You're not acceptable at all, but the matchless merits of Christ are, and when Christ's Righteousness is merited to your account, only then will you be seen as perfect in God's sight for Christ's sake. At that moment, you are one time Justified freely forever and made acceptable to God for the Atonement's sake, because of what Jesus did for you. You are completely forgiven forever of all your sins - past, present, and future - forgiven immediately in an instant of time. You are seen as Perfect in God's sight for Christ's sake, not because of anything you have ever done or ever will do. And then at that point, the Holy Spirit begins His process of Sanctification in your spirit, soul, and body (He works in your private and public life, slowly purging the filthiness and naughtiness away). Sanctification is growing in purity and holiness within and without by the power of the Holy Spirit, not by your good works or religious efforts.
After you are born again by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ gives you strength to grow in private and public purity, but you will never be Perfect, until you die and go to heaven where you will be Glorified, and only then will you be absolutely free from the presence of all sin. You do good things not to be saved, but simply out of gratitude because you are saved. Sanctification and Godliness lead us to struggle against our sinful tendencies and evil habits. We don't try to satisfy God with our works, we only try to glorify Him out of ardent gratitude for His heavenly love toward us. After you are Born Again, you don't do good works to gain favor with God, or have more of your sins forgiven, or work your way to Heaven, or keep yourself saved. Oh no, the Atonement satisfies God once and for all. You do good works because you are already saved. The Holy Spirit is doing HIS good work in you and through you. You go to Heaven based only on Christ's merits, not yours.
After you are born again by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ gives you strength to grow in private and public purity, but you will never be Perfect, until you die and go to heaven where you will be Glorified, and only then will you be absolutely free from the presence of all sin. You do good things not to be saved, but simply out of gratitude because you are saved. Sanctification and Godliness lead us to struggle against our sinful tendencies and evil habits. We don't try to satisfy God with our works, we only try to glorify Him out of ardent gratitude for His heavenly love toward us. After you are Born Again, you don't do good works to gain favor with God, or have more of your sins forgiven, or work your way to Heaven, or keep yourself saved. Oh no, the Atonement satisfies God once and for all. You do good works because you are already saved. The Holy Spirit is doing HIS good work in you and through you. You go to Heaven based only on Christ's merits, not yours.
Now always remember - you go to Heaven, not because of what you did, but because of what Jesus did for you on Calvary's Cross (Propitiation), and what the Holy Ghost did in you by His mighty power (Imputation). Sanctification is when the Holy Ghost opens up new dark closets in your life, and shows you that you need to Repent and Turn from that particular sins in your life. This doesn't mean that you were never saved, it only means that you are growing in grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior.
Human nature always wants to do something so it can gain favor with God and attain eternal life. Human nature despises Christ Jesus and will not acknowledge and submit to Christ's Perfect Righteousness as the only necessity for salvation from the wrath of God (Romans 10:3). Simple faith in the Finished Work of Jesus Christ is the only way to New Jerusalem. Jesus did everything so you could go to Heaven freely by trusting only what He did for His enemies. Jesus is so good, and you are so bad. Your human works do not cause Sanctification. Only the Holy Ghost can sanctify a sinner. Works do not sanctify us, the Holy Ghost living and working in us produces His Good Works as we yield to the effectual working of His mighty power. Works don't make us holy, the Holy Spirit makes us holy. Without Christ you can do nothing. Christ is everything, you are nothing, that is all. Sanctification is not perfection, but Direction, the Holy Ghost gives us strength to Turn and Obey, and hate the things we once loved, and love the things we once hated.
If you think your works make you holier in any way, then you are trying to work your way to Heaven, and you will surely be Rejected by God when you die. You cannot work yourself to Heaven, so just give up now and quit your doing, and trust only in Christ's doings. Jesus did it all for you long, long ago, so you couldn't get any credit, or brag, or get any glory for your salvation from your vile sins. God by His good pleasure produces good works in our lives. You can never be sanctified by your good works. Our good works don't cause us to be sanctified or acceptable in God's sight. If you think you can do anything to merit God's favor, you are self-righteous, and you will surely perish. Flee your self-righteousness, renounce your own works, look wholly and simply to the Lamb of God dying and rising for sinners.
You can't resolve to make yourself any better, oh no, the Holy Ghost must do it all, He causes us to supernaturally desire to love God and to please Him in all that we think, say, or do. The Holy Spirit works and sanctifies us through His words, the Holy Bible (John 17:17,19; Acts 20:32; Ephesians 5:26). You read God's word, and the Holy Spirit helps you perceive divine truth and gives you a real desire to be pure and to please the God who created you, the living Savior who was crucified and raised from the dead to save your soul.
You can't resolve to make yourself any better, oh no, the Holy Ghost must do it all, He causes us to supernaturally desire to love God and to please Him in all that we think, say, or do. The Holy Spirit works and sanctifies us through His words, the Holy Bible (John 17:17,19; Acts 20:32; Ephesians 5:26). You read God's word, and the Holy Spirit helps you perceive divine truth and gives you a real desire to be pure and to please the God who created you, the living Savior who was crucified and raised from the dead to save your soul.
Jesus did everything for you to get to Heaven, right now, repent of your Self-Righteousness and simply trust and rely ON Christ's Perfect Finished Work. Think much on God's Holiness, the sinfulness of your sin, and very much on Christ's Great Sacrifice of Atonement for human sin. Fix all your confidence on Christ Himself. Go directly to Christ Jesus, the Most High Mediator, Trust completely in Him alone, and not in yourself at all. Real sinners must be saved by Grace (Ephesians 2:5, 8-9; Acts 15:11; II Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5; Romans 4:6), justified by Faith in Jesus' blood (Romans 3:23-25,28; 5:1; Galatians 2:16; 3:11,24; I Corinthians 1:30), and sanctified by the Power of the Holy Ghost (Acts 26:18; I Corinthians 1:2; 6:11; Philippians 2:13; II Thessalonians 2:13; I Peter 1:2; Romans 15:16; Hebrews 10:10; 13:12; I Thessalonians 4:3-4; 5:23; II Timothy 2:21; I Peter 3:15; Jude 1:1).
A Few Tokens of Sanctification:
* Increasing comfort and delight in the Holy Scriptures.
* Increasing interest in prayer and the spirit of prayer (your physical body is the temple of the Holy Ghost and a house of prayer).
* You have a greater readiness to witness to lost people, and to see fellow believers grow in purity.
* You don't care what the world thinks, and you glory in the reproach of Christ and rejoice when you suffer shame for His name's sake.
* Your conscience is growing more tender and you desire to please the Lord, by hating, departing, and abstaining from the presence of evil.
* You are less affected by change of place and circumstances.
* You have a sweeter enjoyment of fellowship and corporate worship, you long to learn from God through the teaching and preaching of His word.
* Love the searching and probing of God's grace through the Spirit and Word of God.
* You value time more and more and you don't want to waste your life on vanity.
* You have a less desire to hear, see, and know for mere curiosity, you want to obey and apply the word of God practically to your life, not just hear the word of God.
