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I CORINTHIANS 1:30 |
SANCTIFICATION: means To Separate, To Set Apart As Holy Unto Go
The term "Sanctification" is a term that designates ownership. A person, place, or thing is separated from it's prior owner and becomes the possession of it's new owner. Also, in the process of transferring the ownership there is a cleansing. Since the new owner is God, the person, place, or thing must be consecrated (holy).
The Bible speaks of the sanctification of persons, places, days, seasons, objects, the first born of Israel, the Levites, the priests, the altar, the offerings, the Sabbath, and so on. All of these were set apart unto God. They were His!
The emphasis of this definition is not the Old Testament sanctification of things, but the New Testament sanctification of the Believer. The moment a person puts his trust in the finished work of Jesus Our Christ, he is sanctified. The Cross is the means of cleansing and purifying the Believer from his sins and by it he is sanctified. Notice in the following verse that the Believer has already been sanctified! (Hebrews 10:10)
"BY THE WHICH WILL WE ARE SANCTIFIED THROUGH THE OFFERING BY THE BODY OF JESUS CHRIST ONCE FOR ALL"
After listing a sample of the sins that keep people from inheriting the Kingdom of God, I Corinthians 6:11 says:
"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."
Believers are cleansed from their sins and have been set apart unto God. We are His! This is called:
"Positional Sanctification": I stand "In Christ", Complete!
Now, because the Believer belongs to God, God instructs the Believer to live a life of separation. We are to live a pure life because we are saved, not in order to get saved. This is called:
"Practical Sanctification": The State or Condition of my Christian Walk.
II Corinthians 6:17 says:
"COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM, AND BE YE SEPARATE SAITH THE LORD..."
II Corinthians 7:1 continues:
"HAVING THEREFORE THESE PROMISES, DEARLY BELOVED, LET US CLEANSE OURSELVES FROM ALL FILTHINESS OF THE FLESH AND SPIRIT, PERFECTING HOLINESS IN THE FEAR OF GOD."
The Believer should never forget God saved him for His own glory and for His own purpose, and that we are saved unto good works. II Timothy 2:19,21 makes this clear:
"NEVERTHELESS THE FOUNDATION OF GOD STANDETH SURE, HAVING THE SEAL, THE LORD KNOWETH THEM THAT ARE HIS. AND, LET EVERY ONE THAT NAMETH THE NAME OF CHRIST DEPART FROM INIQUITY."
"IF A MAN THEREFORE PURGE HIMSELF FROM THESE, HE SHALL BE A VESSEL UNTO HONOUR, SANCTIFIED, AND MEET FOR THE MASTER'S USE, AND PREPARED UNTO EVERY GOOD WORK."
We as believers belong to God NOW! Therefore we ought to live for Him TODAY and every day the Lord gives us. Finally the time will come when the Lord shall give a shout and we shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. This will be our final sanctification. We will once and for all be set apart from this world, and:
"SO SHALL WE EVER BE WITH THE LORD".
- See I Thessalonians 4:13-18; and II Thessalonians 2:1-14.
PRACTICAL POINT:
As a Believer, I am a "Sanctified One." This is why the Bible calls all Believers "Saints." A Saint is not someone who has done deeds worth remembering and therefore classified a "Saint" by a certain church.
The Bible declares all who have trusted in the blood of Christ to save them to be "A Saint." In fact, the Corinthians were the least likely people in the world to be called "Saints" that Paul ever wrote to. But just the same, he addressed them as saints - see I Corinthians 1:2. He could do this because--according to I Corinthians 6:11--Jesus Christ sanctified them.
Man loves to judge. Many think they can tell who is a Christian and who is not. But if they were to see people living like the Corinthians they would certainly say, "They're not saved!" Yet Paul knew better.
Don't get caught up in that, and don't judge your salvation on that basis either. Christians can get caught up into sin just like anyone else. The difference is that--as a Christian--we ought to know better. The answer for the people of Corinth was in the book of I Corinthians. They were to read it and obey it. That is the answer for other disobedient Christians as well.
God knows how to use His Word effectively in the life of a believer. The Word of God is the source of power for us today. II Timothy 3:16,17 says:
"ALL SCRIPTURE IS GIVEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD, AND IS PROFITABLE FOR DOCTRINE, FOR REPROOF, AND CORRECTION, FOR INSTRUCTION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS: THAT THE MAN OF GOD MAY BE PERFECT, THOROUGHLY FURNISHED UNTO ALL GOOD WORKS."
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If you want to be a vessel of honour, fit for the Lord's use, and prepared unto every good work, you know what you need to do?