Sanctification

by R. F. Lundwill, Vancouver, B.C. | Category: Sanctification | Oct 1956

Sanctification means " being set apart." Jehovah first illustrated its meaning when He had completed creation,-" God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it " (Genesis 2.3). Israel was reminded of this fact at Sinai. In Exodus 20.11 we read, "Wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it." The word "hallowed" means "sanctified" or set apart." What was true of the sabbath day, which God set apart, is also true of the believer who is sanctified in Christ Jesus. We must be careful to distinguish between that which God has done for the believer and the responsibility which is the believer's afterwards.

In Ephesians 5.25, 26 we read-" Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself up for it; that He might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word." The Church which is Christ's Body is eternally sanctified. The Sanctifier is Christ. We read in 2 Thessalonians 2.13, "God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth," and Paul addresses his first epistle to the Corinthians thus-" Unto the church of God which is

at Corinth, even them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints " (1 Corinthians 1. 2). These introductory words are very significant. Here were people drawn from all walks of life in an iniquitous city. True, Corinth was an intellectual centre, but with all its culture it was a centre of wickedness. Paul, though highly educated, did not present his message with great excellency of speech, he simply preached Christ and Him crucified, relying, not upon oratory, which was common in Corinth, but upon the power of the Holy Spirit to reach the heart of his hearers. His preaching evidently met with success, for in Acts 18.8 we are told that "Many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized." The character of some of these people is described in 1 Corinthians 6.9-11, but a great transformation had taken place. They were sanctified ... in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. They who had been ungodly sinners were now saints. The derivative meaning of the word " saint " means one set apart, separate, holy. Such were these Corinthians.

In the will of God, the Lord Jesus Christ offered His body as a sacrifice for sin, and in Hebrews 10.10 we read, "By which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Holy living on the part of the believer (however commendable) is not in view here, but the efficacy of the work of Christ at Calvary. No further offering is needed. The believer is completely and eternally separated to God. We read in verse 14, "For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified." Here the abiding effect of the work of Calvary is in view. Furthermore, there is no difference made between saints, for all " in Christ " are perfected for ever. " For both He that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one : for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren " (Hebrews 2.11).

When a believer appreciates his acceptance in Christ it should have a powerful influence on his daily walk. We are charged to "Sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord " (1 Peter 3.15). What does God wish to see in a believer ?-a heart filled with gratitude and love to God for purchasing him with the precious blood of His only Son, a heart overflowing with thanksgiving, finding expression in songs of praise. He wants the believer to experience the joy of the psalmist, who wrote

"My heart overfloweth with a goodly matter:

I speak the things which I have made touching the King:

My tongue is the pen of a ready writer" (Psalm 45.1).

He desires to see one who will be ready to confess His name before others, and be prepared to give answer to every man that asketh him a reason of the hope that is in him, with meekness and fear (1 Peter 3.15). Such an one will truly "follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord "(Hebrews 12.14). He will tread an avenue of peace regardless of what it costs. He will be a man of holiness toward God, refusing to become entangled with the world's affairs, and as he views the wickedness of a world that lieth in the wicked one he will rejoice in the nearness of the Lord who is truly at hand, yea, in his heart.

In Hebrews 13.12 we read, "Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered without the gate," followed in verse 18 with the charge "Let us therefore go forth unto Him without the camp, bearing His reproach." What meaning do such words hold for Christians today?

God wills that the believer should follow a clearly defined pathway of separation. This separation embraces both moral and spiritual aspects of Christian life. The desire of the Lord Jesus," Sanctify them m the truth: Thy word is truth" (John 17.17), should and can be expressed here on earth. He did not put unbearable burdens upon His disciples. What was God's will He declared, and the manner and way He revealed unto them. During those forty days when "He also shewed Himself alive after His passion by many proofs," He spoke to them" things concerning the kingdom of God " (Acts 1.8), and He sent them the Holy Spirit to guide them "into all the truth " (John 16.18). Why therefore should there be the spectacle of utter confusion which greets the bewildered child of God today? Why sects and systems each claiming to be fulfilling God's will upon earth? Why is it that when he views each in turn he sees no clearly defined separation, but rather all would appear to be linked with the world? Fundamentalist or Modernist! The answer lies within the extent the believing one has obeyed God's will. He should understand and give effect to the words of Peter in 1 Peter 2.4, 5,-" Unto whom coming, a living Stone, rejected indeed of men, but with God elect, precious, ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."

Peter was writing to Christians who had come to Him and were to continue coming-" unto whom coming." This is the practical outcome of the believer's responsibility in sanctification.

R. F. Lundwill, Vancouver, B.C. | Oct 1956
Sanctification