Last evening, both projects met to hear a talk on "sanctification". Matt Reagan talked to us about God's faithfulness to sanctify us. Matt Reagan described sanctification as, "the killing of sin". The more we see Christ as beautiful and as truly satisfying, the more our lives begin to reflect Him. Isaiah 55:1-3 talks about turning to God who truly satisfies. So often, we are prone to seek out satisfaction in things of this world. However, the Bible is clear that nothing apart from Christ satisfies our longings. When we begin to rest in what was accomplished at the cross on our behalf, we taste true joy and life in Christ.
One might ask themself, "Now what?" We know, that Christ has forgiven our sins, shouldn't we now do something for Him in return? The startling answer is, in fact, "no". If we think that our obedience pays God back, we are wrong. The same way you have received him, you now walk in Him. The process of sanctification in our lives comes by hearing His truth, which is, the gospel of Christ Jesus.
John Piper puts it this way, "The cross is the blazing center of the glory of God." The more we see what has been done for us on the cross, the more our actions and lives reflect our belief in Christ. We must get ourselves off of ourselves and onto Jesus Christ, and then overflow into loving others and counting them more significant than ourselves.