Blake Long

Do you often struggle with persevering in your walk with Jesus? Does the constant fight against your sin cause you to scream out in agony? Are you frustrated with your perceived lack of progression, saying, “I feel like I should be more sanctified by now”?

The Bible has a remedy for you—for all of us. I’m 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, Paul writes, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (ESV).

What an astounding line—for he will surely do it. What a calming answer to the weary soul; an encouraging statement to the fatigued heart; a heavy load lifted off the back of the struggling saint.

In the early days of my conversion, I would take verses like this—and Romans 8:30, Philippians 1:6, et al—and use them for arguments for eternal security (which they are). But they were almost never used as instruments of encouragement. They were rarely used for personal edification, but only to point out that someone else is wrong.

Nowadays, verses like 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 are what keep me afloat when I am sick of my sin. They are a life preserver of sorts, so as to not let me drown in the despair of sin.

God will keep me—and all His children—blameless until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Spotless. Without blame. No blemishes. And, of course, this is not because of us. If our sanctification was left up to us, we’d be doomed. Though we play a part in our sanctification, we don’t do the sanctifying—God does. H.B. Charles once said that, “We cannot just coast through life having a good time.” It is important for us not to be idle in our sanctification. We must act, but do so from the foundation of God working in and through us (Philippians 2:13).

The only way we become more like Jesus in this life is by way of God’s sanctifying grace. God alone sanctifies. And that simple yet profound truth should propel us forward, to not lose hope when we’re struggling. In moments of despair, in instances of pure frustration, we can look to the promise of God—that “he will surely do it”—and lean on that even when we feel stagnant and broken.

We must consider what a blessing it is, what a wonderful gift of grace it is for God to make us more like Jesus during our life. I know we’d all love it if God would’ve taken us into glory the moment He saved us. But we should understand the blessing of sanctification, the honor of being molded more and more into the image of God’s only Son (Romans 8:29).

Sanctification is a lifelong journey, full of ups and downs, mountaintops and valleys, highs and lows. But it’s important to remember that for however many times we fall, God will pull us up every time—He will surely do it. Much of our sanctification happens from learning from our dumb decisions. We should never want to make mistakes, but we must know that God sanctities us even in our failures.

Keep your head up, Christian. God promised to keep you—to keep all of us—blameless. He will surely do it.