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Jesus was raised for the perfecting and completing of our justification. Sanctification and justification are two different things, very closely related, but they are two different things.

When Jesus was buried, He took the punishment or the consequence of our sins upon Himself. He was locked in prison, just as those OT saints were locked in Paradise with no way out until The Door opened in Heaven giving them their way into God's presence.

It is the resurrection of Jesus that proves we are not justified by our own works. It is the resurrection that proves God was satisfied... proves remission of sin... proves salvation is through Jesus and only Jesus because only Jesus is the First Fruit of the First Resurrection. Jesus was raised from the dead in His glorified body. Unlike Lazarus who died again. Unlike Enoch and Elijah who did not again walk the earth. Unlike Moses who's foot first touched the promised land when he was TRANSFIGURED that night.

We are justified because He was raised. Justified, declared righteous, sacrifice accepted. We are sanctified because He died on the cross. Sanctified, purified, made holy by His blood, for without blood there is no remission of sins, but without perfect blood there is no purification. Again, Hebrews 9. Justification is a one time act. Sanctification is a continuing process because we are human. Ephesians 5:26 that He might sanctify it, cleansing it by the washing of the water in the Word…

If you do not read the Bible and hide His Word in your heart every day, then God has no foundation in your heart with which to build the sanctification.

God did not pour manna into the Israelites bowls during the night. They had to wake up every morning and gather the manna for the day's food. They had to participate in their own feeding.

That directly relates to sanctification. We must work at it. God planned our good works that we should do at the very foundation of the world. It is by our good works that we glorify God.

Matthew 5:16 So let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works, and may glorify your Father in Heaven. Of course the works do not get us into Heaven.

Ephesians 2:9-10 not of works, that not anyone should boast for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God before prepared that we should walk in them.

Death on the cross was not the victory.

Without the resurrection, there would have been no eternal life, for death would still have the sting. Without the resurrection, the Holy Spirit would not dwell within us. It would have remained as it did in the Old Testament times. Without the resurrection there would have been no salvation with glorified bodies because there would have been no first fruit.

Romans 8:23 And not only so, but also we ourselves having the first fruit of the Spirit, also we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly expecting adoption, the redemption of our body…

The Cross and The Resurrection are of such equal and great importance that the two make the fulfillment of One Promise. You cannot have one without the other if we are redeemed.

He most certainly does perfect His work by sanctifying those who participate with Him in the process. Those who do not participate in it with Him find an empty Spiritual bone. Their plate is never full and they find themselves starving. When God says we have only to open our mouths and He will fill them up.

10" target="_blank">Psalm 81:10 I am Jehovah your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. It is participating with Him in the work He does in us that brings Him glory.

Ezekiel 2:8 But you, son of man, hear what I am saying to you. Do not be like that rebellious house of rebellion. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving to you.

It is precisely the reading of our Bibles, the study of His Word, the prayer and the listening to Him that changes us into being more like Christ. A person who was lost and then believes and then Jesus saves, absolutely is a new creation in Christ... a new man.

But, the New Man must put off the Old ways. That can't happen unless a person works at it with Jesus. Certainly there are some drug addicts that walk away from that life as soon as they become a Christian, but how many of those stay out of that life if they do not replace that old way with the New Way?

But a Christian does not fight the fight alone. We are commanded to put on the whole armor of God. Ephesians 6. That is an active part we must play.

Listen, the General of the army doesn't go out and put the clothes on his soldiers, does he? Of course not, the General provides the clothes and the soldier dresses himself. This is precisely what Paul is talking about in Ephesians 6.

We are made powerful in the LORD, with that same power that raised Jesus from the dead. We have to put on the belt of Truth. Our hearts are protected with the breastplate of righteousness, and we have the boots of peace, and the shield of faith to ward off the fiery darts from Satan, and the helmet of salvation and the Sword which is the Word of God. All of that is to be set in place and covered in prayer. The equipment is provided, but we must put it on. This is the process of sanctification. We are being sanctified because we are being perfected. Ephesians 4:12. That is the Greek verb which is an ongoing state.

I hope I have shown you how sanctification is an ongoing process. One day we will be like Him.

1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it was not yet revealed what we shall be. But we know that if He is revealed, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.

Jesus changes the old man into the new man who becomes a brand new creation. But, it is like the story Jesus tells of the man who had many demons and those demons were banished from him. The man had a clean, and freshly swept heart. Then the demon, seeing that nothing had come in, came back into the man and brought all his friends, so the man was worse off than before.

Of course this would not happen to a True Believer because we have the Holy Spirit as a seal upon our hearts Who protects us from any demon invasion and from Satan.

However, if this man has no knowledge of the Bible, where is the foundation of comfort and wisdom that God can call to the man's mind in times of trials and tribulations which are common to man? If this man who is washed by the blood and completely cleansed does nothing to gain a greater understanding of his Redeemer, then how will he know His voice? How can he tell the difference between Satan's whisper and God's still small voice?

Romans 6:5 For if we have been joined together in the likeness of His death, so also shall we be in the resurrection, The metamorphosis of the old man into the New Creation is exactly that. The Holy Spirit enters and dwells within, changing the old man exactly as a caterpillar morphs into a butterfly, something old and ugly changing into something beautiful. Another example is the planted seed. The plant cannot grow unless the seed dies and is planted. The metamorphosis is God's doing and God's creation plan.

"Today's Little Lift" from Jim Bullington

Mercy and not Sacrifice (Sept. 30, 2010)