The Work of Sanctification

On the inside, in the deepest parts of who we are, we are the sons and daughters of God. The righteousness of Christ. Saints. That's our identity; our fundamental definition as saved people. But there are many areas of our loves that haven't caught up yet. Sure, our hearts have been changed, but there are still those pieces of the person we used to be hanging on with white nuckles. That's where the work comes in, because we're ina continual fight to pry those hands loose.
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While we work to have faith in who we are as God's redeemed children and to act in a manner that reflects that, God's busy doing the actual prying of those white-nuckled fingers from around our hearts. Sanctification is about work - the work of God in us, and our work to have faith in His ability to do that work.

- p. 90 "Holy Vocabulary" by Michael Kelley