Being Perfected
For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
Hebrews 10:10
Sanctification is the process of being made holy, of shedding sin, of becoming set apart from the world, of being made like Christ. Through sanctification we are being made perfect.
So in Hebrews 10:10 we are told that God has perfected those who are being perfected. It is as if God says, “I have done what I am doing.” Here God shows us two sides to our sanctification. When we were saved, we were covered with the righteousness of Christ. We were instantly made holy, made so that our sins no longer separate us from God.
But while this perfection dealt with the problem that separated us from God, it did not change our daily actions. Following salvation, we continue to struggle with sin. So in addition to perfecting us with the righteousness of Christ, God continues to make us holy by growing us each day to be more like Jesus.
This means our holiness does not happen overnight. Although we have been perfected, we are still being perfected and we will continue being perfected until the day God calls us home.
But Scripture offers a promise to the people of God. In Philippians 1:6 Paul tells us, And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. He who began this good work in your life will complete this good work. He will not stop halfway through the process and give up. He will finish what he has started.
This means that you, if you are his child, will be made like Christ. You will become completely holy. This will take a lifetime and it will not be complete until the day we go home to be with him, but we rest in the confidence that our daily struggle to walk by the Spirit is not in vain. God will finish what he has started.
I enjoyed your devotional thought to a degree. You missed a vital step in the what you call the “process of being made holy.” Yes, at the moment we are saved we are “made holy” or are initially sanctified by His mercy and grace. The guilt of our sins committed is removed far from us – and we are no longer separated from God and he becomes our righteousness. But that is “step 1″ in the process. The step you missed, is step 2 – now that my spirit is quickened by regeneration, I become more acutely aware of the battle that continues within me – that which causes me to sin stills works within me (Romans 7) – original Sin or the Sin problem.
You would contend that it is not possible to not sin, even after one is saved. You would say that one must sin in thought word and deed everyday. Am I right that you hold this position? I put it to you that it is possible to not sin in thought word and deed everyday after one is saved, because it possible for the One who initially sanctifies you by His grace in regeneration is also totally capable of entirely sanctifying you through and through to enable you to completely “live by the Spirit” and “not satisfy the desires of the flesh.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 – “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.” (NIV) Striving for holiness is wholly human’s work, and we are not really very good at it. However, being made holy is wholly God’s work, and He is completely great at it.
So what step does one take in the “process”? Paul explains it this way – “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:1-2, NIV)
Being made holy is a process – God’s process at work in us. There’s still striving, if you will to “grow in grace and in the knowlegde of the Lord Jesus Christ” – and this is where are our effort in this process lies – in dedicating ourselves to know Christ above all else, as He makes us holy.
Christ will indeed do this work, but as we noted in Philippians 1:6, the work will not be complete until the day of Christ Jesus our Lord, a reference to the day of his return. The good work he began in us will not be finished this side of eternity.