Being a Christian is salvation assured, but God is not finished with someone who has just converted. Conversion is not the end, but the beginning to growth and development. Salvation is progressed with the relationship we build through Jesus Christ. Yes, many people think that all they have to do is give God their soul and Heaven will be their home. Many people become saved and “set on the couch.” They have been taught a strong delusion. Then, church is just something to do and some place to go on Sundays. This put those in the class of Christians who profess it, but their hearts are far from God. With the COVID crisis I see many of the professors are staying home and not returning to the church house. This mentality needs to be changed, but it takes a long time to bring societal change. If we do not start teaching the young, then who will? As Christians, we have a great responsibility to pass the torch. Yes, “I agree we have to want to pursue God with Heart, Mind, and Soul,” but upon being saved the Holy Spirit unctions each one of us too. “Jesus is a gentleman” and He will not push us to continue in serving Him, but He will continue to seek them.
This assured faith is based on several scriptures. For example, we are adopted as children of God and are joint heirs with Jesus. (Romans 8:15) (Thorsen 230). I believe this, but once you grow in your knowledge of Christ we realize that there is kingdom work that needs to be completed. The work of the kingdom can be a challenge for the Christian. This world is becoming more anti-christ than ever before. We once carried our Bibles to school and had prayer. Today, we meet at the flagpole to hold a prayer meeting. Christians are persecuted for going to church by the government saying we are super spreaders of the COVID viruses. Many churches have been sanctioned and their utilities have been cut off.
A Christian from the time they are converted are born anew creature (John 3:3). All things pass away and are made new (2 Corinthians 5:17). The thoughts of the new convert change as they become aware of the will of God. The places they use to go are not always the places they return too. For example, the bar is no longer a great hangout for the Christian, because the Christian has love for others and now enjoys Christian fellowship and Christian activities. The Christian enjoys the company, leadership, and guidance of the Holy Ghost/Spirit.
Once the Christian gets off the milk and moves onto the meat they enter into sanctification. With the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit they choose not to sin daily and make a daily decision not to sin against God. The Holy Spirit directs their paths and is in charge of this growth. Then, “progressive holiness occurs during the Christian life” (Thorsen 273). The Christian aims to be like Christ and to walk in Christ’s footsteps. The believer is practicing holy living. They are trying not to enter into any defilement.
Growth after salvation looks different to the Catholic and Orthodox believer when compared to the Nazarene. One reason is that many of the Catholic and Orthodox church members believe the believer grows by practicing in disciplines described in scripture. For example, praying a compline prayer (praying at night) is mandatory; instead of praying without ceasing. Catholic churches also have an order/discipline to follow when it comes to punishments and chastisements for sins. For the Catholic believers must go to the priest to be pardoned for sin and receive punishment. This is just not so for the Nazarene. A Nazarene goes directly to Jesus in prayer for forgiveness. In addition, I think both a Catholic and Nazarene learns from their mistakes, but Christians do not grow in strides by participating in sacraments unless studies and teachings are given on the sacraments. If I participate in eating bread and drinking juice without teaching; I may think I am having snack, but it is totally different if I am taking communion and doing it in the remembrance of what Jesus did for the world.
The phrase Christian spirituality means so much more to me then holiness, godliness, perfection, and devotion (Thorsen 283). Christian Spirituality is more than a set of beliefs, values, and way of life that reflect the teachings of the Bible. Christian spirituality is this, but it is a choice we make to “know and grow” God in our daily lives. It is the relationship with have with the Lord Jesus Christ because we submitted to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit (Thorsen 282). The Christian makes a choice to keep communication with the Spirit clear via confession (1 John 1:9). When a Christian sins he/she then grieves the Holy Spirit. When we have unconfessed sin in our relationship with Christ it creates a barrier between ourselves and God. Christian spirituality grows at conversion through a constant choice to submit to the will of the Holy Spirit. Finally, true spirituality hinges on the supernatural power God provides through the Holy Spirit; rather than, reliance on our own human strength.
Since, my view of Christian spirituality focuses on my ability to know and grow in God I believe all the sacraments are important; as long, as people understand why they are participating. I think it does nothing to just participate if you do not understand the “why.” With communion, some Catholics believe they become one or have a union with God, because they are actually eating and drinking the blood of Christ. Therefore, when anointings take place, the Bishop is called to deliver the anointing. I believe in divine healing! I have witnessed it! One does not need the priest to initiate it. One does not need to eat and drink the actual blood of Christ to be healed. The liturgies are important and promote Christian growth, but not all are need throughout the year to promote my relationship with Christ. Other Christian disciplines can do the same to build the relationship. Clearly, my daily walk with Christ includes prayer, meditation, studying, and witnessing.
Sanctification implies one being set apart and one being made holy. Being set apart for the purposes of God is related to making one holy, because the process of sanctification cannot be completed without both. God sanctifies the believer when He regenerates us and when we allow Him to set up residence on the throne room of our heart. God renders us holy upon our conversion, but also by the second work of grace that is the process over the course of our lives. According to John Wesley the Christian enters “perfect Love” when their heart is filled with the love of God. Perfect love is also a Christian who has the mind of Christ and tries to be Christlike. Sanctifying grace is the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit that changes us so that our lives are increasingly conformed to the mind of Christ. Wesley seam to take what Mathew said in 5:48 very seriously, because this is where Jesus gives the invitation to be “perfect as your Father which is in heaven is perfect’ (Matt 5:48). Therefore, by the word ‘perfection,’ Wesley did not mean sinlessness. He meant by having the Holy Spirit (Christ in us) the believer could become perfect in love, because Mathew 5:48 proclaims that if Jesus invites us to seek perfection, then love is possible. Sanctification or perfect loves does not mean the Christian is free from temptation, sins, or failures. Finally, Wesley emphasizes that Christians grow and are filled with the love of Christ; which happens because of the grace of God.
Wesley gave three factors as the basis that leads to entire sanctification. “He does speak of three factors that prepare one for the time when in His sovereign freedom, God cuts short His work in righteousness”(Dunning 466). The factors came in the form of repentance, mortification, and faith. The first factor is an aspect of repentance that focuses on our guilt from sin, but recognition that we cannot save ourselves from our inward sin (466). The second component is mortification, which denotes, a believer’s transformation from this body to glorification when one enters eternity (466). Daily, we are dying out to sin and choosing to live holy. We want to become more Christlike each day. The final component Wesley taught that a believer’s faith produces Godly love. God gave each person a measure of such faith. Scripture reports that it was the size of a mustard seed. This faith is our foundation in the belief of God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Our faith brings us to a deliverance from sin and guilt; through, the word of Jesus Christ. When our salvation takes place, through the blood of Jesus Christ, we are made blameless. The goal of sanctification to be kept blameless and in doing so this prove that our salvation was real (1 Jn 2:19).
Works Cited:
Dunning, H. Ray. Grace, Faith & Holiness with 30th Anniversary Annotations. The Foundry Publishing, 2018.
Nazarene Articles of Faith.
Thorsen, Don. An Exploration of Christian Theology. 2nd Edition, Baker, 2020.
