“Christian-ese” Series: Justification and Sanctification

              To continue our series in “Christian-ese”, the words that Christians throw around that non-Christians may not totally understand, we look at another couple of words that get tossed around a lot by Christians are “Justification” and “Sanctification”. Let’s take a brief look at these and see what they mean for our faith as Christians.

              Justification can be viewed as a legal term first, then what it means for us as Christians. As I am a concealed weapons permit holder, I always have to think about justification, in case I ever have to use my weapon in defense of myself or others. Justification means that we are acting within the law and that whatever actions we take are legal. For example, if I have to draw my weapon, I need to make sure that I am somewhere that I am  supposed to be, that my life or someone else's life is in imminent danger, and that I only acted to stop the threat, not to kill. For a concealed weapons holder, it is the difference between getting to go home or being locked up for a murder charge. For a Christian, Justification is what we receive when we accept Jesus as our savior because it is impossible for humanity to be within the law on our own power. Through Jesus, we become justified before God to come into His presence as His adopted children. Now we can live our lives with the law fulfilled for us by Jesus, as He has paid the penalty that was due us through our sin.

              Sanctification is part of our earthly mission here on earth. It is working with the Holy Spirit to be made more like Jesus. We as Christians seek to be more like Jesus, and that is a lifelong endeavor, as any Christian can tell you. We are not perfect, and we constantly have to course correct on our walks with Jesus.

              Might be a shorter posts, and I’m sure there are plenty of theological discussions that could be had on these parts of the Christian faith, but that isn’t my point, I just wanted to give a definition of terms so non-Christians aren’t drowning in unknown terms and phrases. I hope they help in your discussion and evangelism if you are a Christian, or I hope they help clear up confusion if you are a non-Christian. God bless and have a good rest of your day!