In Sanctification, Where You’re Going Is More Important Than Where You Are

Public Progress Report

It was several years ago, not long after my ordination, that I stumbled upon 1 Timothy 4:15 and found it to be a source of both great comfort and mild discouragement. It wasn’t the first time I had read the verse. But it was the first time God opened my eyes to the verse to see what it meant for my life and ministry.

Most pastors are familiar with 1 Timothy 4:16—“Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching.” That’s our blueprint for ministry: watch our lives and watch our doctrine. I knew verse 16 but hadn’t paid much attention to verse 15: “Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.” It was that last part about progress that caught my eye. Earlier, in 1 Timothy 3, Paul lays out what seem like lofty requirements for elders and deacons. Then in 1 Timothy 4, just a few verses earlier, he tells young Timothy to “set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity” (1 Tim. 4:12). Does that feel a little intense to you? “Hey, Timmy, I know you are just out of seminary but I want you to be exemplary in pretty much every area of your life. Got it?” Sounds scary. But then comes this part about progress in verse 15. Apparently, Paul didn’t think “set an example” meant “get everything right the first time.”

You can take verse 15 as an upper or a downer. My discouragement came in thinking that people would see me five years from now and realize I used to be less mature, less capable, and less godly. It’s a little bit of a bummer to realize that later I’ll look back at the me I am now and be glad I’m not entirely the same me any longer. But verse 15 has mainly been an encouragement. It means I can be qualified to be an elder and set an example with my life without “having arrived.” I can grow. I can mature. I can become holier than I am now. My behavior and my teaching can improve. Progress is not only what God expects from me but what he allows from me.

Which brings us to one of the most important axioms about holiness: when it comes to sanctification, it’s more important where you’re going than where you are. Direction matters more than position. Your future progress speaks louder than your present placement. So cheer up: if you aren’t as holy as you want to be now, God may still be pleased with you because you are heading in the right direction. And be warned: if you aren’t as holy as you used to be, God probably isn’t impressed with yesterday’s triumphs when for the last few months you’ve done nothing but give up.

I should hasten to add that measuring your progress in the pursuit of holiness is easier said than done. For starters, you shouldn’t take your spiritual temperature every day. You need to look for progress over months and years, not by minutes and hours. As David Powlison likes to say, sanctification is like a man walking up the stairs with a yo-yo. There are a lot of ups and downs, but ultimate progress nonetheless. So don’t tie yourself up in knots wondering if Tuesday was godlier than Wednesday. Look at your trajectory over the last five months, or better yet, over the last five years. This goes for judging others too. Don’t rush to criticize the spiritual progress of others without knowing how far they’ve come and in which direction they’re heading Which leads to a related point: don’t be afraid to hand the spiritual thermometer over to someone else. The assumption in verse 15 is that other Christians will notice our progress. An honest, discerning friend is often more accurate than we are in assessing our relative spiritual health. They can see your general movement while you may only see today’s failure. Remember, it’s the testimony of almost all saints that as they get closer to God they see more of their ungodliness. It’s normal to feel less holy as you become more holy. Being more aware of sin in your life is usually a sign of the Spirit’s sanctifying work, not of his withdrawal. All that to say, when it comes to seeing your own sanctification, it’s not always best to take your own word for it. Ask your wife, ask your roommate, ask your dad, ask your pastor, ask your best friend: can you see my progress?

Repentance as a Way of Life

If the pursuit of holiness entails progress—with fits and starts, with victories and defeats, with two steps forward and one step back—then it also demands repentance. In the very first of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses he said, “Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. . . . willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.” Sanctification, therefore, will be marked by penitence more than perfection. Of course, perfection does not have to be a bad word. The Greek word sometimes translated as “perfect” (teleios or teleioō) simply means qualified, mature, or fulfilled (Col. 1:28; 4:12; Heb. 2:10; James 1:4). So in one sense believers are to be “perfect.” But biblically this never means complete sinlessness in thought or deed. Whatever you make of Romans 7 (and I think Paul is writing about his own struggle with sin as a Christian), it’s undeniable that even the best believers sometimes do things they don’t want to do and fail to do what they want to do. The Bible is clear—except for Jesus, no one will be sinless in this life (Heb. 4:15). “There is no one who does not sin” (1 Kings 8:46). There is “not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins” (Eccles. 7:20). “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). Given these stark realities, holiness on earth must include repentance.

This is especially true because those most eager to be holy are often most susceptible to judgmentalism and arrogance. Everyone in love with the idea of personal holiness (not to mention those audacious enough to write a book on it!) should pay attention to the words of Andrew Murray: “There is no pride so dangerous, none so subtle and insidious, as the pride of holiness.”¹ It’s not that they would ever say it out loud, but there grows up in some Christians a sense of superiority concerning how far they have advanced compared to others. It is very possible to pursue holiness out of pride. It is also possible to pursue holiness out of humility, and succeed, and then become proud. It’s not for nothing that Jesus expects his followers to ask for forgiveness as a regular part of their prayers (Matt. 6:12). Repentance is a way of life for the holy child of God.

Wrapping up a message on holiness with a section on repentance may seem counterintuitive. A little weak and a little defeatist. Kind of like telling a recovering alcoholic what to take for his next hangover. But if repentance looks like a concession to sin rather than a mark of holiness it’s only because we think of repentance too lightly. It’s one thing to sin your heart out, mumble a few sorrys, and get on with life. It’s quite another thing to hate your sin, cry out to God, and make a spiritual U-turn. Real contrition is hard, painful work. As Thomas Brooks put it, quite vividly, “Repentance is the vomit of the soul.”² Think about throwing up for a moment (just a moment!). There is nothing pleasant about it. I can’t think of any physical sensation I like less. I don’t use puking as a backup plan, as a remedy I can always rely on later. When I throw up it tells me I have the flu, a migraine, or I ate too much at Taco John’s. Something is terribly wrong.

Genuine repentance is similar. It’s not a convenient escape hatch after a weekend or a life of folly. It means admitting specific wrong, recognizing your offensiveness to God, changing course, turning to Christ, and wishing with all your heart you had never made the mistake you now despise. Or as Calvin put it, “[repentance] is the true turning of our life to God, a turning that arises from a pure and earnest fear of him; and it consists in the mortification of our flesh and of the old man, and in the vivification of the Spirit.”³ Throwing up is not easy. And neither is repentance. But one is much sweeter than the other.

Growing into a Good-Looking Christian

Back when I was in college I had a conversation with an older Christian man about my plans to enter the ministry. In the course of our conversation he quoted a line that I’ve never forgotten. It comes from Robert Murray M’Cheyne, a nineteenth-century Scottish preacher who died at the age of twenty-nine. In fact, of all the sentences outside the Bible, I’ve probably repeated this one more than any other: “the greatest need of my people is my own holiness.” Now in one sense, I suppose the gospel is more important than holiness, because the good news of Christ’s death and resurrection is good even if the person sharing it is a scoundrel. So maybe M’Cheyne should have said, “the second greatest need.” But in either case, he’s absolutely right about the importance of holiness. He understood the indispensable character of character. We think relevance and relate-ability are the secrets to spiritual success. And yet, in truth, a dying world needs you to be with God more than it needs you to be “with it.” That’s true for me as a pastor and true for you as a mother, father, brother, sister, child, grandparent, friend, Bible study leader, computer programmer, bank teller, barista, or CEO. Your friends and family, your colleagues and kids—they don’t need you to do miracles or transform civilization. They need you to be holy. As Horatius Bonar (another Scottish preacher and a friend of M’Cheyne) reminds us, holiness is not measured by “one great heroic act or mighty martyrdom. . . . It is of small things that a great life is made up.”⁴

God wants you to be holy. Through faith he already counts you holy in Christ. Now he intends to make you holy with Christ.

Holiness is the sum of a million little things—the avoidance of little evils and little foibles, the setting aside of little bits of worldliness and little acts of compromise, the putting to death of little inconsistencies and little indiscretions, the attention to little duties and little dealings, the hard work of little self-denials and little self-restraints, the cultivation of little benevolences and little forbearances. Are you trustworthy? Are you kind? Are you patient? Are you joyful? Do you love? These qualities, worked out in all the little things of life, determine whether you are blight or blessing to everyone around you, whether you are an ugly spiritual eyesore or growing up into a good-looking Christian.

We live in a world obsessed with superficial beauty. Whether it’s on cable news or on the Weather Channel, the world expects a certain look. The message all around us is that you’re not good if you’re not good-looking. And so all of us—from ten-year-olds in makeup, to college students in ironic hipster garb, to stay-at-home moms on another diet, to middle-aged dads getting reacquainted with the gym, to aging boomers on Botox—we’re all interested in beauty. But what is true beauty? What is really worth seeing? Who has the look really worth imitating? Paul says, “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us” (Phil. 3:17). It’s godliness that God is looking for. The best-looking Christian is the one growing by the Spirit into the likeness of Christ. It’s all too common to think of holiness as some sort of snooty do-goodism, prudish moralism, or ugly legalism. But these isms are unfortunate caricatures, owing to our sins, our suspicions, and the lies of the devil. True holiness “is the most beautiful ornament and the most magnificent beauty which can be found in man.”⁵ Behold it in Christ and become like him in glory (2 Cor. 3:18).

God wants you to be holy. Through faith he already counts you holy in Christ. Now he intends to make you holy with Christ. This is no optional plan, no small potatoes. God saved you to sanctify you. God is in the beautification business, washing away spots and smoothing out wrinkles. He will have a blameless bride. He promises to work in you; he also calls you to work out. “The beauty of holiness” is first of all the Lord’s (Ps. 29:2, KJV). But by his grace it can also be yours.

This article is adapted from The Hole in Our Holiness: Filling the Gap between Gospel Passion and the Pursuit of Godliness by Kevin DeYoung.

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