Sanctification-there’s no getting around it

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What is sanctification and why is it important?

Sanctification is a common word that is used within our churches. We even joke about how we are being sanctified by our spouse and/or children, but do we really grasp the concept of this transformative word?

A very loose definition of the word sanctification is “to be set apart for the proper functioning of holiness.” To sanctify a person or a thing is to set that person or thing apart for the use its creator intended. A baseball bat is “sanctified” when it makes contact with a ball. A pen is “sanctified” when it is used to write a message.

Obviously, a baseball bat and pen cannot be made holy like that of mankind, but the imagery helps to paint the picture of the created functioning as the creator intended.

The Greek definition of the word sanctification means “to make holy.” A human being is sanctified when he or she lives a life that is in accordance with God’s own design and purpose. We cannot sanctify ourselves. We can, however, trust and obey that God will supply us with what we need to get through the difficulty we are facing.

Beautiful Tapestry

These last few months the Lord has opened my eyes to ways that he is sanctifying my soul. It has been difficult and I’m still not quite sure where this road will lead, but I am confident of His grace toward me. I have felt overwhelmed and confused at times with the uncertainty of my future within church ministry. Taking a step of faith and entering into this ministry internship was a big deal for my family and my walk with God. I believe it was God’s plan and I’m living within His plan.

I often think of my life as a tapestry. On one side of the tapestry is a beautiful picture and the other is a chaotic mess. I don’t see the picture because I am looking at the wrong side of the tapestry. My life is being woven together by my Creator. God knows how each thread contributes to the beautiful image, I won’t get see that contribution until the tapestry is completed.

Sin is costly

Sin is literally the most expensive thing in the entire universe. Nothing else has cost so much. Nothing! The sin debt that each of us owes is so great that we could never repay or work off the debt. What could be done to cover this massive debt? Who would have enough collateral to wipe the debt of everyone who has ever existed?

God provided us with a gift, a divine donation and absorbed the debt which declared us innocent. Therefore, this gift is for everyone. We didn’t have to earn it, we have to receive it.

Christians so often fall into the trap of rigidity to the Law that we turn into Pharisees. We become legalistic in our journey of sanctification missing the point of being “made right” altogether. Legalism is checking off the boxes of doing the right things with the wrong motives. It threatens sanctification by perverting what Scripture says about the Law. In short, legalism is substituting law for grace and achievement for faith.

Human beings were the pinnacle of God’s focus in creation. God makes it clear in 1 Thessalonians 4:3 that it is “His will” that we are sanctified. “Humanity stands as the crown of creation but as a radically different type of creation. God makes the animals ‘after their kind,’ but he crafts humans in his image and likeness. All of creation shows us something of God, but humanity has the distinct honor and privilege of bearing his image” (Ashford and Pappalardo, 2015).

It’s not what we have done for God, but what He has done for us

The world tells us that if we achieve more in life we will have more. This is a lie. I have fallen for this lie too! The devil has used this lie time and time again to draw men and women away from faith in Christ. He does this by making them believe that the work done by Christ on the cross wasn’t enough. There is something else that needs to be done. Satan wants us to believe there is more to do, but Jesus said as he was dying on the cross, “it is finished.” There is nothing that we can do to earn God’s favor. He offered it freely, we just have to trust and obey.

Trust and Obey

There is an old hymn that I grew up singing in church titled, “Trust and Obey.” It is a simple song, but the words are profound. The first verse and chorus goes like this,

When we walk with the Lord
In the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way;
While we do His good will,
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

Trust and obey,
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey.

Sanctification happens when we daily walk with God through reading His Word, communicating with Him through prayer, and serving the people He loves. Everything we experience is part of the sanctification process. We must trust and obey God’s will because He abides with us in those very experiences where life is difficult. We cannot obtain sanctification for ourselves, it is only possible through belief in the resurrection of Jesus that we can be made holy.

Be Holy because Christ is Holy

Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be sober-minded and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy because I am holy. If you appeal to the Father who judges impartially according to each one’s work, you are to conduct yourselves in reverence during your time living as strangers.

For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of life inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was revealed in these last times for you. Through him, you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Since you have purified yourselves by your obedience to the truth, so that you show sincere brotherly love for each other, from a pure heart love one another constantly, because you have been born again — not of perishable seed but of imperishable — through the living and enduring word of God. For all flesh is like grass and all its glory like a flower of the grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures forever. And this word is the gospel that was proclaimed to you.

— 1 Peter 1:13-25 (CSB)

Application

This passage is a great reminder for all believers in what it means to live a life worthy of the calling God has called us. We can remember that this purification process is only temporary. Our flesh is like grass-it can withstand many trials. Our glory or achievements will fall. We as Christians have a hope that will never die or fail us. That hope is in the Word of the Lord. God never promised an easy life upon our conversion, in fact, we are told it would be more difficult. Jesus said, “the world will hate you because it hated me first.” God never said it would be easy, but he did say it would be worth it. We are called to live with our eyes focused outward in service to others and proclaim the gospel to the world.

All mankind was created in God’s image, called to be holy as he is holy-sanctified and living as our Creator intended.

Ashford, B. & Pappalardo, C. (2015). One Nation Under God: A Christian Hope for American Politics.