sanctification

Sanctification is a big word. What does it mean? to cleanse or make pure---"though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow" Isaiah 1:18 As a child, we sometimes traveled from our home in Phoenix to Northern Arizona, where my brother played hockey. We traveled early in the morning. Nearing Flagstaff, we always marveled at one particular ranch. The new fallen snow sparkled brilliantly in the morning light. With no footsteps, no dirt, and no animals to mar the fresh white surface of the pasture, the whiteness was almost blinding. Upon returning home in the late afternoon, invariably footsteps, tire tracks, and evidence of cattle, sullied the surface of the snow.

With this vision in mind, I often wondered about sanctification. If we are baptized and washed clean of our sins, what happens when we sin again? Purification is a progressive process from grace to grace. While baptism is necessary to get the ball rolling, it is not the end of the story. No sins are simply forgotten unless we repent because of justice. Jesus provided the possibility for repentance through the atonement, which is mercy. So the process of sanctification is first faith in Jesus Christ, second repentance, third baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, fourth the laying on of hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and fifth continual dedication to Jesus commandments, faith in His Grace and ability to change lives, and further repentance for new sins. Sanctification is our goal, our hoped for end, a state which we seek and desire.

One sweet sister told of her mother's advice to her as a little girl. Every night as you kneel in prayer, think over your day. If you have been unkind or thoughtless or worse in any way, take the opportunity to ask for forgiveness. Heeding this advice, your slate is daily wiped clean. Then, as you strive to live a life free of large offenses, your small transgressions will not hold back your progress. Good advise!