Made Holy and Being Made Holy

You may have noticed that this blog is called “Holy in Progress.” You may be wondering what exactly that means. Are Christians made holy because of Jesus, or is it a process? Well, yes. It’s both/and. It’s an already-but-not-yet situation where we are already holy in Christ but not yet fully holy like him in how we live.

Because of the nature of this title, I wanted to take a moment to explain why it’s “in progress” to make sure we are on the same page. As Christians, we have been made holy because of Jesus. Hebrews 10:10 says, “For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.”

This means that Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross made us holy in the eyes of God. We didn’t do anything to earn it, but he gave it to us freely. This is called justification. When we believe in Jesus, he makes us right in the eyes of God. That means that through faith, we have been made holy positionally; our status is now as holy, righteous, and set apart. We are no longer condemned by our sin.

Justification is done through Jesus; he has made us holy. Holiness, through justification, is not a process. I hope to encourage you and remind you of your status in Jesus, but I am not the one who saves you and makes you holy; that can only be Jesus, and his sacrifice was once for all time.

Now, there is a process of being made holy called sanctification, and that’s where my focus will be. Hebrews 10:10 shows how we have been made holy in Jesus, and Hebrews 10:14 shows “by that one suffering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.” The process of sanctification is an ongoing one that transforms us to be more like Jesus. 

I decided to call this blog “Holy in Progress” because I know that sometimes, life is messy, and sometimes we get it wrong. I know that we are all working toward being “better.” I know that we are used to saying that we are a “work in progress.”

I think that by saying we are holy in progress, we are reminding ourselves of what we are trying to progress to. We want the process we go through to make us more holy, more loving, or more like Jesus. The sanctification process is not always easy, but maybe knowing we aren’t alone in it will make it a little easier.

As we talk about becoming more like Jesus, I want to make sure you are reminded of Romans 8:1, “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” There is no shame here. We all fall short sometimes, and that is okay. It’s not about failing or succeeding but about being transformed.

I hope to be able to share with you all that God has done and is doing in my life, the ways he has and is transforming me. I plan to share encouragement with you that is rooted in Scripture to help you rest well, know your true worth, and grow in grace. My prayer is that something I share here will be used by God to help us become more like Jesus.

I pray that we “who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord-who is the Spirit- makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image” 2 Corinthians 3:18.

With love,

Erica