591. Separating True Sanctification from Behavioral Choices

Religion without life, will seek to pursue a right-standing with God through attempts of self-improvement, and a variety of other works-based methods. Even within Christianity, belief systems will try to make this all about our ability to make ourselves progressively more sanctified and acceptable before a perfect and holy God. The problem with this? We can’t attain a more righteous position than what God has already brought to us through His Son. The standard God demanded was perfection, but not by giving it our best effort to keep certain commandments or other moral codes that will always fall short. Jesus is alive, accepted, perfect, holy, sanctified, righteous, and sinless… And as believers in Christ, “as He is, so also are we in this world.”



   

525. The Curse of Seeking Self Improvement

It's one of the biggest deceptions known to mankind - the attempt to achieve a higher level of personal improvement through our works and efforts. Adam and Eve were distracted by the glossy appearance of its fruit and the rest of the world followed suit. Israel demonstrated the futility of trying to establish their own righteousness through the works of the law by pursuing a level of improvement that would make them acceptable to God. It falls short every time and fortunately, it is something Jesus redeemed us from.



   

429. The Snare of Spiritual Self-Improvement

"I am a work in progress." A phrase that gets quoted by many in Christianity and it's usually in the context of us working to become better. The problem with this is that at any time in our Christian life when the focus becomes about us, we begin to place our trust in the wrong person. Often we try to "do better" in the effort to become more accepted by God. We miss the truth that we are already accepted and Christ has become our life. We are already in Him. He now works in and through us and whatever fruit we bear is His. In Him we have our being. In Him we are complete. In Him, we have been perfected.

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