My purpose tonight is to speak a little about the word “sanctify” —it is a large subject, spread over the whole book of God. I fear it is not adequately understood by the large majority of Christians, though it is certainly of very great and special importance; indeed, so important is it that we find each person of the Godhead occupied with our sanctification. In Heb. 10:1010By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10) we read: “By the which will (God's) we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once.” Here we have the working of the Father (compare also John 17:1717Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. (John 17:17)). Then in Heb. 12:1212Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; (Hebrews 12:12) we have the Son— “Jesus also that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered without the gate.” And in 1 Pet. 1:22Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. (1 Peter 1:2) it is the Spirit— “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” Thus we see that our sanctification is of such vital importance that each Person of the Godhead has His blessed part in it. The God we have to do with is a holy God. If we are to dwell in the Father's house through eternal ages it is necessary that we should be “holy and without blame before Him,” and that is what God is working for. It is not enough that we should have a title to be there, there must be fitness for His presence. He will have us to be at home there according to all that God is. The work for us is finished, through the Saviour's death for our sins, and nothing can be added to it. It is ever before God in all its beauty and perfection—our sanctification and meetness in this respect is a accomplished thing—but there is a work necessary to be wrought in us, and this is by His word and Spirit. Suppose we were forgiven and this were all—that would be a wonderfully incomplete thing that would not fit us for a place in the Father's house. Our nature is at enmity with God— “it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Rom. 8:77Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7)). There can be no holiness in us apart from the communication of the new nature. “Ye must be born again.” “In me (that is, in my flesh),", says the apostle, “dwelleth no good thing.” That is as true of us as of Saul of Tarsus, and that old nature, the flesh, must be got rid of, and the new nature which alone can work what is pleasing to God be implanted in us.
The word sanctification is used in various ways in five or six different senses. In Tim. 4:4, 5, the sanctification of our daily food is spoken of. We know that the food cannot be changed in its nature or made actually holy; the meaning is that it is set apart for our use. The word is used in 1 Cor. 7 in connection with the unbelieving husband and the believing wife, with the unbelieving wife and the believing husband—the unconverted one is said to sanctified by the converted. I have known cases where the unconverted husband became all the worse, persecuted his wife, shut her out of doors, and altogether behaved in a far worse manner than he did before his wife was converted. This passage does not mean that the unbeliever is made morally pure, but that the husband and wife might live together, in contrast to the condition of things under the law.
If we go back into the Old Testament we find that the Tabernacle was to be anointed and sanctified, and likewise the altar, the laver, and Aaron and his sons (Ex. 41), just meaning that all was to be set apart to God. A man might also sanctify is house or his field. The thing or person was to be reckoned holy, although it could not be altered in its nature—it was a kind of positional holiness. “All His saints are in Thy hand.” In this sense the whole nation was sanctified, though we know how wicked they were actually. In John 10 the Lord Jesus applies this same word to Himself “Whom the Father hath sanctified.” Did that make Him more holy than before? He was always holy: there could be no degrees in His sanctification— “The holy one of God.” It means that the Father set Him apart for the great work He had trusted Him with. Later, in John 17, the Lord says, “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” He as the spotless One, the One whose purity under the eye of God was unsullied. What He meant was that He set Himself apart on behalf of, these apostles, even as He now appears in the presence God for us.
Thus far sanctification means setting apart, and that thought enters into its meaning wherever you meet with it, only in the cases we shall look at, now the meaning gets deeper. In 1 Thess. 5:2323And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23) we get what is practical, not merely what is positional.
Still we must remember that in the great majority of cases it is positional—that part is complete, not partial or progressive. In the passage already quoted in 1 Peter 1, the Spirit is beginning His work in the soul—what is that? Setting that soul apart. He did that at the very beginning, though the soul might not have had intelligence of it. It is a remarkable thing that the order set forth in human theology is not that given in the word of God. In the Westminster Catechism which I learned when a boy, and which is perhaps the embodiment of human theology, the order is Justification, Adoption, Sanctification. In the word of God we have these three things, but we do not get them in that order. You will find that wherever sanctification and justification come side by side, sanctification comes first. We should have put it last. If we had our choice about that matter we should have been getting under the shelter of the blood before anything else, but that is not God's way. The Holy Spirit begins His work by appropriating the individual for God. We are set apart to obedience, to obey as the Lord obeyed. The soul is required to bow to the truth of God and accept it.
In 1 Cor. 6, after reminding the Corinthians of what some of them had been, the apostle says “but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified.” Why does he not put justified before sanctified? We see the significance of washing. If a rich man adopts a gutter child, the first thing he must do for it is to see that it is washed, the next that it is properly clothed, and then that it is properly instructed in proper manners and behavior. These people had been rolling in the gutters of sin; first of all they needed to be washed, and that is where God began with them.
We read in 2 Thess. 2 of those who shall fall under the strong delusion of the man of sin. “But... God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: whereunto He called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ:” There we have this beautiful order again. God would have us to know how He begins His work. We want to have our thoughts running in a line with His truth. Nowadays there is a great deal of striving after holiness, or sanctification if you will. It is a good thing to see hearts exercised, but we want to listen to God's word and be guided by it, or we may be led into all kinds of fanaticism; on the other hand, if we take up the word apart from the Spirit we shall run into rationalism. The Spirit enables us to understand the word of God, and to walk in its light. We must remember that there can be no holiness and no good works, as God requires them until the soul is born again. The best works of the flesh are dead works. “How much more shall the blood of Christ... purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” The good must be purged away as well as the bad; it is a fine thing to get rid of such deceiving and disappointing things, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Heb. 12:1414Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: (Hebrews 12:14)). “Be ye holy, for I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:1515But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; (1 Peter 1:15)). This is practical sanctification, brought about by the Holy Spirit, who sets us apart from the evil within and around. We must bear in mind that the new nature is sinless and cannot sin, but side by side with that is the old nature, which, if it acts at all, can do nothing but sin. The old nature cannot be improved, nor can it be got rid of until we get to the end of the journey, but its members are to be mortified. God has executed judgment on it in our Substitute on the cross, Who was there made sin for us. “For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Col. 3:33For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:3)). We must first believe this fully, and then go on to reckon ourselves “dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The mighty power of the Holy Spirit lusting against the flesh within us enables us to do the things that we would (Gal. 5:1717For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. (Galatians 5:17)). “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof” (Rom. 13:1414But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. (Romans 13:14)), words that remind us of what Paul said of himself, “For to me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:2121For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21)). If we are living Christ we are living a holy life. “He that saith he abideth in Him, ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.” We know how He walked, doing the will of God perfectly—delighting in it. May the same mind be in us!
The process of practical sanctification is going on. At the same time we must remember, “This is the will of God, even your sanctification” (1 Thess. 4:33For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: (1 Thessalonians 4:3)). Listen again to the words of the apostle, “Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing” (Eph. 5:25-2725Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:25‑27)). The means of this cleansing and sanctification is through the word. How we should give heed to that cleansing and purifying power. When the Lord washed the disciples' feet they not understand it. It is with us as with them; our whole person is cleansed, but we have to walk through this world, and we contract defilement by the way, and we need to be cleansed from that defilement. We do not go back to the blood; what we need is the washing of water by the word. How we should seek every opportunity of hearing the word, of reading and studying it Even in the Psalms we find the question “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?” and its answer, “By taking heed thereto according to Thy word” (Ps. 119:9). “By the word of Thy lips have I kept me from the paths of the destroyer” (Ps. 17:4). If we have the word dwelling in us in all wisdom, our hearts and minds are kept and led on into all holiness, and the flesh is kept in place. In 2 Cor. 6 great promises have been spoken of. “I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God.” The next chapter opens, “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.” We see how we are to go on growing more and more in the image and likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. This will be holiness indeed.
The verse we have specially before us takes the form of a prayer for the sanctification of the whole tripartite person. This was the desire begotten in the apostle's heart by the Holy Ghost; it is His desire for us still. When the Holy Ghost is allowed to work in us, there is His gracious preservation. “Unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” — how constantly the Spirit of God carries us on to that wonderful event. “The Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, even as we do toward you: to the end He may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Chrigt with all His saints” (1 Thess. 3:1313To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. (1 Thessalonians 3:13)). “What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God?” We want to keep these great events before our minds—they have a sanctifying power. “Beloved, now are we children of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” What then? “Every man that hath this hope on Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.” Nothing short of this should satisfy us; that is what our aim and endeavour should be. There is no way in which we can more impressively and effectively glorify Him here than by having the same mind that was in Him. We are left here to follow His steps. When the Lord was here He was the light of the world— “As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world.” In view of His going out of the world He said to His disciples “Ye are the light of the world.” The more we grow like Him the brighter will be our light.
Verse 24 is very encouraging; it gives the answer to the prayer, “Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.” It is by the power of the indwelling Spirit alone that we can “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit,” and present our bodies “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.” The whole person must be given up to Him. “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ.” In 1 Thess. 5:2424Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:24) we get the added assurance “Who also will do it.” Surely it is the Father's desire that all His people should be holy as He is holy. Israel was set apart, and failed, but there is little excuse for us if we are not a holy people practically and really. We have the position and standing of a holy people, but we must walk as such. God grant us a deeper aspiration after true holiness of walk and life, truer likeness of mind and will to our Lord and Master, yea, a practical giving-up of our entire being to Him! He is going to present as faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. ."That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.” The spots are moral defects, sins—in plainer language; wrinkles are brought on through the cares and sorrows of this life. But all the spots and wrinkles will disappear. We shall hardly know ourselves when we come to that.
“To find each hope of glory gained,
Fulfilled each precious word,
And fully all to have attained
The image of our Lord.”
There will then no longer be the need for watchfulness, as is so continuously called for here. But all His desires in regard to us will have been consummated in glory.
“The God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you” (1 Pet. 5:1010But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. (1 Peter 5:10)).
R.K.