SANCTIFICATION - there has been much misunderstanding regarding what this means in the Christian life.
SANCTIFICATION IN SCRIPTURE
Let's look at these three misunderstandings:
- Some teach that after being justified by grace through faith, one must come to a place where they yield totally to God and reach sanctification.
- Some go further still and say that the Christian can reach a place where there is no tendency toward sin, that the tendency toward sin is totally eradicated.
- Then there are those who believe that sanctification has to do with reforming the old sinful nature through a process of submitting to God until it reaches total sanctification.
What sanctification means in the Bible is to be SET APART. It has nothing to do with practical holiness. For instance, Jesus said,
John 10:36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?
The Father sanctified Jesus and sent Him into the world to be its Savior. Being the Son of God, He was perfectly holy already. He didn't need to be holy by yielding to the Father. He was and is and always will be one with Him. What the word "sanctified" means in this verse is that the Son of God was set apart to be the Savior of man from his sinful nature and sins and the consequences of that condition.
POSITIONAL SANCTIFICATION IN THE RISEN CHRIST
In his letter to the Corinthians, as well to the other churches, Paul said they were ALREADY sanctified in Christ Jesus:
1 Cor 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: 3 Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
In his second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul said,
2 Thess 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
His use of the word "sanctification" here means God had chosen them to be set apart by the Holy Spirit and to believe the truth. Sanctification is not a future thing. It is something that has already taken place, and it took place when a person became a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice his words to them in 1 Corinthians 6:
11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
The Corinthians were not going to be washed of their sins nor were they going to be justified at some time in the future. So it is with the mention of sanctification by him as well. It is a past thing:
Heb 10:10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
What this verse is referring to is that sanctification is ours IN CHRIST, by our union with Him, thus,
1 Cor 2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus . . . . 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
There are four points I want to make about sanctification:
1. SANCTIFICATION is by the Holy Spirit and the Name of Jesus
1 Cor 6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
2. We are sanctified by the blood of Jesus
Heb 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
3. We are sanctified by the Word of God
John 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
4. We are sanctified by faith
Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
Our sanctification comes to us when we are placed in Christ at the moment of our salvation, set apart for God.
PRACTICAL SANCTIFICATION
In realizing that sanctification is not something we do, but that God does, we must be sure we do not discount personal holiness as a way of life. God's very purpose for us "before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love" (Eph 1:4). In summary, it is not a matter of being holy to get sanctified, but to be holy because we are sanctified. We walk in that sanctification by walking according to God's word and not yielding to the flesh. After having said all of that, there is also a progressive sanctification or being holy. Please read my series on the Home Page: "Remembering God's Purpose For Us As We Near Tribulation (10 Chapter Series)."
Ed
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