Sanctification Happens When

The book of Romans maps out the process of change for the Christian's life:
Romans 8:13 (ESV) For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

What does that look like?

The book of Joshua draws an illustration of Spiritually empowered sanctification in the unclaimed areas of the Promised land following Joshua's efforts to lead the nation toward total occupancy. In his farewell speech, he admonishes the people to continue fighting the last vestiges of the nations surrounding them. These nations pose a threat to Israel's fidelity and longevity. So Joshua extols further eradication of their existence. This is a picture of our sanctification. Jesus saves us, and then we partner with the Holy Spirit in working out that salvation in fear and trembling (see Philippians 2:12-13).

Joshua 23:4–8 (ESV) Behold, I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with all the nations that I have already cut off, from the Jordan to the Great Sea in the west. 5 The LORD your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, just as the LORD your God promised you. 6 Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, 7 that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, 8 but you shall cling to the LORD your God just as you have done to this day.

Notice Joshua ties there success in driving out the nations to the Word of God given through Moses. That Word is the secret of their victory in the further acquisition of the land. Through the Word,  God gives His people the wisdom and might to take more ground in their spiritual lives. Filled with His power by hearing and following His Word, we can eliminate old habits and desires more and more.

Joshua describes the effectiveness of this power:

Joshua 23:10 (ESV) One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the LORD your God who fights for you, just as he promised you.

I long that Christians would have this picture of their efforts in sanctification. The LORD supernaturally charges your obedience and love for His paths. Keeping yourself in His Word empowers YOUR success. Our sanctification is rooted in both the Word of God and the POWER of the Holy Spirit. Say it to yourself regularly, "He that is in me is greater than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). This fight is not yours and yours alone. No, in fact, your efforts are supernaturally charged by God Himself.

Joshua tells them the Word will keep them from mixing with the foreign nations around them. This is the way we epxerience the power of the Word in our lives. We see what is right and wrong. We can discern good from evil through training and practice:

Hebrews 5:14 (ESV) But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

The Word doesn't just instruct us in the way we should go. It is not a rulebook or manual for living well. The Word is the LIFE of God imparted to us through the Holy Spirit. We receive power to win spiritual territory in stronghold areas. 

By contrast, compromise of the Word would bring disaster and defeat:

Joshua 23:12–13 (ESV) For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, 13 know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you.

The Christian who mixes God's Word with man's wisdom will find himself immobilized. We are to love the people of the world while realizing their ways are ultimately the misguided (albeit popular) paths of death.

Romans 3:4 (ESV) Let God be true though every one were a liar"

In Joshua 23:8, Israel is commanded to "cling" to the Lord! What a beautiful picture of how sanctification works for us. We are not to simply "avoid" sinful thoughts and patterns. We are to put effort into a closer and closer relationship with the Lord. We are to call out to Him. We are to hold fast to Him - in prayer, in confession, in community with other Christians, in assembling with the body of Christ. Feed the spiritual appetites and the results of spiritual victory will come to pass. Forsake those appetites and defeat inevitably follows.

Joshua stipulates:

Joshua 23:11 (ESV) Be very careful, therefore, to love the LORD your God.

The Christians sanctification starts there - love for the Lord. Now how do I develop love for the Lord? The same way you develop love for almost anyone else... you spend TIME with HIM. Talk to Him, ask Him to help you love Him through the Holy Spirit He has given you. Surround yourself with His priorities. Let His presence be the delight of your soul through continual experiences. 

Romans 5:5 (ESV) God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

So, Christian, the fact is this: You can win spiritual ground. But you can only win God's way. Are you taking His weapons and fighting in His power? Are you living in the Word? Or are you compromising the message of Christ with the popular mottos of the day? Israel's imperatives here in Joshua 23 are ours. We have ground God will give us. But it comes by intentional decision on our parts. Let's go!