The Only Sure Fire Way to Conquer the Things That Haunt You.
Sanctification is akin to holiness. Its essence means to be set apart. God sets us apart, that is He sanctifies every part of us, when we trust Jesus. Remember that on the cross Jesus gave us His perfect life and assumed every bit of our imperfect lives with every bit of its sin, so that God would pour out His wrath on Jesus, not us.
Because of this once and for all substitution, (“For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” Hebrews 10:14 ESV) God’s wrath is completely satisfied and when He looks at those who have trusted His Son, He sees His Son’s perfection covering them, not the stains of sin underneath. “…that they may receive the forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” (Acts 26:18 ESV)
This is why the Bible refers to those who have trusted Jesus as holy ones or saints. (Ephesians 1:1) They have been sanctified.
Being sanctified means that you have been completely and irrevocably set free from the slavery of sin and now you are able in to live rightly. (Romans 6:18)
This one aspect has immense implications. Being set apart gives you the ability to say no to the actions and thoughts that harm you and say yes to the actions and thoughts that are good for you. The power of sin has been broken. You have been set free.
With this new found power fueled by the Holy Spirit and the armor issued by God (Ephesians 6:10-20) you now have the ability to battle and conquer the things that haunt you.
Now to be sure these battles will be extremely difficult and there will be many times that you lose the upper hand and get knocked down. Yet as you draw closer to Jesus through these battles, He will draw closer to you resulting in you becoming more like Him and less like yourself.
As you stay close to Him, over time your thoughts will become more like His thoughts, your motives will increasingly reflect His motives, and your emotions will be in line with His Word.
As Jesus was praying to His Father he said, “sanctify them in your truth; your word is truth.” (John 17:17 ESV)
I might add may He completely sanctify you…head, heart, body, and soul so that you may conquer the things that haunt you.
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By David Zook, Pastor Morningside Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Phoenix, AZ.
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