Sanctification - Day Eight

Yesterday I mentioned that true sanctification requires that we maintain a relationship with Jesus Christ, and how to go about remaining in communion with Christ.

There are a few more "requirements" of true sanctification.

We must devote ourselves to prayer and obey God's Word.

Easy enough, right?

Let's look at the first part: Prayer

Colossians 4:2 says this:

²Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

When you "devote yourself" to something, it means that you "continue steadfast" or "persevere," implying strong persistence and fervor, a holding fast to prayer.

Can you honestly say that you are "devoting yourselves to prayer?" This is a hard one, only because we so often feel that we can "go it alone." "Don't worry God, I've got this one. I know you're busy with the economy and hunger, so I'll just take the reigns here." This, my friend, is not what the Lord wants.

When Paul talks about "being watchful" what he means is that we need to be "spiritually awake or alert."

So, why is it so hard to pray? One reason is that Satan and the weakness of our human nature tries to cause us to neglect prayer itself, or allow us to become distracted while praying (um, convicted...).

We must discipline ourselves to achieve the prayer required for Christian victory!

Even Jesus knew how important prayer was. Not only did He model it for His disciples and all who saw Him while He was here with us, but He also taught His disciples how to pray. Look at Matthew 6:5-13. In the first few verses Jesus explains, step by step, what to do:

⁵"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. ⁶But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. ⁷And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

My Bible goes on to talk about what Secret Prayer is. It explains that we should have some place where we are praying alone. I can remember when I first was saved and heard people in church talking about a "Prayer Closet." I got nervous because I didn't really have a closet that could be used exclusively for prayer. When I asked my youth leader about this, he explained that a "Prayer Closet" for some is an actual closet, but for many, it's just a place where you can be all alone and pray.

There are specific times of the day that my Bible says we should pray in secret:
~In the morning to commit our day to God
~In the evening to give thanks for His mercies
~In times when the Holy Spirit prompts us to pray

Jesus then goes a step further and gives a model prayer of our we, as believers, should pray. We now know this prayer as The Lord's Prayer:

⁹"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹Give us today our daily bread.
¹²Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

Remember that prayer is a form of worship. Don't get so caught up in your needs and wants that you forget to praise your Heavenly Father.

Alright, next part: Obey God's Word

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

Even when Jesus was pleading with God to "take this cup from him," He still prayer for His disciples. If you remember, "sanctify" means to make holy, to separate, or set apart. Jesus prays to God that his disciples will be a holy people that are separated from the world and sin so that they will be able to worship and serve God.

In order to be near God, to live for Him, and to be like Him, we must be set apart.

By obeying God's Word (the Bible), the truth is revealed to us by God's Holy Spirit.

Sanctification - Day Seven

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
John 15:4

True sanctification requires that believers maintain an intimate relationship with Christ. After someone chooses to believe in Christ and is forgiven, he or she receives eternal life and the power to remain in Christ. Given that power, the believer must then accept that responsibility in salvation and remain in Christ. In Greek, the word meno means to remain, continue, abide, or live. We as believers have Christ's life only as long as His life flows into us through our remaining in Christ.

So how do we remain in Christ? Let's look at John 15:7

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.

1) We must keep God's Word continually in our hearts and minds and making it the guide of our actions.

God gave us His Word for a reason. We need to be in His Word daily. We must treasure the Bible and understand that this is one way the God can speak directly to you. By committing these words to your heart, they will translate in your actions. People will notice, and God will be pleased.

2) We must maintain the habit of constant and intimate communion with Christ in order to draw strength from Him.

Jesus wants us to talk to Him. He wants us to ask Him for the desires of our heart. He wants us to want Him. It's hard to maintain a friendship with someone if you never meet with them, or talk with them. This can be difficult for some people, but I strongly urge you to meet with your Savior. Talk to Him. And listen. He will answer your prayers, maybe not always in the way you want them answered, and possibly not on your time line, but you must remember that He is all-knowing. We only know pieces of the past and present, but the Lord knows all parts, past, present, and future. Take refuge in that!

3)We must obey His commands, remaining in His love, and loving each other.

Looking at these three verses, Jesus is very clear.

¹⁰If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.

¹²My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

¹⁷This is my command: Love each other.

John 15:10, 12, & 17

John 15:10 is a classic If/Then statement. Here's the teacher coming out in me:

IF you obey my commands [THEN] you will remain in my love...

This requires action on our part. So, what is Jesus' command?

He states it twice in John 15. Once in verse 12 and again in verse 17.

His command is to love each other. It was so important that Jesus get His point across that He says it twice. And, anything that is stated twice in the Bible means that the Lord really wants you to get it! Nice!

4) We must keep our lives clean through the Word, resisting all sin and yielding to the Spirit's direction.

³You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ~John 15:3

¹³For 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, ¹⁴because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ~Romans 8:13-14

Jesus is very clear. We need to allow the Spirit to guide us. We need to know His Word.

Do you see where all of this came from? Definitely not from my brilliant mind! All of these means of remaining in Christ come directly from the Word of God, straight from the Bible, and many of these commands come right from the mouth of Jesus.

READ YOUR BIBLE!!! It is your "wilderness handbook" for surviving life in this dirty and perverted world.

Sanctification - Day Six

¹²Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
Philippians 2:12-13

Sanctification is both a work of God and a work of his people.

That's right, sister. We are part of this project. We are required to be active in sanctification. Just because we've accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior does not give us the right to sit back and watch the show. We are part of the show!

So, what do we do? What's our role?

In order to accomplish God's will in sanctification, believers must:

1) Participate in the Spirit's sanctifying by ceasing to do evil.

¹What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ²By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
Romans 6:1-2

We can conclude that the essence of sin is selfishness. WHAT??? We are constantly grasping for things of pleasures for ourselves, regardless of the welfare of others and the commands of God, which leads to cruelty to others and to rebellion against God and His law. Ultimately sin becomes the refusal to be subject to God and His Word.

Sin is a moral corruption in humans that opposes all better human intentions. It causes us both to commit unrighteousness with delight and to take pleasure in the evil actions of others. Sin enslaves and corrupts and is rooted in human desire.

So how do we cease to do evil? Because sin was brought into the human race through Adam and Eve it affects everyone and results in divine judgment, brings physical and spiritual death, and can ONLY be eliminated as a power by faith in Christ and His redemptive work!

Look at these scriptures for some encouragement:

Romans 5:8-11 ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! ¹⁰For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ¹¹Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Galatians 3:13 ¹³Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."

Ephesians 4:20-24 ²⁰You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. ²¹Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. ²²You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; ²³to be made new in the attitude of your minds; ²⁴and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

1 John 1:9 ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Ah, we serve such a faithful God!

2) Purify themselves "from everything that contaminates body and spirit."

¹Since 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 Corinthians 7:1

Paul makes it abundantly clear that one cannot claim God's gracious promises without a life of separation and holiness. This explains why some have lost their Christian joy, divine protection, answer to prayers, and the sense of God's fatherly presence. To compromise with the world is to lose God's presence and promises.

¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Romans 6:12

Because sin has been dethroned, you must continually resist its effort to regain control. Since sin attempts to reign primarily through the desires of the body, these desires must be resisted by those with faith in Christ. We can do so by denying the evil desires of the body, refusing to place any part of our body at the disposal of sin, and presenting our bodies and our whole personalities as slaves to God and righteousness.

¹⁶So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. ¹⁷For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. Galatians 5:16-25 (click here to read the rest)

The spiritual conflict within believers involves the whole person; the struggle is whether they will surrender to the sinful nature's inclinations and again submit to sin's control, or whether they will yield to the Spirit's demands and continue under Christ's dominion. The battlefield is within Christians themselves, and the conflict must continue throughout their earthly lives if they are to eventually reign with Christ.

3) Keep themselves from being polluted by the world.

²⁷Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1:27

James outlines that we are to keep ourselves holy before God. He says that love for others must be accompanied by a love for God expressed in separation from the world's sinful ways. Love for others must be accompanied by holiness before God or it is not Christian love.

Hmm, tricky. I do my best, but I know that I am definitely not showing love this way to everyone.

¹³Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. ¹⁴For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

¹⁹I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.
Romans 6:13-14, 19

This is pretty self-explanatory! We need to make sure that sin is not our master. We can do this by keeping ourselves pure. We know what we should and should not involve ourselves in, and yet, we get ourselves in big messes! Listen to your heart. Read your Bible. Pray. The Holy Spirit that dwells in your heart will reveal God's truth to you. Pay attention to him!

¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. ²Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:1-2

We as believers must possess a single-minded passion to please God in love, devotion, praise and holiness, and to offer their bodies for His service.

Our greatest desire should be to live lives of holiness and to be accepted by God. This requires separating ourselves from the world and drawing nearer to God. We must live for God, worship Him, obey Him, take His side against sin and for righteousness, resist and hate evil, perform works of kindness for others, imitate Christ, follow Him, serve Him, live by the Spirit and be filled with the Spirit.

We must offer our bodies to God as dead to sin and as the temple of the Holy Spirit. Remember, our present world system is evil and under Satan's rule. We must despise what is evil, love what is righteous, and refuse to yield to the various types of worldliness surrounding the church, such as greed, selfishness, expediency, humanistic thinking, political maneuvering for power, envy, hatred, revenge, impurity, filthy language, ungodly entertainment, tempting and immodest attire, immorality, drugs, alcohol and worldly companions.

It is critical that we have our minds conformed to God's way of thinking by reading and meditating on His Word. We must have our plans and ambitions determined by heavenly and eternal truths, not by this evil, temporal and transient age. (Note from The Full Life Study Bible)

¹⁴Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
Romans 13:14

We must be so united and identified with Christ that we imitate His life as our pattern for living, adopt His principles, obey His commands, and become like Him. This calls for a complete rejection of immorality and the acts of the sinful nature.

⁸Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
James 4:8

God promises to come near to all who turn from sin, purify their hearts and call on Him in true repentance. God's nearness will bring His presence, grace, blessings, and love.


We've got a lot of work to do, but it is completely attainable! We can accomplish God's will in sanctification. But, again, I must insist that you read the Lord's Word. His Truth is embedded throughout, and He wants you to know His will. Please remain faithful in reading your Bible.

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.

Sanctification - Day Four

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14

According to this verse from Hebrews, sanctification is not a choice that Christians can choose if they would like it, but rather it is a requirement. Without it, we will be separated from God.

The idea of sanctification is not a New Testament only idea. It was God's will for the Israelites in the Old Testament as well. They were to live holy or sanctified lives, separated from the lifestyles of the nations around them. Look at these verses:

you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."
Exodus 19:6

As part of God's purpose for the Israelites in bringing them out of Egypt, they were to be a "kingdom of priests" (i.e., set apart and consecrated fro God's service) and a "holy nation." Likewise, believers in Christ must be a kingdom of priests (1 Peter 2:5-9; Revelation 1:6; 5:10; 20:6) and a holy people, i.e., a people separated from the world's ungodly ways and walking in God's righteous ways and holy will. (Note from The Full Life Study Bible).

I like how this ties the Old Testament in with the new. Sanctification has always been God's will for His people. He longs for us to be set apart for Him.

The other part that struck me in this note is that we are to be "separated from the world's ungodly ways" and instead, "walking in God's righteous ways." So often I hear people say that it's impossible to "live in this world and not of it." That sin is just a part of life. Remember, we will be forgiven of our sins if we repent of them, but we do not have to sin. God wants us, through His Holy Spirit, to become stronger than the sin around us. Please don't wake up every morning expecting to sin. Yes, we all will sin, and God knows this, but don't use this as an excuse for your actions. If you are knowingly sinning, and continue in that sin, you are lying to yourself.

I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground.
Leviticus 11:44

The instructions concerning clean and unclean (i.e., proper and improper) food were given apparently for health reasons, but also as standards to help Israel remain a people separated from the ungodly society around them (Deuteronomy 14:1-2). These dietary instructions are no longer binding on New Testament believers, for Christ fulfilled their significance and purpose (Matthew 5:17; 15:1-20; Acts 10:14-15; Colossians 2:16; 1 Timothy 4:3). However, the principles embodied in those instructions are still valid today.

So what does this mean for us?

(1) Christians today must distinguish themselves from their surrounding society by eating, drinking, dressing so as to honor God with their bodies (1 Corinthians 6:20; 10:31), and by rejecting all unholy social customs of unbelievers. They must be "holy in all they do" (1 Peter 1:15).

(2) The detailed emphasis on ceremonial cleanliness highlighted the necessity of moral separation of God's people in thought and deed from the surrounding world (2 Corinthians 7:1). All aspects of life must be regulated by God's will (1 Corinthians 10:31). (Note from The Full Life Study Bible).

"Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: 'Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.
Leviticus 19:2

Because God's people must be like him, he calls them to express his divine nature by being separate from the ungodly customs and sins of the surrounding nations and by serving him in love and righteousness. This call to holiness was first given to Adam and Eve, who were created in God's image in order to reflect God's character (Genesis 1:26). Every generation of believers should "be imitators of God" (Ephesians 5:1) and "be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy" (Matthew 5:48; Romans 12:1-2). (Note from The Full Life Study Bible).

As you can see, God, from the very beginning, has wanted us to be sanctified! This is His will for us!

and said: "Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the LORD, the God of your fathers. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary.
2 Chronicles 29:5

In order for God's people to experience revival and renewal, four things are indispensable:

(1) Confession of specific sins. We must recognize those areas of our lives where we have departed from God's will and word and must confess those specific sins (Psalm 51:3; Matthew 5:24).

(2) Purifying the house of the Lord. The church is God's house under the new covenant (2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:21-22; 1 Timothy 3:15). Whatever in the church's doctrine, worship and lifestyle, that clearly offends God's will as revealed in Scripture must be removed. Likewise, the individual believer, as the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), must be purified from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

(3) Renewal of the covenant. We must renew our dedication to God, his kingdom and his righteous cause on earth, and we must express a sincere desire to turn from the evil of the world and to resist sin.

(4) Proclaim a blood sacrifice for atonement. We must appropriate by faith the blood atonement of Jesus Christ, who suffered on the cross to save and sanctify his people (Hebrews 9:11-14). (Note from The Full Life Study Bible).

In each of these verses, it is clear that God wanted his people to live holy and separate lives. I know it's hard to separate yourself from the world, but when you know that God wants you to live a life that is different than the rest of the world. He does not call us to live this separate life as a punishment, but so that He can protect us from personal hurt and destruction to our lives.

Sanctification - Day Three

I'm back! So, I figured it was time to pick up where I left off. My heart had been leading me to talk about sanctification and what it means for Christians to truly be sanctified. This is one of those "churchy" terms that I'm not sure most Christians really understand. They just know that it has to do with their walk with Christ. If you need a refresher, you can read (or reread) Day One and Day Two.

I have defined sanctification in this way: to make holy, to consecrate, to separate from the world, and to be set apart from sin SO THAT we may have intimate fellowship with God and serve Him gladly.

Understand ladies that absolute perfection is not required of us. However, an ethical righteousness of unblemished character demonstrated in purity, obedience, and blamelessness are what we should be striving for.

Look at Philippians 2:14-15:

14Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe

The words that really stick out here to me are so that you may become. We have not arrived yet. We are working for something. Purity and blamelessness are goals that we should be setting in our lives. If you have made mistakes (and God knows that I've made my fair share), don't give up. Don't give in. Keep pressing on!

Without God's grace, we would be living very different lives. It is by the grace of God that has been given to us, that we have died with Christ and are set free from sin's power and dominion over us.

18You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. Romans 6:18

These are powerful words. We're all familiar with the word slave. It is generally used in a negative way. But look at this. Because of Christ's death, we are free from sin and slaves to righteousness!

But what does this mean? It means that you do not have to sin.

Say what?!?!?!?

But I'm only human. Sin is in my being. It's Eve's fault...

True. But, we need not and ought not sin. We can find adequate victory in our Savior, Jesus Christ.

How, you ask. Through our helper, the Holy Spirit, we are able not to sin, even though we will never come to the place where we are free from temptation and the possibility of sin while we are on this earth.

1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 1 John 2:1

6No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. 1 John 3:6

I am not at this place yet, but I am working towards getting there. I have a goal. I know what kind of life I should be living. It is hard to be "separate from the world" because we live here. But think of what God wants for your life instead of what you want. Do you want to have intimate fellowship with your Lord? Is it worth sacrificing things in your life for? Remember, we do have free will and we are in charge of our choices. Satan may tempt you, but you do have some control here. Pray that God will strengthen you in your areas of weakness. Guard your heart. Be sensitive to the areas that the Lord is wanting to work on. He is always faithful!

Sanctification - Day Off

Will resume on Monday.

Sanctification - Day Two

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 Thessalonians 5:23

Yesterday we established a definition for Sanctification. We are to strive to separate ourselves from the world around us so that we may have a close relationship with God. Please understand that by separating yourself from the world does not mean to isolate yourself. Jesus was anything but isolated. We are required to live in this world. But, we are not to live of it. Meaning, we must exist in a sinful world, but that does not give us the go ahead to act like the world. This is where we must be salt and light to the world. This is when we, as Christians, must be a beacon of light in the darkness. We are to stand out and stand for the truth that abides in us. I'll post more on living in the world later.

The Scriptural standard of sanctification is expressed in various terms used throughout the New Testament. The following outline some of these terms:

Matthew 22:37 Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind

1 Thessalonians 3:13 May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

2 Corinthians 7:1 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.

1 Timothy 1:5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

Philippians 1:10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ

Romans 6:18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Romans 6:2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

Romans 6:19 I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness.

1 John 3:22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.

1 John 5:4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.

Why is this important? These terms describe the operation of the Holy Spirit through salvation in Christ by which He delivers us from sin's bondage and power (Romans 6:1-11, Romans 6:16), separates us from the sinful practices of this present world (John 17:15-19, Romans 6:13, Galations 5:16), renews our nature according to the image of Christ (John 17:23, 2 Corinthians 5:17), produces in us the fruit of the Spirit (Galations 5:22-23), and enables us to live holy and victorious lives of dedication to God (Romans 6:5, Romans 6:19, Romans 12:1).

So what does this mean to you and to me? These "Bibly" terms do not imply an absolute perfection. But, rather, an ethical righteousness of unblemished character demonstrated in purity, obedience and blamelessness (Philippians 2:14-15, Colossians 1:22, 1 Thessalonians 2:10, Luke 1:6). We as Christians, only by the grace that God has bestowed upon us, have died with Christ and are set free from sin's power and dominion (You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness - Romans 6:18).

This is not our license to sin. But rather we should strive not to sin. Through this we can find adequate victory in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Through the Holy Spirit John tells us that we are able not to sin (My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One - 1 John 2:1; No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him - 1 John 3:6).

We must rely on the Holy Spirit to search our hearts and reveal to us the sins in our lives. From there we are able to repent, turn away from, those sins and ask God for forgiveness. We will never come to the place where we are free from temptation and the possibility of sin, but through the Holy Spirit, we can identify the sin and attempt to avoid it.

Sanctification - Day One

1 Peter 1:2
Who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ, and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

NIV

Sanctification.

What is it?

Mr. Webster gives us this definition:

Sanctification

Sanc`ti*fi*ca"tion\, n. [L. sanctificatio: cf. F. sanctification.]1. The act of sanctifying or making holy; the state of being sanctified or made holy; esp. (Theol.), the act of God's grace by which the affections of men are purified, or alienated from sin and the world, and exalted to a supreme love to God; also, the state of being thus purified or sanctified. God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. --2 Thess. ii. 13. 2. The act of consecrating, or of setting apart for a sacred purpose; consecration. --Bp. Burnet.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Easton's Bible Dictionary says this:

Sanctification

involves more than a mere moral reformation of character, brought about by the power of the truth: it is the work of the Holy Spirit bringing the whole nature more and more under the influences of the new gracious principles implanted in the soul in regeneration. In other words, sanctification is the carrying on to perfection the work begun in regeneration, and it extends to the whole man (Rom. 6:13; 2 Cor. 4:6; Col. 3:10; 1 John 4:7; 1 Cor. 6:19). It is the special office of the Holy Spirit in the plan of redemption to carry on this work (1 Cor. 6:11; 2 Thess. 2:13). Faith is instrumental in securing sanctification, inasmuch as it (1) secures union to Christ (Gal. 2:20), and (2) brings the believer into living contact with the truth, whereby he is led to yield obedience "to the commands, trembling at the threatenings, and embracing the promises of God for this life and that which is to come." Perfect sanctification is not attainable in this life (1 Kings 8:46; Prov. 20:9; Eccl. 7:20; James 3:2; 1 John 1:8). See Paul's account of himself in Rom. 7:14-25; Phil. 3:12-14; and 1 Tim. 1:15; also the confessions of David (Ps. 19:12, 13; 51), of Moses (90:8), of Job (42:5, 6), and of Daniel (9:3-20). "The more holy a man is, the more humble, self-renouncing, self-abhorring, and the more sensitive to every sin he becomes, and the more closely he clings to Christ. The moral imperfections which cling to him he feels to be sins, which he laments and strives to overcome. Believers find that their life is a constant warfare, and they need to take the kingdom of heaven by storm, and watch while they pray. They are always subject to the constant chastisement of their Father's loving hand, which can only be designed to correct their imperfections and to confirm their graces. And it has been notoriously the fact that the best Christians have been those who have been the least prone to claim the attainment of perfection for themselves.", Hodge's Outlines.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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I will be going into more detail on some of the verses mentioned, but I would encourage you to get out your Bible and look up these verses. This is God's "Field Book" for life. USE IT!!!

In laymen's terms, sanctification means to make holy, to consecrate, to separate from the world, and to be set apart from sin SO THAT we may have intimate fellowship with God and serve Him gladly.

I am currently involved in an online Bible Study with the 5:16 chicks. We are studying 1 John. As I was reading last week, I came upon a note in my Bible that referenced 1 John 1:7 -

But 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.

I don't know about you, but this sounded good to me, so I was anxious to learn more. The note took me to an article about Sanctification, which really struck me. Over the next few days I will be sharing more about this article on Sanctification. Today, ponder over the definitions, and if you have a chance, look over a few of the verses.