Topic: Sanctification, what is it?
Scripture text: Gelation 5:22-26
It is quite common that as you overheard certain words in the conversation between people who you don’t even know, but as you hear and recognize certain words in their conversation, you can tell what is the subject of their conversation, even religion.
In the religious circle there are some words which are very popular but even many Christians does not have the true understanding of these words and how they differ: two of these words are sanctification and justification.
These words are very important in the life of true believers in Christ Jesus and are mentioned many times in the scriptures, yet there are many Christians who does not truly understand the true meaning of these words and how much attention should be given to them.
What are these two words? And what effect do they have on our lives, are they something we need, and if so how do we earn them, and what effect do they have on our lives?
Sanctification is God’s gracious work that enables Christians to follow God’s moral code, to love him, to love their neighbors and to love their enemies as themselves. Sanctification is God’s gracious work. Grace is God’s unmerited favor, it’s his loving posture towards all people. God does not sanctify a person because they are worthy or good; God sanctifies a person because of his loving mercy.
This means that sanctification is God’s free gift as He tells us in Ephesians 2: 8: for by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourself: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. Sanctification is work that the Holy Spirit initiates and sustains as in Galatians 3: 1-3
Sanctification is supernatural: as a work of God, it includes acquiring new habits, practices and thoughts. But it’s more than the natural work that a wise psychologist or counselor can accomplish in a person, sanctification results from the supernatural presence and power of the Holy Spirit working in a Christian’s life.
We learn from Galatians 5: 22-26 that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law, and they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh which the affections and lusts.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another envying one another.
This means that sanctification isn’t limited by personality, life experience or upbringing, it also means that sanctification isn’t limited to civility or obedience that involves actions without heart,
it is more than that.
Sanctification is God’s beautiful transforming work in the life of his people. It’s the transforming presence and power of the Holy Spirit and offered as a gift to anyone who desires it. Would you like to be sanctified by the Holy Spirit? Then must Surrender our in obedience to God’s will.
We have used the word sanctification several times, but what is sanctification? And what does it means? To sanctify an object means to wash, cleanse, consecrate or set it aside for a special purpose. Sanctification is a Christian teaching about how God transforms a person, making them fit for a holy purpose.
Sanctification includes a change of heart, a desire to love God and other people. It includes a change of mind, seeing the world from an honest perspective. It includes embracing the truth about life, one’s self and others.
In Luke 1: 15 Zacharias the High Priest, while preparing to offer sacrifice in the temple, was told by an angel that his wife Elisabeth though she was past the age of bearing children, was going to bear a son and he should call his name John: he would be sanctified from his mother’s womb.
Verse fifteen says he shall be great in the sight of the Lord and drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. He was to be set aside, sanctified for to serve the Lord. (This was John the Baptist)
To understand sanctification, it’s helpful to distinguish it from another important word, which is Justification. Justification and sanctification are both Christian teachings related to salvation, they both are part of the good news of Jesus Christ.
Both justification and sanctification are God’s gracious gifts, received by faith, but there are also three important differences. Justification is legal, sanctification is transformational.
Justification is the opposite of condemnation as Romans 8: 1 says, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
It’s a change in status from being guilty before God to being called righteous, holy or perfect. Justification is God’s legal declaration that a person is both innocent of all charges made against them and immune from any future charge in God’s court of law. It’s both forgiveness and legal immunity so that the person is unable to become guilty.
This works because by faith a person embraces Jesus as their legal representative before God, and as the work of their legal representative, Jesus’s work counts as their own, and Jesus’s death counts as their own.
Unlike justification, sanctification is transformational. Sanctification isn’t a change in status but an actual change in the human condition. Justification is being declared forgiven and righteous. but sanctification is being made righteous and holy, justification happens all at once; sanctification happens over a lifetime.
As a change in status, justification is immediate, final and complete. A person doesn’t become justified over time, and a person doesn’t become more or less justified throughout their life. For Christians, justification is an event in God’s court of law that has already happened, this is why Paul described a Christian as having been justified in the same way that Christ died once for all.
Justification and sanctification are the acts of God in His final judgment for mankind, and there is no appeal in his decision as in an ordinary court.
The bible mentions that, grace, faith and the blood of Christ are what justify a person. Justification is not something we can earn, we cannot be justified of past sins by the deeds of the law (romans 3:20) though once justified, we must strive not to earn the death penalty again.
Justification is a life long process. Our faith in Christ is continually perfected in good works (James 2: 2; 22) when we sin we are to confess those sins to God, and He is faithful to forgive (1 john 1 9) therefore who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
Justification means that when God acquits and absolves us of all blame and guilt for our sins, we become just and innocent in his sight. Justification comes as a result of God’s initiative towards us through His grace, and by our faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. (Romans 3: 23-24)
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.