What happens after someone becomes a Christian? Surely they’re not automatically made perfectly sinless and happy, are they? I wish that were the case. Many testimonies recall experiencing radical changes upon conversion, but the sad reality is that even for those believers, sin remains a lingering problem that still infests the cores of our hearts.
Yet Paul doesn’t seem to think that’s an excuse for carrying on in depravity. Salvation, he reminds Titus, ought to cleanse us. And indeed it does, but Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection are really only the beginning of the cleansing process. Remember, Jesus didn’t linger long; but before he ascended, he promised that he would send the Holy Spirit for us. That’s because salvation is really a two-act play, and the Spirit directs the second act. Christ justified us; now the Spirit sanctifies us.
Sanctification may sound like a big fancy theology word, but it has a simple meaning: God makes us holy. Now that the cross has opened the way for us to have right relationship with God once again, the Holy Spirit trains our hearts to pursue him. First, he trains us to desire Jesus more strongly; then as we grow in wisdom and practice, we start to love what is good and hate what is evil more and more. Eventually, the more we love our own righteous habits and hate our own sinful habits, the habits themselves start to change. In fact, so comprehensive is this transformation that we entirely lose our old dead self and become an entirely new creation. That’s what Christian living is in a nutshell: a slow process of dying and being reborn!
Just like everyone else in the world, Christians still wrestle with sin. But there is something that distinguishes Christians from all those who are not saved by God’s grace. Christians repent. Christians are transformed into a new creation by the Holy Spirit, gradually and daily, so that their hope increases and their desire for sin decreases. And Christians make no excuses as they strive even still for Christ’s perfect standard of righteousness. Are we truly living like people who have certain hope?
