. Or “Maybe God doesn’t love you.”
But God isn’t only at work in removing sin—he’s at work changing our hearts. That sickening grief you feel over your sin? That’s the Spirit convicting you. When you felt pricked by a verse in your Bible study, that was God. Don’t forget the confession you made to your mentor or friend of your sins, or the apology you gave your family; that was first the work of your Father disciplining you. Just because the sin is still there doesn’t mean he’s given up on you or that you’re not saved; it means that we’re all still on this side of eternal life, and God often works in little increments as he turns the compass of our hearts towards heaven.
“If you have trusted in God for the forgiveness of your sins, he will be faithful to sanctify you. ”
Re-Ordered Hope
It’s not that the tools or programs are bad. They can truly be helpful devices that God uses to unravel our heart’s grip on sin. But when we put all our hope in those things—constantly drawing inward and spending more time alone, pondering and seeking and striving, looking to the next spiritual discipline or best-selling book to finally fix us—we’ve missed the point.
We shouldn’t be lax about our sanctification, simply shrugging our shoulders at sin because “God will work in his timing.” We should still hate our sin and desire to be rid of it. Of course we must do whatever we can to stop it—even going as far as to cut away that which we deem most valuable (Matt. 5:29–30).
But at the same time we must guard our hearts and place our trust in the right place: in God’s sovereign work over our hearts, not in our own efforts. As Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Phil. 2:12–13). Our faith is one of receiving from grace (not digging up from within) and pouring outward to God in gratitude and others in love.
This is why Jesus tells us his burden is light—because it is freely given.
Lara d’Entremont is a wife and mom to three from Nova Scotia, Canada. Lara is a writer and learner at heart—always trying to find time to scribble down some words or read a book. Her desire in writing is to help women develop solid theology they can put into practice—in the mundane, the rugged terrain, and joyful moments. You can find more of her writing at laradentremont.com
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