Sanctification and spiritual warfare 1

If you run into Christians who deny any effort is involved in sanctification - God-reliant effort, to use J. I. Packer's phrase - just ask them what they consider the necessity of spiritual warfare is in a Christian's life and development.

Village of Morality churchians (as opposed to Christians) not only confuse - because they don't yet know about - pre- and post-regeneration effort (once regenerated you are able to make effective efforts in your sanctification, and you'd better make efforts), they also often just flatly deny active, progressive sanctification (i.e. deny sanctification is active-progressive as-well-as passive-definitive) mainly because they can't get it straight that justification is not involved in it. Justification is the foundation that can't be done away with once it exists. Their confusion regarding justification vis-a-vis sanctification is in their own way as wild as Roman Catholic confusion on the subject; often with similar dark motives.

But if you can't get anywhere with the churchians by explaining the difference in effort regarding pre- and post-regeneration states, or the fact that sanctification is both passive and active, then hit them with this: spiritual warfare is taught in the Word of God, is it not?

They will deny it involves effort, of course. Village of Morality Christians want comfort over and above everything. They also don't want to have to see the prison they live in, the prison called the kingdom of Satan. (When you begin to awaken out of sleep [Rom. 13:11] you begin to see the prison you are in, and if you're not a warrior, with real faith, that can be overwhelmingly unpleasant. For Village of Morality Christians it is something they will do almost anything to avoid seeing.)

Jesus says "do this, do this, do this" all through the New Testament. You are given armour, defensive and offensive, to be used. The parable of the talents tells you what God thinks of people who make no effort to increase what they've been given. Church Christians will have a thousand justifications to avoid facing these biblical teachings. Don't allow them to steer you into their still-pool, poisoned existence.