Sanctification precedes justification (1 Cor. 6:11). A person or a vessel sanctified is set apart to God absolutely and perfectly. “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ” (Heb. 10:10).
This is our position always before God as the fruit of the work of Christ upon the cross. This is “positional sanctification” and never changes.
To sanctify the Lord of hosts is to have Him before us to the exclusion of all others. We give Him credit for all that He is as He has revealed Himself to us (Isa. 8:13).
Thy Word, Thyself reflecting,
Doth sanctify by truth,
Still leading on Thy children
With gentle heavenly growth.
Thus still the work proceedeth,
The work begun by grace,
For each is meet, and training,
Father, to see Thy face.
In the above verse it says “meet” that is, positionally sanctified and “training” that is, progressive sanctification, which is the practical application of the truth to our daily lives. Every believer is “positionally sanctified.”