Gradual Holiness

Sep 10 2024 - Eric Buresh

In a couple of recent posts, we’ve looked at Gospel transformation that comes by beholding and putting on the beautiful wardrobe of Jesus Christ. To me, the end goal of Gospel transformation can be intimidating and at times disheartening. God doesn’t water down His expectations: “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2) “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:15–16) Ultimately, we are aiming to manifest Christ likeness. 

Yet, after years of Gospel transformation in my life, I remain painfully far from that goal. And, in any given moment of failure, I can find myself feeling stuck, asking “Is any transformation really happening?” When I struggle with these feelings, I remind myself of Paul’s similar expression: “Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12–14, CSB) 

I also remind myself that holiness is gradual. God kindly uses agrarian metaphors to describe our growth in holiness: fruit, vines, trees. Have you ever actually seen a vine grow? I mean, stare at a vine for a while, even a whole day, you’ll never be able to spot one iota of growth in any given moment. But come back after a week or a month in the growing season, and you’ll be able to see the vine is inches or feet longer than it was before. The growth is imperceptible in a moment, but over time, there is proof of it. Our growth in holiness, what we call sanctification, is not perceptible on an instantaneous basis, but over the course of time under the Holy Spirit’s work, we see the changes. We see the beautiful garments of Christlikeness begin to manifest in our lives. 

Also like a vine, we will experience growing seasons where the growth is fast and more apparent, other seasons are more like hibernation where our growth is slow, but we can trust that we are charging up for the next spring under the experienced pruning of the Holy Spirit as He uses pain and even failure in our life to guide us into more perfect growth. The process takes time, but we steadily grow from seedlings into mature vines connected to the True Vine.  

As we embrace the process, we must continually place our faith in the fact that God’s Spirit is working within us, making us holy, transforming us into the likeness of Christ. It is on His timetable that we grow. It is a day-by-day, moment-by-moment growth in grace. We do our part by exercising the means of grace God has made available to us—prayer, Scripture, fellowship, and the sacraments—and the Holy Spirit will do His part by working in and around us in our circumstances to ultimately produce fruit. 

We must be patient with ourselves and with each other, understanding that the Gospel transformation is a lifelong process. We must trust the Spirit’s work, embracing the pruning that comes our way, and believing that, in the fullness of our time (whether by death or by rapture), we will show Christlike holiness to the ultimate glory of our Lord and Savior.