Why is sanctification so hard? Sanctification is the ongoing work of God whereby He conforms believers into the image of Christ Jesus. That sounds exciting as we likely picture all the things that God is going to add to us. We might feel like kids in a clothing store with mom. Everything we like we grab and toss into the basket with joy. “Can’t wait to wear these.” “I’m going to shine in this.” “This will make me stand out.” This translates into “I’m going to be like Jesus.” “I’m going to love like God.”

However, sanctification is much more and much harder than that. It involves stripping away dead and broken pieces of ourselves. It involves hammering out crooked characteristics and scrubbing away years of built up bacteria. And that is a hard and painful work. It takes much effort to dig underground and unearth broken pipes and fix them. Thus, sanctification is a hard, dirty, and challenging work.

So why is sanctification so hard? It’s because we are deeply broken people, even as believers. The chasm between our old self and being conformed into the image of Jesus is great. We all have a great distance to go after being born again. Nevertheless, knowing this is good because it sets our expectations straight and prepares us for God’s work. Here are a few expectations that can help you in the difficult times of sanctification.

Expect Sanctification Not to Always Feel Good, but to Be Good

It doesn’t feel so great to see a remolded bathroom in the stripped down and messy phase. But we know it is all a part of the good work of the contractor. Certain things need to go and other areas need prepping for beautification. Thus, set your expectations right by anticipating an internal work that doesn’t always feel so easy or good.

The sanctification of Paul included facing death and learning to rely of God. He says (1 Cor. 1:8–10), “⁸For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. ⁹Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. ¹⁰He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.” Surely facing death did not feel good for Paul, but learning to trust in the face of death was good for him. If Paul the Apostle was being sanctified in trust, how much more shall we.

Expect Sanctification to Touch the Deepest and Most Sensitive Places

Sanctification is about renewing the heart and mind—the innermost places of your being. And those places contain the core of our identity, beliefs, and actions. Sometimes those areas need a simple adjustment like a clock, and other times they need a hammer to bang out a screw that is rusted shut. Therefore, expect God to use situations and people to touch the deepest places in you that need rewiring.

Peter struggled with acceptance of the Gentiles. And so God worked a grand scheme where he led Cornelius (a Gentile) and Peter (a Jew) into a situation where Cornelius (and his family) would hear the Gospel of Jesus and Peter would realize and confess (Acts 10:34–35), “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Peter was sanctified into realizing the truth about clean and unclean people in light of the new covenant grace. That was a deep work of God that touched the place of Peter’s heart which said (Acts 10:14), “By no means, Lord; but I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” Peter’s heart arose out of sanctification able to see and act according to God’s heart instead of his own.

Expect Sanctification Your Entire Life

We will not be finished products until we enter into God’s presence in the new heavens and the new earth. Therefore, expect a good work of God your entire life. Don’t get too comfortable that you know all that you need to know or have grown in all ways that you need to grow. Sanctification applies to the new believer as much as it applies to the retied believer. As long as you abide in Jesus—the life-giving vine—He will supply you with growth in grace.

Sarah was still being sanctified at the good old age of ninety. God revealed that she who was past the time of child rearing would have a baby. What was Sarah’s response? She laughed (Gen. 18:12)! However, she was sanctified with the reality that nothing is too hard for the LORD (Gen. 18:14) and one year later God’s power proved true as she held baby Isaac in her arms. Interestingly, her sanctification was memorialized in the name of Isaac, which means laughter.

Good expectations help prepare us to better engage the good work of God’s sanctification. Let us not be daunted by the process; it is hard, but God is the master builder as well as the perfect Father. He who designed and built the universe can also fix it. And He works as a father for His children—tender, firm, safe, and good.

God is prospering us into the image of Jesus, and that is a work worth trusting Him in, no matter how difficult it may be.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work
in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Phil. 1:6