Sanctification After Death

I've lost the ability to recognize whether or not it's normal for lunch conversation to include eschatology.  The other day I was at Panera with Lindsay, and she sighed heavily.  "What if, after all this, there's still sin?"

"That's the whole point," I said.  "We won't be able to sin."

"Yeah, but.  If we still have freedom of choice, what's to stop this from happening over and over and over again?"

"I DON'T LIKE THAT IDEA," I said, fidgeting in my seat.  I knew there was a reason this couldn't be true, but... "Oh, I know.  In Genesis, there's both the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  In Revelation, there's only the Tree of Life.  The option is gone--we've had our chance and we failed.  God saved us and the reward is life without temptation anymore."

Lindsay visibly relaxed.

"What gets me," I continued, "Is the idea that some kind of sanctification continues throughout eternity."

Lindsay was no longer relaxed.  "WHAT?" she said.  "I don't even like sanctification in this life.  Why would you think it'll keep happening?"

"Well, C.S. Lewis is always going on about it.  In The Last Battle and A Grief Observed and The Great Divorce...any time he talks about eternity its with this idea of continuously growing in Christlikeness."

"No!" Lindsay insisted.  "I hate that idea!  I just--you mean it never stops!?"

"No no no.  I think I'm explaining this wrong.  I'm with you, sanctification now is exhausting.  But when there's no sin or temptation...I think...I think it's like traveling.  There's so much to see and so many ways to grow, but it's not like the process is painful.  It's fascinating and fun to go somewhere new, and every new thing you experience just makes you hungry to experience more.  That's what it'll be like, I think.  We'll grow more and more like Christ, but it'll be an adventure.  With, you know, no delayed flights or muggings or whatever."

"Hm," Lindsay said.  "I suppose that's alright.  By the way, can we go to Iceland this summer?"

"YES," I answered, and bit into my turkey and avocado BLT.