Striving for Holiness: The Role of the Holy Spirit in Your Spiritual Growth

If you’ve been a Christian long, you may have heard a preacher or teacher discuss the “three tenses of salvation.” The past tense is our justification, when, at the moment we accepted Christ, we were saved from the penalty of sin and made right with God (Romans 3:23-24). The future tense is glorification, when we will one day be saved from the very presence of sin, obtaining perfect sinlessness and holiness in heaven. 

Between those two is the present tense of salvation: sanctification. This is the daily, lifelong process of being saved from the power of sin. It’s our ongoing growth in knowing God better and better and acting more and more like him. 

At the moment we become a follower of Jesus, God declares us to be holy (Hebrews 10:10). At our core, that’s who we are now: people who have been justified and declared to be holy by God, based on our faith in Jesus and his payment for our sin. We also become holy at salvation in that we are dead to sin. We are no longer slaves to sin and don’t have to sin (Romans 6:11, 14, 18). 

Sometimes, though, we want to sin, and we do sin. As long as we’re in these human bodies on this earth, we’ll have this sin problem. The conflict between our desire for holiness and our desire to sin is a lifelong struggle. 

So we have to fight. God commands us to be holy (Matthew 5:48, 2 Corinthians 7:1), so there’s work for us to do — hard work. We have to kill our sins. We’re to strive toward personal holiness. We have to act. 

But we act knowing we can’t fight sin in our strength. The Holy Spirit does it in his strength. 

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. (Romans 8:13)

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)

We fight for personal holiness in partnership with the Holy Spirit. No matter how badly we want to obey his call to holiness, we can’t get there. We don’t have the strength to become all that Jesus calls us to be. So we do our part and let the Holy Spirit do his.

Our part is to surrender and obey. Do what you know is right. Refuse to do what you know is wrong. That’s how you “put to death the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13) You fight for holiness, you do what you can do. Then the Holy Spirit will work in your life to do what only he can do. He’ll change you from the inside out, producing the life he wants you to live.

So what are things you can do?

Start by reading your Bible – regularly. And as you read, ask God to help you see not only the truth about him but also the truth about yourself. 

Most of us are addicted to something.  Some of us are addicted to coffee.  I read somewhere that you know you drink too much coffee when: your eyes stay open when you sneeze; you use monogrammed coffee filters; or you chew on other people’s fingernails. I’ll let you judge yourself on that. 

There’s one addiction we all share – the desire to do things our way. That addiction has gotten us nothing but trouble. We can’t be the person God is calling us to be if we cling to that habit. As we read God’s Word and pray, we have to admit our addiction to doing things our way and surrender to God and his way. But we won’t know his way until we read his Word and ask him to show us where he wants to change us. 

Just being shown this truth doesn’t necessarily change anything. We have to submit to him. Only when we surrender to his leadership can we depend on the Holy Spirit to change us. That’s when we  “walk in the Spirit” and “keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16-18). And only then will he produce in us the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23).

So where do you struggle? Do you struggle with greed? Or gossip? Lack of faith? Lack of self-control? What sin is holding you back? You don’t have to live under sin’s control. You are no longer a slave to sin. You don’t have to sin. You can stand up and say no to sin. 

And depend on the strength of the Holy Spirit to overcome it. 

God wants so much for you and me, and when we say yes to sin and no to him, we prevent ourselves from receiving those blessings.

If you’re a child of God, understand that God wants you to grow in knowing Him and experiencing him. He wants you to be so close to him that you recognize his guidance and never lose sight of His love even in difficult times. He also wants to help you grow in holiness. His Spirit is Holy, and he’s here to make you holy. 

If you do your part, the Holy Spirit will do his.

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