Living the Sanctified Life
13 About noon, King Agrippa, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
15 “Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“ ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. 16 ‘Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen and will see of me. 17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ [Acts 26:13–18 ~ NIV]
“No moment of sanctification is a cure-all. Reconciliation with God is a relationship that needs to be maintained on a moment-by-moment basis. Since walking with Christ is a relationship, we constantly need the help of the Holy Spirit. There is no point where heart purity abides in a static condition. Man void of God is immediately back where he started. The darkness is removed only as long as the Light is present. [Stephen Manley, Journey Into Wholeness, (Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press of Kansas City, 1983), 79]
When Jesus called Paul on the road to Damascus, He gave him the responsibility of not only telling the people about Jesus, but to help them get on the path where they “may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:18). It was to be more than just an introduction to Christ. It was a call to teach and lead them into a life with Christ! That is what all believers need to do — keep in step with Jesus on the journey. It’s not enough to make a one-time commitment to Him and then think that’s all there is. Jesus is still on the move and we must move with Him wherever He goes.
Our spiritual heart condition needs our constant attention for just as Stephen Manley points out, “There is no point where heart purity abides in a static condition.” We are either following Jesus and growing in our faith or we are slipping away from Him, our hearts also following suit. And just like Paul, we, too, need to be leading others to Jesus both by our example and our words. When we are doing this, we will not remain static. We will discover that we are drawing closer to Jesus and moving in the direction He is leading.
We do need to focus attention on our being — that is, who we are in Christ. But, we also need to add to this our doing — putting into practice the truth we are learning from Him. When we commit to this, the Holy Spirit is there to guide.
In the Acts 26 passsage, Paul is addressing King Agrippa — not the most receptive of audiences. Nevertheless, Paul went ahead and shared the gospel. When Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian,” Paul responded, “Short time or long — I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains” (for Paul was a prisoner in chains).
If we are focused on sharing the Light with others as Paul did, we will discover that we will continue to move forward in the faith, not backward. We will live a more sanctified life as we give ourselves to living for Jesus and not for ourselves. James’ counsel is well received: “Be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only” (James 1:22).