Results:

            Freed from sin:

Romans 6:22

22     But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

     

            Before we came to Jesus, we were enslaved to sin. It was our master, and we obeyed it … many times willingly. Now that we have been set free from its enslavement, we have willingly enslaved ourselves to God. In the Old Testament, if a Hebrew slave was about to be set free by his master, and he so loved his master and was so well treated by him that he didn’t want to leave, his master took him to the door post of his house and pierced his ear with an awl. He willingly surrendered himself to his master for life, even though he was free to go. That is what God wants … that we willingly submit ourselves to His Lordship. This enslavement results in sanctification. We are set apart as holy unto Him. This eternal life that the Scripture talks about is not in the sweet bye and bye. It is here in the nasty now and now.

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You are free, My children. You are no longer slaves to those things to which you were once enslaved. You have been set free … now act like it! Do not go on acting like you once did … as a slave to those things of the world. Trust in Me to provide the way and the desire to obey My Word. Then you will know My cleansing in your life. I washed you and made you whole. Now I want to complete the work in your life by showing you how to walk in My righteousness and true holiness all the rest of the days of your life.”

            90. I have been set free from sin and it no longer has dominion over me. This will bring about my sanctification with its result … eternal life!

Spirit, soul, and body complete without blame:

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

23     Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

     24     Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.

     

            God is not just paying attention to our spirits. He is concerned about all three facets of our lives … spirit, soul, and body. He wants us to be sanctified lock, stock, and barrel. Sanctified means set apart as holy unto Him. He wants our spirit, soul, and body to be preserved completely and without any guilt when Jesus returns. Our spirits were sanctified when we asked Jesus to come into our lives. Our souls are in the process of being sanctified. There should have been a point in time when we dedicated our lives to God. In other words, we made Jesus not just our Savior, but also our Lord. Some people believe that this sanctification is a separate work of grace, like salvation. Let’s not argue about whether it is or not. We will agree that there should be a moment in time when we turn our lives over completely to Him. That is when the sanctification of our souls can truly begin. These verses also mention that He is faithful to bring it about. If He says He will do it, you can be sure He will.

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "My desire in not just that you be perfect in your spirit, but in all aspects of your life. I desire that you be blameless within and without. I desire that your desires blend in with Mine … that you walk fully in My Word. Only then will you truly know happiness. Joy is neither in things nor in people. Joy is obeying My Word and doing My will. Then you will know true happiness. It is not based on circumstances, but on knowing Me fully, which you cannot do as long as you obey your former desires and ambitions. Walk fully in Me; then you will know My joy.”

            89. He is sanctifying me totally inside and out. I will be completely without blame when Jesus returns. I can depend on Him to do it. It will happen!

Keeps us from stumbling:

Jude 24

24     Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,

     

            Isn’t this magnificent? He is able to keep us from stumbling. Well, if He can, why doesn’t He? He could force us to not stumble, but then we would be robots. We should have the yearning to not stumble. We also have to work together with Him in the effort. He does the work, but we have to be agreeable and put forth the effort too. We have to avoid certain conditions that would put the temptation to sin in front of us. We sometimes have to call upon His name in desperation when those situations confront us.

It says that He can bring us to the point where we can stand in the presence of His glory. In the Old Testament, whenever the glory of the Lord was present, no one could stand. We will be able to stand because He will make us blameless. No wonder we will do it with great joy! How spectacular to be blameless in His holy sight!

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "My desire for My children is not that they barely make it in this world. It is not that they continually fail to keep My Word. My desire is that you walk completely in My Word and to not ever disobey My commandments. You have that ability residing in you through My Spirit who indwells you. You can do this. You can succeed in keeping My Word in your everyday life. It is My will that you do so. If you ask anything according to My will, it shall be done for you as you have believed. You have nothing to fear. You will not fail. You will succeed; for this is My desire … that you walk in My holiness, blameless with great joy!”

            88. Even though at times it may look like I won’t make it, He is able to keep me from stumbling and make me stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy. Hallelujah!

Today is Good Friday, 2015. How appropriate these words.

How:

            Washed; sanctified; justified:

1 Corinthians 6:11

11     Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.

Romans 5:18

18     So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.

     

Romans 8:29-30

29     For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

     30     and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

     

            We were all a sorry lot before we came to Jesus. It doesn’t matter how “little” or how “much” we sinned; we were all unrighteous in His eyes. But at Calvary, we were washed clean of our sins, set apart to God, and declared righteous in His eyes. Of course we didn’t experience that till we entered the Kingdom of God. Remember we just talked about His choosing us before the world was in existence. Romans 8:29-30 tells us that He didn’t just choose us. Once He chose us, He set into motion our coming unto Him. He made us like His Son. Notice that He also glorified us through Jesus. We won’t experience the fullness of that glorification until Jesus returns, and we get our glorified bodies!

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "My children, I have done all for you. I have not left anything out. Everything that you would ever need I have provided for you. You came to Me unclean and uncaring, and I have supplied all that is needed for you to walk in My holiness. I cleansed you at new birth and set you on your way to walk with Me in true holiness … not the holiness of man, depending on your abilities and efforts, but a holiness based on Me and My Word. I have set you apart forever unto Me. Walk in My holiness as My Spirit leads you.”

            87. Though my righteousness was as filthy rags, He has washed me whiter than snow; set me apart unto Him as holy; just as if I had never sinned!