2 Thessalonians 2:13-17
My parents and my grade school teachers had one desire in common. They wanted me to do well in school so that one day I could graduate. I came to understand that just because I had been allowed to become a part of Emerson Grade School I was not ready to graduate. At one point I was put into the next grade level reading class. That was not the case in everything, however. Some areas of my schooling took more work. For example, at one point my math teacher told me I could not go out to recess again with the class until I had memorized all of the multiplication table. It only took one recess period to accomplish that task.
In like manner, God has a supreme sovereign desire. He wants all people everywhere to become a part of the family of God through the redemption provided by His Son Jesus on the cross of Calvary. However, being saved by grace through faith does not mean that we have attained graduation status (final salvation). The process of growth in grace (sanctification) must follow our conversion up to the time when we are entirely sanctified and then it (growth in grace) must continue after that second work of God’s grace until the time when we hear the pearly gates click closed behind us. From the beginning this has been the path to heaven that God chose for each of us.
By Dr. Gayle Woods