Originally posted by GraceSaves:
Curtis,
If sanctification (purification) is a life-long process, you must admit that it can be for some reason CEASED by the individual person. And if that is the cased, what happens to the SAVED man who has not been PERFECTLY SANCTIFIED? After all, if it is a life-long process, does not a man who lives longer have a better chance at full sanctification? And if not, the man who dies younger gets sanctified faster, all at once before he dies? Why doesn't the Holy Spirit completely sanctify us at the moment of salvation? Why does he delay in finishing the job? And if I am not yet perfectly sanctified (as it is a life-long process), and I die THIS VERY MOMENT, I have died without being perfectly sanctified?
These are honest questions. God bless,
Grant
Sanctification would be complete, only at death. Since sanctified means "can't sin", then only at death could we acheive this. Sanctification, to me, means that we overcome, with the help of the Lord, the willingness to sin.
My dad has a great story about sanctifcation. When he was saved, he was a pretty heavy smoker. He knew that smoking was a sin, but somehow didn't have the strength to stop. He would rip up his cigarettes, flush them down the toilet, in tears, only to buy another pack as soon as he could. It took him a year and a half to quit, even after being saved. The Lord gave him victory enough to put smoking down for good.
Sanctification is a powerful tool in one's Christian witness. Some folks are more easily persuaded, by the Holy Spirit, than others. But sanctification is the work of the Holy spirit, and the result is that we live a life, down here, that more closely resembles the life of Christ.