I wish to encourage you in the matter of sanctification. A big word which is uncommon in today’s vocabulary. It’s a wonderful word, rich in meaning and application. For today, I wish to leave you with the sweetness of the relational side of sanctification. The word “sanctify” in the Greek New Testament simply means to make holy. In its various biblical forms and applications, it always refers to setting people aside from the unholy standards of this sinful world to the holiness of God. The Lord wants us to grow in our ability to accurately express His holiness through our lives for His glory.
Spiritual cleansing and acquittal of sins guilt through faith in Christ is the Holy Spirit’s work which began at the moment of salvation. Paul encouraged the Corinthian believers with this truth, you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (1Co 6:11).
Sanctification is at the heart of every facet of being a genuine Christian. God’s intention, as Jesus explained at Paul’s conversion, was for we Gentiles to turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they (we) may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me (Act 26:18). Faith in Jesus Christ placed us in the group of people that God has set aside as being holy in Christ, so that we can grow in the expression of Christ’s holiness.
God has given us His Word, the Bible, as the tool, the instrument, that fuels our development in holiness. Jesus prayed that the disciples would be sanctified in the truth, and that God’s Word is truth (Jn 17:17-19). God intends you to grow in sanctification as you immerse yourself in the Word of God and as you are energised by the Holy Spirit to fulfil His perfect will for your life.
Realise, if you are a born again child of God, He wants to sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1Th 5:23). Realise also, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Php 1:6). The Lord will not abandon His mission for sanctification in your life.
Let’s together yield to God’s design for our lives, recognising and embracing His workings of sanctification in us, so that He will get the pleasure and the glory from our living.