Apostle Jude, in his introductory verse, spoke as if he was reversing the process of our growth as Christians. He started with sanctification, then preservation and ended with the first stage; the heavenly call. Normally, it is calling, preservation, then sanctification.

But the Spirit that authored the scriptures has a purpose for this seeming reversal. It is not that the order suddenly changed. It is that God is more interested in who we can become in Him than what we were before He called us as well as where we are now. Actually, our Lord is eager to see us attain a complete level of conformity to the image of His Son, Christ Jesus (Ephesians 4:13). It is the same eagerness parents have for their babies’ growth and well-being. We were called and then preserved to be sanctified. That is growth! We were all born to become men and women, not to remain as babies. In much the same way, God’s call is for the divine purpose of making sons out of us. Simply put, we were called to be like Christ. Conformity to Christ is the goal. God is not just confident that you can be like Him, He takes the confidence further by addressing you as who you can be in Him!

Brethren, God is most pleased to see us making rapid, spiritual progress because He has already provided all that is required for our sanctification in Christ (2 Peter 1:3). It hurts Him when our growth is stunted. This is because as babies, we can’t claim what rightfully belongs to us. But as mature sons, we claim, explore and use to our advantage what is ours as heirs.