"To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father." (Colossians 1:2)
This is a verse that is often skipped over, but one which holds a huge truth. Every christian is a saint and a member of the family of God. When we meet together as Christians, it’s a time to celebrate this fact. In doing so, we celebrate something that the reformer Martin Luther called The Great Exchange:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”. Salvation is a one step process: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved”. (John 3:16)
Sanctification, in essence, is the process by which a person whose heart has been changed by the Holy Spirit is made more like Christ every day until His return or their promotion to heaven. The process is always the believers struggle with sin, empowered by the Holy Spirit. I have found John Owens Mortification of Sin to be a very good resource for understanding this. There is always going to be the conflict between the spirit and the flesh (Romans 7).
