Sanctification is Following Jesus

The point of following Jesus is sanctification... being set apart from all those that don't want His leadership by learning to follow His leadership more and more closely.

This is what it means to be saved: to follow Jesus out of a world culture that erroneously thinks it can live apart from the leadership of the one who is life.

As part of this sanctification, or setting apart, we learn the heart of the One who made man. Sanctification teaches me God's heart.

God has a heart for man. Not just for the people that have said 'yes' to His leadership, but for all people. In fact, God so loved the world that He made a way for the world to come out of its own culture and be reconnected back to God. That process requires sanctification...being set apart. The set apart, or sanctification is primary. Others following it...others being saved...is secondary. Primary is loving God. Secondary is loving people.

There is a Spiritual reason for this: God knows how to love the world better than I do.

In sanctification, I start to learn what Love really looks like, acts like, and chooses. This Love is different than the affections the world feels. It is, in many ways, unrecognizable as love to the world culture.

-It tells the truth, in mercy, but unflinchingly
-it does not tolerate compromise in order to win the world.
-it is sacrificial. It costs something in the way of time and money, but even more costly, it costs acceptance, opportunity, and relationship.

Matthew 10:37“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39“He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. 40“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. 41“He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.

It is costly in terms of our own wisdom and logic. This Love is supernatural and defies natural thinking. God's ways are higher...different...they seem often to be divisive and unloving, but that is because they are different than the logic of what mankind would choose to increase love.

We need a different type of leadership than mankind can offer. That's the point.

Mostly, this Love is costly to pride. It requires waiting for truth to emerge on its own terms. It doesn't rally the crowd into unity...it sifts it into purity.

This Love is inclusive in its invitation, and extremely exclusive (narrow and difficult) in its requirements to enter in. It will not entertain multiple leaders. It only has one leader, Jesus. He is uncompromising. He patiently waits. He is merciful and true. He is intense. He is open. I don't have to wonder what He wants me to do. I can ask Him and let Him lead me in real time. This Love actually requires this level of abiding (John 15).

This Love requires an 'entering in' to it before I can lead anyone else in to it.

I know I'm in this Love by the way it changes my willingness to just go anywhere and just do anything. This Love makes me unwilling to do and go in to many things. It does not partner with darkness to increase light.

I know I'm in this Love because I'm in it...not leading it, and not leading others to it. I'm simply in it and others see it.

I know what to say because I'm in it.

I know what to do because I'm in it.

I know what not to say because I'm in it.

I know what not to do because I'm in it.

It is tempting to try to get other people into this Love, even when I'm not really in it myself. A snare exists to not only not be in it... But for us to imagine we ARE it...yet don't really know what this Love is saying right now, doing right now, or what it requires right now.

Simply imagining what I think Jesus would want and then going and trying to do it for love's sake is rebellion to this actual abiding love. This is outside of the actual love itself. I can know I'm outside of this love when I am more concerned that others enter into it than that I do. I can know I'm outside of this love when I see how everyone else is more in need of it than I am.

Right now, Jesus is sifting a Bride out of the church. Those who remain in this Love will purify themselves. They will go in themselves and let it clean them first.

Everyone who has this hope purifies himself...that is how you know you’re in this Love.

1 John 2:28And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.

1 John 3:1Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. 4Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.
6Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. 7Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.

It is important to be in this Love to be able to lead anyone else into it.

Matthew 15:13But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.14“Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”

Just making disciples isn't what Jesus called His disciples to...I have to be careful what I disciple others into. What am I saving people in to?

Matthew 23:2saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3“Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. 4“For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5“But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. 6“They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, 7“greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’8“But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. 9“Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.10“And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. 11“But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.12“And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.13“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. 14“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. 15“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

'Pharisees' aren't people who are overly concerned with their own personal pursuit of sanctification. 'Pharisees' are typified by people who are overly concerned with everyone else's pursuit of sanctification to the neglect of their own.