Sanctification fellowship (I) Victory and healing

After having been rescued (saved) from the penalty of sin (justification Romans 5:1), we need to cooperate with the Lord in our sanctification. Sanctification is the ongoing process of being rescued from the power and pollution of sin. Most often we have seen sanctification as getting rid of our more obvious and visible faults. So when I got saved, for example, I quit cold turkey from my alcohol addiction and my womanizing. I was cleansing the outside of the cup (Matthew 23:25). But there is a whole lot more to sanctification! In particular we need to deal with the “inside of the cup.” Or as David put it “You desire truth in the inward parts” (Psalm 51:6). If we do not clean the inside of the cup (deal with our baggage), it will come out somewhere. With the Pharisees it came out in self righteousness and hypocrisy (verses 25-32).

This is the pollution of sin, it pollutes and defiles many, and it seems to me this is the reason so many have been hurt and turned off from church. Far too often we see the “us and them” syndrome. The truth of the matter, whether we deny it or not, is that “There is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:22,23). The default however, seems to be to hide this from the World, from the Church and even from ourselves. In particular, either “If they ever found out what I was like they would reject me,” or “I thank God that I am not like ‘them’” (Luke 18:11), or various shades of these two extremes. Part of where I am coming from this morning is that on our prayer call I heard of a man finally coming into a twelve step-program for help. And the thought came, not for the first time, that when we are in hiding or denial we isolate from the fellowship of those who are actively pursuing recovery, which is another name for this aspect of sanctification.

There are likely many things that stop us from obeying the command in James 5:16 to “confess your faults one to another and pray for one another so that you might be healed.” The promise of healing and fullness of life seems is given only within a fellowship that is practicing this principle. But for many (at least in the circles I move in) it is only in such fellowship we even get the victory. I mentioned the other day the five year anniversary of being clean from a major addiction. I had had some success before I joined the recovery (sanctification) program “Celebrate Recovery,” but the full victory only came after I had worked the steps. If there is a single verse that sums up what the program does, it is that it puts the above quoted portion of James 5:16 into practice. And it does it by breaking it down into bite size steps.

Father, someone once described Your Church as “Cinderella with amnesia,” but perhaps “Sleeping beauty” is more accurate. Whatever Lord, please wake us up, and bring us into practical remembrance of all You have done for us in lifting us out of the ash heap. And Lord please help us to not be satisfied to clean only the outside of the cup. But we need Your courage Lord, to come out of hiding, and we need You to connect us with others who are willing to bring heaven to earth in terms of the innocence, openness and vulnerability that characterized Adam and Eve before the fall (Genesis 2:25). And we ask for this in Jesus Name Amen