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In this lesson we will cover another aspect of redemption, that is, sanctification. In Lesson Twenty-nine we saw that the Spirit sanctifies us unto repentance. After we have been forgiven of our sins and washed, God continues to sanctify us. Sanctification, or being made holy, is an important part of God’s salvation. Concerning the matter of sanctification, the Bible not only speaks a great deal, but it speaks with great clarity. In this lesson we will see what sanctification is according to the Scriptures.
Sanctification, whether in the Hebrew language of the Old Testament or in the Greek language of the New Testament, means primarily separation. Therefore, sanctification, or being made holy, in the Scriptures means separation from what is ordinary or common.
Holiness is the quality of God’s nature. The quality of God’s nature is not merely to be sinless, without any defilement, but it is even more to be different, distinct, from everything common. Therefore, the Bible speaks of God and the things pertaining or belonging to God as being holy. A certain thing is not holy until it is offered to God and belongs to God. Only then is it sanctified, separated. A bull or a goat, for example, is not intrinsically holy, but when it is placed on the altar, it is made holy (Matt. 23:19), because the altar separates it unto God. Gold is not holy in itself, but it is sanctified when it is placed in the temple (Matt. 23:17), because the temple separates it unto God. Food is not intrinsically holy, but it is sanctified through the saints’ prayer, because the saints’ prayer separates the food for the use of the saints of God (1 Tim. 4:4-5). Bulls, goats, gold, and food are in the world, of the world, and for the world. Hence, they are common, not holy. But the altar has separated some bulls or goats, the temple has separated some gold, and the saints’ intercession has separated some food. When these things are separated, they are unto God, of God, and directly or indirectly for God. Hence, they are sanctified.
To sanctify a certain thing is not to make it sinless but to separate it unto God. A bull, a goat, gold, and food do not have the problem of sin, but they do have the problem of the world. Although they are not evil, they are common. They belong to the world and they are for the people in the world; they are not to God or for God. Hence, they need to be sanctified, that is, to be separated unto God and to be for God. Not only do they need to be separated from sin, but even more they need to be separated from the world, from worldliness, and from everything that is not of God or for God, that they may be sanctified unto God and correspond to the quality of God’s holy nature.
Leviticus 10:10 says, “...make a distinction between the holy and the common...” (ASV). This indicates that the opposite of “holy” is not “sinful” but “common.” To be holy is to be distinct from what is common. Something which is common or ordinary may not be faulty or sinful, but it is not holy because it is not separated. A person may behave so well that in man’s eyes he is irreproachable and perfect, yet he is still common, not holy. Although he is well-behaved, he is common, ordinary, not separated from the common, the ordinary; he is, therefore, not sanctified unto God. Although he does not do evil as others do, he follows the tide of the world and walks according to the world. Hence, although he is well-behaved, he still needs to be sanctified. This is because sanctification not only separates us from wickedness and defilement but also makes us distinct from that which is common.
To be sanctified, on the negative side, is to be separated from all things other than God; on the positive side, it is to be separated unto God. Everything outside of God is common; only God and everything belonging to God are holy. All persons, matters, and things are outside of God and are worldly; hence, they are common. Sanctification is to separate these common persons, matters, and things from everything outside of God that they may be unto God and of God. Since God alone is holy, only that which is unto God and of God is holy.
To be holy, to be separated unto God, we must first believe into Christ (Acts 26:18). Christ offered Himself as the sacrifice to redeem us from our sins, shedding His blood to repurchase us (1 Cor. 6:20; Acts 20:28), that we may be sanctified (Heb. 13:12). If we desire to participate in this fact, we must believe into Him (Acts 26:18), that is, we must be joined to Him by faith. When we believe into Him, when we are joined to Him by faith, we are sanctified through His redemption. We have sanctification in fact, sanctification in position. Hence, the way for us to be sanctified is by believing into Christ.
When we believe into Christ, we enter into Him and are joined to Him. Because He is holy (Luke 1:35; Acts 2:27; 1 John 2:20), when we are in Him and are joined to Him, we are separated, sanctified (1 Cor. 1:2). Christ is the element and sphere that separates us, makes us holy, unto God. Therefore, the way for us to be sanctified is also by being in Christ.
The sanctification we receive in God’s salvation is of two aspects, positional sanctification and dispositional sanctification. Positional sanctification is a fact which we receive in Christ when we believe. When we believe, we may not immediately have the experience of subjective sanctification, but we do receive the fact of sanctification, that is, we are sanctified positionally.
We were forever sanctified at the time we were redeemed through Christ’s offering of His body on the cross as the one sacrifice for sins (Heb. 10:10). When Christ offered Himself to God, He took away our sin (John 1:29) and accomplished the purification of sins once for all (Heb. 1:3; 7:27; 9:26). Once we were far off from God because of sin, but through His redemption Christ has delivered us from sin and has brought us back to God to be separated unto Him forever. This is the positional sanctification which we have received in God’s salvation.
We are sanctified positionally because of the blood of Jesus. By His own blood the Lord Jesus has found an eternal redemption for us (Heb. 9:12) and has purchased us back to God (1 Cor. 6:20; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 5:9). Thus, He has sanctified us (Heb. 13:12), making us distinct from the worldly people. Therefore, when we were purchased back by the Lord with His blood, we were sanctified in fact, in position; that is, in God’s eyes we were separated, sanctified, unto Him.
We are sanctified positionally by being called. God’s calling is to call us out from among the worldly people unto God Himself. Therefore, when we were called, we were separated, sanctified, and we became the called saints (1 Cor. 1:2; Rom. 1:7). Not only Paul and Peter were saints, but we, the saved ones, also are saints. We are those who are sanctified unto God.
Sanctification is not only a matter of position, but it is also a matter of disposition in that God imparts His nature into us that we may partake of His divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4).
We are sanctified dispositionally by Him who sanctifies. Hebrews 2:11 says, “For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one.” This indicates that Christ as the Sanctifier and we as the sanctified are all out of one source, one Father. God the Father is not only the source of the Sanctifier, but He is also the source of all who are being sanctified by Christ. Christ and we are all out of one Father, one source. He and we have the same life (Col. 3:4) and nature. This clearly reveals that sanctification in this sense does not concern position but disposition.
In order to be the One who sanctifies us positionally, Christ needed to pass through the process of incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, glorification, and exaltation. Before His incarnation, Christ was the only begotten Son of God, having only the divine nature but not the human nature. Hence, He could not be the Sanctifier to sanctify us dispositionally. When He was incarnated, on the one hand, He was still the only begotten Son of God; on the other hand, He put on human nature. Although the divine nature within Him was the Son of God, His human nature was not, because His human part was not yet born of God. Hence, He could not be the Sanctifier to sanctify us dispositionally. He needed to pass through death and resurrection in order for His human part to be born of God and for Him to become the firstborn Son of God (Acts 13:33), having both the divine nature and the human nature. Furthermore, through His joining Himself to us, we have been regenerated of God to become the many sons of God, having both the divine nature and the human nature as He does. Therefore, He can be our Sanctifier to make us as holy dispositionally as He is.
We are sanctified dispositionally by being in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. First Corinthians 6:11 says, “But you were sanctified...in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Sanctification here is not the objective aspect which we receive positionally through the blood; it is the subjective aspect which we experience dispositionally in the name of the Lord.
In the New Testament, to be in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is to be in His person, in an organic union with Him through faith; in reality, it is to be in Christ Himself. When we call on the Lord Jesus, we are in His name, in the living person of Christ. We have an organic union with Him, participating in His divine life and nature. Thus, we are sanctified dispositionally.
We are sanctified dispositionally also by being in the Spirit. According to 1 Corinthians 6:11, we have been sanctified not only in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ but also in the Spirit of God. The name of the Lord Jesus Christ is His person, and His person is the Spirit. Hence, the Lord’s name and His Spirit are inseparable. When we call on the name of the Lord, the Lord reaches us as the Spirit. This Spirit is the Spirit of holiness (Rom. 1:4). Therefore, when we are joined to the Lord, we experience the sanctifying work of the Spirit and receive the subjective sanctification in our disposition.
First Corinthians 1:30 says, “...Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God:...sanctification....” This indicates that sanctification is Christ. At the time of our believing, Christ enters into us to be our life. This life is holy, and it imparts His holy nature into us. Thus, we are sanctified and are able to live out a sanctified life.
In order to sanctify us, God has given us not only His life within but also the Bible without. The Bible is the Word of God, and the Word of God is the truth, which can sanctify us (John 17:17). Inwardly, the life of Christ imparts to us the holy nature and taste. Outwardly, the truth of the Bible becomes our sanctifying light and guidance. The inward life demands that we be holy; the outward truth teaches us to be sanctified. The holy nature within responds to the sanctifying light without, and the sanctifying guidance without stimulates the holy taste within. These two, one within and the other without, echo, cooperate with, and complement one another.
In order to make us holy, not only has God given us Christ to be the sanctifying life within and the Bible to be the sanctifying light without, but He has also given us the Holy Spirit to be the sanctifying power, so that by Him we may be sanctified (Rom. 15:16; 1 Cor. 6:11; 2 Thes. 2:13). The Holy Spirit not only increases the demands of the holy life within and intensifies the shining of the holy truth without, but He also becomes our power enabling us to answer the inward demands of the holy life and to obey the outward enlightening of the holy truth. Combined together like three strands of a string, these three—the life of Christ, the light of the Bible, and the power of the Holy Spirit—make it possible for us to live according to the divine nature, that is, in the divine nature, and thus become those who are sanctified.
Sanctification, or being made holy, means separation from what is ordinary or common. Holiness is the quality of God’s nature. The quality of God’s nature is not merely to be sinless, without any defilement, but it is even more to be different, distinct, from everything common. When God sanctifies us, He separates us not only from sin, but even more from the world, from worldliness, and from everything that is not of God or for God, that we may be separated unto God and correspond to the quality of God’s holy nature. To be holy, we must believe into Christ to participate in the fact that He has shed His blood to repurchase us that we may be sanctified. Furthermore, we must enter into Him and be joined to Him. Only then can we be holy as He is. Such sanctification is of two aspects, the positional aspect and the dispositional aspect. Positional sanctification is accomplished by Christ’s offering Himself as the one sacrifice and redeeming us by His own blood, thus forever sanctifying us unto God. It is also accomplished by God’s calling, which calls us out from among the worldly people, thus sanctifying us unto God Himself. Dispositional sanctification is through the Sanctifier, Christ. Through Him we who have been regenerated of God to become the many sons of God, having both the divine nature and the human nature as He does, receive the subjective, dispositional sanctification. By Christ as the sanctifying life, the Bible as the sanctifying light, and the Holy Spirit as the sanctifying power, we can live according to the divine nature, that is, in the divine nature, and thus become those who are sanctified.
