Trauma and Sanctification

TRAUMA  AND  SANCTIFICATION

Upon salvation, we enter the Kingdom of God with heavy baggage from our wretched lives. Some come merely scratched, some bruised, and still others come stabbed, bleeding to death. This is because we live in a fallen, unredeemed world. We, as a part of this world, are all caught up in a vicious cycle of sin and death: When sin is committed, the divine retribution for punishment is death. A trespass committed in the physical realm triggers deadly consequences in the spiritual realm. Spiritual death leads to more sin. More sin gives evil the right to expand its territory, solidifying the Devil’s foothold in the human heart (Ephesians 4:27). Because evil acquires more access to reign in the heart, more laws are broken. More broken laws lead to more evil deeds, thoughts, and desires. This vicious cycle has been in effect in our world since sin entered it. This vicious cycle is in power in the believer unless, through Jesus, we attain His righteousness and break free from the cycle of sin and death (James 1:15).

The brokenness of the world is the cause and the consequence of our wounding and pain. We are broken by the wickedness of a broken world. We cause others pain because of our own brokenness. An innocent soul becomes ill when subjected to the wickedness roaming impetuously throughout the world. No one is insured against emotional pain. When experienced in excess, emotional pain shrivels the soul, causing it to withdraw from the light of life and to huddle in darkness. If the wounds don't heal, the soul sinks to such depths that this painful condition itself becomes a hindrance to the new way of life the believer has in Jesus. But the Scripture tells us there is a way to break the vicious cycle of evil through Christ crucified. 

He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

We cannot cure the entire world from the consequences of sin, but we can cure ourselves. Then, our healing affects the world around us, and we become instruments for the healing of others. We become agents of good, not evil. The vicious cycle of sin and death in our lives and the world around us is broken! And this wonderful “destruction” happens through Jesus’ peace in a healed heart! Jesus left His peace with us (John 14:27).

It takes some time for this wonderful transformation to happen, but once the Lord starts it, He brings it to completion. This is the process of through which we are infused with the righteous attributes of Christ as we simultaneously remove everything incompatible with the Kingdom of God. The Lord God accepts us just as we are, broken and imperfect. He begins to cleanse and mold us until we conform, in mind and heart, after His initial design: His holiness and righteousness become mirrored in us (1 Corinthians 1:30). This is sanctification. Faith in Jesus, resurrects the human spirit, which was death, a condition we all inherited since the Fall. This is salvation. 

He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Romans 4:25) 

At the moment of salvation, we are like newborn babies, craving pure spiritual milk so that we may grow up in our salvation (1 Peter 2:2). However, many of His saved people never mature spiritually, ready to digest solid food. Healing the heart from pain requires a solid food spiritual diet. Upon salvation, the restoration of humanity back to God’s original design has just begun. That was the moment when the curtain in the Holy of Holies was torn in two (Luke 23:45; Matthew 27:51), allowing the redeemed to approach God’s presence as never before. Many believers, however, have remained at the entrance of the Kingdom, at the ripped curtain, never entering the Holy of Holies, having communion with God. Healing from pain happens in the Holy of Holies where God dwells. The Holy of Holies of the ancient Temple is the believer's heart today. We are the Temple of the living God because He dwells in us. Communion with God for the believer is done in the depths of the human heart.

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s Temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16)

In ancient times, the glory of God resided in the Holy of Holies, in the ancient Temple. And if the Temple is the human heart today, then the same glory resides in the heart of every believer. There is a difference between the glory of God radiating from Moses and the glory for God radiating within a believer’s heart. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the covenant, his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. The glory of God was imprinted on Moses. He had to put a veil over his face when meeting with the people (Ex 34:29-35). Moses’ radiant glow faded with time. For today’s believers, the glory of God radiates from within without fading. 

We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

In this “ever-increasing glory,” there is no pain and misery because the sanctification and the transformation into the image of Christ have happened. And if Christ indeed dwells in you, then His presence is peace, not pain. Healing is not a static position of waiting and wailing but the action of approaching and actively seeking the One who holds the power to exchange the ashes of our misery with a royal crown of beauty (Isaiah 61:3). 

Similarly, as it is with the call for salvation, in which one must personally confess and receive forgiveness of sin, so it is with the call for sanctification: One must take their cross daily and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23). Salvation is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8), but once received, says the  Apostle Paul, we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). The  Apostle James encourages us to step up in seeking God. 

Come near to God and He will come near to you. (James 4:8a) 

But he also tells us how to approach God. 

Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:8b) 

The psalmist affirms the criteria, set by the Law of God, for entering His presence: 

Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. He will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God his Savior. (Psalm 24:3,4)

Upon salvation, we are justified, but only when we sanctify ourselves may we ascend to the hill of the Lord with clean hands and a pure heart. The discussion that follows will explain how the requirements for cleansing of today's believers mirror the requirements for cleansing in ancient Israel. As the ancient worshipers had a cleansing ritual before approaching God, the same is expected from today's believers; we must also satisfy the requirements for purity when approaching God. Everything else is hypocrisy. People may not see it, but God does, and instead of a blessing, we incur judgment (1 Corinthians 11:23-29).