Sanctification - Day Five

to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'
Acts 26:18

God's children achieve sanctification by faith, by union with Christ in His death and resurrection, by the blood of Christ, by the Word, and by the regenerating and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in their hearts.

Let's look at this a little closer.

Sanctification By Faith:

Acts 26:18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

Luke (the author of Acts) reminds us that forgiveness comes through faith Christ that is based on His sacrificial death on the cross. The one who is forgiven, basically delivered from the dominion of sin and Satan, and have been filled with the Holy Spirit, is set apart from the world and can now live a life unto God in fellowship with all those saved by faith in Christ.

Sanctification By Union With Christ in His Death and Resurrection:

John 15:4 - 10 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. (verse 4)

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. I am hoping to do a little devotional about this scripture where Jesus is talking about the Vine and the Branches. My pastor did an amazing sermon series a few weeks ago, and it hit home!

Anyway, I digress...

The conditions by which we remain in Christ are by keeping God's Word continually in our hearts and minds and making it the guide for our actions. We must maintain a habit of constant, intimate communication with Christ in order to draw strength from Him. We must obey His commands, remain in His love and love each other. And, we need to keep our lives clean through the Word, resist all sin, and yield to the Spirit's direction in our lives.

Romans 6:1 - 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (verse 11)

If you are a true believer, you have died to sin and you need to understand this. You have died to sin in God's sight. You are considered by God to have died with Christ on the cross and to have been raised up in His resurrection. You died to sin when you were born again by the Spirit. You have been given Christ's power to resist sin, to die to it daily by putting to death the misdeeds of the body, and to live a new life in obedience to God. These are powerful words, but this is how God looks at you. Once you have made a commitment to Christ, your whole world changes. We can resist sin!

1 Corinthians 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.

It is through Christ, in Christ and with Christ that the believer receives wisdom from God and experiences righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. As long as we are joined to Christ, He is the source of all these blessings!

Sanctification By the Blood of Christ:

1 John 1:7 - 9 ⁷But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

⁸If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

We, as believers, need to make a sincere and sustained effort by His grace to follow out what has been revealed to us in word and deed. "The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin" refers to the ongoing work of sanctification within us and the continual cleansing through Christ's blood for our inadvertent sins. This continual purification allows us to have an intimate relationship with God.

Sanctification By the Word:

John 17:17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

Jesus is asking God, right before His crucifixion, to sanctify His disciples. Jesus is praying that His friends will be a holy people, separated from the world and sin for the purpose of worshiping and serving God. They must be set apart in order to be near God, to live for Him, and to be like Him. This sanctification is accomplished by their devotion to the truth revealed to them by the Spirit of truth. The truth is the living Word of God and the revelation of God's written Word.

Sanctification By the Regenerating and Sanctifying Work of the Holy Spirit in Their Hearts:

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,

We as believers must continually decide whether we will surrender to sinful desires or to the demands of the divine nature in which we participate. By disregarding this, Christians can pass from spiritual life back into spiritual death. The life of God that we receive at our new birth can be extinguished in the soul of a believer who refuses to put to death by the Spirit the misdeeds of the body.

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A side note: Sarah Mae, at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee gave birth to her new little girl on Saturday. Congratulations Sarah Mae! I am so happy for you and your family. Enjoy your new little one.