“It only takes a glimpse of Christ to be saved, It takes a gaze to be sanctified!”
From: The Wealth, Walk and Warfare of a Christian
Author: Ruth Paxson
“We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed from one state of glory to another, by means of the Holy Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:18)
A.T. Robertson, professor of Greek and New Testament Theology at Southern Seminary in the 1930-40’s, expounded on this verse in a sermon captured in a book entitled, 100 of The Greatest Sermons Ever Preached, edited by Warren Wiersbe (the pastor of Moody Bible Church for many years).
The entire sermon was on this verse!
Sanctification, the process whereby a Christian is progressively made into the very image and likeness of Jesus Christ in his or her soul (mind, will and emotions) has two sides; man’s role and God’s role. He said of all the verses in the entire New Testament, this verse makes man’s role in sanctification the most clear.
What are we Christians doing while God is maturing us in the faith and making us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ?
Prof. Robertson said all you have to do is identify the main verb in the sentence to find out what God wants us to be doing.
The main verb is “beholding”! So, “beholding” is what we “do”!
While we, in the words of Ruth Paxson, simply “gaze” on the Person of Jesus Christ with “the eyes of our heart” by “renewing our minds” through reading and studying Scripture, “growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, “singing songs and spiritual hymns”, worshipping, fellowshipping with Christians, praying and engaging in corporate worship, we will be “transformed” by God into the unique person God intends us to be and end up doing and saying His will.
When we “see” Jesus, even for a fleeting second, for all that He is and all He has done, that compelling vision will be enough to move us to repent and call upon His name to save us!
When we, then, keep on “gazing” at His glory, captivated by His love and our minds are occupied with His “simplicity and purity” (2 Cor 11:3), God, the Holy Spirit will do His part and transform us into His image; so that, at His coming, we will be just like Him.