The Lord of Life once shared with us a maxim from His treasury of infinite and eternal wisdom; every living soul walking upon this earth is journeying along one of two pathways. Most of us are familiar with the way Jesus described these two paths; there is a “broad path that leads to destruction” and a “narrow path that leads to life.” These familiar verses are taught to the unregenerate and the new believer in the hopes they would look within to see which path their souls are taking. I would argue there is powerful spiritual truth found in these words that are of infinite value for the child of God who seeks to follow in their Lord’s footsteps.
Let us look down the well-trodden paths of life and meet the souls walking along. First, we come to those walking along the broad path. Crowded, though it may be, each soul is ultimately walking the road alone and under their own willful strength. People rarely stop to help one another when one stumbles or loses their footing. Though surrounded by many, it is a lonely path, for everyone ultimately only looks out for their own self-interest.
The narrow path, on the other hand, is one in which the travelers are never truly alone, despite what the obscene harasser of those on the life path may whisper and scream at them. These travelers, even when they think they are walking alone, are never truly alone, for the Lord of Life Himself is leading and guiding their steps. At times, the Lord points to pitfalls and dangers. At other times, He is covering their ears from the hate spewing accuser and reassuring them with whispers of His great love for them. At this, the travelers wipe tears from their dirt-stained cheeks, set their faces, and press on. You can see the great relief on the faces of these pilgrims as the Lord points out great unnecessary burdens that they had not noticed they were carrying with them. You see the relief from the weight on their shoulders as they toss these weights off into the ditch. If you could watch these travelers journey year after year, you would notice that their steps are lighter and lighter. Not always easier and easier, but lighter. These pilgrims, while each maintaining their own distinct characteristics, begin to look increasingly like their Lord because they stick by His side, knowing their utter reliance upon Him as their protector, comforter, and teacher.
You see, we must dispel a common misunderstanding about our travel on the path of life so that we can find rest on our faith journey, even when the life path takes you on precarious precipices and hard roads. Many mistake the path of life for being one of hard-fought self-effort, where the trail ends at the gates of Heaven. I am not advocating for a do-nothing type of faith where we do not strive or put forth effort. However, I would ask that we take a serious minute to reconsider why Jesus called it “the path that leads to life.”
Jesus does not call it the “path of someday life.” He calls it the “path that leads to life” because He is on it with us. The way Jesus used the word ‘life’ could be interpreted as present and active life as well as future life. He has promised never to leave us nor forsake us and has sent His Spirit to us. He is with us and in us, it is in Him that we live and move and have our being.
I would spare you days, weeks, months, and even years of fruitless toil on the path of growing in holiness that we call sanctification. There is one very common way we get it wrong in this Christian life: We think that justification was God’s doing. He put us on the path, but now it is our part to work out our own sanctification.
Here is how it is commonly stated: “Sanctification is our work, to be performed under the power of gratitude we feel for being justified – and by the aid of the Holy Spirit.” However, soon a Christian will find how small of a power supply ‘gratitude’ is to power a believer. Believers everywhere, are under a trap that prayer, as indispensable as prayer is, or bible reading, will be enough to supply them the power they need for sanctification (growing in holiness). Often a believer will struggle for years, until they listen to the Spirit’s teachings. The Spirit comes along through various means and simply reveals Christ to us – who is our sanctification.
1 Corinthians 1:30
“Christ is made of God unto us… sanctification.”
One day, in Heaven, the question was asked, “How can sinful man be made holy?” The answer came, “Christ, the Holy One of God.” In Christ, the one the Father sent, God’s holiness was revealed to us. God’s holiness was on display and brought within reach of mankind. Holiness is the very nature of God, so it only tracks that the only way for a person to be made holy is for God to take possession of them and fill them with Himself.
Jesus said in John 17:9, “For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” There is no other way for us to be made holy than by becoming ‘partakers’ of Christ's holiness. There is no other way of this taking place except by our personal and spiritual union with Christ Jesus. As we are united to Him through His Holy Spirit, His holy life flows into us.
“Of God you are in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us…sanctification.” Abiding by faith in Christ, our sanctification is the simple secret of a holy life. The measure of our sanctification will depend on our measure of learning to abide in Him. As the soul learns to rest in Christ, sanctification is increased.
Believer, Jesus delights in you and cares for you; willingly surrender yourself to Him. We have Christ strengthening us and caring for us as sheep of His fold. We derive our life and sustenance to nourish our souls from the fullness of Him. We do not work this out ourselves, but we fellowship with Christ. We commonly go wrong in our thinking by assuming we must produce fruit in ourselves, but this is simply wrong. Christ is our sanctification; trust yourself into the tender hands of the Good Shepherd.
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