Paul Christianson
If you look in the dictionary, you will see that “sanctification” (hagiasmos in Greek), means being consecrated or set apart for God. And in the Bible, God shows us two remarkable and complementary aspects regarding this principle.
From one standpoint in tells us that sanctification is the work of God which transforms the believer’s nature into something which he was not before conversion. In 1Thessalonians 5:23, we find the Apostle Paul praying, “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.”
Perhaps we could describe this work of God like a house being renovated while in use. The house is you and I living our lives. And in our lives God is working, demolishing the old corruptions and sinful bad habits, all the while creating new peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We are being made “new” every single day, taking on the very image of Christ in our lives.
Yet, I said the Bible tells us there are two aspects of sanctification, and this second perspective may be described as the quality of a believer’s life. In Galatians 5:16 we see Paul exhorting us to “live by the Spirit” so that we will not “gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” In other words, we are being commanded to live a disciplined and obedient life unto God. One writer has referred to this as “the resistance movement in the life of a believer.” This simply means Christians are to actively resist worldly enticements and sinful habits. In this light, are we living the kind of life which imitates Christ and pleases God?
Sanctification is both a gift from God in which He works in us to transform and renew, as well as a task in which we must resist sin through obedience, making a conscious effort to flee temptation and sin’s seemingly modest proposals. Dear reader, it is not a profession of faith that convinces Satan, but practical holiness alone.
But we must also avoid stressing either of the two sides which might cause us to fall into legalism on one side, and easy believism on the other. A sanctified life is, then, a life of obedience and resisting sin, of imitating Jesus and of fellowship with God as one seeks to please God in everything one does.
Lying in the background, behind the doctrine of sanctification, is a mystery of God’s predestining purpose. We see Scripture telling us quite clearly that sanctification is the goal of God’s election. Ephesians 1:4 asserts, “He chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.” God’s predestining purpose results in that work of regeneration whereby our hearts are changed, and not as a result of any work by man or foreseen faith by God (John 1:13, Romans 9:8-23).
In 2Thessalonians 2:13, Paul reassures believers that God has chosen them “from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith and the truth.” So with the greatest joy, we can rest assured that our sanctification will continue, as Scripture confirms in saying “…that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). Amen!