Extending That Same Grace to Others and Ourselves

Oh, what a joy it was to me to serve these dear, beloved women this weekend in Utah! A true privilege and I did my best to serve well—but of course I lost my train of thought more than once. (Is that an over-40 thing? A tired momma thing? Or have I always done that / is it just a Tara thing? Hmmmm ….)

One of the teaching points I wish I had stuck closer to my speaker notes on and taught better was how important it is to understand the differences between justification and sanctification. So just to refresh myself, and also to serve any of my new friends from Utah who might pop on over to this blog, here is an excerpt from Judy’s and my book, Peacemaking Women:

“In Christ, We are Perfect and Growing in Perfection

We will lack deep peace if we fail to understand that we live in tension between what theologians have called the ‘already’ and the ‘not yet.’ We are already perfect by virtue of our union with Jesus Christ, and yet we look forward to the day in glory when our lives and thoughts will match this present reality. We are already perfect, and yet we are growing in perfection. As Martin Luther reminded us: ‘This life, therefore, is not righteousness but growth in righteousness, not health but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it; the process is not yet finished but it is going on. This is not the end but it is the road; all does not yet gleam in glory but all is being purified.’

We struggle and fail. For many Christian women, doubts and fears enter into our relationship with God when we continue to struggle with habitual sins and see areas of our lives that are not God-honoring. We may look at our struggles with the same sins and wonder if we are even saved at all. At times it can feel as though we are complete frauds. Am I ‘Tara the good Christian woman who loves God, her family, and serves faithfully in Christian ministry?’ or am I ‘Tara the lazy glutton who would rather watch old movies on TV, eat cookie dough, and avoid any and all work?’

And yet we are perfect in Christ. While it is true that we must take sin seriously because it affects our fellowship with God and our testimony of his grace in our lives, we must also remember that we are not ‘either/or’ (either a ‘saint’ or a ‘sinner’) but ‘both/and’ (both ‘totally righteous in Christ’ and ‘yet growing in righteousness’). We are both sinner and saint. We are sinners as a result of the fall and indwelling sin, yet saints as a result of Christ’s saving grace.

We are fully justified and we are being sanctified. We live in a state of tension, suspended between these true truths: we are already perfect and holy, yet we are growing in perfection and holiness. Theologians refer to these truths as justification and sanctification. When we are born again by the Holy Spirit (regeneration), we are fully justified—declared righteous—by our holy God. The doctrine of justification means that Christ’s record has been imputed12 to us once and for all. We are already perfect because Christ’s perfect record is now ours. In other words, ‘God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God’ (2 Cor. 5:21). If you have put your faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross, when God looks on you he always sees perfection because he sees Christ. You are already perfect.

On the other hand, the doctrine of sanctification means that we are being conformed more and more to the likeness of Jesus. Throughout our Christian life, we are growing in sanctification. We are not made perfect by our own strength or effort. God himself does this work in us. ‘He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.’ (Phil. 1:6) We are growing in perfection (Rom. 8:29). We ‘. . . are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, that comes from the Lord . . .’ (2 Cor. 3:18 ). As we live each day, we see evidence of indwelling sin and fallenness. This is because we are not yet perfect. But we have great hope because God is growing us to be more like Jesus …

As we begin to understand the doctrines of justification and sanctification and trust in God’s grace towards us, we experience shalom as we extend that same grace to others and ourselves.”