4. Sanctification/Mind Renewal (Hebrews 6:2, Romans 12:2-3)
The next maturity step listed by the
author of Hebrews is, “instructions about washings”, which refers to the
process of sanctification. Sanctification means letting go of sinful
habits and attitudes and replacing them with righteous ones. Similarly, Paul
wrote in Romans 12:2, “…do not be conformed to this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” Mind Renewal
refers to letting go of false, worldly beliefs and replacing them with
righteous ones.
Let’s break up Sanctification/Mind Renewal
into four categories:
1) Exercising Self-Control
2) Responding to Conviction
3) Viewing God Accurately
4) Viewing Ourselves Accurately
Exercising Self-Control
Part of sanctification is exercising
self-control. This is why “self-control” is a fruit of the Spirit
(Galatians 5:23). Self-control means repeatedly rejecting sinful thoughts,
words, and actions and instead choosing righteous ones until they become
habitual. This pursuit is greatly affected by what media, relationships, and
biblical teaching (or lack thereof) we let into our lives.
Proverbs 24:16 says “a righteous man
falls seven times, and rises again.” People don’t form new habits
instantly. It is simply impossible. It takes time and practice. There is no
shame in stumbling if we get up and keep going. God is very patient and gentle
with our sincere attempts to grow in righteousness.
Responding to Conviction
Conviction is a wonderful gift. It is the
most loving thing God can possibly do when we are in sin and don’t realize it.
Or maybe we do realize it, but don’t realize how serious it is.
Conviction is cause for rejoicing. It is
like a wise doctor seeking you out on his own initiative and explaining that
you have a very early, very treatable form of cancer. Then he offers to remove
it for you first thing tomorrow morning, free of charge. Wouldn’t you be filled
with gratitude toward such a doctor?
God never convicts us without providing
grace to overcome. The very fact that He is convicting us means He is also
offering us the power to change. This is why conviction is cause for
celebration even though it may initially feel grievous.
There is an awesome picture of this in
Nehemiah 8. When Ezra began reading God’s law to the people, they were deeply
convicted. They began to weep because they had disobeyed for so long. However,
Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Levites said to them:
“This day is holy
to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep. …Go, eat of the fat, drink of the
sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy
to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
After
this word, they celebrated with a great feast. The people understood that God’s
goal was not to weigh them down with sorrow, but to offer them a new beginning.
Conviction stands in stark contrast to
Satan’s counterfeit – condemnation – which points out a problem but offers no
solution. Condemnation leaves us ashamed and discouraged, but conviction is
accompanied by hope.
When we ignore God’s conviction, it is
like telling the wise doctor we don’t want to address the cancer he found just
yet. Instead, we tell him the operation sounds inconvenient and uncomfortable.
Plus, we’re not ready to give up the lifestyle that caused the cancer in the
first place. Therefore, we put it off. The longer we wait, the more serious it
becomes. The operations required to remove it grow more numerous, painful, and
expensive. Eventually, it becomes deadly. The cancer of unrepented sin can kill
our relationships, our calling, and even our faith. Therefore, a major part of
Christian maturity is learning to embrace God’s conviction.
Viewing God Accurately
God is not a Restrictor, but a Fulfiller.
He does not withhold good things from us; He protects us with wise boundaries.
There is nothing in the universe God cannot give us or would not give us.
Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over
for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” James
1:17 says, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above,
coming down from the Father of lights.” The ironic truth is that the vast
majority of sins Christians commit are in pursuit of things God already
plans to give us!
Below is a list of several common sins
followed by short descriptions of the godly desires they seek to fulfill:
·
Sexual
Immorality – Godly desire
for sexual fulfillment
·
Witchcraft – Godly desire to connect to the
spiritual realm, since God is Spirit, as are we
·
Greed/Jealousy – Godly desire to steward
wealth/possessions, provide for loved ones, exercise generosity
·
Pride/Envy – Godly desire to be affirmed and feel
valuable or significant
·
Fear/Anxiety – Godly desire to make wise plans and see
them fulfilled
·
Substance
Abuse – Godly desire for
encouragement, refreshment, and relief from pain or stress
·
Unforgiveness – Godly desire for healing and a restored
relationship
·
Idolatry – Godly desire for any good thing
that is not prioritized above our desire to know God and obey Him
Satan’s tactic since the beginning of
creation has been to offer a forbidden shortcut to something God already
planned to give. In Genesis 3, he said to Eve, “In the day you eat from it, your eyes will be
opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” God wanted
Adam and Eve’s eyes to be opened eyes (e.g. Ephesian 1:18). He wanted
them to be like Him (e.g. Ephesians 5:1). He wanted them to discern good
and evil (e.g. Hebrews 5:14). Each of these attributes would have increased in
them the longer they walked with God.
Satan
tried the same thing with Jesus. He offered Him authority over the earth if He
would bow down and worship him (Matthew 4:9), even though God already planned
to give Jesus this authority.
Sin is often pleasurable. The Bible
doesn’t deny this. Hebrews 11:25 says Moses chose to abstain from “the
passing pleasures of sin”. However, the path to freedom often feels like
bondage at first, and the path to bondage often feels freedom at first. If we
were allowed to indulge our most base desires (lust, greed, pride, etc.) as
much as wanted for as long as we wanted, it might initially feel like freedom,
but it would quickly grow into an addiction, resulting in slavery. Not only
would it no longer fulfill us, but we would need it in ever greater measures
just to feel ok.
However, if we trust God’s boundaries and
pursue the good things we desire His way, our ability to enjoy them is richer
and deeper. By learning how to make God our primary source of fulfillment, the
joy we derive from all our secondary desires is magnified.
It is true that not all of our desires
will be fully or even partly fulfilled in this life. This is where an eternal
perspective is vital. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says:
“For momentary,
light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all
comparison, while we look not at the things
which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are
seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
This life is very short compared to the
endless millennia we will exist beyond it. The depths of joy, peace, love,
fulfillment, etc. we will experience in the future is far beyond anything we
can imagine right now. Therefore, an eternal perspective is crucial when we
must lay down a deeply-felt desire, either temporarily or permanently, in order
to follow Jesus.
Part of sanctification is learning the
Lordship of Christ, which means to see Him as our King and Judge. It
means we would do or surrender anything we knew with confidence He was asking
of us, even if it involved pain or sacrifice, because He created us and paid
for us. We belong to Him and we are accountable to Him.
View Ourselves Accurately
Paul wrote in Romans 12:3, “I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than
he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment.”
Another part of Sanctification/Mind Renewal is replacing trust in ourselves and
our abilities with dependence on God. The truth is that we are all far more
dependent on God’s grace and protection than we realize. If God gave the enemy
full access to us, allowing him to orchestrate any temptation he wanted for as
long as he wanted, we would all fall headlong into bondage. The perfect
combination of temptations, wounds, and weaknesses is all that stands between
us and the sin we think we could never commit.
We also have no ability to accomplish
anything of eternal value apart from God’s empowerment. This is why Paul wrote
in 2 Corinthians 3:5, “Not that we are adequate in
ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is
from God.” God exalts the humble (James 4:10), displays His strength
through our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9), and makes wise the simple (Psalm
19:7). However, he opposes the proud (James 4:6), debases human strength, and
nullifies human wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:27-29). He even does this with His own
children – not just the lost. If we feel self-confident and capable to
accomplish what God is calling us to, we are not ready. However, if we feel
vulnerable and aware of our weaknesses and limitations, that is the safest
place to be.