Sanctification and the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is central to sanctification.
Sanctification involves grace working within Christians, facilitated by the Holy Spirit.

Prevenient Grace:
- Prepares the way for faith.
- Works in all people, regardless of their recognition of it.
- Enables individuals to profess faith in Jesus Christ.
Justifying Grace:
- Linked to the Atonement.
- Received upon professing faith in Jesus Christ.
- Results in justification before God, atonement, and restoration to a relationship with God.
Sanctifying Grace:
- Makes us holy and Christ-like.
- Achieved through the power of the Holy Spirit.
- Involves becoming holy and godly.

Sanctification = Holy-fication, the process of becoming holy.
Salvation has 2 aspects: Justification and living into our Salvation.
Salvation involves both justification (initial acceptance of Christ) and the ongoing process of sanctification (becoming like Christ).
Living into your salvation requires energy and active participation.
We have a role to play in allowing sanctifying grace to transform us.
Philippians 2:12-13: "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works within you."
- This means putting energy into living out one's faith, not earning salvation.

Sanctification is part of the abundant life promised by Jesus (John 10:10).
Holiness leads to an abundant, joyful, and Christ-like life, regardless of external circumstances.
Following Jesus requires obedience, including the call to be holy.
Sanctification is becoming who you are, living up to the righteousness that God declares you to be.

Living up to God's Call:
- God calls believers righteous, providing the ability to live up to that righteousness through the Holy Spirit.
- Drawing a parallel to education, children often live up to the expectations placed on them. Similarly, believers can strive to live up to the righteousness God calls them to.

The means of grace are ways God chooses to work grace in and through us
Means of grace are opportunities to receive grace.
Divided into works of piety and works of mercy.
Loving God and Loving Neighbor:
- The core of Christian obedience is loving God fully and loving one's neighbor as oneself.
- Sanctification involves practicing these loves, facilitated by the means of grace.
Works of Piety:
- Individual works: prayer, scripture reading.
- Communal works: practicing sacraments like baptism and communion, accountability groups.

Practices like prayer and scripture reading open communication with God.
Expressing a desire for more of God allows the Holy Spirit to work.
Even when scripture reading seems mundane, the act demonstrates a desire for transformation.
Without actively seeking holiness, one may not experience sanctifying grace.

Sacraments like baptism and communion are ideally practiced within a community.
Communal activities like small groups and accountability foster an environment for God's grace to work.

Involve extending love and compassion toward neighbors.
Individual Level:
- Include acts of service such as mission trips, serving at soup kitchens, or participating in Habitat for Humanity builds.
- These acts demonstrate a desire for the Holy Spirit to empower one to love more perfectly.
Communal Level:
- Include seeking justice and ending oppression.
- Focus on broader societal change, addressing injustice and oppression.
- These efforts align with the pursuit of God's kingdom on Earth, opening oneself to the work of the Holy Spirit.
- Examples from John Wesley: founding an orphanage, visiting the sick and imprisoned, opposing the slave trade.

The Chronicles of Narnia, particularly The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, provides a powerful image of sanctification.
Aslan (Christ figure) is the only one who can bring about sanctification.
The story of Eustace:
- Eustace, a selfish boy, turns into a dragon after sleeping on a pile of treasure.
- His dragon scales symbolize unrighteousness resulting from greed.

Eustace's attempts to remove the scales himself prove futile, representing the inability to achieve sanctification through personal effort alone.
Aslan's arrival signifies that only Christ can bring about sanctification.
The removal of scales by Aslan is painful but leads to a refreshing and joyful experience, symbolizing the transformative power of the Holy Spirit.
Eustace is Baptized by Aslan- A symbol of baptism.

Only Christ can bring about sanctification, removing the hardness and ugliness of sin.
Sanctification may involve painful conviction and denying harmful pleasures.
However, it ultimately leads to becoming more fully human and Christ-like.
The choice to receive sanctification is always present, offering freedom from sin and the opportunity to live in Christ-likeness.