Thoughts on Sanctification.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our LORD Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.
Philippians 1:6
And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you [(salvation)] will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Before we continue about sanctification, let me clarify the difference between the three "ifications" that are used to refer to the past, present, and future tenses of salvation: (as rhymed by Shai Linne in the song Atonement Q&A):
Justification: God declares us righteous
Sanctification:We’re being made into His likeness
Glorification:What happens at the finish when God conforms believers perfectly to Christ’s image
If you are a believer, justification already happened because of what Jesus did at the cross (Ephesians 2:8), sanctification is happening (Philippians 2:12), and glorification will one day happen (Romans 13:11).

Anyways, the past few weeks have been very difficult for me because in this time God has been powerfully convicting me and breaking me. I realize that I have become, as I said earlier, arrogant about my sanctification. Some of you may know that over the past year God has been refining my desires and consequently I have set some rules for myself regarding entertainment that I have taken pride in as being "radical" and "extreme." Yet though I have been abstaining from almost everything, I haven't necessarily been replacing that time or money spent with things of the LORD either. Hope Marie Chambers is living proof of Calvin's "our hearts are idol factories" statement. Even in 7th grade when I quit Neopets because it was wasting my time, it wasn't long before I jumped right onto another virtual pets site and became equally addicted!

Ephesians 5:15-21
Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the LORD is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the LORD with all your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our LORD Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reference for Christ.

Verse 18 is the one that really got me. "Do not get drunk with wine", okay, I got that! Go me, yay Hope! But "be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another with psalms, etc."? I don't do that. So why am I bragging? I avoid bad things but don't pursue good things, if that makes sense. Ephesians 4:28-32 is even more convicting (which I didn't think would be possible!):
Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labour, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Friends, I'm a hypocrite. I don't know what it's like to have bruises on my knees from praying for hours every day. I think horrible thoughts about a lot of you---most of you---and I gossip boatloads. I disobey my parents so often. I waste so so so much time. I haven't even read the whole Bible. Despite my words about wanting to be forgotten, I still want to be popular; making a name for myself is still priority. My heart is nasty, and I don't know why I've been trying to conceal it for you and for God...Jimmy Needham said it wonderfully in his song Rend:
(this is from the perspective of God)
I don't need I grand display; show Me that your heart has changed; I don't need a show, only just to know your own heart breaks.
Psalm 51:16
For You will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; You will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

I can show God all the stuff that I gave up and say "This is for You, LORD; look at me, I'm awesome!" But first of all, even my best works are like menstrual rags (Isaiah 64:6, eww) and still tainted with sin. (Even further, if I'm not covered in Jesus' blood I have no business fellowshipping with God in the first place. Though that's not what I'm talking about here, some of you do still believe that works---such as baptism---will get you into Heaven, and you're extremely wrong.) Second of all, as I said previously, my sanctification isn't up to me; it's all God and I only know as much about Him as He allows me to. Third, I haven't even been doing a good job using the amount of free will that I have for His glory.

God wants us to come before Him like a child; Brennan Manning pointed out to me today in The Ragamuffin Gospel that in Luke 18, it's no coincidence that the author juxtaposes the "let the children come to Me" passage right before the part where the rich ruler asks Jesus what he must DO to inherit eternal life. This dramatically contrasts the difference between needy children self-sustaining fools.

I'm not sure where my thought train is going here but this is what I'm trying to convey to you, dear friends (and I'm tired; forgive me if I accidentally said something heretical):
1) Lying to God and putting on a front for Him doesn't work and He hates it so don't even try.
2) Boast in God alone! Arrogance is a bad idea always, even if you don't brag about yourself to other people and you're just prideful in your heart. You're nothing; the LORD is everything.
3) Don't just say "I'm a sinner, I'm weak" and leave it at that! All the time Jesus would heal people and then be like "Go, and sin no more!" Repentance is key. But we will fail, so Grace is sweet.