The road of sanctification is rough and difficult to travel on. “Not my will, but Your will will be done.” Valleys and deserts are good definitions to describe the road of sanctification. By looking away to YAHSHUA, who is the Leader and the Source of our faith and is also its finisher, we will endure, for He, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:2). God’s purpose in bringing us through the fire of sanctification is to train us to be in conformity to Him. We must pursue consecration and holiness without which no one will [ever] see the Lord (vs.14). The span of our life is in God’s plan and purposes. His plan and purposes are very important to Him in the process of working to mold us to be like Him. This is very important in that it determines our future with Him. When we disregard the words of our Savior concerning the self-denial in order to carry our cross so to follow Him, we step out of His will and out of His sanctification path; Romans 8:28-29 then is no longer applicable to us, until we repent and return to His plan and purpose. Then “All things will work together and are for good to those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.”
It takes both sides for God’s purpose to be accomplished in the lives of those who love Him: The Giver of salvation and the recipient of it. YAHSHUA, as the Giver, accomplished His redemptive work when He offered His life as a sacrifice in order to execute God’s purpose of salvation for men. We, the recipient of the gift of salvation, have our part in fulfilling our salvation through sanctification. It is to surrender our will to God’s will in obedience and humbleness of heart, enduring all that comes in the way of hardship, as in persecution and many other ways that challenge us. As the song says, “The world behind me, the cross before me, no turning back, no turning back.” YAHSHUA told His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me (Matt. 16:24). In the case of our Savior, “although being essentially one with God and in the form of God, did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained, but stripped Himself so as to assume the guise of a servant in that He became like men and was born a human being and after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross!” (Phil. 2:6-8). He took up our cross and followed the via dolorosa, where He was crucified; the Just for the unjust; the Holy for the unholy. Meanwhile, God, in His sovereignty, makes all things to work together for His purpose to be accomplished in the lives of those who love Him. His purpose is embedded in the written promises God gave to us.
My friends, don’t reject the Holy Spirit’s work of sanctification. It is essential for the completion of your salvation; without it you cannot see God! If you have experienced the new birth according to our Lord, YAHSHUA, to you is given the tittle of children of God, and as such, you are obligated to follow the requirements necessary to remain in Him; He said, Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me; If a person does not dwell in Me, he is thrown out like a branch, and withers; such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and they are burned (John 15:4,6). God is doing His part to save and sanctify you; walk in the light of His countenance and perceive His love for you, not wanting that you perish, but that you obtain salvation. The Christian life is not easy; but it is rewarding at the end of our race. At the end of his life, Paul had this to say: I have fought to good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me and recompense me on that day- and not to mee only, but also to all those who have loved and yarned for and welcome His appearing (II Tim. 4:7-8). May these words be ours at the end of our pilgrimage on earth!
Light from the Word 