Sanctifying Us...God's Inspiration!

"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6)

Welcome back to the 2nd installment of a close look at one of the most beautiful promises of God in all of Scripture, beloved! Last week we discovered that saving us by grace was God's idea from the beginning, that He initiated that process out of His love for us. But as we shall see here, saving us was just the beginning!

The word "sanctify" has been broadly misunderstood and, thus, misapplied by many people. The Greek verb hagiazo, which does not appear in this verse of Scripture, means literally to "set apart" in the sense of being made God's own holy possession. Many years ago I had the chance to visit occasionally the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. What a pleasure to wander through that huge gallery and to gaze upon some of the world's finest works of art! Some of those paintings are so moving as to be "inspirational" in their effect upon the observer. I am privileged to have one of my sister's oil paintings on display in our home and, every time I see it, I am touched by its beauty and the artful skill behind it.

What we often fail to understand as Christians is that God's desire for us is not only that we enjoy eternity with Him "by and by," but that in the here and now we reflect His character as the One who has saved us by His grace. If you will, God wants us to be "on display" before a watching world much like those old masters are on display in the National Gallery of Art. The touch of His hand upon our lives in the natural course of daily living ought to be impacting upon men and women and boys and girls for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. People ought to be able to see us live and say, "Now there goes one of God's masterpieces!"

So intent is God upon the accomplishment of this goal, beloved, that Paul writes that He will certainly "perfect" His work to the very end. The Greek verb epiteleo, and this one does appear in this verse, means quite literally "complete fully" or "carry through to its final conclusion." This same apostle wrote to the believers in Rome and declared that God's desire is that we each be "conformed to the image of His Son" (Romans 8:29) as we are on display before a world that is lost in sin. And that is precisely what being "sanctified" means - that progressive work by which God molds and shapes us into the very image of the Lord Jesus Christ for all to see. That is why He stays at the easel and continually applies the brush strokes of His grace upon the canvas of our lives. How is the Master's work progressing in your life, beloved?

Ron