Day 5: Sanctification - Acts 26:18

Day 5

Sanctification

Acts 26:18

Today our key word is sanctification and our scripture verse is Acts 26:18 -- ...to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.  This verse comes from Paul's re-telling of his conversions along the road to Damascus.  He is witnessing to King Agrippa about how Jesus spoke to him in his blindness and commanded him to open his eyes and repent of his sins.  Saul (Paul) was at that moment healed of his physical blindness, but even more importantly his sins were forgiven and he was sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ.

Merriam-Webster defines sanctification as "the state of growing in divine grace as a result of Christian commitment after baptism or conversion."  The Greek word for sanctification, hagiasmos, means holiness.  

In the United Methodist tradition, grace is an important teaching.  John Wesley preached about three aspects of grace -- prevenient grace (the grace that prepares us to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to respond in faith), justifying grace (the grace that is obtained when we cross the threshold from unbelief to belief), and sanctifying grace (the grace we receive as a gift from God for our spiritual growth as followers of Jesus).  These three types of grace can be thought of as a house with prevenient grace being the porch, justifying grace as the door, and sanctifying grace as the interior.

So what does sanctification have to do with thanksgiving?  In John 6:35, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”  This verse can be thought of as the backbone of sanctification -- to be filled with the free gift of the Holy Spirit to the point that we are never again hungry or thirsty.  

Charles Wesley's final verse of "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" instructs us on the tenets of sanctifying grace:

Finish, then, Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see Thy great salvation
Perfectly restored in Thee;
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in Heav’n we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.

My question to you today is how are you asking God to continue to work in your life to finish you into a person that is "pure and spotless"?

Here's my leaf for today:

Today may you be lost in God's wonder, love and praise!