The complex process of sanctification

SUMMARY: Sometimes preachers simplify and glorify sanctification, ignoring the zigzagging, long-term process that includes victories and setbacks. The apostle Paul also struggled with the urge to sin. Christians often hide any contradictions to the promises of power and victory in God's word. However, God's ways are complex and seemingly contradictory, but He is sovereign and knows what He's doing. He may use defeats and failures to forge humble men and women who reflect Jesus Christ. Every experience in our spiritual journey is used by God for our improvement, even if it seems chaotic or unfair at the time. Only in hindsight can we see the display of God's love and mercy for us.

I am sure that many times, out of a misguided and simplistic desire to glorify God and defend his faithfulness at all costs, we preachers end up impoverishing and diluting the wonderful and multifaceted experience of sanctification. We refuse to admit that sanctification is an arduous, zigzagging, long-term process. That sublime path is mined with hesitations and falls. It includes victories, but also great defeats. Sometimes we can make huge leaps to maturity. But we can also crash into the walls of our fallen humanity and experience serious setbacks.

In a moment of great sincerity, the apostle Paul wrote about his own agonizing experience regarding sanctification. He had discovered that the desire to please God was in him. But he had also discovered another urge, another "law" within him that frequently led him to violate his best intentions and offend the God he loved so much.