Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.
1 Thessalonians 4:1
Read: Thessalonians 4:1-12
Devotion: Starting something new can be exciting. Whether that is starting a new job, picking up a new hobby, or trying to learn a new skill, it is that time at the beginning of our new endeavor when we are the most enthusiastic, the most passionate, and the most persistent. Whatever it is, even if it’s a path that millions of others have tread before, to us it is the unexplored beyond that holds wonders anew.
But then our friends Reality and Time and Effort come poking their heads in to see how we’re liking our new activity. The sheen and mystique of the new endeavor wears off and we begin to realize that these new things need time and effort and perseverance. Maybe we’ve even felt the sting of a setback or two and now have come to a point where we need to make that decision from one of these three possible options: (1) I’ve had my fill of this new thing, and I’m just going to call it quits. (2) I don’t need to keep progressing in this, I’m good with where I’m at. I won’t abandon it, but I’m not going to put in any more effort to improve. Or, (3) No, despite these setbacks, I’m going to keep getting better at this until I’ve mastered it.
Christian sanctification is somewhat similar. I only say ‘somewhat’ because sanctification isn’t like a hobby or skill that is optional or unnecessary. However, it is similar in that it is new to us and something that we desire grow in. It’s new to us in the fact that before we were saved we didn’t have the Holy Spirit living within us conforming us to the image of Christ. Prior to our salvation we possessed a nature that was hostile to God so we didn’t have a true desire to obey him and live righteously (Rom 8:7-8). We could not please God.
Now, with our redeemed nature in Christ, we can actually please God, and our desire is to do so (Rom 7:22). That’s brand new! And when we are first saved our zeal feels as though it is at maximum capacity! We’ve come to understand our sin before a holy God and afterwards God’s great grace toward us in Christ! We know true mercy, we know true righteousness, we know God in Christ! Christ is our great love and Savior, and we now desire to do all things to his glory.
So, at the beginning of our life of faith, we’re in our Bibles every day, we’re going to multiple Bible studies, we’re doing our best to put our former sins to death, we’re telling everyone we can about what we’re learning through the Scriptures, we’re looking for places to serve, and we’re even getting up early every Sunday so that we make it to Sunday school every week. None of it out of obligation, but all out of sheer joy and excitement in our new life in Christ and our desire to be more like him.
And then, like our newfound hobbies, our good friends Reality and Time and Effort come poking their noses into our lives again. We realize how hard sanctification actually is. We have a hard time balancing our time between our non-sinful yet not-explicitly-sanctifying hobbies and the spiritual disciplines that explicitly contribute to our growth. And then, of course, our flesh rears its ugly head, and we sin. We suffer a setback and the reality of our sinfulness compared to Christ’s perfection is just made all the more clear.
So we come to that decision point again. Now what do we do? Option one is out of the question because Christ is our only hope, and we won’t even entertain the thought of falling away from him. But this is where a lot of Christians don’t properly understand the Christian life, because option two is also out of the question. There is no sitting back and resting on our laurels in the Christian life. There is no “I’ve conformed enough to the image of Christ, and it’s an impossible task to be fully conformed in this life anyways, so I’ll just stay at this level of sanctification.” No, the Christian life is one of continual progress.
As Paul exhorts the Thessalonian church, we must excel more and more. While there will be peaks and valleys along the way, the consistent trend of our life will be upwards. If your imaginary chart of sanctification has flatlined, and it’s been that way for a while, you need to take to heart Christ’s warning to the church in Ephesus in Revelation 2:4-5. You’ve lost your first love, you need to repent, and get back to the works that you were doing before that demonstrated your love for Christ. Persevere and excel all the more, for while the goal of Christlikeness is lofty, it is well-pleasing to God and well worth the effort.
Ponder and Pray: Think about how you can encourage and help one another to persevere in your sanctification. Finish by asking God for help and strength to persevere.
