It’s true that our faith is developed as we go through struggles and depend on God for deliverance. But sometimes we let the struggle become the center point when that’s not the way God designed it. There is something else at work here.

We’ve been looking at three key points in the life of the bride of Christ… Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification. And for the bride, the first one is easily understood by all: we are Justified in the eyes of God because of our faith in the atoning sacrifice of His Son. We receive our Justification by faith! It’s the doorway that leads to the one we have trouble with… Sanctification. Yet the Word of God tells us that we are, “in fact,” already sanctified.

1 Cor 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Sanctified is in the past tense. Our sanctification was complete the moment we were Justified; the moment we were saved. So, if by faith we were Justified, and Sanctification is complete, why do we struggle with it?

There are many who believe that, while unsaved sinners have no power against sin, believers in Christ do have power. They think that God has given the new believer strength in his soul to overcome the forces of indwelling sin that are still live on the inside. If you want to put that in context you could say… One is by Faith (Justification) and the other (Sanctification) is by struggle. The result of that thinking is that many of the bride of Christ are struggling against sin, holding the belief that God expects them to “fight the good fight” against our enemy… evil. Nothing could be further from the truth!

What they forget, and I suspect we are all guilty from time-to-time, is that it is the “good fight of faith.” The result of trying to fight the good fight is the “struggle” of fighting in our own strength, which ultimately results in failure. We forget that God doesn’t give us the power in ourselves to conquer sin. His method for our victory, our walking out, our living out our sanctification, is for Him to be the indwelling power in us that overcomes sin. It’s not by our struggling but by the power of His Spirit in us that we are to overcome the power of indwelling sin.

So, yes it’s One by Faith, but not One by Struggle. They are both by faith, and if we are to avoid the “struggle for sanctification” we need to keep in close spiritual touch with the One who is the source of all power, and then in concert with Him we will find the secret to what we all seek… purity, power, righteousness, and holiness. Sounds like spiritual maturity!

It’s not God’s will for us to struggle through life, attempting to overcome sin by fighting the good fight every day. We are His bride and He has a much better plan for our life, and it all begins with the fact that He cleansed us, Justified us, and Sanctified us in His name and by His Spirit. And it’s by the standard of His Spirit, who lives within the heart of His bride, that is the standard by which we are to live… day-by-day and moment-by-moment. And it’s His Spirit who will teach us and lead us through the process of living out our sanctification. As we progress under His leading, the righteousness He has given us that we hold on the inside will begin to show on the outside. And that is how the ultimate goal for our life is achieved. Once again it all comes down to His perfect will for each of us…

Rom 8:29-30 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

We were Justified and Sanctified so that our Lord and Savior, our bridegroom, will be Glorified in us as we become more like Him every day. In Jesus all three are fully completed, we just need to walk them out … Three by Faith.