THE PROCESS OF SANCTIFICATION
The process of sanctification could take a person years depending on how long they want to be in control of their life versus giving their life to Christ. Many Christians just go through the formality of “asking Jesus to come into their hearts” but stop there and never truly forgive all who hurt them nor repent “change” from living a life full of sin to one that resembles how Jesus lived. Below is the typical sanctification process that is required to see the true fruit of the spirit that Jesus wants in all true believers.
THE PROCESS OF SANCTIFICATION:
1 – Make a decision to follow Jesus Christ and to become a true believer
2 – Understand that Christians are tormented by demons until completing the sanctification process
3 – Stop blaming spouse or others for your sinful behavior and own it and decide you want to truly change
4 – Humble yourself from your pride
5 – Truly forgive all who hurt you from your heart
6 – Repent for your sin and truly change
7 – Command demons to go from you
8 – Walk every day in forgiveness to those who hurt you. Take no offenses
9 – Walk every day in the fruit of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control)
9 – Sin will become rare in your life so when you do sin you repent for it
10 – Remove all sexual sin in your life (porn, lust, masturbation, sex outside of marriage)
Keep in mind there are death bed conversions such as the thief who died on the cross next to Jesus who went to heaven immediately because he had no time to go through the remainder of the sanctification process, but he did have a heart change and knew that Jesus didn’t deserve to die.
So what about the majority of all Christians who simply “asked Jesus to come into their hearts”? Did the demons have to leave them right then? Did they begin to live a holy and righteous life? Nope. It’s a process to forgive everyone who hurt them. It’s a process to humble oneself from pride. It’s a process to repent for sin and change and have godly fruit of the spirit. When pastors preach watered down hyper grace messages telling people they don’t need to actually have fruit of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control), don’t need to humble themselves or make sin rare in their lives then they usually will not change and will instead stay in their sin. That’s why most in the church don’t behave like Jesus and they instead behave more like Pharisees. What does the Bible say about this?
““Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”
Matthew 7:15-20 NKJV
““Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV
“Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.”
I John 3:4-10 NKJV
“What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:15-23 NKJV
“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Hebrews 10:26-31 NKJV
“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
Galatians 5:19-26 NKJV
So all Christians need to complete the sanctification process or else they will have few fruit of the spirit and much toleration of sin.
