1 Peter 1:17-23
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Sanctification, it is the process of being made holy. It
is the part of our Christian lives where we are made increasingly more Holy. It
is the process where we become more and more like Christ, it is happening when
we read our bibles and receive the sacraments, It's fruits are the fruits of
the Spirit. Sanctification is seen when we become more loving,
and joyful, where we are blessed with peace and patience, we become kinder, our
goodness and gentleness overflows to those around us, our faithfulness is increased and we are blessed
with self-control.
Sanctification the process which makes
us more and more like Christ is where good works flow through us. As we are
sanctified we become more selfless giving more of ourselves to God and other
people. It is where we follow God's commands to a stricter and stricter sense.
Where we hit the mark more often, our temptations are conquered more often and the sins which we commit are
less.
Sanctification is what Peter is talking
about in our reading, where he tells us to live in reverent fear of the one
true God, who we call Father.
Sanctification is where we have genuine mutual love, and love one
another deeply from the heart. Sanctification is where the old evil Adam stays
dead for longer and the new Adam, the holy child of God wins out.
Now in Lutheran theology Sanctification
is the third part of the Law. First is
the curb that stops us from murdering our sisters and brothers, next is the
mirror which shows us how we have failed God, and failed to fear him, and third
is the rule, the guide for how we should live our lives as Christians. The
guide for how we should live our lives after we have repented of our sins and
received forgiveness through Christ's sacrifice.
Sanctification
is the answer to "what now?" after we have been convicted of our sins
and forgiven, and for me sanctification creates some of my greatest struggles.
The second use of the Law is easy to
hear. As I'm sure you do as well, I know many of the places where I have
failed, not all, but many of them. The deceiver loves bringing up old faults
and tempting us into new ones. He uses our weakness to breed more weakness,
binds us with our sin and brings us to despair. The Holy Spirit working through
God's Word also shows me my sin, but graciously the Holy Spirit brings me to
the foot of the cross instead where I see all my sins paid for.
The Holy Spirit works through God's Word
reminding me that though I was a slave to sin I have been ransomed from the
futile way of life that I inherited. I have been ransomed from the bonds of sin
that have been on mankind since the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden.
Ransomed; not with
perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but with the precious
blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.
This Gospel is preached
by the Holy Spirit Through God's word, and received first at baptism and
continually in the confession and absolution of sins and the body and blood of
Jesus Christ. I am a sinner, you are all sinners. But Christ is stronger than
your sin and has paid your dept, ransomed your souls, and brought you into the
loving presence of your heavenly Father. By the gift of the Holy Spirit when
you hear the good news preached I pray your souls are lifted up. that you are
strengthened by the Holy Spirit. That you grow in confidence in God's mercy for
you and the redemption now and for eternity that Christ earned for you,
trusting that, Just as Peter through the Holy Spirit wrote, "You have been
born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and
enduring word of God"
After this good news has been preached
to us, even as this good news is being preached to us we are being sanctified.
This good news makes us holy as it is proclaimed that by God's grace you have
been made holy. A concept that I had drilled into me at SEM speaks wisdom to
this. "now but not yet."
Now. but not yet.
this is our life as Christians, we are
Holy now, but at the same time, not yet. we are sinless now, but at the same
time not yet. Right now through the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the Ransom
that Jesus paid in his blood in your body and soul the Law has been perfectly
fulfilled. but also right now you are struggling to keep God's Law and fear God
faithfully. We have been sanctified and we are being sanctified.
Each time we stumble and repent, receiving
God's forgiveness we are being sanctified. Each time when through the grace of
God we keep to his commandments it is not our work but the work of the Holy
Spirit in us. We do not take credit for when God does good works through us and
I encourage you to not turn to despair when your good works are lacking. Turn
to God, cry out to God that you are not strong enough, and through the Spirit
and his word he will remind you that he is. when you struggle to believe in God
and his promises seek wise council, seek your brothers and sister in Christ who
will aid you in your struggles, empowered by the Holy Spirit, that does live in
you, to turn to God praying the lament psalms, psalms that more often than not
end in praise.
and these psalms will
be a mirror to your life. In life there will be times of struggle but there
will also be many blessed times of Joy and peace times when you receive a
foretaste of the blessings of heaven. and you have a sure hope in Jesus Christ
that in the end after you have died, you will yet praise God, you will be
raised from death, Justified, Sanctified, and raised to life eternal in God's
joyful presence.
Amen
The peace of God
which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Amen.
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