what happens next?

“…justification is an act of God as a gracious judge, sanctification is a work of God as a merciful physician.” —Robert Traill

Growing up Baptist, I was often told I was one of those people who believe in “once saved, always saved.” And while that’s true, it’s a huge oversimplification.

It doesn’t mean, for example, that I think you are saved just because you think you are saved. Walking an aisle, filling out a card, praying a prayer: none of these things can save you. And many people who have done these things were never saved at all.

They will be among those who may have called him Lord but about whom Jesus himself will say, “Depart from me, I never knew you (Matthew 7:23).”

Knowing Him is the thing, and this requires a rebirth, a new creation. If we don’t experience this, we’re just kidding ourselves and should be terrified. No amount of helping the poor or casting out demons or doing good works will save us.

So what I really believe is once saved, continuing to be saved, as a sovereign God begins to make us like His own Son through the efforts of His own Spirit. If we didn’t want this, we didn’t want Him at all.

And if we do want Him, we want to be like him. This is the essence of holiness, ”without which no one will see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14).”

The process that gets us there requires daily, deliberate choices to be more like Jesus (Philippians 2:5-8) as the Holy Spirit brings our mind into submission to His (I Corinthians 2), until we come finally “to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:15).”

In this way we are sanctified, or set apart. This is what we are but it is also what we are becoming. We are set apart by the sacrifice of Christ (Hebrews 10:10) and sealed by the Spirit of God (Ephesians 1:13).

We are also being set apart. Our condition is, as Luther observed, “at once righteous and a sinner.” In a fallen world, everything around us continues to call us to put ourselves first, but by the grace of God we progress from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 2:18) as we learn to worship Him.

This process is sometimes painful. We may be persecuted or disciplined by a loving Father. But it is certainly progressive, as we learn to delight in His law, loving his commands (Psalm 119), finding peace with Him (Romans 5:1), offering a sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15).

We are no longer dead to the purpose and plan of God as we once were (Ephesians 2:11-3).

Some dying may be involved, however. We are told to die to sin, to put to death the desires and the deeds of the flesh (Romans 6:11). The Puritans had a wonderful word for this: mortification, a constant looking to Christ and the cross, praying in such a way that we are increasingly alert to sinful desires and seeking God’s help in refusing them.

All this requires new habits which cultivate new desires. Through both private and corporate disciplines we seek God first and come to love our neighbors as ourselves. (Matthew 22:37-39).

We fail often. But we continue to repent. We continue to seek grace. We continue to believe the promises of God.

To do so is not natural. It is supernatural. Fortunately God saves us and sets us apart. “He that has begun a work in us will perform it unto the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).” This work fills our heart and extends into our lives. It is, as Thomas Boston observed, a “constellation of graces.”

Again, like salvation, it is not based on our merit. We respond to His Spirit, growing in our understanding of Him, becoming more like Him, dying to ourselves as we are made alive to righteousness.

We are becoming grateful, obedient children, the object of our Father’s affection and grace. We have peace and rest. Assurance and joy. He strengthens our character, preserves our integrity, undergirds our service and prepares us for heaven.

This work of God is what comes next, if we are saved.