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Some people assume that this happens "just like that." (To get the effect, snap your fingers as you read "that.") For them the moment of clarification is sudden. Usually it takes people a long time. But for no one is the event or long series of events (usually called "conversion") the end of the road. It is simply the beginning of a new road. Paul talks about "pressing on." He recognizes, correctly, that we do not "arrive," that we do not reach (in this life at any rate) the full achievement of Christian living. That is why it is more correct to speak of "becoming" a Christian, than of "being" a Christian.
The Bible calls this ongoing process "sanctification." This sounds like a forbidding word, but it is not hard to understand if you have had a smattering of high school Latin. The word breaks down into sanctus (holy) and ficare (to make). "Sanctification" is thus the process of becoming more holy, or as Christians sometimes put it, "growing in grace." It doesn't happen overnight. It isn't easy. It can never be claimed as an achievement. But the thing that makes it supremely worth-while is that on this pilgrimage the Christian realizes that he isn't alone any more. He is being helped.
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