This week we begin worship with:
But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.
We are justified by the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. But this verse speaks of something different, that of sanctification (hagiasmos). This can be understood as the opposite of profaning and it is the work of the Holy Spirit.
A long time ago we would worship in a “sancti-nasium”. All week it was used by the school children and the scouts, then it would be transformed into a sanctuary for Sunday morning. Only to be broken down after the evening service in the raucous tradition of the weekly stacking of the chairs.
It is the very presence of the Holy Spirit in us that pushes out the profane and sanctifies us:
Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?
There is no room for both.
No comments:
Post a Comment