BY PARDON MWANSA

n the small village where he lived, Wilfred was known by both children and adults as the cursing, swearing, fighting man, and nobody dared cross him. A day never went by without his cursing or swearing at someone. His hot temper caused him to slap his children if they misbehaved and to fight with strangers in the beer-drinking hall if they said or did something he did not like.

One day there was a church meeting in the village, and Wilfred, though drunk, attended the meeting. He was swearing even at the meeting place. At the end of the message the pastor talked to him, and he followed up with a visit at Wilfred's house the next day. In the days that followed, Wilfred attended church services and became a believer.

People could not believe the change that took place in him. He stopped cursing and swearing. One day his own wife said to him, "If there is anything this church has done to you, it has taken away your swearing and cursing." To which Wilfred responded: "My dear, it is not the church; it is the transforming grace of God that has changed my life. Jesus has taken away my old self and given me a new self."

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say 'No' to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good" (Titus 2:11-14).*

Salvation and Sanctification Go Together
The work of grace is not just being forgiven of our sins, but also includes sanctification. To sanctify is to make holy, to purify, to consecrate. Sanctification is the work of God purifying a believer into a clean and holy life. The same grace that brings salvation sanctifies our nature, creating out of us a peculiar people, eager to do the will of God as we wait for the appearance of our Lord Christ Jesus. This is what Paul is saying in Titus 2:11-14.

When a sinner responds to the love of Jesus and accepts Him as a personal Savior, Jesus accepts such a sinner just the way they are--filthy (Rom. 5:8). He forgives them, clothes them in His righteousness, and presents them in the presence of God as God's child (Eph. 1:7). We stand in the presence of God, and He accepts us through the blood and righteousness of Jesus and offers us eternal life (John 3:16). We receive the Holy Spirit as a constant presence to help us live as children of light, fitting us for heaven and eternity (Gal. 4:6).

Grace and the New Birth
Scripture pictures the life of a believer as a new birth. This is the truth that Jesus told Nicodemus when he said: "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again" (John 3:3).

Birth of anything implies a new beginning. The Greek words translated "born again" in this passage mean to be born from above, bring forth from above, to be conceived from above. This implies that the Christian birth is a new beginning. It therefore does not build on the old self. Ellen White says: "The Christian's life is not a modification or improvement of the old, but a transformation of nature. There is a death to self and sin, and a new life altogether."¹

This new birth comes from God. No other means can give birth to heavenly things. "This change can be brought only by the effectual working of the Holy Spirit."² We must not think to patch up the old building, but begin from the foundation. This calls for a new nature altogether, a nature that comes with divine principles and affections.

The new birth spoken of in this passage is a real experience. A new birth in the Spirit is real. The Bible says this in 2 Corinthians 5:17: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

The new birth is a miracle and cannot always be explained. Jesus told Nicodemus that one cannot explain how wind blows. But one can see the effects. So it is with this new birth. We cannot fully explain how it happens, but one can see its results.

Sanctification--Growing in Grace
While I was preaching at a camp meeting in 1982, the deacons handed me a note written by one of the attendees. I had just preached about the parable of the sower. Interpreting this story, I appealed to the congregation not to be like the seeds that fell among the thorns and got choked by "the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth" (Matt. 13:22). A woman who had been listening was touched by the Spirit and wrote me the note the deacons gave me.

Questions for Sharing: 1. What do you see as the role of grace in the process of sanctification? Is that role different from that by which grace saved us in the first place? 2. What is the strongest testimony we can bear to the saving power of Christ? How does the author illustrate this in the reading? 3. What hope is there when we fail?

It read: "Pastor, I love the Lord, but I fail to obey Him all the time. Many times I pledge to God that I will live for Him, especially after I hear messages that lift me up, but within a few days I find myself doing the things I know I am not supposed to do. Pastor, is my experience normal? When should I expect to stop sinning? How can I obey God all the time? How can I grow into a relationship with God in which I obey Him fully? Please help me."

The words of the apostle Paul would help us to find answers to this woman's questions. Paul wrote: "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:12, 13).

Certain points are clear in this passage:

1. Paul did not claim that he was perfect or that he had stopped sinning. But he claimed that the direction he desired in his life was that of upward growth.

2. When we sin, we are counseled to "confess our sins" and God is "faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Christ Jesus is our hope in dealing with our sinful nature. He will give us victory. This was Paul's conclusion (see Romans 7:14-23). The presence of Jesus, through the indwelling Holy Spirit, is our only hope of victory over sin.

Grace and Victory Over Sin
The question most needing attention is this: "How do I grow into a relationship with God in which I live a life of loyalty to His will?"

Jesus provided the answer to this question. "Remain in me," He said, "and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:4, 5).

The relationship that exists between a vine and a branch is key to the bearing of fruit. And the fruit referred to here is the character of loyalty to God, a character with divine similitude. This is the fruit of the Spirit. Paul identified the fruit of the Spirit as "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Gal. 5:22, 23).

The Bible teaches that grace comes from God, full and free. In this salvation experience God gives us the Holy Spirit, who, working in us, purifies us and enables us to bear fruit.

The work of this transforming grace continues in us as long as we live. We continue through grace to become more and more like Jesus.

The great saints whose lives are recorded in Scripture never claimed that they had become sinless. But they claimed and preached that there is victory over sin in Christ. Paul says, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me" (Phil. 3:12).

We can be victorious over sin, but this can be done only in Christ Jesus our Lord. And because of this, the daily prayer of every child of God will be: "Lord, supply me today with grace, grace needed for me to live a victorious life and to keep a steadfast walk with You."

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*Scripture references in this article are from the New International Version.

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¹ Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 172.
² Ibid.

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Pardon Mwansa is the president of the East-Central Africa Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.