You Are Perfected, And Being Made Holy

“You have been set free from sin

and have become slaves to righteousness.”

Romans 6:18

You Are Perfected

First off, I want to speak to your heart and soul.  You have been perfected.  Hebrews 10:14 states, "For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified." (emphasis mine)

This word perfected is the Greek word teleióō - which means to complete that is (literally) accomplish, consummate in character, consecrate, finish, fulfill, make perfect.  This word perfected derives from the same word that Jesus speaks in John 19, "It is finished."  The word finished is the Greek word Teleō, which means to complete, to set out for a definite point or goal.  When Jesus hung on the cross and said, "It's finished," He was saying, "I have completed the task the Lord set out for me.  I have finished my race perfectly.  My death is the ultimate sacrifice forever."  For the Hebrew writer to use teleióō, he understood that because of Jesus' sacrifice, his absolutely perfect sacrifice, that we have been (past tense) made complete and consummate in character.  Our part is to receive what Jesus has already done on our behalf!

So then why do we have things that come up from our past at certain times? 

We Are Now Being Sanctified

I have come to discover that at the very right time, when I am ready and willing to receive what the Lord wants to do in my heart, is when He will bring up certain things from the past that I need to deal with in order to walk fully free from the weight and guilt of it. 

This will look differently for everyone depending on what it is that's in your past.  But, I want to give you a very real scenario and example of what the Lord showed me this week, as I believe it could help other believers be set free from past mistakes as well.

I mentioned that for many weeks I was having recurring dreams.  Not that all of the dreams were the same, but the person in them was the same.  There were different elements in each one, but after another dream with this same person I finally said, "Ok Lord!  What is it that you are wanting to show me?"  If I'm being really honest with you, I probably had 5 or 6 dreams with this recurring person before I wised up and realized it was the Lord drawing my attention to something that was unresolved in my heart. 

On a slower day in my week, I began to work through each of the elements in the dream to see what the Lord was drawing my attention to.  And then when I was certain of what He was showing me, I began to mentally review each of those areas of hurt and the ways in which I was directly impacted by hurt, or the ways in which I had hurt this other person.  After walking down the path of the past, I began to cry and release each of these memories.  After a minute or so of walking down this path, I realized I needed an audience.

I have had a vision of being in the throne room with God before, and I mentally pictured the throne again and out loud I said, "Jesus, Holy Spirit, Father, I invite you into this place with me."  And I brought up each memory, confessed my part of every wrong in Their presence, and I could physically feel the Hand of Grace touch me as I confessed every past mistake pertaining to this person.  I confessed the parts of me that knew not what I was doing, the parts of me that knew what I was doing, and the parts of me that had deeply hurt this other person.  I forgave every memory where that person had hurt me, and I let go of all of the pain.  And then, after releasing every memory in the Lord's presence, I began to bless this person and their life.  I began to wish the absolute best for them and to want the Lord to release favor and goodness on every part of them.  As I blessed this person, I felt the breath of Jesus on me as He fully released His forgiveness into my heart and filled the cracks of pain left by memories with His grace and mercy, tender forgiveness and wonderful Presence.  After doing this I was exhausted, but also, totally and 100% forgiven and set free.

See, the thing is, I knew I was forgiven before I had even started my speech in the Lord's presence.  But often knowing with our head, and knowing with our heart are two different things.  The confession before the throne is what fills our heart with the knowledge that we have been truly set free.  We are forgiven!

It was the release of memories in the Presence of the Almighty that relaxed the weight of sin on my heart and allowed the Lord to fully extend His Hand of mercy and grace to fill every fiber of my being.  Every painful memory, every crack in my heart that I hadn't realized was there, the Lord healed completely in that moment. 

This is only one example of how Jesus has taught me to enter into His presence and to release my sins to Him and allow Him to do what He does, wash me with His tender loving care.  But this is also what the second part of the verse of Hebrews 10:14 is actually stating, "For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified."  We have been made perfect, but we are continually and always being sanctified.  The Greek word for sanctified is hagiazō, which translates as to make holy that is (ceremonially) purify or consecrate; (mentally) to venerate - be holy, sanctify.  Here's how Blue Letter Bible describes it:

1. to render or acknowledge, or to be venerable or hallow
2. to separate from profane things and dedicate to God
3. consecrate things to God
4. dedicate people to God
5. to purify
6. to cleanse externally
7. to purify by expiation: free from the guilt of sin
8. to purify internally by renewing of the soul

This is what it means to be sanctified.  We have been perfected, Jesus' sacrifice once and for all has forgiven us and made us righteous not because of ourselves, but because His righteousness is so perfect that it made a way for us to be right before God in heaven. 

But, but, when you wonder why are you still dealing with things from the past, or why the same sin comes up again and again, it's because you my dear are being made holy each and every day!  This is a continual process until you die! 

Coming into the throne room (which I acknowledged I was doing in my head and heart, and not actually doing physically), confessing every past memory surrounding this person, was me acknowledging everything before the Lord and consecrating my heart to Him.  This confession allows every dark place of sin, every sinful root that has had a place in our lives by our own mistakes or by others, to be uprooted in His presence.  Then we are purified and cleansed from it completely.  It's a renewing of the soul as Blue Letter Bible states it! 

The next evening I woke up from a dreamless sleep.  I slept soundly, and I woke up refreshed and free.  It was like a weight had been dropped off of me this week, because one had been.  Past mistakes are a bondage to us, and those chains are heavy to carry around.  They drag us down and the weight of it keeps us from rising out of the dust and running free in the race of faith. 

How To Recognize God's Speaking To You About Something

First, The Holy Spirit Speaks

Do you know how the Holy Spirit speaks to you?  It's going to be unique to just you. Take a minute to identify when it is that you know He's saying something, when He's moving you in a certain direction, or when you feel Him speaking.  My friend gets a "gut" feeling. She feels it in her gut when the Holy Spirit is nudging her to move. For the longest time the Holy Spirit would move me toward something through His peace, or move me away from something through the absence of His peace. When I would think about taking a job, if I wasn't at peace then I knew it wasn't for me. When I was dating I would get a feeling of agitation when certain people would ask me out, and I knew it was because they weren't for me.

When you think about your relationship with the Holy Spirit, how does He most often speak to you? That's the fist and best way to know what the Lord is asking you to deal with. It might be that the Holy Spirit brings someone to your mind often, and you weren't thinking about that person. Or maybe a circumstance keeps coming to the forefront. He's getting your attention.

Now the Holy Spirit speaks to me in new and unique ways. Sometimes He'll drop a word of knowledge into my heart, or speak a sentence of wisdom into my mind. Sometimes He just whispers to me throughout the day, or prods me to do something specific. As my walk with the Lord has deepened, so has my way of hearing the Spirit grown. Because as we grow in Him, He grows in us, and we get to experience Him in new and unique ways. He will become more vibrant in our lives.

This is also something you can pray and ask for. I often pray that the Holy Spirit would fill me to overflowing, that He would speak to me and often. I pray that I would grow in my ability to hear Him. That's a prayer the Lord loves to answer!

Second, God uses Dreams

The Lord often uses dreams to speak to us.  If there's an element of a dream that keeps coming up while you are sleeping, it's time to lean into it and ask the Lord, "What are you saying to me?  I am Your servant and I am listening!" 

All throughout scripture dreams are used to show us the future, to show us or draw our attention to something, to give us greater perspective into what He is doing.  Something that has been extremely helpful for me in my walk is the book The Divinity Code to Understanding Your Dreams and Visions by Adam Thompson.  He has an incredible gift from the Lord in understanding dreams and visions, and how to interpret them to know what God is saying to us while we sleep.

As we come into the last days, we know that dreams and visions will increase. (Joel 2:28 & Acts 2:17) The Lord has given me dreams for years, but it wasn't until recently that I realized just how much He was speaking to me through them.  In the past year He has exploded this area of my life, and given me greater understanding of what He is saying while I sleep.  I pray He does the same for you!  And if He does, begin to study and lean into that place as He opens your eyes and heart to receive more from Him.

Third, He Uses Circumstances

Often, God will use our own circumstances to get our attention. For a few weeks a recurring theme began to pop up in my life.  Everywhere I went, someone or something would rub my soul in a way that left me feeling exposed, and I didn't appreciate it. I told the Lord as much. But it wasn't until I finally realized He was getting me into a place of willingness to deal with an uncomfortable bit of my past that I realized why my circumstances were all out of disarray. It's because I wasn't at peace, because I was avoiding dealing with something difficult in my own heart. 

Avoidance is actually a lie. We think by avoiding something that it will go away.  Or that by avoiding a difficulty that it won't come back around - but it does. In fact, the longer we avoid it the harder it will be.  Avoidance is a tool the enemy uses to keep us in chains, so that we continue to be a slave to his tactics instead of running the race of faith in freedom. Bondage prevents us from running well.  It's like wearing out our tennis shoes and running with blisters, instead of heading off the track for a minute and letting Jesus put brand new shoes on our feet. He refreshes us in His presence so we can run more effectively. Avoiding something is just eating up the lie the devil is feeding us, instead of coming with honesty to Jesus about what is really in our heart, and then consuming His goodness.

But sometimes He'll use our circumstances not to deal with a specific past issue, but maybe a heart issue.  It could be a disappointing job interview, a negative pregnancy test (again), a job loss, a relationship that doesn't work out - because He's trying to deal with something in our heart that we maybe didn't know was there, or didn't want to face.  It could be that we don't trust Him with our heart, with our money, with our relationships, with our future, with our family...whatever it is, He wants our complete trust and our whole heart surrendered and devoted to Him.  But there also might be underlying issues that go beyond trust, and He wants to get to those things too. 

If your circumstances are disappointing over and over, take a few hours or a day and enter into His presence.  Ask Him to show you what it is He's wanting to do or what He's drawing your attention to!

Fourth, He Uses People

And not always in a way that we like! I was at my neighbors house borrowing a ladder and she asked about our plans for the next few weeks.  I was simply telling her my plans when an insecurity I didn't like bubbled up to the surface and she could sense it.  She started asking about it, and I tried to explain what I was feeling.  It wasn't until I got home and actually started digging into my heart before the Lord that I realized the top layer insecurity wasn't the issue.  It was what I was avoiding underneath that was the problem.  It was the person that recurred in my dreams, the sins from the past that the Lord was wanting to deal with and uproot in order to cause me to be free in my present and future. 

He might use someone with just the right word at the right time.  Or maybe it will be a random person that causes something to bubble to the surface like I had.  Or it will be a coworker, or a conversation with a friend that allows something to rise within your heart.  Whatever it is, begin to look at and address what's coming to the surface, but also what's hidden underneath. 

You Are Becoming Holy!

To be honest, becoming holy in Christ is going to be pretty messy at times.  It won't feel holy.  It won't feel like we've been perfected.  It won't feel like sanctification is taking place!  Because it's not about how we feel, it's about what God has said.  His Word says we are currently being sanctified.  That means our feelings will have to play catch-up with our reality!  And this verse doesn't quite explain that the process toward holiness is often a messy one. 

The process of sanctification will look like tears, heartache, dead dreams and lonely nights.  But on the other side of the painful process, is a healed heart and a mind rooted in Christ when we are willing to walk that road with Him. 

Every time the Lord has asked me to work through something in my heart, whether it's a past mistake, a broken heart or a dead dream, I have won in the end.  Some issues take longer than others, but in the end they all bring about greater freedom in our walk with Christ.  Abarim Publications states that the greatest commodity in the Christian faith is the true freedom that Christ bought for us.  I absolutely agree.  And that's why the Lord is so busy in our lives bringing about our sanctification.  Because true holiness that comes from Jesus restores our hearts and minds to a much freer, healthier place.  Jesus is our freedom!

I pray your path to sanctification would lead to beautiful and bountiful fruit.  I pray that every painful experience would draw you into deeper relationship with the One who heals every hurt.  I pray that as you walk into greater holiness, that you would know Jesus and His heart that beats for you.  You are loved!  You are perfected!  And don't be afraid of the pain when it comes, for He is making you holy as He is holy.  1 Peter 1:15-16



With joy, Jessica

Please note that this blog post includes affiliate links from Amazon. If you do choose to purchase something, I may earn a small commission – at no additional cost to you. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own. Thank you for your support!