Conversely, if sanctification is primarily our responsibility, does this possibly explain why we don't see more "sanctified" people?
As I said before, I believe sanctification to be primarily our responsibility versus it being the primary responsibility of God. And being fallible, sinful beings, I certainly believe that we have lacked in our responsibility from the beginning of our existence and continue to do so everyday, which explains why we don't see more "sanctified" people.
Just to review (because I, myself, needed to be reminded of its definition), sanctification refers to an alignment with God, a oneness. Ways in which we can sanctify ourselves are through prayer, reading of scripture, attendance of sermons, participation in worship, and fellowship with other believers. These are the primary things that we have been taught to practice, as Christians, in order to better connect to our Creator. That isn't to say these are the only ways to feel God's presence (God has often spoken me through insects and dreams), but they are the fundamentals of our faith, the tools for re-teaching us the foundations of what we believe and why.
This morning, I finally returned to the basics. I opened my Bible, and while my foremost interest was in completing a reading assignment for Contemporary Christian Belief, God didn't care why I was there-He just cared that I was there-and he used the time to teach me things I had forgotten or had not previously understood. And though my brain is tired and overloaded with school work and important meeting times and I feel like it would kill me to try to remember what I learned from Corinthians this morning, I know that God will make room in my mind for those lessons at the time of my day when I most need them, because in making the effort to engage in His Word, I opened up an exchange between us and a route to santification.
And I know that, unless I give Him ways through which to speak to me and unless I train my mind and heart to listen to what He has to say in His time, I won't know what He's saying.. and I won't know how to interpret it properly when it comes. That's why it is so important that we are disciplined in our faith and that we are continually fulfilling our responsibility to seek sanctification with God.
Carrie . . . you've hit on a key point I think. We do have a responsibility to be in constant communion with God. If we're disconnected from Him, we have no hope of living a sanctified life. Perhaps that explains, then, why we don't see more "sanctified"—they aren't connected to Him in ways that build holiness in their lives.
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