Our Ongoing Walk is just like our Initial Believing

[Vine Abider]

Read this in the Hannah W. Smith devotional (God is Enough) for yesterday . . . and the theme was carried through into today (see bottom).  It states so clearly that we must realize that just as we didn't have any part in our initial salvation, except by believing in Christ, we likewise have no part in our ongoing sanctification apart from just simple faith in Him!

Christ's death purchased for us not only the forgiveness of our
sins but also victory over them-not only freedom from their guilt
but freedom from their power as well. Faith in Christ will bring us
much besides salvation from eternal condemnation. Because try
to live our lives apart from Him we fail. We realize that He gives us life
in the first place, but we do not see that He also must live it for us. We
trust Him for the forgiveness of our sins, but we trust ourselves for the
daily conquering of them. We pray for divine aid and for the influence
of the Holy Spirit, but still our thought is that they are to be given to
us that we might fight and conquer. This is the secret of our failures.

We are as helpless in the matter of sanctification as in the matter
of justification. We are as thoroughly cast on Christ for the control of
an irritable temper as for the pardon of all our sins. Christ must be all
in all to us every moment. "Without me," He says, "ye can do
nothing" (John 15:5). This is the secret of peace and victory.
(Diaries, 1867)

Today the devotional goes on to say this: "So I am abiding in Christ and He is living in me.  All I have to do now is yield myself to Him as one alive from the dead and allow Him to do with me whatever He pleases!  I do not always abide in Him. Alas no!  Satan sometimes succeeds in enticing me to take up my old life in the flesh again.  But thanks to my mighty Savior, His blood avails to atone for even this, and again and again He forgives me and cleanses me afresh again from all unrighteousness.  I find that daily I lean more and more to hang onto Christ by a naked and unaltering faith, and as a result I find myself more and more confirmed in my abiding in Him.  And why should not the time come for even me, when I will be so established and settled there as to go out no more?"

[Neighbor]

You might enjoy the expansion on the subject of sanctification by Rev. Charles H. Spurgeon, titled Threefold Sanctification that may be found at https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/threefold-sanctification/#flipbook/

[Truswell]

3 hours ago, Vine Abider said:

Read this in the Hannah W. Smith devotional (God is Enough) for yesterday . . . and the theme was carried through into today (see bottom).  It states so clearly that we must realize that just as we didn't have any part in our initial salvation, except by believing in Christ, we likewise have no part in our ongoing sanctification apart from just simple faith in Him!

Christ's death purchased for us not only the forgiveness of our
sins but also victory over them-not only freedom from their guilt
but freedom from their power as well. Faith in Christ will bring us
much besides salvation from eternal condemnation. Because try
to live our lives apart from Him we fail. We realize that He gives us life
in the first place, but we do not see that He also must live it for us. We
trust Him for the forgiveness of our sins, but we trust ourselves for the
daily conquering of them. We pray for divine aid and for the influence
of the Holy Spirit, but still our thought is that they are to be given to
us that we might fight and conquer. This is the secret of our failures.

We are as helpless in the matter of sanctification as in the matter
of justification. We are as thoroughly cast on Christ for the control of
an irritable temper as for the pardon of all our sins. Christ must be all
in all to us every moment. "Without me," He says, "ye can do
nothing" (John 15:5). This is the secret of peace and victory.
(Diaries, 1867)

Today the devotional goes on to say this: "So I am abiding in Christ and He is living in me.  All I have to do now is yield myself to Him as one alive from the dead and allow Him to do with me whatever He pleases!  I do not always abide in Him. Alas no!  Satan sometimes succeeds in enticing me to take up my old life in the flesh again.  But thanks to my mighty Savior, His blood avails to atone for even this, and again and again He forgives me and cleanses me afresh again from all unrighteousness.  I find that daily I lean more and more to hang onto Christ by a naked and unaltering faith, and as a result I find myself more and more confirmed in my abiding in Him.  And why should not the time come for even me, when I will be so established and settled there as to go out no more?"

Sanctification
It involves more than a mere moral reformation of character, brought about by the power of the truth: it is the work of the Holy Spirit bringing the whole nature more and more under the influences of the new gracious principles implanted in the soul in regeneration. In other words, sanctification is the carrying on to perfection the work begun in regeneration, and it extends to the whole man (Rom_6:13; 2Co_4:6; Col_3:10; 1Jn_4:7; 1Co_6:19). It is the special office of the Holy Spirit in the plan of redemption to carry on this work (1Co_6:11; 2Th_2:13).
Faith is instrumental in securing sanctification, inasmuch as it
(1.) secures union to Christ (Gal_2:20), and
(2.) brings the believer into living contact with the truth, whereby he is led to yield obedience “to the commands, trembling at the threatenings, and embracing the promises of God for this life and that which is to come.”
Perfect sanctification is not attainable in this life (1Ki_8:46; Pro_20:9; Ecc_7:20; Jas_3:2; 1Jn_1:8). See Paul's account of himself in Rom_7:14-25; Php_3:12-14; and 1Ti_1:15; also the confessions of David (Psa_19:12, Psa_19:13; 51), of Moses (Psa_90:8), of Job (Job_42:5, Job_42:6), and of Daniel (Dan. 9:3-20). “The more holy a man is, the more humble, self-renouncing, self-abhorring, and the more sensitive to every sin he becomes, and the more closely he clings to Christ. The moral imperfections which cling to him he feels to be sins, which he laments and strives to overcome. Believers find that their life is a constant warfare, and they need to take the kingdom of heaven by storm, and watch while they pray. They are always subject to the constant chastisement of their Father's loving hand, which can only be designed to correct their imperfections and to confirm their graces. And it has been notoriously the fact that the best Christians have been those who have been the least prone to claim the attainment of perfection for themselves.”, Hodge's Outlines.

[Vine Abider]

20 hours ago, Truswell said:

Sanctification
It involves more than a mere moral reformation of character, brought about by the power of the truth: it is the work of the Holy Spirit bringing the whole nature more and more under the influences of the new gracious principles implanted in the soul in regeneration. In other words, sanctification is the carrying on to perfection the work begun in regeneration, and it extends to the whole man (Rom_6:13; 2Co_4:6; Col_3:10; 1Jn_4:7; 1Co_6:19). It is the special office of the Holy Spirit in the plan of redemption to carry on this work (1Co_6:11; 2Th_2:13).
 

Good explanation - it shows this is all of faith . . . just as our initial salvation is dependent on faith in Him, so is the ongoing salvation.  That is, by faith in Him our spirits are reborn and by faith in Him our soul is transformed, little by little, as we continue to depend on Him and His operation in us!

The sooner we realize that we have died and can do nothing, but only believe and lean on Him, the faster we let His Spirit do this transforming work in us!

[enoob57]

Faith is the initial exist in the creative act of God... to place a begin in the infinite of Being -I AM that I AM... and so designed to the perfection of God in the new heaven and new earth... God's got this and to this

John 8:32 (KJV)

[32] And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

 

John 15:15 (KJV)

[15] Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Faith is indeed established in His Word of promise...

[Dennis1209]

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Let us delve deeper into the personal application of faith to the individual in the age of Grace—questions I never hear from the pulpit or biblically addressed.

Matthew 8:26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

The disciples were rebuked several times for their lack of faith. Even though they had the evidence of things seen and witnessed done by Jesus through the Holy Spirit. I suspect many today have a crisis of faith and doubts at one time or another during their lifetime.  

James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

I understand God keeps us; we cannot do anything to save or keep ourselves. Our only part in the process of the three tenses of Salvation is the “whosoever” believes. Believes what? The core tenants of our faith, Jesus is who He says He is, the Son of God, the virgin birth, He lived a sinless life, our need for a Savior, His death, burial, and resurrection arose on the third day and now sets at the right hand of God.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Some questions I have pondered: Can faith (belief) be quantified? I do believe so:

Luke 17:6 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

What would you answer if someone asked how much faith (trust) is required to escape eternal damnation? Indeed, there are different levels of individual belief, everything from a muster seed to martyrs to the hall of famers listed in Hebrews chapter eleven.

Is any quantity of faith, belief, and trust sufficient for the so-called fire insurance, get out of Hell free card?

[LisaLola]

https://goexplorethebible.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/1_ETB-blog-headers-1024x559.jpg

You’ll not find the word sanctification in Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. The process of sanctification, however, is what Paul describes in chapter 5 as the outworking of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life.

One of the Holy Spirit’s functions in the believer’s life is to cultivate Christian character, to transform us more and more into the likeness of Christ. This is sanctification, and this is foundational to the teaching of Galatians 5. Here are five things we need to know and teach about sanctification:

1. Sanctification is the work of God.

All our efforts toward holiness are useless apart from (1) the work of Christ on the cross (Heb. 10:10) and (2) the work of God’s Spirit in us. Paul highlighted the Holy Spirit’s role with repetition of the phrase “by the Spirit” in Galatians 5:16,18,25. He used the phrase “sanctified by the Holy Spirit” in Roman 15:16, and in Romans 8:13 he said it is “by the Spirit” that we are able to “put to death the deeds of the body.”

2. Sanctification involves our cooperation.

Take note of the imperatives in Galatians 5: “walk by the Spirit” (v. 16), “live by the Spirit” (v. 25), and “keep in step with the Spirit” (v. 25). Whereas justification is entirely God’s work, sanctification involves our cooperation with God. Christ has delivered us from sin’s reign, but the responsibility for resisting sin is ours. God has given us His Spirit, but the responsibility for walking by the Spirit is ours. “Pursue … sanctification” urged the writer of Hebrews (Heb. 12:14, NASB; see also 2 Cor. 7:1).

3. Sanctification is on ongoing process. 

Whereas justification is once and for all, sanctification is a continuous process whereby we grow in holiness. The Greek verb translated “walk by the spirit” in verse 16 translates the Greek verb peripateo, which literally means “to go about” or “to walk around.” It’s the same word Jesus used of the paralytic, “get up, take your mat, and walk” (Mark 2:9). The word walk also can be used to mean a certain walk of life or conduct. Paul used a tense of the verb that reflects continuous, on-going activity. The word walk reminds us that sanctification doesn’t roll effortlessly down a superhighway; it treks resolutely up a more arduous path, steadily progressing toward the goal but never arriving until that day we “see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

4. The goal and measure of sanctification is Christlikeness.

God’s purpose in our sanctification is to transform us more and more into the likeness of Christ (Rom. 8:29). Refuse to be seduced into defining spiritual maturity in terms of religious activities (sanctification-by-checklist). The 8-point record system offering envelope I grew up using in church is not a gauge of spiritual maturity. (On the weekly envelope was a checklist: Sunday School attendance, Bible brought, lesson studied, giving, worship attendance, daily Bible reading, number of visits, and number of other contacts made. Check off the items on the list and you’re good for another week!) On the contrary, Christ-like character is the measuring stick of growth in sanctification.

5. The primary instrument of sanctification is the Word of God.

Jesus’ prayer for His disciples, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17), instructs us that God sanctifies us by His Word. Paul understood that God’s Word trains us in righteousness so that we may “be complete” (2 Tim 3:16-17). Let us drink deeply, then, from the Scriptures, for by them God will transform us more and more into the likeness of Christ. (See also Ps. 119:11; Acts 20:32; 1 Pet. 2:2.)

Remember, “this is God’s will, your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:3).

[Neighbor]

The body of the commentary on Sanctification seems to be different from the title; "Our Ongoing Walk is just like our Initial Believing".

The Old testament use of Sanctification is to be set aside-for a holy use. That is what God does with those He hs called out or aside for His use and for his good purposes.

The New Covenant seems to expand upon that  setting aside  by exploring the use itself, and becomes a description of what some call a progression or progressive  sanctification, a concept of having been set aside ( By God) and then developed upon by practice of faith in God by humans called out or set aside.

Seems to me there is some room in that  for the practice of faith resulting in a gaining of  or strengthening in faith by  use of that faith, not by God alone but by  the individual called  to be set aside too. The practical affect is  that the initial setting aside by God, is not the same as the  slog in faith  that setting aside  establishes, that there is a work to be done by the individual  so set aside for holy use.

One must continue on without choice in the matter long after the initial GLOW of justification is realized. That walk  does have challenges to sanctification's status. One can bring about many failures  along the way and even  shame to that setting aside by God. It does become a progressive sojourn for the believer in our Lord and savior Yeshua as our savior from the just wrath of God.

 The initial exciting glow does become a work to be done, a hard work, a good work for which one has been set aside. It may be a light burden, but it is a burden a duty that has privilege, high privilege of being seen as acceptable in the sight of God through the sacrifice  by Yeshua as made known by the Holy Spirit and aided by the Holy Spirit's indwelling of each that are set aside.

That is the way I see it, feel it, and experience it  over time.