14 January 2024 AM – Text: 1 Corinthians 6:11 – Topic: Salvation
Introduction: My mother has a set of silver cutlery that she sanctified. By that, I mean, she set them apart from our daily cutlery. They were stored in a special velvet-lined, wooden box. I think she inherited them from her mother. She never got them out to use except when we had special guests over for a meal.
That sanctified cutlery illustrates the sanctification that God does in the lives of His children. Sanctification means to be set apart for sacred use. The word is closely related to holy. It begins the moment a person repents of sin and places faith in Christ for salvation. Sanctification naturally follows justification. The CARM Theological Dictionary states, “In justification our sins are completely forgiven in Christ. Sanctification is the process by which the Holy Spirit makes us more like Christ in all that we do, think, and desire. True sanctification is impossible apart from the atoning work of Christ on the cross because only after our sins are forgiven can we begin to lead a holy life.”
Transition: Unlike most of the other marvels of salvation, sanctification has three major aspects, positional, present, and prefect, which every Christian needs to understand.
1. Positional Sanctification
a. Sanctification begins at salvation.
1) Humans cannot be holy without God’s cleansing salvation.
2) Sin always separates man from God because God is intrinsically holy. He cannot tolerate the slightest sin.
3) Christ’s propitiation (complete payment), redemption (bought and set free from sin), justification (totally forgiven), regeneration (made new), and reconciliation (restored to harmony with God) make sanctification possible. Jesus totally dealt with our sin. The moment a repentant sinner receives Christ’s payment in full, sanctification begins.
b. Positional sanctification changes our standing before God.
1) Before salvation, we were positionally unholy and separated from God.
2) At salvation, God changed our position to holy and set apart for God. For some people, the change is obvious. For others, it is more subtle. However, if God has saved you, there will be a change in your life. If a true Christian, you are a saint (holy one) before God. He has set you apart from this wicked world to use for His glory.
3) Christians stand righteous and accepted before God eternally. (1 Corinthians 6:11) “And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” Just as you cannot lose your DNA identity with your parents, so a genuine believer is born into God’s family and sanctified or set apart unto God for all eternity. Those who walk away from Christ and never return were never truly saved or sanctified.
4) Sadly, many carnal Christians do not live like sanctified saints. Instead, they shame their Saviour, just as a wayward child shames his parents and family. This brings us to the second aspect of sanctification.
2. Present Sanctification
a. This is sometimes called by other names.
1) Chafer & Walvoord call it experimental sanctification, “As positional sanctification is absolutely dissociated from the daily life, so experimental sanctification is absolutely dissociated from the position in Christ.” Major Bible Themes, Chafer & Walvoord, p.207
2) This sanctification in a believer’s daily life has also been called practical or progressive sanctification. It takes place progressively in a believer’s life after he receives positional sanctification at salvation.
b. Present, progressive sanctification is ongoing.
1) True Christians can live sanctified or holy lives.
2) To aid this sanctification in the believer’s life, God has given us several divine aids.
a) We have His Word to guide us. (Psalms 119:11) “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.“
b) He is interceding for us in heaven. (Romans 8:34) “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.“
c) The power of the indwelling Holy Spirit enables us to live in victory. (Galatians 5:16) “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.“
d) God always chastens us when we sin. (Hebrews 12:7-8) “If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.“
e) God cleanses us when we repent of our sin and confess it. (1 John 1:9) “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (cf., Pr 28:13)
3) Present, progressive, sanctification is related to Christian growth. On 7 January, we looked at spiritual anorexia and spiritual bulimia. If you missed that sermon, you ought to listen to it. Daily Bible study is key to your present sanctification.
4) We must also abide in Christ by making certain there is nothing between our soul and the Saviour. We cannot expect to live saintly, sanctified lives if we are neglecting the Lord and spending time indulging in sinful vices.
5) While present sanctification is the work of God in our lives, we make a contribution to it. Yes, God will convict us and chasten us, but we must repent and conform to His will. However, He will not force us to live holy lives.
6) Because God has positionally sanctified, He will hold every true Christian accountable on Judgment Day for how he or she lived. (2 Corinthians 5:10) “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” Obedient, victorious Christians will receive God’s rewards for their good life. In 1 Corinthians 3, we read that careless believers will enter heaven as if they had escaped a fire and lost everything.
7) How you live your life now will determine how you fair on that judgment day. I challenge you to Run to Win!
3. Perfect Sanctification
a. This sanctification is yet future.
1) Some call this “final sanctification”.
2) Some people believe in sinless perfection in this life, but they are not living in reality. Perfect sanctification will never take place this side of heaven.
b. However, perfect sanctification will one day be a reality!
1) One day, when we see Christ, we shall be like Him. Amen! On that day, we will receive our perfect sanctification. We will no longer have a sin nature. Sin will never plague us again. We will be holy for all eternity. Paul wrote of this in 1 Thessalonians 5:23. “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.“
2) On that glorious day, the believer will be like Christ (1John 3:2), and “conformed to His image” (Romans 8:29). Christ will then present him “faultless” before the presence of His glory (Jude 1:24). He will be free from every “spot or wrinkle” (Ephesians 5:27). See Major Bible Themes, p. 209
Conclusion: If you have truly been born into God’s family, you have positional sanctification. If not, trust Christ today.
As a believer, God expects you to cooperate with Him in your life’s present, progressive sanctification. Has your present sanctification made you more like Jesus Christ? That is God’s goal. If you have sins to confess and forsake, attitudes to change, people to forgive, habits to break or anything else that hinders your holiness, now is the time to deal with it. Don’t wait.
One day, the Lord will rescue us from this world and give us perfect sanctification for all eternity. What a glorious truth to ponder!
