The Author of Sanctification:
- By God the Father:
“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” (1 Thess.5:23).
- By God the Son:
That God (Christ) might sanctify and cleanse it (the Church of which believers are a part) with the washing of water by the Word (Eph.5:26).
- By God the Holy Spirit:
“But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth” (2 Thess.2:13).
Sanctification is not an achievement but a gift to be accepted.
The Instruments of Sanctification:
- By the Word of God: (Jn.17:17) “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”
- By Blood: (13:12): “And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.”
- By discipline or chastisement: “God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness” (Heb.12:10).
- By yielding to God: “so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness” (Rom.6:19b).
- By ourselves: “Therefore, 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” (2 Cor.7:1).
We also have a part in the process of sanctification. We can seek out the sin, judge it according to the word of God, cast it away by prayer and cleanse it by the washing of the Word of God.
Time of our Sanctification:
Sanctification is a 3-pronged process.
- Instantaneous with Conversion:
It is a part of our first experience when we trusted the Lord. “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 (1 Cor.6:11).
- Progressive with day-to-day experiences:
It is like a man who looks into a mirror and seeing a spot of dirt, goes and washes it away. The mirror is the Word of God which reveals the sin and we ought to confess it right at the moment (Jam.1:22-25).
- Complete and final:
Someday we will be completely holy in body, soul and spirit. This wonderful experience will be ours when Christ comes and our bodies are changed. Then we shall be like Him (1 Jn.3:2; Phil.3:12-14)
“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” (1 Thess.5:23).