Growing in Godliness with Nana Dolce
On today’s episode of the Journeywomen podcast, I’m chatting with Nana Dolce about growing in godliness. We talked about everything from when we could see traces of our own desire to grow in godliness, to what, or better yet, who, sustains our sanctification today! The only problem with this interview is that the entire thing is quote worthy. I wanted to copy and paste everything Nana said into the intro. But here’s one snippet to give y’all a taste of what’s to come,
“Remembering the one who bled for me, who died for me, who resurrected for me, who ascended for me, who is interceding for me. Who has prayed for my sanctification. Jesus prayed for my sanctification. 1 Corinthians says that he is my sanctification. So the one who achieved all of that for me. When I hear passages like that of keeping my eyes on him so that I please him, it motivates me to run!”
Ya’ll are going to be fist-pumping, dancing, running-around-excited about what God did for us through our justification and what he continues to do in our sanctification every. single. day! Nana also speaks to those of us who feel like we’re watching grass grow when it comes to growing in godliness. I am so thankful to be dancing, crawling, limping, and running with you guys, even at a distance.
So you’ll know her a little better, Nana was born in Ghana. She lives today in Washington D.C. with her husband Eric, and two home-schooled daughters. She has a Master of Arts in Theological Studies and served for nearly seven years as the Director of Outreach for a local church. She has a passion for women's biblical literacy. You can find more from her over at motherhoodandsanctity.com.
Guys, this stands out as one of the most helpful episodes of Journeywomen to date. I am so thankful for Nana’s encouragement to rest in Jesus as he is the founder and perfecter of our faith. If you want to talk more about the topic of sanctification, you can hop over to Instagram or Facebook. A huge thanks to Chris Mann with podshapter who edited this week’s episode! And lastly, if you’re enjoying these conversations, I’d love it if you’d take a few minutes to leave a rating and review on iTunes!
Can you tell us a little about who you are and what you do?
Looking back on your own life, at what point do you see your own desire to grow in godliness?
When does the process of sanctification begin in a believer? What must happen in order for this to take place?
What's the difference between sanctification and being justified by God?
How does God's Spirit work in us so that we might progressively work out the fruit of our justification in ways that look like Jesus?
What motivates us to continue growing in godliness? Where do we find the power to actively combat sin in our lives?
Practically speaking, how does this come about? What has this process looked like for you?
What encouragement do you have for someone who feels like they've taken steps backward in their process of sanctification?
What hope do we have, even when we feel like we aren't progressing in our sanctification?
What is the joy of being sanctified and looking more and more like Jesus?
THREE QUESTIONS I ASK EVERY GUEST
What 3 resources would you recommend for someone who wants to grow in godliness?
What are your 3 simple joys?
Who has had the greatest impact on your own journey with Jesus?
NOTEWORTHY QUOTES
“Sanctification is the process by which those who are declared righteous are progressively made holy. What's really great about that is that sanctification doesn’t begin until you are already declared righteous. Which is a glorious truth.”
“You are justified, declared righteous, on the basis of someone else’s righteousness. It’s on the basis of Jesus’s righteousness - his perfect act of obedience, his sinless life, his death on the cross, his resurrection. Jesus achieves our justification.”
“Justification is a work that God does alone. A dead person doesn’t work. But sanctification follows justification. In sanctification, you are now alive and you are able to cooperate with God. What he has declared you to be, righteous, he then in a practical way he helps you to walk that which he declares you to be. We cooperate in the sanctification process.
“The reality is that the provision or power that sustains and enables our ongoing sanctification is a work that is still completely God.”
“God is after a people who desire to love him with all our hearts, with all our soul, with our might, with all our strength. He is after a heart level, love and affection for him that is evidenced in our behaviors.”
“When you are justified, you are indwelled by the Holy Spirit. And his mission is to make you a good tree who bears good fruit. He is after the heart level transformation of the believer.”
“Remembering the one who bled for me, who died for me, who resurrected for me, who ascended for me, who is interceding for me. Who has prayed for my sanctification. Jesus prayed for my sanctification. 1 Corinthians says that he is my sanctification. So the one who achieved all of that for me. When I hear passages like that of keeping my eyes on him so that I please him, it motivates me to run!”
“We have to really believe that I could not do this, I could not meet God’s standard of righteousness on my own.”
“Christ has freed us from the enslavement of trying to achieve a righteousness that you cannot, of trying to please God by your own efforts.”
“The Father’s pleasure in you is based on what the Son has done.”
“When the Spirit convicts me of sin, when he points out as I listen to God’s Word places in my heart where I’m wrong, it doesn’t often leave me in despair. In seeing my broken and rebellious heart, there was a sense in which I felt so loved by the Father.”
“There is simultaneous conviction of sin that I have been wrong in some of the things I have been thinking, but I am not forsaken by the Father. I am not left as an orphan. I am loved by him. So I was corrected yet loved at the same time in a way that drew me closer to him. I left closer, with more affection for my Father.”
“You’re not able to repent unless the Spirit of God is working in you to repent. So even if most of your day is filled with repentance, go ahead and press on. If all you’re doing is crawling, crawl. If all you’re doing is limping, limp.”
“The joy of being sanctified is a foretaste of Revelation 21 when we are fully in his presence.”
NANA'S RESOURCES
Everyone’s A Theologian by R.C. Sproul
The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges
How the Gospel Brings Us All the Way Home by Derek Thomas
A Little Book on the Christian Life by John Calvin
NANA'S SIMPLE JOYS
Sunday Afternoons
Cooking and Baking in a Quiet House
Her Daughters
IMPORTANT NOTE
Journeywomen interviews are intended to serve as a springboard for continued study in the context of your local church. While we carefully select guests each week, interviews do not imply Journeywomen's endorsement of all writings and positions of the interviewee or any other resources mentioned.
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