Do you sometimes wonder whether your husband is really even a Christian? There’s little doubt that his behavior grieves God and hurts others. Wouldn’t a real Christian be able to “man-up” and start leading his family in the ways of righteousness?
He claims to know it’s wrong and yet he still keeps going back to it. He says he loves God and yet he’s certainly not acting like it. How could a real Christian just keep blatantly sinning time after time after time?
The truth is, as much as we wish it could be so, all of our struggles rarely go away the minute we acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Savior. There is a significant, but rarely talked about, difference between salvation and sanctification. Salvation is a free gift that is guaranteed to anyone who turns their lives over to God. We don’t have to work for it. We don’t have to get “all cleaned up” to be eligible for it. All we have to do is accept it.
Sanctification, however is a totally different thing. It’s the lifelong process of becoming more like Christ. This change happens little by little as we get to know and trust God more completely. It’s similar to going to a new doctor that you’ve been told is an expert in treating the physical problems you’ve been experiencing. It’s not merely meeting the doctor that heals you—it is the process that he takes you through that brings you back to health. Much of that process involves his capable diagnosis and knowledge of appropriate treatment, but it almost always includes some things that we must do, under his guidance, to aid in the recovery.
The Great Physician knows what is required for our complete healing and freedom from the things that torment us. Even though he has every ability to heal us instantly, he often asks us to go through a process to arrive at that place of healing.
God wants, more than anything, to be in close relationship with us. He knows that it is our weaknesses that force us to turn to him and it is in that turning that we learn to trust him and let his divine strength replace our human frailties. He allows some of our struggles to remain for a season to help direct us to him and his sovereign power. It is through the recovery process that we really begin to know our Creator and God in an intimate way and allow his abundant grace to be sufficient to meet our needs and fill our empty spots.
The fact that your husband is still struggling has nothing to do with whether he loves the Lord or not. It has everything to do with his ability and willingness to risk trusting God with his fears—fears that are often so deeply imbedded and so long denied that he may not even be aware of them himself until he begins to allow God to bring them to the surface.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
TODAY’S CHAT: Have you ever given thought to the difference between salvation and sanctification? Does this concept change anything about the way you look at your life and loved ones? How? Your thoughts in the response box below might be helpful to other readers.
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