Sanctification according to orthodox theology would be described as becoming united with God by grace in the person of Christ, who is God come in the flesh. The means of becoming “like God” is through perfection in holiness, the continuous process of acquiring the Holy Spirit by grace through ascetic devotion.
Some Protestants might refer to this process as “sanctification.” Another term for it, perhaps more familiar to Western Christians, would be “mortification”—putting sin to death within ourselves.
The sanctification process of the believer is being conformed and transformed into His image by the revelation of Jesus Christ. It is the living Word being revealed out of the written Word by the power and illumination of the Holy Spirit that cleanses us, sets us apart in our thoughts, ways and actions. It is the development to prepare a body to be a faithful witness and visible expression of His person.
Sanctification is the consecration of our ways and our thoughts with His ways as we become the sacred space where His glory abides as we walk in union with Christ. It is the journey of the body of Christ becoming that temple where heaven and earth converge in the earth, so the light of the glorious gospel shines in darkness.
In this episode of Keys to Walking in Kingdom Culture, we will see that spiritual formation, which is the forming of Christ within the community of believers, is in direct correlation with the image of Christ that one sees in the Scripture. Misinterpreting the revelation of Jesus in the Scriptures brings about a misinformed body that produces a deformed representation of the witness of Christ.
To hear more of this revelatory word, listen to this episode of Keys to Walking in Kingdom Culture on the Charisma Podcast Network. {eoa}
