Prayer and Sanctification

http://vimeo.com/43983757

This short interview with J. I. Packer is an interesting one. He notes the need we have for God to show us our sin and give us a love for Him that is above the love we have for Self that looks to express its rebellion in various ways. What is interesting is his analogy with the weed that grows underground. I thought it was interesting in that it rings true that when we deal with one expression of our sin, another pops up in its place, simply because sin is ever expressing itself in new ways. Yet, instead of giving up and becoming hopeless in ever conquering our sin, what this really does is bring out more and more of the root, as God pulls away at it. In other words, God sanctifies us precisely by letting sin manifest itself in different ways, lest we think that merely pulling out or chopping off a couple of leaves of the weed is sufficient, and be left with an almost completely rebellious Self. Instead, little by little, God teaches us to conquer sin, and then He moves on to conquer other expressions of sin in us. By this, He grows us up into spiritual maturity and slowly kills the Self that has usurped His throne in our hearts. But without the Word of God and prayer that would make our sins and the love of God for us known, this process never occurs.