The Meaning of Sanctification

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Johann

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The Meaning of Sanctification Having dwelt at some length upon the relative or legal change which takes place in the status of God's people at justification, it is fitting that we should now proceed to consider the real and experimental change that
takes place in their state, which change is begun at their sanctification and made perfect in glory.

Though the justification and the sanctification of the believing sinner may be, and should be, contemplated singly and distinctively, yet they are inseparably connected, God never bestowing the one without the other; in fact we have no way or means whatever of knowing the former apart from the latter.

In seeking to arrive at the meaning of the second, it will therefore be of help to examine its relation to the first. "These individual companions, sanctification and justification, must not be disjoined: under the law the ablutions and oblations went together, the washings and the sacrifices" (T. Manton).

There are two principal effects that sin produces, which cannot be separated: the filthy defilement it causes, the awful guilt it entails. Thus, salvation from sin necessarily requires both a cleansing and a clearing of the one who is to be saved.

Again; there are two things absolutely indispensable in order for any creature to dwell with God in Heaven: a valid title to that inheritance, a personal fitness to enjoy such blessedness — the one is given in justification, the other is commenced in sanctification.


The inseparability of the two things is brought out in, "In the Lord have I righteousness and strength" (Isaiah 45 :24); "but of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption" (1 Corinthians 1:30); "but you are washed, but you are sanctified, but you are justified" (1 Corinthians 6:11); "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).


"These blessings walk hand in hand; and never were, never will be, never can be parted. No more than the delicious scent can be separated from the beautiful bloom of the rose or carnation: let the flower be expanded, and the fragrance transpires. Try if you can separate gravity from the stone or heat from the fire. If these bodies and their essential properties, if these causes and their necessary effects, are indissolubly connected, so are our justification and our sanctification" (James Hervey, 1770). "Like as Adam alone did personally break the first covenant by the all- ruining offence, yet they to whom his guilt is imputed, do thereupon become inherently sinful, through the corruption of nature conveyed to them from him; so Christ alone did perform the condition of the second
covenant, and those to whom His righteousness is imputed, do thereupon become inherently righteous, through inherent grace communicated to them from Him by the Spirit.

'For as by one man's offence death reigned by one, much more they which receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ' (Romans 5:17). How did death reign by Adam's offence? Not only in point of guilt, whereby his posterity were bound over to destruction, but also in point of their being dead to all good, dead in trespasses and sins. Therefore the receivers of the gift of righteousness must thereby be brought to reign in life, not only legally in justification, but also morally in sanctification" (T. Boston, 1690).


Though absolutely inseparable, yet these two great blessings of Divine grace are quite distinct. In sanctification something is actually imparted to us, in justification it is only imputed. Justification is based entirely upon the work Christ wrought for us, sanctification is principally a work wrought in us. Justification respects its object in a legal sense and terminates in a relative change — a deliverance from punishment, a right to the reward; sanctification regards its object in a moral sense, and terminates in an experimental change both in character and conduct — imparting a love for God, a capacity to worship Him acceptably, and a fitness for Heaven.

Justification is by a righteousness without us, sanctification is by a holiness wrought in us. Justification is by Christ as Priest, and has regard to the penalty of sin; sanctification is by Christ as King, and has regard to the dominion of sin: the former cancels its damning power, the latter delivers from its reigning power.

They differ, then, in their order (not of time, but in their nature), justification preceding, sanctification following: the sinner is pardoned and restored to God's favor before the Spirit is given to renew him after His image.

They differ in their design: justification removes the obligation unto punishment; sanctification cleanses from pollution. They differ in their form: justification is a judicial act, by which the sinner as pronounced righteous; sanctification is a moral work, by which the sinner is made holy: the one has to do solely with our standing before God, the other chiefly concerns our state.


They differ in their cause: the one issuing from the merits of Christ's satisfaction, the other proceeding from the
efficacy of the same. They differ in their end: the one bestowing a title to everlasting glory, the other being the highway which conducts us there.


"And an highway shall be there,...and it shall be called The way of holiness" (Isaiah 35:8). The words ''holiness'' and ''sanctification" are used in our English Bible to represent one and the same word in the Hebrew and Greek originals, but they are by no means used with a uniform signification, being employed with quite a varied latitude and scope. Hence it is hardly to be wondered at that theologians have framed so many different definitions of its meaning.


Among them we may cite the following, each of which, save the last, having an element of truth in them. "Sanctification is God-likeness, or being renewed after His image." "Holiness is conformity to the law of God, in heart and life. Sanctification is a freedom from the tyranny of sin, into the liberty of righteousness."


"Sanctification is that work of the Spirit whereby we are fitted to be worshipers of God." "Holiness is a process of cleansing from the pollution of sin." "It is a moral renovation of our natures whereby they are made more and more like Christ." "Sanctification is the total eradication of the carnal nature, so that sinless perfection is attained in this life." Another class of writers, held in high repute in certain circles, and whose works now have a wide circulation, have formed a faulty, or at least very inadequate, definition of the word "sanctify," through limiting themselves to a certain class of passages where the term occurs and making deductions from only one set of facts.



Words must first be used of material objects before we are ready to employ them in a higher and abstract sense. All our ideas are admitted through the medium of the physical senses, and consequently refer in the
first place to external objects; but as the intellect develops we apply those names, given to material things, unto those which are immaterial. In the earliest stages of human history, God dealt with His people according to this principle. It is true that God's sanctifying of the sabbath day teaches us that the first meaning of the word is 'to set apart," but to argue from this that the term never has a moral force when it is applied to moral agents is not worthy of being called "reasoning" — it is a mere begging of the question: as well argue that since in a majority of passages "baptism" has reference to the immersion of a person in water, it can never have a mystical or spiritual force and value — which is contradicted by Luke 12:50; 1 Corinthians 12:13.


The outward ceremonies prescribed by God to the Hebrews with regard to their external form of religious service were all designed to teach corresponding inward duties, and to show the obligation unto moral virtues. But so determined are many of our moderns to empty the word "sanctify" of all moral value, they quote such verses as "for their sakes I sanctify Myself" (John 17:19); and inasmuch as there was no sin in the Lord Jesus from which He needed cleansing, have triumphantly concluded that the thought of moral purification cannot enter into the meaning of the word when it is applied to His people. This also is a serious error — what the lawyers would call "special pleading": with just as much reason might we Insist that the word "tempt" can never signify to solicit and incline to evil, because it cannot mean that when used of Christ in Matthew 4:1; Hebrews 4:15!


The only satisfactory way of ascertaining the meaning or meanings of the word "sanctify" is to carefully examine every passage in which it is found in Holy Writ, studying its setting, weighing any term with which it is contrasted, observing the objects or persons to which it is applied. This calls for much patience and care, yet only thus do we obey that exhortation "prove all things" (I Thessalonians 5:21).


That this term denotes more than simply "to separate" or "set apart," is clear from Numbers 6:8 where it is said of the Nazarite, "all the days of his separation he is holy unto the Lord," for according to some that would merely signify "all the days of his separation he is separated unto the Lord," which would be meaningless tautology. So again, of the Lord Jesus
we are told, that He was "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners" (Hebrews 7:26), which shows that "holy" means something more than "separation."
 

L.A.M.B.

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Justification happens at the altar of repentance. When we repent in our hearts & minds and turn from our past sins, God is just and faithful to forgive us our sins. We are born new creations in Christ with new thoughts, goals and motives for living righteous! Salvation.

Sanctification has two aspects. One is positional at the rebirth of a sinner. It is when Christ's righteousness is put upon us and in that moment we are perfect in him by his righteous perfection.

As we grow in the Lord the tempter is always ready to tempt, destroy and devour us. This can come through persecutions, trials that overcome us, our own lack of trust & faith in him by staying in his word, hurt ect.

Sanctification then becomes an
ongoing process, a readying daily by self examination. Examining our thoughts, words,and actions to view whether we have an unconfessed unrepentant sin in our lives. Sanctification comes through the Spirit who helps us pray, touches God's heart with our infirmities, guides us through the word in understanding and bears his fruit in our life when we yield.

Glorification happens last either after our life ends or at his second coming to resurrect the saints.
Jesus said he went to prepare a mansion for us that where he is we may be also. A glorified new body resistant to sin, death and corruption. At this point there is NOTHING that can separate us from him and his glory, NOTHING!
 
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