Devotional - 99-07-20 - S5: Sanctification

The Holy Alphabet Series

"Sanctification is the work of God's free Grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness, 2 Thess. 2:13, Eph 4:23,24, Rom. 6:4-6.' -- Robert Port

I would like to look at sanctification from two various ways:

1. As a privilege granted to us by God (1 Thess. 5:23).
2. As a comprehensive duty required in the Christian life (1 Pet. 3:15).

1. Sanctification as a privilege given to us by the grace and mercy of God.  (John 17:17) Sanctification is a moral leansing from sin. It not only cleanses from the guilt of sin but also from the power of sin. Those who are Sanctified are those who are both pardoned from their sins and renewed to live lives that are pleasing to God.

   So Sanctification is more than a mere transformation of character or the process of becoming a better person. It also includes the removal of the guilt of sin as the whole soul is renovated to become more like the image of God. Sanctification is a radical change, and part of this change has taken place as God imparts new life to the soul.

2. Sanctification is a comprehensive duty required by the Christian. Besides the removal of our guilt, by the application of the atonement of Christ, there is also a responsibility given to the follower of Christ to live the Christian life. Call it "walking the talk", "WWJD", "God is my co-pilot", or whatever. The Christian, in response to the grace of God given to him/her in Christ, lives differently. (Eph. 1:3-5)

   This "living for the King" is not simply an assent in mind or word, but a reliance upon Him in practice and customs. In spiritual terms it is the participation of our lives with the Spirit of God. We are in Christ as the branch is in the vine. (John 15:1-11)

   It is because God is holy that we are urged in Scripture to be holy (Lev. 11:44,45, 1 Pet. 1:16) Holiness was the practice of Christ (John 17:19) and it should be our practice also to be like Him.

The thought that God would save those who He could not make holy or who themselves would return His love with careless and profane lifestyles is absurd. We are saved to holiness and while it is not an easy task to be holy, the difficulty of the call upon us is no excuse for our failure to live as our faith demands.

I am sure you have read the popular Footprints. The following from Simpson, is kind of a sanctification footprints that emphasizes both the work of God and the efforts of man in our sanctification. "I have fancied myself sitting in a carriage drawn by wild, furious horses; myself holding the reins. The steeds are young and full of mettle; and, taking the bits in their teeth, they bear me on, and I have no power to control them. But just as I am in my extremity, and about to be run away with, I feel a sensation as though a strong man had come into the chariot behind me, and, encircling me in his strong arms, had stretched out his hands, and taken the lines, and was controlling my impetuous steeds. He does not take the fire out of them, but guides them, and makes them go; and I am safe, though flying like the wind, while this might charioteer is with me."

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

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