Sanctification
2000-11-14
Defining the Terms
Since humankind went into rebellion, there has been no way for people could please God. With the atonement in Christ’s blood, one can enter into fellowship with God for all time, fulfilling the animal sacrifices prescribed in the Mosaic Law (Hebrews 10:10). This sealing of God’s chosen people is done by God’s grace, setting them apart to do His will. This is what sanctification is: the transformation of people who were saved by grace into the image of Christ, being saved from the power of sin over their lives. It is a lifelong process. This has been the goal for His people since the fall of humankind: for them to be separate from the wickedness of the world around them.
Being set apart from the wickedness of the world to be dedicated to God was the goal of the law for the Israelites (Leviticus 19:2). This is very much a recurring theme throughout the law. This is because God Himself is holy; He is separate from the sin and the depravity of the world. He sets His standards for Israel to learn about His nature in the law. The logical implication from being set apart from the world is to be perfect and without blemish (Deuteronomy 18:13). This is not possible for people within themselves.
Sanctification is used in the New Testament to explain believers as being set apart from the world, but not emancipated entirely from the world. Jesus shows this in His prayer for His disciples. He prays to the Father, “Sanctify them through thy truth” (John 17:17), and says they are not of the world because Jesus is not. Because we belong to God, we are set apart for God’s purpose. Yet Jesus sends us into the world just as God sent Jesus into the world: to preach the Gospel of salvation and represent God’s Word. This is to say we are set apart in the world to be God’s ambassadors as the nation Israel was to the Gentiles in the ancient world. His disciples were not meant to live in a vacuum, for Jesus said in Matthew 5:13, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted?” Yet we are still affected by the sins of the world as well as have our own indwelling sin.
Words Used in the New Testament
The verb ‘αγιαζω, to sanctify or set apart, is used in the New Testament most often to explain that believers have been sanctified and begins at their first moment of their salvation (Acts 20:32; 26:18; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 6:11; 2 Timothy 2:21; Hebrews 10:10). Paul explains that the cycle of animal sacrifices required under the law for propitiation of sin has ended, since the sacrifices did nothing more than symbolize its fulfillment in Christ and also remind one of the presence of sin (Hebrews 10:3-4).
Generally progressive sanctification is not the case by observing the use of this verb ‘αγιαζω. Since this constant use of the sacrificial system in the Old Testament was only the model for the Redeemer who was to come, Christ’s atoning death covers sins once and for all for the believer. This means the believer accepts Christ once and is saved once (which never can be undone), and is also set apart as a member of God’s elect once. In essence the separation of the believer to become one of the elect happens at one time, though spiritual growth happens over a period of time. The believer is made holy, but God’s work in the believer has just begun.
‘Αγιος is the noun used to describe those who have been sanctified. Paul opens many of his epistles with this noun to greet the recipient (Romans 1:7; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:2). This is to show that the word is used to describe any believers. Interesting enough, he does not use the term for the Galatians and the Thessalonians. The former group was a church standing largely in unbelief because they had heeded the teachings of apostates (cf. Galatians 3:1).
Who the Saints Are
The saints are made up of Jewish believers as well as Gentiles (Ephesians 2:19) and the Spirit makes intercession for them (Romans 8:27). They have an inheritance to look forward to (Colossians 1:12). Their purpose is to be free from all uncleanness, covetousness, because they are the heirs of God (Ephesians 5:3-5). They will be rewarded (Revelation 11:18), will exhibit patience and faith (Revelation 13:10), will persevere (Revelation 14:12), will suffer (Revelation 16:6), and will have righteous acts (Revelation 19:8).
To put all of this together, the term ‘saints’ therefore refers to all believers. They are set apart by God at an appointed time, to be holy and to be His people. This group is not experientially righteous since all are sinners this side of heaven (Romans 3:10; 1 John 1:8), but the believers have been set apart with the goal in mind to become like Christ (Matthew 5:48), and by pressing toward this goal of being perfect makes the believer more mature (Philippians 3:12-14).
Pressing On Toward Maturity
The Greek word for perfect and mature is τελειος, which also at times means completeness. It is used in reference to saints as the goal in which they should look to attain. Jesus sets this as an impossible standard to strive for, as He does this to teach His disciples dependency upon Him (Matthew 5:48), a general usage for this word in the New Testament. Paul reiterates this to the Ephesians (4:11-16), and also to the Colossians (1:28), and gives an explanation of what Spiritual maturity is to the latter within the next few verses. This goal is for the saints to attain “all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2-3).
Paul states he has not been perfected, but is still maturing by leaving behind those things he once considered to be of value (Philippians 3:13). He was a man who prided himself in his heritage and by measuring his worth by works of the law, which he now counts as “dung” (Philippians 3:8). Perfection is something that is not possible with humankind. If the man whom God used to write almost half the New Testament books was not perfect, but also looking forward to perfection in Christ, then this clearly teaches there are none experientially righteous.
Paul goes on to say that those who are Spiritually mature should have the mind that there is more maturity needed, as God will reveal the imperfection of the saints to them. The saints, therefore, will progress and grow in Christ-likeness if they also look forward to Christ, as Paul does.
The Gospel of Christ is a very deep subject matter that takes more than a lifetime to gain in full understanding and to apply to every area of one’s worldview. Paul explains this to the Hebrews, which have become “dull of hearing” (Hebrews 5:11). They need to be taught again the basics of the Gospel, which is compared to the milk infants must first feed upon, and once they learn these things in their hearts, they can move on to applying the Gospel of Jesus Christ to more difficult matters and become teachers themselves, which is compared to “strong meat.” This belongs to people of “full age,” which is the use of the Greek word τελειος (Hebrews 5:14).
This maturity will occur by the “renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2), and not by being conformed to the world. Prayerfully going to God in complete dependence to Him, and asking for wisdom will also bring about change (James 1:4-5). The believer will then have real wisdom and not the wisdom of the world (1 Corinthians 2:6), and will be mature in understanding and childlike in malice (1 Corinthians 14:20).
Three Parables
Matthew 24:45-25:30 contains three parables that distinguish disciples of Christ from believers who are not serious about their relationship with God. The first parable shows two types of servants, one which is faithful in his lord’s absence and the other who is not. The former servant will be appointed to rule over his master’s goods. The latter decides that since his master is delaying in his coming, that he can do whatever he wishes. This attitude represents a believer that can expect divine discipline (cf. Hebrews 10:26ff), freely doing what he ought not be doing. When his master returns, the faithless servant is not prepared for him since he had no desire to be prepared for his arrival. Therefore, the master punishes him. This is not that the former servant was perfect, for no one is free from error. The difference is between the two servants’ hearts. The former did in faith what was right for his master, while the latter intentionally did wrong things thinking his master either did not know or did not care. Likewise with Jesus, no matter how long the Lord delays in His coming, the believer needs to be ready at every hour because they do not know when Christ will return (Matthew 24:44). Our motivation is not necessarily fear of Him, and it is not for reward. The real motivation is His unconditional love for us in Christ while we were alienated from Him.
The parable of the ten virgins is a similar account, as the former are prepared for the arrival of the bridegroom, while the latter are not ready for him. The bridegroom’s coming was announced, but he seems not to come right away. The first five virgins had come prepared with enough oil for their lamps, and the second five had no oil. The second five’s lamps were going out, and at the announcement they believe they have enough time to go out and get some oil. However, the master comes while they are out and are denied entrance to the wedding. This difference here from the first illustration is how blatant their disobedience was. The virgins have been made aware of the good news of the coming of the bridegroom, but were foolish and did not have the oil in their lamps necessary. They were not responsible enough to know their role in the wedding, so the bridegroom denied them entrance.
The third parable, the parable of the talents, shows how the mature believer’s faith will bear fruit and the immature believer will not. The first and second servants get returns for what the master entrusted to them, equal to what they were given. The third servant hides his talent in the ground, and was punished for not using what he was entrusted with to make his master’s property grow. Christ entrusts believers with the gift of the knowledge of the Gospel, with skills He has given them, and possessions, and expects that in faith that one will invest these gifts from God for the kingdom and people will come to know Him (Mark 4:20; James 2:20). This parable as well as the other two parables also show that Christ commands obedience to Him, and that a believer is set apart for God’s purpose to be obedient. Yet still it is by grace by faith alone in which one is saved, even if one does not live for Christ in this life as he or she ought.
Abiding in Christ
Jesus takes this further in the Gospel of John. There are believers that abide in Christ and those that do not, and the latter are the branches that are withered and did not bear fruit. If they were true disciples of Jesus they would bear fruit (John 15:5). Obedience to Christ comes first, and the believer will abide in His love (John 15:10). One abides in Christ by obeying His commandments of love, to love God and to love others in the community of believers (the local church), and by doing this being a testimony to the living God to the rest of the world (cf. John 13:34-35). Obedience will bring the experience of Christ abiding in us. And if Christ abides in us, then we will bear much fruit. This passage shows how obedience to Christ will automatically bear fruit (cf. Galatians 5:22), and will not be separated from Him as the withered braches, or immature believers, will be. This is important to move on to the next passage to be discussed.
The indwelling Holy Spirit is what makes the believer His (Romans 8:9; 1 John 3:24). All believers have the indwelling Spirit, and are therefore Christ’s. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1). Those who were saved by God therefore ought to live according to the Spirit, since it is the Spirit that makes the believer alive (for the flesh is dead in sin, Romans 8:11-12). The main characteristic of one being Christ’s is the indwelling of the Spirit; it is the Spirit that leads one to being obedient (living by the Spirit as opposed to the flesh). We see again that the ones that live without the Spirit live according to the flesh, not being led by God’s Spirit, and they are not His because they do not have the Spirit. Therefore they cannot please God (Romans 8:8). Yet even after all what God does for us and in us so that we can serve Him, we can still turn away and grieve the Holy Spirit within us (cf. Ephesians 4:30ff).
John’s First Epistle
There is no darkness or impureness in God, as John writes, and therefore the believer cannot walk in darkness and also have fellowship with Christ (1 John 1:6). Trusting in Christ and being obedient to Him puts the believer in fellowship with God. If we are His, then we have the Spirit, and therefore we are enabled to walk in the light and have fellowship with Him. This is not to say we are sinless, for if we say that we are sinless, we make God “a liar” and “his word is not in us” (1 John 1:10). Confession of sins is important that we the believers may be restored to fellowship with Him. We cannot lose the powerful salvation that Jesus Christ sealed in His blood, but we can lose having fellowship, or being close to Him. We cannot serve Him if we are in perpetual sin. He died for us to cover all of our sins: past, present, and future. But we must confess our sins as a reminder that we are sinners, saved by His grace, and in need of Him. This confession is a characteristic of walking in the light. Keeping Christ in the central part of our mind will allow the Spirit to work in our lives in a mightier way.
John continues further on to say that “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not”, and that those that sin have “not seen him, neither known him” (1 John 3:6). This does not mean that the believer is perfect, but it does mean that the believer cannot continually sin and walk with Christ at the same time, for committing sin is “lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). To return to Jesus’ model of the two servants, the second servant beat his fellow servants and dwelt with drunkards. How could he be doing his master’s will? One cannot try to get away with sin and also “walk in the light,” for these are contradictory.
Those who do not walk in the light do not love their brother, as the Lord commands. This is a commandment the believer cannot ignore, for we have been shown the love of God and given the capacity to love (cf. 1 John 3:17). Love should be not merely words, but also actions. This is an example of fruit the believer will bear as a result of belonging to Christ. If one abides in Christ, then the believer is keeping this commandment (1 John 3:24).
These passages lay out a common thread to understand the relationship of belonging to Christ, obedience to Him, and bearing fruit. All of those with the indwelling Holy Spirit belong to God (Romans 8:9). Christ, however, will abide in the believers that keep His commandments (1 John 3:24). God and such believers are at fellowship with one another (1 John 1:7). Such will not continue their lives with lawlessness and constant sin (1 John 3:6, Romans 8:5-8), yet are also not perfect (1 John 1:8). The believers will then bear fruit, that is have evidence of their faith that will validate God’s working in them (John 15:8).
Inner-Struggle
The fruit of the Spirit is the evidence of God working in his elect. This includes: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (Galatians 5:22-23). Some of these have to do with relationships with other people, which come from the commandment to love your brother in 1 John 3. Paul tells the Galatians that if one should live in the Spirit, one should also walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:25). This goes along with the themes of the previous passages as well. Though the believer has “crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:24) there needs to be a reminder that one should also walk in the Spirit and bear His fruit. This, of course, is because though the Spirit of God sanctifies the believer to remove habitual sin (1 John 2:6), there is still imperfection in the believer where sin can still occur (1 John 1:8). Sin will not be completely eradicated from our experience this side of heaven.
There is a war within the believer that the sinful part of being human remains with the believer. This part counteracts both the newness of the believer in Christ and to obey His commands. This teaches us how sinful we really are and how magnificent God’s grace was in saving us from His judgment (Romans 7:24f). This illustrates that keeping the law or doing good works does not save us, but shows us how much we fall short. In the refreshed mind, Paul then could serve God, but with the flesh he is still under the law of sin, as we are today (Romans 7:25). We can do what is right before God in His power alone.
Final Clarifications
The New Testament shows two classes of believers. The first type are those who are believers that are disciples of Jesus, set apart to be God’s, who are marked as walking in the light and have the Holy Spirit. The second is those who are carnal Christians; though they trust Christ alone for eternal salvation, they are led by their own desires and do not seek after godly living. A good place to find the distinction between the two groups is to return to Romans 8. Paul writes that “they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh” (Romans 8:5). Those who live according to the Spirit will have a mindset toward the Spirit. This carnal mind is against God and is self-motivated, and cannot please God (Romans 8:7-8). Also those who practice righteousness are righteous, and those who sin are from the devil, according to John’s epistle (1 John 3:7-8). In addition, the immature believers are also branches that do not bear fruit and are thrown into fire of discipline (John 15:6, not an allusion to hell here but to discipline on the believer that refuses to be obedient, cf. Hebrews 10:26ff). If they are in Christ Jesus, they will succeed in bearing fruit only because they are in Christ and Christ is in them (John 15:5). Therefore, there are two types of believers, those disciples at different stages of maturity, and those who merely trusted Christ alone for salvation, but never forsook the old way of living. For me, this brings up a lot of questions that could take volumes to write and to meditate upon. Living for Christ is a serious thing in this age, where godlessness seems to reign and even churches seem to turn away from the fundamentals of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
The goal of spiritual maturity is to be like Christ (Philippians 3:14). Now this is a degree that is not attainable because of indwelling sin in the believer. However, Paul says that he looks toward the goal, realizes he falls short, and therefore understands his position as being a human being. He looks forward to a day when sin will be eradicated completely from his experience, as we all ought.
There is no solution to the struggle of indwelling sin while on Earth, as Paul’s only deliverance from the sinfulness of the flesh is Jesus. As long as he is in the flesh, he will have this inner struggle, and though he will mature spiritually, he will not meet perfection. The believer will move asymptotically closer throughout his life to maturity, perfectness, or completeness, but this does not change the matter of indwelling sin, and there is still a great margin where sin exists in all believers lives. A believer can be filled with the Spirit and be a sinner at the same time because the Spirit is the living part of the believer, while the flesh, that is still under sin, is dead (Romans 8:10).
The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is what sets apart the believer from the unbeliever (Romans 8:9). It is the Spirit that is righteous, and brings the believer to life while the flesh is dead. There is a difference between the filling of the Spirit and the indwelling of the Spirit, in which the former few Old Testament saints experienced. It was a promise that was greatly anticipated (Numbers 11:29; Hebrews 11:13) and was fulfilled soon after the ascension of Christ to heaven, as He had promised the Holy Spirit to come (John 14:26).
Walking with God is a journey. It begins when we first trust in the work of Jesus Christ in His sacrificial death and resurrection. Then, by obedience to His commandments of loving God and loving the brethren, we can truly grow closer to God. It is a lifetime experience.