Has God begun His work in you?
UPDATED: 1/7/2026
We continue with God’s counsel through the writer of Hebrews – “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord, seeing to it that no one falls short of the grace of God; that no ROOT OF BITTERNESS SPRINGING UP CAUSES TROUBLE, and by it many be defiled; that also there be no sexually immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.” (Hebrews 12: 14-17)
The writer of Hebrews points back to the finality of Jesus’ sacrifice when compared to the continual animal sacrifices made by the priests under the old covenant of Moses – “And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time UNTIL HIS ENEMIES ARE PUT AS A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10: 11-14)
A damnable doctrine of Mormonism is that people are spiritually born before they are physically born. However, we learn from God’s word through the apostle John about spiritual birth. Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews came to Jesus by night and spoke with Him – “’Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born? Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which has been born of the Spirit is spirit.’” (John 3: 2b-6)
As we learn from Romans – “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 3: 21-24)
We do not belong to God unless we have been born of His Spirit – “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” (Romans 8: 9-11)
Only after we have been born of God’s Spirit does that sanctification process begin. We cannot become more like Christ on our own, through our own power. Only God’s indwelling Spirit can transform us from the inside out.
Religion that teaches someone to be ‘like Christ’ and leaves out the necessity of being spiritually ‘born again’ is in error. The power of inner transformation comes through the power of God’s Spirit through the power of His word found in the Bible as we surrender our hearts, minds, and wills to God alone and allow Him to have His way within us.
In the above verses from Hebrews, we learn that we are to pursue peace and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. We are also not to fall short of the grace of God. Many false teachers and religion put the focus of salvation back on the person and take the focus off of the finished work of Jesus Christ and faith alone in what He has done. They will always add something to grace (God’s unmerited favor through what Jesus alone has done). These ‘prophets,’ ‘apostles,’ popular teachers, etc. will require certain behaviors such as worshipping only on a certain day, baptism, dietary restrictions, total submission to hierarchical leadership, wearing certain garments, etc. as a part of a person’s salvation. All of these things turn us away from and cause us to fall short of the grace of God. ‘Unmerited’ means it cannot be earned. We cannot be ‘good enough’ to go to heaven. Only through believing that Jesus was God manifested in the flesh who paid the full price for our sins through His death on the cross, trusting that He died and rose again to new life can we begin that journey of true sanctification. All other ways that tell us we can do it ourselves are lies.
If you have not surrendered your will, heart, and mind to Jesus Christ as both your Lord and Savior won’t you do so today. In Romans we learn – “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, leading to righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, leading to salvation.” (Romans 10: 9-10)
No where in the Bible is there any support for the idea that we will have another chance after we die. If we do not accept what Jesus has done for us in this life, we will enter into an eternity without God because of our own rejection of what He alone has done for us.
