With this in mind, let’s begin looking at how sanctification
works.
If you were to spend
an afternoon being educated by an experienced mechanic, he would undoubtedly
spend a good amount of time explaining the vehicle’s motor. After all, without
a functioning motor, you may have something that “looks” like a car, but it
will never “act” like a car. Up to this point, I have given you a good
description of the car; doors, wheels and tires, windshields, etc. Now, I want to lift the hood of sanctification
and teach about the engine, the power that moves the process.
In the first part of this series, I briefly discussed
justification. This legal act that initiates salvation is performed, in large
part, by one aspect of the Godhead. God the Father is the Justifier. He alone
is the judge that has the ability to proclaim a person as justified or
condemned. On the other hand, in the process of sanctification, another person
of the Trinity takes the lead. The Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier. He is the
engine that powers the car’s movement. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, we
would never progress in our Christian walk, we would never break free from the
drawing of the sin nature, and we would never become more Christ-like.
Sanctification is the
foundational ministry of the Spirit. Unfortunately, most Christians today have,
at best, a very sketchy understanding of the Holy Spirit’s work. If you will
allow me, I’d like to address the misunderstanding of the ministry of the Holy
Spirit, and why this is so costly to the process of sanctification.
In most churches
today, the Holy Spirit has been relegated to one of two extremes. On one end of
the spectrum, He is locked away in the basement of the church and looked at
like the step child of the trinity. These congregations are almost afraid of
the movement of the Holy Spirit, so they ignore Him. As result, they exist in a
sort of spiritual coma. They are usually extremely dry and feel like God cannot
operate outside of a church bulletin. Churches like these have regular meetings
with each other, but the sanctifier is seldom present.
Then there is the other end of the spectrum where He is
turned into a side show act. The people show up and want the Holy Spirit to do
tricks. These services can look more like an over turned ant mound than a
spiritual encounter with God. These congregations are usually extremely tied to
emotional experience; mistaking outlandish emotion for the anointing of the
Spirit. To them, the Spirit is like a shot of drugs in the vein…he brings the
desired “high”.
In most cases, God seldom operates in our extremes…but that
is usually where religion takes us.
Now that I’ve upset a portion of those reading, let me
qualify my point. I am not suggesting that it is wrong to show quiet reverence
in a service, nor am I saying a church bulletin is a sign of being
hypo-spiritual. Neither am I suggesting that the Holy Spirit does not perform supernatural
acts in the lives of Christians, or that becoming overcome with emotion in a
service is a sign of being hyper-spiritual. If this is what you got out of the
last paragraphs, you missed the point entirely. My point is that it is not
scriptural to believe that the Holy Spirit
only operates in our preferred
extremes. Moreover, if your church only operates in one of these
extremes, there’s a better than average chance that you are trading the true,
effective ministry of the Holy Spirit for human/religious traditions.
The reason these extremes exist in most churches is because
they do not possess a basic understanding of what the true ministry of the Holy
Spirit is. In the place of the true ministry of the Holy Spirit, they have
inserted religious schemes that prop up their agendas or make them feel
comfortable. These are harsh words, I realize, but this route is the way of
mankind. Since the beginning, we have twisted the spiritual to fit our desires
and offer control to man…rather than God.
·
You see this in Cain when he brought the
sacrifice that he desired.
·
You see this with Abram short cutting God’s plan
and having a child with Hagar.
·
You see it with the children of Israel crying
out to God for a king to rule over them. So they could be like everybody else.
·
Then with Saul, the king they ended up with,
asking a witch to evoke the spirit of Samuel when he wanted advice.
·
Its evident over and over in the Old Testament
when the Israelites returned to idol worship.
·
You see it with the prideful misinterpretation
of spirituality in the Pharisees of the New Testament.
·
Then, it becomes obvious with the church of
Galatia following the gospel of the Judaizers.
·
In the modern church, it is seen with the
emergence of the seeker sensitive movement that has thrown the Gospel of Jesus
out the window.
All these examples have one thing in common; they are
religious actions, enacted by people that claim the name of God. The people
that participated in these departures from the truth were very sincere in what
they were doing, but they were sincerely wrong. When it comes to the Holy
Spirit, we cannot afford to be off base. We must have a true knowledge of what
His ministry involves, what He desires to accomplish, and what means He uses to
see His work done.
In closing this introduction to “the ministry of the Holy
Spirit as it relates to sanctification”, I want to make one final statement.
Then in the proceeding blog posts, I want show you the scriptural basis to
support my statement.
STATEMENT
In the time between
the ascension of Jesus and His return to rapture the church, the activity of
God on earth and in the lives of mankind will only be carried out by the Holy
Spirit. He, and He alone, is the hand of God on earth. Therefore, we must learn
WHO He is, WHAT He does, and HOW He does it. Otherwise, we will miss God all
together.
