Hey Bud,

Good stuff! So much dogma surrounds the word "saved" it is nice to just insert "rescued" as a word that preserves the perspective without the baggage.

Can't wait to see Him as He is, and find myself to be just like Him! Once we see that He has done all there is to do for us, and that we cannot improve on the holiness that is infused within us ... we want to draw near and recognize the fruits of these gifts, by walking according to the Spirit.
amen

Ripening for the harvest,
Trent

'Saved' is different from *sanctification* of the soul and personality (which leads, of course, to the proper and righteous usage of the body and tongue and mouth, etc.) !
Saved/rescued is WHAT CHRIST AS DONE for the spirit/life of the one who comes to Him with a humble, convicted, chastened heart and say: "I receive Your mercy and forgiveness; I don't deserve it, but I receive Your grace and the atonement for my sin." - THAT is the essence of salvation. Sanctification involves The Refiner's Fire and *our cooperation with The Holy Spirit* to live and abide in the Word and Will of The Father.
It's an important distinction. Another man has put it this way, "We are saved TO SERVE, TO BE SANCTIFIED, and TO WORSHIP THE ONE WHO SAVED US!" - I like that. I think it sums it up nicely.
Shalom & GOD bless.
Len

well put Len.
:-)

Thanks for those words, Len. I've always viewed sanctification as being set apart for God's use.

When I trusted the Lord and was born again, I received the Holy Spirit which spiritually set me apart from the lost world for God's use.

Each day I learn to walk in the Spirit, I grow in grace. Here I trust Jesus to live out His life in me to serve whomever He sends me to serve. This makes every moment of trusting Christ a moment of santification where I have been set aside for Christ's purpose in the world.

The ultimate sanctification is to go and be with Christ and jettison this body with the flesh in it, so that I am completely set apart for Christ's work in me.

The progressive sanctification crowd has focused upon behavior, instead of the Savior (there might be a song here.) Instead of realizing the Christian life as a complete life, they see the Christian life as a partial life, which is not completed until enough merits are earned.

This incomplete Christian life idea has been further skewed by people who really are teaching a split salvation.

We are saved to serve and we were also saved to become God's children. We are His beloved kids who are more than happy to serve the Father and the Son in any capacity. And our greatest service will be glorifying the Lord Jesus in the New Jerusalem.

Thanks Len for checking us out so often.

Love, grace, truth, and life,
Bud
:-)

The definition of sanctification is one that still puzzles me. Like Len, I came out of a denomination that viewed sanctification as a refiner's fire, so to speak. God constantly molding us and shaping us into what He desires us to be. And, since I knew I was being molded and shaped (as evidence by the trials of daily life) it seemed to fit.

However, that conflicted with the 'sanctification' of the OT, where it seemed that even 'stuff' was sanctified before the priest could use it. The tools in the tabernacle and stuff.

I looked the word 'sanctification" up in a couple of dictionaries, and they all seemed to attribute it to a 'progressive' nature. I thought perhaps it was talking about concecration, which is setting something aside, to dedicate it for holy use, instead of secular use. Then, the dictionaries started going into the whole jargon of regeneration, sanctification, consecration, and a few others, and the whole thing just started spinning around in my head.

So, I simply closed the dictionaries.
I guess my question, or curiosity, is where do we go to find definition of words? I've heard one minister define sanctification as 'this', and another define the same word as 'that'. What dictionary did they use? And why do we put trust in any dictionary? What makes those dictionaries legite?

This thing of sanctification is one thing that's still not made clear to me, but I have learned to put it to rest, and not fret over it. God is teaching me what He wants me to know, and it might not always include what He might want someone ELSE to know.
Ahhh vocabulary! Ain't it grand? It's times like these that I am so greatful that God listens to my heart and not my words. My vocabulary is nothing to brag about!
Thanks for sharing everyone!
Lisa

I used to believe all of that. But I believe the Completed Work Of Jesus is indeed a finished work.

I believe abiding is our calling and power scource. All Ministry is just an overflow of intimacy with God.

You dont see a second work outside of when the Holy Spirit is given at Pentecost. He did not indwell in believers before then. Now he does.

Intimacy with God is going to do what? It will empower us and is essential in abiding.

Otherwise it is just us doing it. I dont believe now that there is a second work to new Christians, becauseI do not find it after Pentecost.

Its all factored into the New Covenant. The giving of the Holy Spirit to mankind had the ribbon cutting service at Pentecost.