Thursday, April 25, 2002
I'm looking at sanctification today. This word encourages me and it challenges me. It sometimes confuses me. But ultimately, it saves me. Hebrews 10 says that in Christ, I have been perfected forever. His sacrifice - one time for all time - was all that was necessary, even though I'm still in a process. I falter in this because when I come face to face with all of my imperfection, indeed the desire for imperfection, it's hard to relate to the concept of having already been pefected. That's the scandal of Jesus. Jesus is God. And yet He came to earth and lived a perfect life, only to die for the sins of those who didn't deserve it. By doing that, He was done. My eternal fate and destiny were provided for long before I set foot on His creation. God is eternal, and knew ahead of time. That's why the sacrifice of Jesus had to be once and for all.
Living this out is tricky to be sure. I abuse the gift with great frequency. I deliberately pusue selfish pleasure simply because I know that in eternal terms, by the blood of Christ, I can get away with it. I do this less and less as the Holy Spirit works in me and grows me up, but the fact is I do it. I'm a cheater, but even for that, I've been forgiven.
Aaahh, grace.
