03/03/24 STEPS AND MISSTEPS also REPOST
Don't take your blessed relationships for granted, even the ones that you expect to be sure in your life. We can always depend on God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), He never changes, nor can He change. He blesses those who faithfully follow Him and He judges those who turn from Him. He is faithful.
Humans are subject to change.
This is good for the sinner who turns to God.
This is good for the believer who is growing in grace and knowledge.
This is bad for the believer who refuses to move forward, the believer who turns back from following God.
Those who are in Christ (presently, continually, obediently) will change from glory to glory, from faith to faith and grace to grace.
Here is a post I made in 2021 concerning STEPS AND MISSTEPS OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE. I hope it is helpful.
11/05/21 STEPS (and missteps) OF SPIRITUAL LIFE
There is a lot of talk about "Progressive Sanctification," in the Christian life, most of which is erroneous and is an excuse for coming short of God's will and calling.
When God brings a Christian to a point of decision, such as Total Commitment (aka death to the Old Man, Entire Sanctification, the fullness of the Baptism with the Holy Spirit) or God leads (requires) the believer to turn from a specific behavior or God leads a believer into a new direction, but the believer is not willing to obey God, then they use the idea that they are "progressing" in their walk. But it is not progression when we refuse to follow fully, it is sin, which must be faced and we must repent (abandon) all known sin.
Usually, if repentance is quick to follow a sin, then the believer can move forward in the grace of Christ. However, depending on the impact of the sin or depending on the time between the sin and the repentance, the person may lose anything, and everything, up to their own soul. If they do not confess and repent of that sin, they will not be restored and they will lose their soul.
ENTRANCE
God reveals Himself to us, while we are in the darkness of nature's night (spiritual darkness of the unregenerate).
God calls us to a living and loving relationship with Himself, through Christ's atoning death and resurrection.
OBEDIENCE AND GROWTH (EXPECTED)
As we walk in His light, He gives us more light.
God leads the faithful believer out of temptation.
God convicts the errant believer, even when he is yielding to temptation.
God convicts the backslider after he has disobeyed, and God calls him to repentance.
Sin (deliberate disobedience to the known will of God) separates us from God. It only takes one sin to separate us from God, rather than a habit of sin or a life of sin, or an ongoing practice of sin.
Remember Adam?
How many sins would it take to disqualify a "savior" from being a savior?
James tells us that God has given us His word, so that we might not sin.
God told us through David that God's word that we might not sin against God.
The Bible teaches that when we break one commandment, we break all the commandments.
As soon as we sin against God, even once, we need an advocate and we have an advocate with God, Christ Jesus the righteous.
There is never a reason for sin and backsliding.
REBELLION (UNNECESSARY)
If we are not obedient, we walk in less light and His light in us is diminished.
We fail to walk in light by either stopping in our spiritual journey or turning aside from God's path or going back to sin in open rebellion.
Sometimes our failure to walk with God is negligence and it sometimes seems negligible.
Sometimes our failure to walk with God is obvious but gradual and unalarming (though it should be alarming).
Sometimes our failure to walk with God is a sudden and significant departure from an active and vibrant relationship with God.
In any case, failure to walk in God's light is willful disobedience to the known will of God and there is no excuse for backsliding.
BACKSLIDING (REPENT OR FALL AWAY)
The backslider can and must repent or he will eventually fall away completely (apostatize) and irrevocably. Repentance will restore a broken relationship with God. Failure to repent and be reconciled to God will end a relationship with God.
God gave us His word to save us from sinning, and also, if we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Christ Jesus the righteous.
God gives us everything necessary for life and godliness.
He that is born of God does not commit sin.
He that sins is of the devil.
Jesus came to save His people from our sins.
MATURITY HAS TO DO WITH INCREMENTAL GROWTH IN GRACE, PURITY HAS TO DO WITH INSTANTANEOUS DIVINE CLEANSING FROM ALL SIN
God calls us to salvation (justification, sanctification, purity and maturity).
There are instantaneous, crises, Divine works of saving grace, which leads us to growth in grace.
Some realities come by crises transformations, some realities come by growth in grace.
Conversion of a sinner to a saint is a Divine, instantaneous, crisis work of saving grace, which includes justification, regeneration, adoption, sanctification. At the time of our salvation we are forgiven of our sins, delivered from the power of sin over us and transformed into a new creation.
Entire Sanctification of a believer is the Divine, instantaneous, crisis work of grace, which purifies the heart of the believer from all sin (the inner inclination to sin aka the sinful nature, through the Baptism with the Holy Spirit (Acts 15:8-9).
After our conversion (the reception of a new nature), we begin to realize that we still have an old sinful nature that wars against us and our walk with God. Though God enables us to obey Him in our new life (our new walk with Christ), we suffer an inner struggle that often ensnares us in sinful action.
God's plan for us is to be cleansed (not forgiven) of the sinful nature. Remember, as in natural life, there is a difference between birth and cleansing. Cleansing takes place after the baby is born. Likewise, the born again believer has life, but he is in need of a cleansing.
This cleansing comes to the believer when the believer willfully trusts God for complete cleansing and deliverance.
At the time of our Entire Sanctification we are cleansed, delivered from our inherited sinful nature (the Old Man, Carnal Mind, Double Mind).
Along with the instantaneous works of grace there is continuing, advancing steps of growth in grace, walking in the light, going from glory to glory, faith to faith, grace to grace in the healthy Christian life. This is popularly referred to as "progressive sanctification."
The term is unfortunate because it has become an excuse for rebellious people to NOT make full surrender through self sacrifice and self denial, but rather expect total cleansing to just happen through growth.
Some spiritual realities are grown into and some realities are reached by deliberate steps of faith.
It is better to use the phrase, "grow in grace and knowledge," since "progressive" implies slow, incremental change.
Growth in grace is essential, but it must not be confused with the Divine work of purifying the Christian heart.
Growth in grace occurs when we walk in the light of God's word. We need to eat, drink and breath in order to stay alive. This is true for our spiritual self as well as our natural life. The spiritual man needs the life giving properties acquired through reading God's word, praying, meditating, trusting and obeying God. Spiritual food, drink and breath imparts spiritual life, and life results in growth in grace.
God calls us to Himself and He convicts us of our sin over a period of time.
Whoever accepts, receives, yields to the call of God is instantaneously and miraculously transformed from a sinner to a saint, and is changed from darkness to light and becomes a new creation in Christ.
Sanctification (being holy by being set apart from sin and set apart to God) begins immediately by cleansing the Christian from his past sins, cleansing the Christian's conscience, cleansing the Christian's daily behavior.
There is Divine work and there is human submission involved in the experience and life of salvation.
Only God can do the Divine part of salvation (such as call, convict, forgive, sanctify, regenerate) and God will not do the human part of salvation (such as believe, repent, confess, obey), though He enables the convert to do that which God requires of him.
Here is God's intended life cycle of a Christian.
CONVERSION
(including saving faith, confession, repentance, regeneration, justification, initial sanctification, adoption, obedience).
GROWTH IN GRACE
(through obedient faith, study, fellowship, walking in truth, following Jesus and Holy Spirit, self denial).
ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION
(by recognizing the corruption of the heart that remains after conversion, and recognizing the will and ability of God to deliver from that inner corruption, and making complete surrender, total commitment, and asking God to cleanse you from all sin by filling you with the Holy Spirit, which purifies our hearts by faith).
CONTINUED AND AGGRESSIVE GROWTH IN GRACE
(not only has the good seed been sown in our hearts, the evil root of unbelief has been rooted out, allowing us to grow unhindered by personal and inner conflict).
