Sanctification
a Study in God’s Graceby Jack Kettler
In this
study we will look at a biblical definition
of
sanctification, God’s part in it, and man’s
responsibility. Various texts of
Scripture will be considered. In addition to
man, families, nations, places and
objects can be sanctified.
We have
looked previously at God’s justification of
the believer. By way of introduction, we can
say that sanctification begins
with justification. And, while justification
is a one-time act of God,
sanctification is an ongoing process
throughout the Christian’s life. As the
Bereans
of old in Acts 17:11, open up the Scriptures
and see if these things are so.
What
is the meaning of the word sanctification?
A modern
dictionary definition of sanctify is:
sanctified; sanctifying, transitive verb. 1:
to set apart to a sacred purpose
or to religious use: consecrate. 2: to free
from sin: purify.
When
looking at man and God’s gracious working
it can be said:
Sanctification
is: an ongoing inner transformation in
which the Holy Spirit works to make the
believer more and more like Christ in
every way, including desires, thoughts and
actions. To sanctify means to be set
apart or consecrate for a holy use.
God
has called believers to sanctification:
“For God
hath not called us unto uncleanness, but
unto
holiness.” (1 Thessalonians 4:7)
Believers
are to sanctify Christ as Lord in their
hearts:
“But
sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be
ready always to give an answer to every man
that asketh you a reason of the
hope that is in you with meekness and fear.”
(1 Peter 3:15)
Families
are to be sanctified:
“So Jacob
said to his household and to all who were
with him, "Put away the foreign gods which
are among you, and purify
yourselves and change your garments.”
(Genesis 35:2)
God
sanctified the nation of Israel:
“And the
heathen shall know that I the LORD do
sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be
in the midst of them for evermore.”
(Ezekiel 37:28)
God
sanctifies a Mountain:
“You
shall set bounds for the people all around,
saying, 'Beware that you do not go up on the
mountain or touch the border of
it; whoever touches the mountain shall
surely be put to death.” (Exodus 19:12)
The
Sabbath Day is sanctified:
“The
seventh day God completed His work which He
had
done, and He rested on the seventh day from
all His work which He had done.” (Genesis
2:2)
The
Tabernacle and its Utensils are
sanctified:
“The
length of the court shall be an hundred
cubits,
and the breadth fifty everywhere, and the
height five cubits of fine twined linen,
and their sockets of brass. All the vessels
of the tabernacle in all the
service thereof, and all the pins thereof,
and all the pins of the court, shall
be of brass. And thou shalt command the
children of Israel, that they bring
thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to
cause the lamp to burn always.” (Exodus
27:18-20)
Every
created thing is sanctified through the
Word of God and prayer:
“The
voice spoke to him a second time: ‘Do not
call
anything impure that God has made clean.’”
(Acts 10:15)
Man’s
responsibility in sanctification:
“Finally,
my brethren, be strong in the
Lord, and in the power of his
might. Put
on the
whole armour of God that ye may be able to
stand against the wiles of the
devil.” (Ephesians 6:10-11)
“Wherefore
take unto you the whole
armour of God that ye may
be able to withstand in the
evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
(Ephesians 6:13)
“Wherefore,
my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not
as in my presence only, but now much more in
my absence, work
out your own salvation with
fear and trembling. For it is God
which worketh in you both to will and
to do of his good pleasure.” (Philippians
2:12-13)
The
Westminster Confession of Faith (XVI.2, 3)
press the believer to remember that
we need the empowering work of the Holy
Spirit to succeed in our
responsibility:
II. These
good works, done in obedience to God's
commandments, are the fruits and evidences
of a true and lively faith: and by
them believers manifest their thankfulness,
strengthen their assurance, edify
their brethren, adorn the profession of the
Gospel, stop the mouths of the
adversaries, and glorify God, whose
workmanship they are, created in Christ
Jesus thereunto, that, having their fruit
unto holiness, they may have the end,
eternal life.
III.
Their ability to do good works is not at all
of
themselves, but wholly from the Spirit of
Christ. And that they may be enabled
thereunto, beside the graces they have
already received, there is required an
actual influence of the same Holy Spirit, to
work in them to will, and to do,
of His good pleasure: yet are they not
hereupon to grow negligent, as if they
were not bound to perform any duty unless
upon a special motion of the Spirit;
but they ought to be diligent in stirring up
the grace of God that is in them.
Now
for a detailed word analysis of
sanctification:
From
Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New
Testament Words:
SANCTIFICATION,
SANCTIFY
A. Noun.
HAGIASMOS,
“sanctification,” is used of (a) separation
to God, 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Thess. 2:13;
1 Pet. 1:2; (b) the course of life befitting
those so separated, 1 Thess. 4:3,
4, 7; Rom. 6:19, 22; 1 Tim. 2:15; Heb.
12:14.
“Sanctification
is that relationship with God into
which men enter by faith in Christ, Acts
26:18; 1 Cor. 6:11, and to which their
sole title is the death of Christ, Eph.
5:25, 26; Col. 1:22; Heb. 10:10, 29;
13:12. “Sanctification is also used in NT of
the separation of the believer
from evil things and ways. This
sanctification is God’s will for the
believer,
1 Thess. 4:3, and His purpose in calling him
by the gospel, v. 7; it must be
learned from God, v. 4, as He teaches it by
His Word, John 17:17, 19, cf. Ps.
17:4; 119:9, and it must be pursued by the
believer, earnestly and
undeviatingly, 1 Tim. 2:15; Heb. 12:14. For
the holy character, hagiosune,
1 Thess. 3:13, is not
vicarious, i.e., it cannot be transferred or
imputed, it is an individual possession,
built up, little by little, as the result of
obedience to the Word of God, and
of following the example of Christ, Matt.
11:29; John 13:15; Eph. 4:20; Phil.
2:5, in the power of the Holy Spirit, Rom.
8:13; Eph. 3:16. “The Holy Spirit is
the Agent in sanctification, Rom. 15:16; 2
Thess. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:2; cf. 1 Cor.
6:11. The sanctification of the Spirit is
associated with the choice, or election,
of God; it is a Divine act preceding the
acceptance of the Gospel by the
individual.”*
For
synonymous words see HOLINESS.
B. Verb.
HAGION,
“to sanctify,” “is used of (a) the gold
adorning the Temple and of the gift
laid on the altar, Matt. 23:17, 19; (b)
food, 1 Tim. 4:5; (c) the unbelieving spouse
of a believer, 1 Cor. 7:14; (d) the
ceremonial cleansing of the Israelites,
Heb. 9:13; (e) the Father’s Name, Luke 11:2;
(f) the consecration of the Son by
the Father, John 10:36; (g) the Lord Jesus
devoting Himself to the redemption
of His people, John 17:19; (h) the setting
apart of the believer for God, Acts
20:32; cf. Rom. 15:16; (i) the effect on the
believer of the Death of Christ,
Heb. 10:10, said of God, and 2:11; 13:12,
said of the Lord Jesus; (j) the
separation of the believer from the world in
his behavior—by the Father through
the Word, John 17:17, 19; (k) the believer
who turns away from such things as
dishonor God and His gospel, 2 Tim. 2:21;
(l) the acknowledgment of the Lordship
of Christ, 1 Pet. 3:15. “Since every
believer is sanctified in Christ Jesus, 1
Cor. 1:2, cf. Heb. 10:10, a common NT
designation of all believers is ‘saints,’
hagioi,
i.e., ‘sanctified’ or ‘holy ones.’
Thus sainthood, or sanctification, is not an
attainment, it is the state into
which God, in grace, calls sinful men, and
in which they begin their course as
Christians, Col. 3:12; Heb. 3:1.Ӡ (1)
The
next verse encapsulates the idea of
ongoing or progressive sanctification
culminating in glorification in heaven:
“But we
all, with open face beholding as in a glass
the glory of the Lord, are changed into the
same image from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2
Corinthians 3:18)
Ellicott's
Commentary for English Readers displays an
edifying elucidation of this
passage:
(18) But
we all, with open face.—Better, And we all,
with unveiled face.—The relation of this
sentence to the foregoing is one of
sequence and not of contrast, and it is
obviously important to maintain in the
English, as in the Greek, the continuity of
allusive thought involved in the
use of the same words as in 2Corinthians
3:14. “We,” says the Apostle, after
the parenthesis of 2Corinthians 3:17, “are
free, and therefore we have no need
to cover our faces, as slaves do before the
presence of a great king. There is
no veil over our hearts, and therefore none
over the eyes with which we
exercise our faculty of spiritual vision. We
are as Moses was when he stood
before the Lord with the veil withdrawn.” If
the Tallith were in use at this
time in the synagogues of the Jews,
there might also be a reference to the
contrast between that ceremonial usage
and the practice of Christian assemblies.
(Comp. 1Corinthians 11:7; but see
Note on 2Corinthians 3:15.)
Beholding
as in a glass the glory of the Lord.—The
Greek participle which answers to the first
five words belongs to a verb
derived from the Greek for “mirror”
(identical in meaning, though not in form,
with that of 1Corinthians 13:12). The word
is not a common word, and St. Paul
obviously had some special reason for
choosing it, instead of the more familiar
words, “seeing,” “beholding,” “gazing
stedfastly;” and it is accordingly
important to ascertain its meaning. There is
no doubt that the active voice
signifies to “make a reflection in a
mirror.” There is as little doubt that the
middle voice signifies to look at one’s self
in a mirror. Thus Socrates advised
drunkards and the young to “look at
themselves in a mirror,” that they might
learn the disturbing effects of passion (Diog.
Laert.
ii. 33; iii. 39). This
meaning, however, is inapplicable here; and
the writings of Philo, who in one
passage (de
Migr. Abrah. p. 403) uses
it in this sense of the priests who saw
their faces in the polished brass of
the lavers of purification, supply an
instance of its use with a more
appropriate meaning. Paraphrasing the prayer
of Moses in Exodus 33:18, he makes
him say: “Let me not behold Thy form (idea)
mirrored (using the very word which
we find here) in any created thing, but in
Thee, the very God” (2 Allegor.
p. 79). And this is obviously
the force of the word here. The sequence of
thought is, it is believed,
this:—St. Paul was about to contrast the
veiled vision of Israel with the
unveiled gaze of the disciples of Christ;
but he remembers what he had said in
1Corinthians 13:12 as to the limitation of
our present knowledge, and
therefore, instead of using the more common
word, which would convey the
thought of a fuller knowledge, falls back
upon the unusual word, which exactly
expresses the same thought as that passage
had expressed. “We behold the glory
of the Lord, of the Jehovah of the Old
Testament, but it is not, as yet, face
to face, but as mirrored in the person of
Christ.” The following words,
however, show that the word suggested yet
another thought to him. When we see
the sun as reflected in a polished mirror of
brass or silver, the light
illumines us: we are, as it were,
transfigured by it and reflect its
brightness. That this meaning lies in the
word itself cannot, it is true, be
proved, and it is, perhaps, hardly
compatible with the other meaning which we
have assigned to it; but it is perfectly
conceivable that the word should
suggest the fact, and the fact be looked on
as a parable.
Are
changed into the same image.—Literally, are
being
transfigured into the same image. The verb
is the same (metemorphôthè) as that used in
the account of our Lord’s
transfiguration in Matthew 17:2, Mark 9:2;
and it may be noted that it is used
of the transformation (a metamorphosis more
wondrous than any poet had dreamt
of) of the Christian into the likeness of
Christ in the nearly contemporary
passage (Romans 12:2). The thought is
identical with that of Romans 8:29:
“Conformed to the likeness” (or image) “of
His Son.” We see God mirrored in
Christ, who is “the image of the invisible
God” (Colossians 1:15), and as we
gaze, with our face unveiled, on that
mirror, a change comes over us. The image
of the old evil Adam-nature (1Corinthians
15:49) becomes less distinct, and the
image of the new man, after the likeness of
Christ, takes its place. We
“faintly give back what we adore,” and man,
in his measure and degree, becomes,
as he was meant to be at his creation, like
Christ, “the image of the invisible
God.” Human thought has, we may well
believe, never pictured what in simple
phrase we describe as growth in grace, the
stages of progressive
sanctification, in the language of a nobler
poetry.
From
glory to glory.—This mode of expressing
completeness is characteristic of St. Paul,
as in Romans 1:17, “from faith to
faith “; 2Corinthians 2:16, “of death to
death.” The thought conveyed is less
that of passing from one stage of glory to
another than the idea that this
transfiguring process, which begins with
glory, will find its consummation also
in glory. The glory hereafter will be the
crown of the glory here. The beatific
vision will be possible only for those who
have been thus transfigured. “We
know that we shall be like Him, for we shall
see Him as He is” (1John 3:2).
Even as
by the Spirit of the Lord.—The Greek
presents
the words in a form which admits of three
possible renderings. (1) That of the
English version; (2) that in the margin, “as
of the Lord the Spirit”; (3) as of
the Lord of the Spirit. The exceptional
order in which the two words stand,
which must be thought as adopted with a
purpose, is in favour of (2) and (3)
rather than of (1), and the fact that the
writer had just dictated the words
“the Lord is the Spirit” in favour of (2)
rather than (3). The form of speech
is encompassed with the same difficulties as
before, but the leading thought is
clear: “The process of transformation
originates with the Lord (i.e., with
Christ), but it is with Him, not ‘after the
flesh’ as a mere teacher and
prophet (2Corinthians 5:16), not as the mere
giver of another code of ethics,
another ‘letter’ or writing, but as a
spiritual power and presence, working
upon our spirits. In the more technical
language of developed theology, it is
through the Holy Spirit that the Lord, the
Christ, makes His presence manifest
to our human spirit.” (Comp. Notes on John
14:22-26.) (2)
The
doctrine of sanctification from the
Westminster Confession of Faith:
Note: The
1643-1648 Westminster Assembly was called by
the Puritan Parliament in England.
It was to lay the doctrinal foundation for
the Church of England. The
Confession and Catechisms became the
subordinate standards of the Church of
Scotland. The Westminster Confession of
Faith was modified and embraced by
Congregationalists in England, in their
Savoy Declaration (1658).
Similarly,
the Baptists of England, produced the
London Baptist Confession (1689). The
Westminster Confession of Faith and
derived confessions remain principal
secondary doctrinal standards for
Protestants and Evangelicals everywhere to
this day. I like good Bible
teachers. The theologians of the Westminster
Assembly were the best Bible
teachers of their day and any day for that
matter. To appreciate the points of
the confession on sanctification, you need
to work through the Scriptural
proofs to see if these things are so.
Westminster
Confession of Faith Chapter XIII
Of
Sanctification:
I. They,
who are once effectually called, and
regenerated, having a new heart, and a new
spirit created in them, are further
sanctified, really and personally, through
the virtue of Christ's death and
resurrection,[1] by His Word and Spirit
dwelling in them:[2] the dominion of
the whole body of sin is destroyed,[3] and
the several lusts thereof are more
and more weakened and mortified;[4] and they
more and more quickened and
strengthened in all saving graces,[5] to the
practice of true holiness, without
which no man shall see the Lord.[6]
II. This
sanctification is throughout, in the whole
man; [7] yet imperfect in this life, there
abiding still some remnants of
corruption in every part; [8] whence arises
a continual and irreconcilable war,
the flesh lusting against the Spirit, and
the Spirit against the flesh. [9]
III. In
which war, although the remaining
corruption,
for a time, may much prevail;[10] yet,
through the continual supply of strength
from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the
regenerate part does overcome;[11]
and so, the saints grow in grace,[12]
perfecting holiness in the fear of
God.[13]
Scriptural
proofs:
[1] 1CO
6:11 And such were some of you: but ye are
washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are
justified in the name of the Lord
Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. ACT
20:32 And now, brethren, I commend you
to God, and to the word of his grace, which
is able to build you up, and to
give you an inheritance among all them which
are sanctified. PHI 3:10 That I
may know him, and the power of his
resurrection, and the fellowship of his
sufferings, being made conformable unto his
death; ROM 6:5 For if we have been
planted together in the likeness of his
death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection: 6 Knowing this, that
our old man is crucified with him,
that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve
sin.
[2] JOH
17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy
word is truth. EPH 5:26 That he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing
of water by the word. 2TH 2:13 But we are
bound to give thanks alway to God for
you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of
the Spirit and belief of the truth.
[3] ROM
6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is
crucified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we
should not serve sin. 14 For sin shall not
have dominion over you: for ye are
not under the law, but under grace.
[4] GAL
5:24 And they that are Christ's have
crucified
the flesh with the affections and lusts. ROM
8:13 For if ye live after the
flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the
Spirit do mortify the deeds of the
body, ye shall live.
[5] COL
1:11 Strengthened with all might, according
to
his glorious power, unto all patience and
longsuffering with joyfulness. EPH
3:16 That he would grant you, according to
the riches of his glory, to be
strengthened with might by his Spirit in the
inner man; 17 That Christ may
dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye,
being rooted and grounded in love, 18
May be able to comprehend with all saints
what is the breadth, and length, and
depth, and height; 19 And to know the love
of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all the fulness
of God.
[6] 2CO
7:1 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. HEB
12:14 Follow peace with all men,
and holiness, without which no man shall see
the Lord.
[7] 1TH
5:23 And 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.
[8] 1JO
1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we
make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
ROM 7:18 For I know that in me
(that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good
thing: for to will is present with me;
but how to perform that which is good I find
not. 23 But I see another law in
my members, warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into captivity
to the law of sin which is in my members.
PHI 3:12 Not as though I had already
attained, either were already perfect: but I
follow after, if that I may
apprehend that for which also I am
apprehended of Christ Jesus.
[9] GAL
5:17 For 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. 1PE 2:11 Dearly beloved, I
beseech you as strangers and pilgrims,
abstain from fleshly lusts, which war
against the soul.
[10] ROM
7:23 But I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind, and
bringing me into captivity to the law
of sin which is in my members.
[11] ROM
6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over
you: for ye are not under the law, but under
grace. 1JO 5:4 For whatsoever is
born of God overcometh the world: and this
is the victory that overcometh the
world, even our faith. EPH 4:15 But speaking
the truth in love, may grow up
into him in all things, which is the head,
even Christ: 16 From whom the whole
body fitly joined together and compacted by
that which every joint supplieth,
according to the effectual working in the
measure of every part, maketh
increase of the body unto the edifying of
itself in love.
[12] 2PE
3:18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him
be glory both now and for ever.
Amen. 2CO 3:18 But we all, with open face
beholding as in a glass the glory of
the Lord, are changed into the same image
from glory to glory, even as by the
Spirit of the Lord.
[13] 2CO
7:1 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.
In
closing:
Sanctification
follows justification and likewise, is
a gracious gift of God. In justification our
sins are declared completely
forgiven in Christ based upon His Work!
Justification is a declared gracious
one time act. In distinction, sanctification
is a process by which the Holy
Spirit changes us to be more like Christ.
True sanctification is impossible
apart from the atoning work of Christ on the
cross because only after our sins
are forgiven and being indwelt by the Holy
Spirit can we begin to lead a holy
life.
“And a
highway shall be there, and a way, and it
shall
be called the way of holiness; the unclean
shall not pass over it; but it shall
be for those: the wayfaring men, though
fools, shall not err therein.” (Isaiah
35:8)
“Study to
shew thyself approved unto God, a workman
that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly
dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy
2:15)
Notes:
1.W. E. Vine, An Expository Dictionary of New
Testament Words, (Iowa Falls, Iowa,
Riverside Book and Bible House), pp.
989-990.
2.Charles John Ellicott, Bible
Commentary for English Readers, 2
Corinthians, Vol.2, (London, England,
Cassell and Company), p. 374.
“Not by
works of righteousness which we have done,
but
according to his mercy he saved us, by the
washing of regeneration, and
renewing of the Holy Ghost.” (Titus 3:5)
“To God
only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ
forever. Amen.” (Romans 16:27) and “heirs
according to the promise.” (Galatians
3:28, 29)
Mr.
Kettler has previously published articles in
the Chalcedon
Report and Contra
Mundum. He and his wife Marea
attend the Westminster, CO, RPCNA Church.
Mr. Kettler is the author of the book
defending the Reformed Faith against
attacks. Available at:
www.TheReligionThatStartedInAHat.com
For
more study:
J. C.
Ryle: Justification
and
Sanctification: How Do They Differ?