Sanctification

An Outline

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the author.

THE FATHER SANCTIFIES THE SON

Jn 10:36 "what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? ..."

THE SON SANCTIFIES HIMSELF

Jn 17:19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

CHRISTIANS ARE SANCTIFIED

1 Cor. 1:2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ-- their Lord and ours:

THE FOUNDATION OF CHRISTIAN SANCTIFICATION IS NOT MORAL TRANSFORMATION, BUT THE SINGLE, FOR ALL TIME, SACRIFICE OF JESUS CHRIST.

Heb. 2: 9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. 10 In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.

Heb. 9:13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

Heb 10:10 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Heb 10: 14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

Heb. 10:29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

Heb. 13:12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.

CHRIST IS OUR SANCTIFICATION

1 Cor 1:30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

THE CHURCH IS SANCTIFIED

Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,

PAUL PRAYS THAT THE THESSALONIANS WILL BE SANCTIFIED WHOLLY.

NIV 1 Thessalonians 5:23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

SANCTIFICATION IS THE WILL OF GOD

NIV 1 Thessalonians 4:3 It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable,

THE ROMAN CHRISTIANS WERE EXHORTED TO PRESENT THEIR BODIES HOLY

NIV Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship.

THE MOST COMMON UNDERSTANDING OF SANCTIFICATION IS THE GROWTH IN HOLINESS THAT FOLLOWS CONVERSION.

Ephesians 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love

NIV Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

WHAT IS SANCTIFICATION?

It is a real, substantial change in the believer where transformation takes place.

NIV 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

It is a real change whereby the believer is freed from the corruption of sin and restored to the purity of God’s image.

NIV Ephesians 4:22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

It is the change wherein righteousness and holiness is imparted to a believer.

NIV 2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.

This change takes place in the whole person and not merely a part.

NIV 1 Thessalonians 5:23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But the whole person is not immediately changed. IT IS NOT A SUDDEN, MIRACULOUS GIFT BUT A LIFE TIME OF GROWTH.

NIV 2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

NIV 2 Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

The beginning of sanctification is in the heart, then in the body.

NIV Deuteronomy 30:6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.

NIV Romans 2:29 No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.

The starting point of sanctification is the filthiness, corruption or stain of sin

NIV 2 Corinthians 7:1 Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

The end of product of sanctification is the image of God in us.

NIV 2 Peter 1:4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

NIV Ephesians 4:24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

There are two stages of sanctification:

INFANT: which has two parts:

Infancy:

NIV 1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

NIV Ephesians 4:14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

NIV 1 Peter 2:2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,

Adulthood:

NIV Hebrews 5:13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

FULL MATURITY:

NIV Ephesians 4:14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

NIV 1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

NIV Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

THERE ARE TWO BASIC ASPECTS OF SANCTIFICATION:

MORTIFICATION: The wasting away of sin

NIV Colossians 3:3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

Our mortification begin in Christ’s death on the Cross:

NIV Romans 6:5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. NIV Romans 6:6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin--

The Spirit of God applies Christ’s death to the believer:

NIV Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,

It is applied through the believer’s faith:

RESURRECTION: the restoration of the image of God in us.

NIV Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect will.

NIV Colossians 3:10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

REASONS FOR SANCTIFICATION:

1) CHRISTIANS ARE TO KEEP FROM IMMORALITY BECAUSE THEY ARE SACRED OR SANCTIFIED PERSONS — THEY BELONG TO CHRIST!

NIV 1 Corinthians 6:13 "Food for the stomach and the stomach for food"-- but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.

2) TO LIVE WORTHY OF CHRIST AND OUR CALLING

NIV 1 Thessalonians 2:12 encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

NIV Ephesians 4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

NIV Colossians 1:10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

NIV Philippians 1:27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel

NIV 2 Thessalonians 1:5 All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.

3) FITNESS FOR SERVICE

NIV 1 Corinthians 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

NIV Philippians 3:13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,

4) GROWTH IN GRACE

NIV 2 Peter 3:17 Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

SANCTIFICATION CANNOT BE SEPARATED FROM JUSTIFICATION

NIV 1 Corinthians 6:11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

PAUL’S GOSPEL (JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH) IS THE MORAL DYNAMIC OF SALVATION.

NIV Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

JUSTIFICATION CREATES THE WILL TO GOODNESS THROUGH THE FORGIVENESS OF GOD

FAITH-BAPTISM UNITES US WITH CHRIST AND MAKES US DEAD AND BURIED WITH HIM. IN RISING AGAIN - SIN’S REIGN IS BROKEN.

THE "NEW SELF" IS YIELDED TO THE SERVICE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS & OF GOD IN A SURRENDER THAT ISSUES IN SANCTIFICATION

NIV Romans 6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

SANCTIFICATION IS NOT MERELY THE COMPLETION OF JUSTIFICATION. IT IS, IN ONE SENSE, JUSTIFICATION AT WORK. THAT IS, JUSTIFICATION MAKES SANCTIFICATION POSSIBLE.

WE MUST GUARD AGAINST A "JUSTIFICATION" WHICH DOES NOT LEAD TO SANCTIFICATION.

NIV 1 John 3:7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

SANCTIFICATION NEVER REPLACES JUSTIFICATION. OUR GROUND IS FAITH TO THE VERY END.

JUSTIFICATION SETS IN MOTION THE SANCTIFICATION ENERGIES OF GRACE.

JUSTIFICATION IS ACHIEVED BY THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST.

SANCTIFICATION IS AN ONGOING PROCESS OF CONFORMITY TO CHRIST ACHIEVED BY THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST.

NIV Romans 15:16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

NIV 1 Corinthians 6:11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

NIV Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

NIV 1 Thessalonians 4:7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

NIV 2 Thessalonians 2:13 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.

NIV 1 Peter 1:2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Sanctification Articles