This Sanctification Gap is the difference between our Ideal-self (all the oughts & shoulds of who God calls us to be) and our Real-self (Who we actually are). I don't think it's possible to fully obtain being our ideal-self at all times. In my understanding, I think God brings our sanctification to completion in the process of glorification when we are with Him in Heaven, but while we're still here there will always be this tension of our Ideal and Real-self. And this is why the doctrine of God's Grace is so important to understand. God's grace not only covers our sins, but helps us to do what we cannot do ourselves.
In short, in order to close the Sanctification Gap, John Coe is basically saying to apply systematic theology and the Biblical teachings to our daily lives to promote spiritual maturity. Not just spiritual maturity, but a deeper relationship with God by growing in the likeness of Christ. A Christian must also draw observations and reflections of the work of the Holy Spirit in their life. We desperately need God's help in order to apply and experience God's truths in our lives. If we could just do one thing right in life, it'd be correctly interpreting scripture and joyfully obeying it by applying it to our life.
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There exists a serious gap in the mind of many believers between what they know to be the goal of sanctification and growth and where they know they actually are in their life. The goal or spiritual ideal is somewhat clear to many, at least as an ideal: to be conformed to Christ, to love God with all our hearts and our neighbor as ourselves, to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, to pray without ceasing, to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We hear these good words from the pulpit and our teachers; we read them in books and meditate on them in Scripture. However, the frustration begins right there: in the awareness of an immense distance between where we should, could or ought to be spiritually and where we in fact are—a huge chasm that some have termed the “sanctification gap.”
The church and its leaders would be better equipped to address this “sanctification gap” if its ministries were informed by a robust Spiritual Theology, understood in two senses or forms that are interrelated: (1) its more general form of drawing out the spiritual and existential implications of theology in order to better understand and participate in the process of transformation; (2) its fullest sense as a theological discipline in its own right that attempts to integrate (a) the Scriptural teaching on sanctification with (b) observations and reflections of the Spirit's actual work in the believer's spirit and experience.
Some Spiritual Formation Books & Authors for my new reading list
Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal
by Richard Lovelace
The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God
by Dallas Willard
Hearing God Through the Year: A 365 Day Devotional
by Dallas Willard
Father God,
Thank you for your grace. Thank you for your Spirit to help me. There are things that are unknown and uncertain to me. There are things that i feel stressed about. I find myself worrying about these things. God please help me to trust you and to grow in faith. Guide me and have your way with me. Help me to draw closer in intimacy with you. Help me to listen, to understand, to apply and follow your Word, Will and Way. Help me to trust and receive your grace. Fill me with your Love and your Peace. Thank you God, Amen.
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