You're Justified, But Are You Sanctified?

Exodus 17: 1-7
Romans 5: 1-11

A few years ago, I chose this passage and tried to explain justification to all of you. When it came back around, I realized now it is time to explain what sanctification is all about. But first, let me remind you what it means to be justified through the blood of Jesus Christ, as Paul says to us in Romans 5. He tells us that “When we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly…while we were still sinners, Christ died for us...we have now been justified by his blood.”

Let's say you were caught speeding down this highway in front of the church. You were doing 100 mph, obviously slightly out of the acceptable speeding window. You go to court and just as the judge is about to throw the book at you, someone steps forward and says, "I will pay the fine. I will take the punishment." And you get off, without paying the fine, without any punishment at all. You have been justified, you have been made right in the eyes of the law. It doesn't change the fact that you were speeding, but the court sees you as innocent. That is what Christ did for us. That is what it means to be justified by the blood of Jesus.

Lent is well on its way and we are in the midst of trying to figure out who we are in the eyes of society as well as God. We are struggling to understand our role in the world and how it sometimes conflicts with what God would have us do in our lives. When we hear that Jesus died so that we would not have to take on the punishment for our sinful lives it is an amazing discovery. It is freeing and life-giving.

But this is where sanctification comes in. It is not enough to be merely free of the punishment of sin. That is what God has done for us. How do we show that God has done this amazing and miraculous thing for us? How do we share with the world that we are people who have been saved and transformed and forgiven though the life-giving blood of our Savior? Martin Luther said "There is no justification without sanctification, no forgiveness without renewal of life, no real faith from which the fruits of new obedience do not grow." 

Martin Luther seems to be implying that if we are truly justified by the blood of Christ, then something inside of us changes. Paul also tells us that when he says, “…but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. In today’s society, when someone says that we should be thankful for our struggles we look at them like they are crazy. Why would anyone be joyful over pain and heartache?

How could any person be thankful for constant despair? What could we possibly have to learn from the seemingly endless pain that living life brings? Think of the process of refining maple syrup. Maple trees are tapped with buckets hung under the taps, and out drips a sap which is thin and clear, like water. On a good day, 50 trees will yield 30-40 gallons of sap, but it is essentially useless at this point with only a hint of sweetness. 

Then as the buckets fill, they are emptied into large bins that sit over an open fire. The sap comes to a slow boil; and as it boils, its water content is reduced and its sugars are concentrated. Hours later, it has developed a rich flavor and golden-brown color, but it must be strained several times to remove impurities before being reheated, bottled, and graded for quality. In the end, those 30-40 gallons of sap are reduced to one gallon of pure, delicious maple syrup, which is far better than the cheap, imitation, colored sugar-water that passes for maple syrup in the grocery store. 

It is the same when we come to faith in Christ. We start like raw, unfinished sap, which could have been tossed aside as worthless. But God knew what he could make of us. He sought and found us, and his skillful hands are transforming us into something precious, sweet and useful. The long and often painful refining process brings forth a pure, genuine disciple easily distinguished from cheap imitations.

Therefore, every struggle we endure and every heartache that we experience is a moment where we can learn how to rise above the pain and become more like Jesus. We can wallow in our despair or we can find strength of character that brings people to us. I heard a seminary professor once tell the class that people who have been wounded and allowed the wounds to heal instead of fester tend to have a sort of gravitas to them. They have the ability to pull people to them because the strength of their character, the purity of their wounded but healed soul shines forth clearly for others to see. People are drawn to them because they recognize that this person has not only known pain, but has risen above the pain to become a better, more Christ-like person.

That is what Jesus is calling us toward. A life of gravitas where people are drawn to the person we are because we have something more inside of us. We have the light and love of Jesus Christ, present in the power of the Holy Spirit, given as a gift from God. People who have risen above their pain to be a balm to other wounded souls are people who make the world a brighter place. It doesn’t mean they don’t endure suffering, but they do not let it defeat them. They let it refine them into someone who has grace and mercy in their heart.

Are we such people? Are we filled with the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ or have we allowed our past burdens and pain to create bitter hearts and judgmental attitudes towards those around us? Are we joyful or are we sorrowful? Lent is the time to analyze our character. It is the time we look deep inside ourselves and we pull out the ugliness that we don’t like to face any other time of the year. It’s the time when we recognize ourselves in the jeering crowd that rejects Jesus, our Savior. It’s when we see our sinfulness more clearly and we are convicted in our hearts and spirits to change.

A basic mark of true spirituality is a deep awareness of sin. In Scripture those who most despised their sinfulness were often those who were the most spiritual. Paul said he was the chief of sinners. Peter said to Jesus, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man." Isaiah said, "Woe is me, because I am a man of unclean lips." Spiritual people realize they are in a death struggle with sin. For Paul, ultimate spirituality was to be like Jesus, and that is not something you could attain by any one-time experience.

We are justified by the blood of Christ, but that does not mean we are sanctified. Sanctification is a life-long process that starts by recognizing how unworthy we are to be children of God, and yet finding deep joy and gratefulness that we ARE God’s children and we are loved beyond anything we could ever imagine. And through that love, we change and become more like Jesus.

Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:15, "I have written so that you will know how people ought to act in God's household." While there are right and wrong ways to act when attending church services, Paul is not talking about attendance manners but rather how you and I are to act as part of God's household - the body of Christ. 

Stuart Briscoe explains that as a young man he joined the Marines. "Their magnificent dress uniform attracted me, and I thought that I would get one of those uniforms immediately. But they didn't give me one for months. When I asked about it, they told me, 'You are a Marine. The moment you walked through the gates, you became a Marine. You are a Marine to stay.' I said 'Give me another uniform then.' They replied, 'You are not fit to wear one yet. We will have to do something about your back, about your chest, and about your shoulders. We'll have to teach you how to march, how to walk, how to look like a Marine, and how to behave like a Marine. Then you can wear the uniform.' I was a Marine the moment I was sworn into that position, but it took me a long, long time to wear the uniform. 

We are sanctified the minute that we are washed in the blood of Christ. But it will take us the rest of our life to learn how to behave in a sanctified way. We will always be justified because we are washed in the blood of Christ at the moment of our baptism. However, it is a lifetime of learning and refining that makes us sanctified. And it is only possible to be sanctified if we recognize where we have fallen short of the glory of God. When we recognize how our sins have kept us from God. This is your time to become closer to God; to see yourself through Jesus’ eyes and to allow the Holy Spirit to chase away the darkness and bring you further into the light of God’s love. May you be so brave as to face who you are while seeing who you will become with God’s grace.

Amen.