At present, we are working with the light of truth presented by Dr. Francis Schaeffer from his book True Spirituality where we are discussing the basic considerations of the Christian life, or true Christianity.

In our study, we have seen earlier that there is a parallel between justification and sanctification, that is, between becoming a Christian and living a Christian life.  The first step in justification is that I must acknowledge that I am a sinner, that I am justly under the wrath of God, and that I cannot save myself.  The first step in living the true Christin life is that I must acknowledge that I cannot live the Christian life in my own strength or in my own goodness.  The first step of restoration after I have sinned is in exactly the same line:  I must acknowledge that my specific sin is sin.  There are not three different principles; there is one principle in these three places, because we are dealing with the same God and basically the same problem.  But neither in becoming a Christian, nor in fruit-bearing as a Christian, is the first step enough on its own.  In each of the three situations, I must then raise the hands of faith for God’s gift in that place.  And when I, a Christian, have sinned, it is only the finished work of Jesus Christ in space, time, and history, back there on Calvary’s cross, that is enough.  It is only the blood of Jesus Christ that is enough to cleanse my sin as a Christian, and it is only upon the basis of the blood of Christ that the spot is removed.  I must bring the specific sin under the blood of Jesus Christ, by faith.  So it is the same thing again; here is the active passivity which we have already discussed.  We cannot do it of ourselves, but neither are we sticks or stones.  God has made us in his own image, and he will always deal with us on that ground and in that relationship.   

Now just as in the conscious area of sanctification as a whole, so here in restoration; everything rests upon the reality of the fact that the blood of Christ has meaning in our present life, and restoration takes place as we, in faith, act upon that fact in specific cases of sin.  After we become a Christian we must learn the reality of the meaning of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, in our present life, and consciously begin to act on it.  We must have knowledge and practice of the availability of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ in the present meaning of our life.  The reality of it rests upon the knowledge of what Christ has purchase for us—not only in taking us to heaven, but in the present life—and then begin to act upon this in moment-by-moment faith. 

Thoughts developed or used directly from the work of Schaeffer, Francis. True Spirituality . Tyndale House Publishers, Inc