Salvation is a process, and like a road trip, there is preparation, the journey, mile markers, and a final destination. The ultimate destination of salvation is Glorification. Glorification occurs at death and is a final perfection, where eternity with Jesus in heaven begins.
The desired goal in this life as you follow Jesus is entire sanctification.
As you experience sanctification, everything about you changes. Your desires become God’s desires, and your actions are informed by the Holy Spirit living in you. A person who has experienced sanctification lives and acts more like Jesus did.
So, how does sanctification have anything to do with a road trip?
The Christian life is a road trip leading to holiness in this life prior to glorification.
Any good road trip has a beginning.
In the context of sanctification, this is where Prevenient Grace comes in. It is a grace that comes before we claim to be followers of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has been pursuing every one of us even before our birth!
Prevenient grace is exemplified in Jesus Christ! In Luke 19:10 (NLT), Jesus says,
“For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
Jesus has been pursuing all of creation for all of eternity. He came down to earth in pursuit of each of us.
It’s in these beginning stages of the trip toward holiness that a person experiences Saving Grace. In saving grace, we are Awakened to our need for a savior and then decide to follow Jesus.
When a person experiences saving grace, three-mile markers on the journey to holiness simultaneously occur:
Justification – We are justified before God, meaning our sins are forgiven, and we are made right with Him.
Regeneration – We are born again and receive a new heart, mind, and spirit through the presence of the Holy Spirit within us.
Sanctification – We begin the process of becoming more like Christ and growing in holiness through the power of the Holy Spirit working in us.
These three aspects of our faith road trip happen at the moment we choose to follow Jesus, and they continue to shape and transform us as we walk in a relationship with Him.
The next mile marker on our road trip to glorification is Entire Sanctification. Entire sanctification has been a hot topic among theologians and scholars since John Wesley’s days.
In the book of Matthew, when Jesus is speaking in the Sermon on the Mount, He speaks to entire sanctification, Matthew 5:48 (NLT):
“But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
So how in the world are we to be perfect in a fallen and broken world?
This perfection, this entire sanctification, occurs as we move into a deeper relationship with Jesus. It is when Jesus becomes more than just your Savior, but your LORD.
It is when Jesus becomes Lord over your mind, your desires, your motives, your finances, and your emotions.
This happens when Jesus has full rights over ALL of your life.
This is one way to view entire sanctification:
Our Heavenly Father sees us through the sanctifying blood of Jesus Christ. Because of Christ, we are made perfect. Once we fully and entirely surrender to that truth and seek the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, we have reached the point of being entirely sanctified.
Salvation is so much more than a “momentary legal transaction.”[1] In reality, salvation is the complete transformation of a person through grace, awakening, justification, regeneration, and sanctification, leading to glorification.
[1] Randy L. Maddox, Responsible Grace: John Wesley’s Practical Theology (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1994), 143.