CALLED TO BE HOLY
SANCTIFICATION
“Sanctify
them in the truth” (John 17:17).
“For
this is the will of God, your sanctification.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3).
What is God’s will for you
life? It is a question often asked. And the answer is given plainly in the
Scriptures. The will of God is the same
for every believer. It is that you be
SANCTIFIED. What does this mean? What does it mean to be sanctified?
The word “sanctification”
simply means “to make holy.” The words
“sanctify” and “holy” and “saint” all describe the same thing. While we have these as separate words in our
English language, both the Greek and Hebrew all translate this with a single
root word.
The greatest picture of
holiness is that which is presented by the prophet Isaiah. At the beginning of
his ministry, this prophet came face to face with the holiness of God.
In the year of King Uzziah's death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty
and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim
stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with
two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one
called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.” (Isaiah 6:1-3).
Isaiah was given a rare
vision. It was a vision of heaven itself
and of the Lord and His glory and His angels.
There was a great deal of things that could have been said to describe
the character of God. The angels could
have pointed to His great power. Or they
could have focused upon His wisdom and His knowledge. They could have praised His grace and His
lovingkindness. But instead, they focus
upon His holiness.
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts!”
The royal announcement of the
holiness of God is too much for Isaiah.
He cannot help but to contrast the holiness of God with His own lack of
holiness. Rather than singing with the
angels, he finds himself woefully inadequate to speak of the holiness of God.
Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am
ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of
unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD
of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:5).
Coming face to face with the
holiness of God will always have this effect.
Peter did exactly the same thing when he was first confronted with the
reality of the power of Jesus.
You remember the story. Jesus told Peter to let out the fishing
nets. Peter had already spent the entire
night fishing and had nothing to show for it, but he nevertheless followed the
instructions of Jesus. The result was a
huge catch of fish. But when Simon
Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Depart from me, for I am
a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:8).
THE NATURE OF
SANCTIFICATION
1. Sanctification
in the Old Testament.
The
Old Testament Hebrew uses the word kadash to
refer to the idea of sanctification.
Then God blessed the seventh day
and SANCTIFIED it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had
created and made. (Genesis 2:3).
“And I will meet there with the sons
of
Now the word of the Lord came to me
saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I
CONSECRATED you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nation.” (Jeremiah
1:4-5).
In
each of these cases, the principle of sanctification is seen to refer to
something that has been set apart from its normal usage for a special purpose.
2. Sanctification
in the New Testament.
There
are several terms which are taken from the same Greek root word found in the
New Testament: Holy, saint and sanctify.
‘AgioV - “Holy; a sanctified one (saint).”
‘Agiazw - “To Sanctify or make holy.”
The
root word agioV literally describes, “that
which has been set apart for a special purpose.” Sanctification is the work of God in which He
sets a believer apart, washing him from his sin and making him into the
character of Christ.
When we speak of the holiness
of God, we are looking at His transcendence and the fact that He is other than
the rest of His creation. This sense of
“otherness” is His holiness. But there
is also a sense in which we are set apart from creation. We are a called-out people who have been
separated out in order to be a people of God’s own possession.
SANCTIFICATION IN
SALVATION
There is both a positive as
well as a negative side to sanctification.
1. Negative.
We
have been set apart from the world and from sin and from the dominion of
Satan. We are now strangers living in a
strange land. When we engage in sinful
thoughts or activities, we are now engaging in that which is contrary to our
new identity.
2. Positive.
We
have been set apart to God and to His good works and to righteousness and
purity. We are dedicated instruments and
dwelling places of His Holy Spirit.
THREE TENSES OF
SANCTIFICATION
The Scriptures speak of
sanctification on three levels.
1. First
there is POSITIONAL Sanctification by which a Christian is set apart in Christ
when he believes. By this will we
have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for
all (Hebrews 10:10).
And
such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you
were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our
God. (1 Corinthians 6:11).
Used
in this sense, we therefore conclude that all who are justified are also
sanctified (1 Corinthians 1:30; 6:11).
2. Secondly
there is PROGRESSIVE Sanctification in which a Christian is experientially set
apart more and more to walk in holiness.
I
am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as
you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting
in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness,
resulting in sanctification. (Romans
6:19).
3. Finally,
we shall ultimately and completely be sanctified and set apart unto holiness in
that day when we stand before the Lord.
All three of these aspects
are pictured together for us in 1 John 3:2-3.
Beloved, now we are children of God (Positional sanctification),
and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears,
we shall be like Him (Future sanctification), because we shall see Him
just as He is. And everyone who has this
hope fixed on Him purifies himself (Present sanctification), just as He
is pure (1 John 3:2-3). Notice that
Christians are both pure and are also becoming pure.
SANCTIFICATION VERSUS
JUSTIFICATION
Before we look at the
differences between sanctification versus justification, we ought first to see
the similarities between these two.
Both come from the grace of God.
Both are a part of the work of salvation
that God provides.
Both are to be found in all the converted. There is no such thing as a person who has
been justified who has not also been sanctified.
Both begin at the same time.
Both are necessary to salvation.
|
Justification |
Sanctification |
|
Justification
is the reckoning and counting of a man to be righteous on the
basis of the imputed righteousness of Christ. |
Sanctification
is the making of a man to be inwardly righteous. |
|
The
righteousness of justification is an imputed righteousness received by faith
and is not our own. |
The righteousness
of sanctification is an imparted righteousness brought about in us by the
Holy Spirit. |
|
Justification
is an absolute |
Sanctification
in the progressive sense is relative and in part. |
FURTHER ATTRIBUTES OF
SANCTIFICATION
1. Sanctification
Results from
Sanctification
is an organic process. Jesus likens the
Christian life to a vine and its branches.
It is through our faith connection to Him that we are sustained and
nourished so that fruit is produced in our lives. The life principle comes out of that
connection to Christ.
2. Sanctification
will always be Seen: For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes
from a briar bush (Luke 6:44).
There
is a correlation between life and the signs of life. It is not the signs of life that produce
fruit; the life does that. But if there
is life, then there will also be signs of life.
Those signs of life are fruit.
They are produced by the life principle at work in us.
3. Sanctification
is commanded by God: But like the
Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because
it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15-16).
We
have already distinguished between positional sanctification versus progressive
sanctification. On the one hand, we are
said to be made holy by God when we come to faith in Jesus Christ. On the other hand, we are now called to be
holy. This is an on-going process and it
is one in which I participate. Paul
explains how this is the case in Philippians 2:12‑13 when he says, “Work
out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13
for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good
pleasure.” We are to involve
ourselves in the sanctification process, knowing that God is involved in that
same process as He works in us.
4. Sanctification
does not prevent a spiritual conflict: For
the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh;
for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things
that you please (Galatians 5:17).
We
have been made new creatures in Christ, but we still live in an old shell known
as “the flesh.” This does not refer to
the physical body, but rather to the element of sinful desires that still
resides within us. The result is an
inner struggle and the Christian finds himself being prevented from doing those
very things that, as a Christian, he has set out to do in his life.
SANCTIFICATION IN CONTRAST
|
Justification |
Regeneration |
Sanctification |
|
Delivers us from the guilt
of sin |
Delivers us from the power
of sin |
Delivers us from the
presence of sin |
|
It is done FOR us |
It is done IN us |
It is done FOR us and IN us |
|
It is a legal declaration |
It is a creative act |
It is a growing process |
|
It brings about a changed
standing |
It brings about a change in
your very nature |
It brings about a change in
your life |
|
Happens at the point of salvation |
Begins with salvation and
progresses |
|
|
To be declared righteous |
To be born again |
To be set apart to God |
Regeneration is
sanctification begun.
Sanctification is
regeneration unfolding.
Return to Stevenson Bible Study Page