Reminders to the Challenger
The Wonderous Process of Sanctification and the Obstacles of Calling Out Sin
The semester has ended and I am now home. The summer has begun and a friend so graciously reminded me of my mission. Summer may be a break from academics but it is certainly no break from the work God has put in my life for His kingdom.
As my time as a Sophomore in college has come to a close, God continues to stir up more work that needs to be done. When I entered the past semester, I came in with a sober mind of who I was and what I had to do. I wanted to build my hall so that I may glorify God with it. I began to study the people I live around and gauge how I should approach them. There are two avenues I can take in relationships with them. Either I talk to them as a brother/sister in Christ and desire to challenge and encourage, or I talk to them as an unbeliever who is in dire need of the Savior. These two avenues have become more and more clear as I learn how to study people and find who they are in light of Christ.
This has been an amazing and insightful experience but the next aspect of desiring to grow my hall and future hall is sanctification. The dictionary definition of sanctification says that it is the process of becoming holy or set apart for a specific purpose. Once saved, a person is instantly righteous in the eyes of God. That person has chosen to become set apart from the normal way of the world for a special relationship that will last an eternity. My job, as this persons fellow believer, is to encourage and challenge them so this process may be as effective as possible. God will sanctify the individual whether or not I am doing this, but this is also part of my sanctification while I hope the person does the same for me as is implied in Proverbs 27:17.
Sanctification works perfectly within the confines of the local church. I have faced many issues of challenging fellow believers at college simply because it was not in the church. Obviously, issues will arise in the local church as well, but those issues can be more growth oriented as the leadership and more fellow believers can assist everyone in the situation. Although, within both contexts, I believe this type of growth is necessary. The saved individual is always on his way through sanctification. There are many obstacles to be faced on my end as his brother.
The first obstacle is pride.
Romans 3:23 reads this,
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Simple verse for a needed mindset. As a Christian, I need to consistently put my mind to Jesus and not to myself. There is a daily need to remind myself of the gospel and my need for it. Romans 3:23 is always a good reminder that everyone has done wrong and is totally deprived of righteousness. The right mindset to have when exposing a brother’s sin is this: “My sin is greater than yours because it is mine.” If I can enter a conversation with this mindset and understanding of my own sin, then I can humble myself and bring actual spiritual assistance and real sanctification.
This borderline covers all of the following obstacles in a general sense but specifically, as Jesus continues to grow both the challenger and the challenged, other obstacles can be seen.
The second obstacle is fear.
Matthew 7:1–5 says,
1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
A common issue with believers is that they are afraid of calling each other out on sin. Calling each other out on sin is something that should happen. This is a very important part of sanctification plus it helps grow personal relationships between followers of Christ. Matthew 7:1–5 is about a sense of accountability. I can not call another believer out on a sin if I myself am doing the exact same thing or worse. The fear is this: “I sin everyday! What happens when they turn the conversation back on me?” To this fear I offer Luke 6:38: “For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” Matthew 7:2 also says this above. I should be living a life to the measure of holiness and that same measure should be used for other believers who have entered the same covenant I have. Of course, before calling sin out, I should study my own life and make sure I’m not sinning myself. That is what Matthew 7 is for. Jesus is calling His followers to self-examination before sanctification. There is no need to fear something that is necessary in the life of a believer.
This leads to the third obstacle which is doubt.
Romans 8:28 says,
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
I can be doubting the sovereignty of God without even knowing it until His Spirit shows me. Another excuse in avoiding exposure of sin is this: “I don’t want to endanger our relationship.” Romans says, “all things work together for good.” God is going to do good with and for His followers whether it’s what I expect or not. Therefore, if I have faith in God’s sovereignty and His goodness than whatever I bring up to a believer, I should also have faith that God is going to work things for both the believer’s good and His.
No matter what, whether I am right, wrong, or in between, God is always good. This fact will continue to be evident here in this world and into the after. Not that anyone can sin in heaven, but that God is good.
When one is newly saved, the last thing he may need is for someone to call out every sin in his life. That is just abuse and should not happen. Sanctification is assuredly a process and takes more time than one would think. Self evaluation plays an important role in any growth. Always go one step at a time with grace and understanding.
So I challenge you as I challenge myself to be bold for the sake of God’s relationship with each member of His kingdom and be thinking of the wonderous process of sanctification.
