SANCTIFICATION PRODUCES AN UNFADING BEAUTY!!
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“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a
peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out
of darkness into his marvellous light” (1 Peter 2:9 KJV). If
God has truly called you to be his child, then one part of that calling is for
the purpose of holiness (purity). God did NOT call you to remain in darkness.
His call is a call OUT of darkness. “….out of darkness into his marvellous light”
(1 Peter 2:9 KJV).
“…If we “SAY” that we have fellowship with him, and WALK IN
DARKNESS (impurity), WE LIE, and DO NOT THE
TRUTH…” (1 John 1:6 KJV). If you say God called you, but you
still walk in darkness (sin/impurity) you are NOT telling the truth.
“…God
has NOT called us for the purpose of impurity, but in SANCTIFICATION…”
(1 Thessalonians 4:7 NASB). God wants to purify your mind, heart, soul, and
behavior with his holiness and he does that through the process of
sanctification.
To sanctify simple means to make HOLY. “… [God sanctifies]…for our
profit, that [we]
might be partakers (participants) of his holiness...”
(Hebrews 12:10 KJV).
People often debate over sanctification
and justification. I have learned to sanctify is to make holy. To justify is to
make righteous or make one right or in right standing with God.
The single-mindedness of sanctification is
to set every believer apart from sin and darkness for God’s special purposes. “…ye shall be holy
unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.
…” (Leviticus 20:26 KJV).
Believers can NOT sanctify themselves. God
sanctifies them through his indwelling Holy Spirit. Believers, however, are to
respond to the finished work of Christ on the cross, which is the GREAT
SALVATION, by faith. “…believe on him whom he hath sent.” (John 6:29
KJV).
God sanctifies through his indwelling Holy
Spirit and spiritual fruit is the evidence of that sanctification. “…Ye shall know them by their fruits…” (Matthew
7:16 KJV).
His indwelling, sanctifying Holy Spirit is
experienced by GRACE through FAITH. “God
has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through Sanctification by the Spirit and
FAITH in the truth…” (2 Thessalonians 2:13 NASB). “…for BY
GRACE have ye been saved THROUGH FAITH; and that NOT OF YOURSELVES, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD; not of
works, that no man should glory…”
(Ephesians 2:8-9 ASV).
A pot is sanctified or set apart for
cooking. A chair is sanctified for
sitting. A bed is sanctified for sleeping. A car is sanctified for
transportation. When a believer is sanctified, they too, are sanctified for a
special purpose or role in God’s redemptive work on earth.
Apostle Paul was “….set apart for the gospel of God...” (Romans 1:1
NASB).
Each sanctified believer has a gift. The awareness
of that believer’s special purpose varies from person to person, but “faith in the truth” brings it to the
forefront. You have a gift. “…Now God
GIVES US many kinds of special abilities, but it is the same HOLY
SPIRIT who is the source of them all. There are different kinds of
service to God, but it is the same Lord we are serving. There are many
ways in which God works in our lives, but it is the same God who does the work IN and THROUGH all of
us who are his. The HOLY SPIRIT DISPLAYS God’s power THROUGH each of us as a
means of HELPING the entire church. To one person the Spirit gives
the ability to give wise advice; someone else may be especially good at
studying and teaching, and this is his gift from the same Spirit.
He
gives special faith to another, and to someone else the power to heal the sick.
He gives power for doing miracles to some, and to others power to prophesy and
preach. He gives someone else the power to know whether evil spirits are
speaking through those who claim to be giving God’s messages—or whether it is
really the Spirit of God who is speaking.
Still
another person is able to speak in languages he never learned; and others, who
do not know the language either, are given power to understand what he is
saying. It is the
same and only Holy Spirit who gives all these gifts and powers, deciding which
each one of us should have… (1
Corinthians 12:4-11 NLT).
Mankind, no matter, how
hard they try, can NOT sanctify him or herself. There is only ONE WAY to
sanctification. “…Jesus
saith unto him, I
AM THE WAY…” (John 14:6 KJV). “…By His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us ….from God…Sanctification…”
(1 Corinthians 1:30 NASB).
Sanctification is immediate (the
indwelling Holy Spirit), but it is experienced progressively by faith in the
truth. “… [Therefore]… we all … are changed
into the same image [of Christ] from glory to glory …” (2
Corinthians 3:18 KJV).
Jesus Christ was also a
model of sanctification. He was holy/sanctified and lived a perfect, sinless
life. He was set apart for God’s purpose
and became the GREAT SALVATION for everyone repentant believer.
God through Jesus
sanctifies the believer. Only God gets the glory for the believer’s
sanctification. You are not sanctified by human effort, but by faith in the truth. “…SANCTIFY
them in the truth; Your word is truth…” (JOHN 17:17 NASB).
The indwelling Holy Spirit is the Spirit
of truth. The Holy Spirit’s sanctification is like spiritual soap that cleanses
you from ALL residues of SIN left on your mind, heart, soul, and behaviors.
You see this sanctification right away. “….if any man be in Christ, he is a NEW
creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become NEW…” (2
Corinthians 5:17 KJV). “…he that
is joined unto the Lord (Jesus) is ONE spirit… [with
him and God]” (1 Corinthians 6:17 KJV).
When a baby is born into the world the
nurses clean off the afterbirth. When you are born-again, the OLD sin nature is
the afterbirth God’s nurses, through the new creation and the one-spirit
attachment, clean off the afterbirth of SIN.
You are a “new creation” and you are “one”
spirit with God through Christ. God starts immediately with the sanctification
process. “…SANCTIFY them in the truth; Your word is truth…”
(JOHN 17:17 NASB). “…this is the will of God your SANCTIFICATION…” (1 THESSALONIANS 4:3 NASB). “…For God has not called us for the purpose of
impurity, but in SANCTIFICATION…” (1 Thessalonians 4:7 NASB). “God has chosen you from the beginning for
salvation through SANCTIFICATION by the Spirit and faith in the truth…”
(2 Thessalonians 2:13 NASB). “…Pursue
…the SANCTIFICATION without which no one will see the Lord…”
(HEBREWS 12:14 NASB). “…But by His doing
you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God and …SANCTIFICATION…”
(1 Corinthians 1:30 NASB). “…Now may the
God of peace Himself SANCTIFY you entirely; and may your spirit and soul
and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ…” (1 THESSALONIANS 5:23 NASB).
Sanctification, therefore, restores you BACK
to the original Garden-of-Eden holiness. “...LET US MAKE
man in our image, after our
likeness…” (Genesis 1:26 KJV). “…..GOD CREATED MAN in his own image…..male and female created he them…” (Genesis 1:27
KJV). “…THERE ARE THREE that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and THESE THREE ARE ONE.…”
(1 JOHN 5:6-8 KJV). “….THE LORD IS OUR GOD, THE LORD IS ONE…” (DEUTERONOMY 6:4 KJV). “…THERE
IS NO GOD, BUT
ONE…” (1 CORINTHIANS 8:4 KJV). “….LET US MAKE
man … after our likeness…” (Genesis
1:26 KJV). “…in his OWN image…..male and female created he them…”
(Genesis 1:27 KJV). “…And the LORD
God formed man [of] the dust of the ground (body), and breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life (spirit);
and man became a living soul (soul)…” (GENESIS 2:7 KJV). “…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 KJV). “…the word of
God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even
to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow
(body)…” (HEBREWS 4:12 KJV).
Sanctification
cleanses you entirely. “…Now may
the God of peace Himself SANCTIFY you
ENTIRELY; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved COMPLETE…”
(1 THESSALONIANS 5:23 NASB).
Jesus is the Word and the indwelling Holy
Spirit. “…the Word
(Jesus) was made flesh, and dwelt among us...” (JOHN 1:14). “…Jesus Christ is in you…” (2 Corinthians 13:5 KJV). “…Christ in you, …” (Colossians 1:27 KJV). “…the Spirit of God
dwell[s] in you…” (Romans 8:9 KJV). “…Now the Lord is that Spirit…” (2 Corinthians 3:17
KJV). “…SANCTIFY them in the
truth; Your word (JESUS) is truth…” (JOHN 17:17 NASB).
The
word cleans the mind. “…
[bringing] …into captivity every thought
to the obedience of Christ…” (1
Corinthians 10:5 KJV).
The word not only cleans the mind, but it
returns it to holiness to be like God. “…be holy, because I am holy…” (1 Peter 1:16 KJV). “… I AM HOLY...” (1 Peter 1:14-16 KJV). And, “There is none holy as the Lord…” (1 Samuel 2:2 KJV). “…ye
shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be
mine. …” (Leviticus 20:26 KJV). “…For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in Sanctification…”
(1 Thessalonians 4:7 NASB).
Sanctification not only cleans the mind
and brings it back to holiness, but it allows God’s Spirit to freely radiant
through you, Remember, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being…” The absence of darkness is LIGHT. You
were called “...out of darkness
into his marvellous thy word…”
Staying in darkness is totally
a personal choice, not a requirement. “… this is the condemnation, that light is come
into the world, and men LOVED
DARKNESS rather than light, because their deeds were evil…”
(John 3:19 KJV).
God’s children are CALLED“...out of darkness into his marvellous light…”
(1 Peter 2:9 KJV). “…The time past of
our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we
walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and
abominable idolatries…” (1 Peter 4:1-3 KJV).
If you believe you can be
CALLED by a HOLY God and still walk in darkness, your heart is deceiving you. The
heart “…is deceitful ABOVE all things and desperately wicked…who can know it
[except God?]” (Jeremiah 17:9 KJV).
The HEART needs the
most sanctification and cleaning. God focuses on cleaning your heart more than
anything else. “...God SEES
NOT as man sees, for man looks at
the outward appearance, but the LORD LOOKS AT THE HEART…”(1 Samuel 16:7
NASB). “…No one needed… to
tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart…” (John 2:24-25 NLT).
If you don’t care about
what God thinks about your heart, what differences does it make what anyone
else thinks. Your allegiance is to God first. God is looking at YOUR heart and
he KNOWS what is in it. “O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know everything I do…” (Psalms
139:1-6 NLT). He knows if you are NOT real. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto
whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within
full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness… ” (Matthew
23:27 KJV). “…he knew what was in each person’s heart…” (John 2:24-25 NLT).
You can fool people,
who have NO heaven or hell to put you in and make them “THINK” you have a
sanctified heart, but still lose your soul. “…what shall it profit
a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
(Mark 8:36 KJV). “Not every one that
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that
doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say
to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have
cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that
work iniquity” (Mark 7:21-23
KJV).
You cannot behave your
way into sanctification, but are encouraged to believe your way into
sanctification. “…For it is God who
works in you to will and
to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13
NIV).
God gave us Jesus
Christ as a living example of character and vocational sanctification. Without
God mankind has no true goodness. “… [ALL
have become]…..unclean and [their] righteousnesses are as filthy rags….”
(Isaiah 64:6 KJV). “…As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:”
(Romans 3:10 KJV). “For there is not a just
man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not” (Ecclesiastes 7:20
KJV). “…there is none good but one, that
is, God” (Mark 10:18 KJV).
Many people think they have a GOOD heart
without God. It is an earthly, human standard of goodness, but not a heavenly,
holy standard of goodness. The heart is
deceived about true goodness and the heart “…is deceitful ABOVE ALL THINGS
and desperately wicked…who can know it [except God?]” (Jeremiah
17:9 KJV).
Because of the heart’s
wickedness, “….God, which knoweth the hearts…” has to “Create in [you]… a clean heart…” like King
David (Psalms 51:10 KJV).
No one else may SEE
your heart, but “...God SEES NOT as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance,
but the LORD
LOOKS AT THE HEART…”(1 Samuel 16:7 NASB). “…No one need[s]… to tell him about human nature, for he
[knows]…what [is]… in each person’s heart…”
(John 2:24-25 NLT).
Thus, God has to, “…GIVE you a new heart, and …put a new spirit in you. [He]…will take out your stony, stubborn
heart and give you a tender, responsive heart…” (Ezekiel 36:26 NLT).
Your old, carnal, unsanctified heart “…is deceitful ABOVE ALL THINGS
and desperately wicked…” (Jeremiah 17:9 KJV).
You can’t trust your
old carnal heart. “…if our heart condemn us, God is
greater than our heart, and knoweth all things...” (1 John 3:20 KJV).
“…There is …NO
condemnation for those (including you) who are in Christ Jesus…”
(Romans 8:1 NIV). Therefore, “….Don't put your confidence in … people (or your own heart); there is no help
for you there….” (Psalms 146: 3 NLT).
In other words, “….Don't put
your trust in mere human beings (including yourself)….” (Isaiah
2:22 NLT). “…Trust in the Lord
with all thine heart; and lean
not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall
direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV). “…The LORD will accomplish (take care of)…that which concerns [you]…”
(John 14:31 NASB). “…The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: …” (Psalms 37:23 KJV).
God will“…GIVE you a new heart, and …put a new spirit in you. [He]…will
take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart…”
(Ezekiel 36:26 NLT). “…As for us, we can’t help but
thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always
thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation—a
salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your
belief in the truth…” (2 Thessalonians 2:13 NLT). “God has chosen you from the beginning for
salvation through SANCTIFICATION by the Spirit and faith in the truth…”
(2 Thessalonians 2:13 NASB).
Sanctification is an inward process done ONLY
through the indwelling Holy Spirit. “…For it is
God who works in you TO WILL
and TO ACT …” (Philippians 2:13
NIV). “…Now …God of peace, … equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he WORK IN US what
is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ…” (Hebrews 13:20-21 NIV).
Sanctification is that mystical part of
the GREAT SALVATION. You can’t rationalize an understanding of sanctification
from human logic. It is experienced by the Spirit and faith in the truth. “…walk BY
FAITH...” (2
Corinthians 5:7 KJV). “…It shall be done to
you ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH…" (Matthew 9:29 NASB). .God
has chosen you … for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and FAITH IN THE TRUTH…” (2 Thessalonians
2:13 NASB).
I AM SAVED. I AM JUSTIFIED. I AM
SANCTIFIED. “…by the grace of God I am what I am…”
(1 Corinthians 15:10 NIV).
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