The Divine Means for Sanctificantion

The Divine Means for Sanctificantion

The divinely appointed means for sanctification are the blood of Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God.  The first provides primarily absolute and positional sanctification; it is a finished work which gives the penitent a perfect position in relation to God.  The second is internal, effecting the transforming of the believer’s nature.  The third is external and practical, dealing with the believer’s practical conduct. Thus God has made provision for both external and internal sanctification (set apart).

a)  The Blood of Christ. (Eternal, absolute, and positional.) Heb 13:12; 10:10; 1John 1:7.  In what sense is a person sanctified by the blood of Christ?  As a result of the finished work of Christ the penitent is changed from a defiled sinner into a holy worshiper.  Sanctification is the result of that “wonderous work accomplished by the Son of God when He offered Himself to put away sin by His sacrifice on Calvary. By virtue of that sacrifice the believer is forever set apart to God, his conscience is purged, and he himself is transformed from an unclean sinner into a holy worshiper, linked up in an abiding fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ; for ‘both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one; for “which cause he is not ashamed to them brethren”  Heb 2:11. 

       That there is also a continuous aspect to sanctification by the blood is implied in 1 John 1:7; “the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”  If there is to be fellowship between a holy God and man, there must necessarily be some provision for removing the sin that is a barrier to that fellowship, for even the best of men are imperfect.  When Isaiah received his vision of the holiness of God he was smitten with a sense of his own unholiness, and was in no condition to hear God’s message until a coal from the altar had cleansed his lips.  Consciousness of sin mars fellowship with God; Confession and faith in the eternal sacrifice of Christ removes the barrier 1 John 1:9.

b)  The Holy Spirit (Internal sanctification.) 1 Cor. 6:11; 2 thess. 2:13; 1 Pet 1:1, 2; Rom. 15:16.  In these passages sanctification by the Holy Spirit is treated as the beginning of the full knowledge of justification through faith in the blood-sprinkling of Christ.  As the Spirit brooded over the primeval chaos (Gen. 1:2), and was follwed by the Word of God bringing order so the Spirit of God broods over the regerate soul, opening it to receive the light and life of God. 2 Cor. 4:6

c)  The Word (External and practical sanctification.) John 17:17; Eph.5:26; John 15:3; Psalm 119:9; James 1:23-25.  Christians are described as having been “born of the word of God” 1Peter 1:23.  The Word of God awakens men to a realization of the folly and wickedness of their lives.  When they respond to the Word through the word which was spoken unto them.  This is the beginning of a cleansing which must continue throughout the believer’s life.  At his consecration the Israelite priest received a complete priestly bath which was never repeated; it was a a work done once for all; but he was required to wash his hands and feet daily.  In like manner the regenerate have been bathed (Titus 3:5); but there must be a daily putting away of defilements and imperfections as these are revealed by the Word of God, which is the mirror of the soul.  James 1:22-25.  He must was his hands, that is, his deeds must be right; he must wash his feet, that is, keep himself from “those earth-stains, which are so readily contracted by sandaled pilgrim feet pressing along this world’s highways.

   THE SPIRIT IN THE CHURCH

1.  The Advent of the Spirit

      The Saviour lived before His incarnation and continued to live after His ascension; but during the intervening period He exercised what we may call His dispensational or “temporal” mission, which He came into the world to fulfill, and having accomplished it, He returned to the Father.  So the Spirit came into the world at an appointed time for a definite mission and will leave when His mission is accomplished.  He came to earth not only for an appointed purpose but also for an appointed time.

       There are three major dispensations in the Scriptures corresponding to the Three Persons of the Godhead.  The Old testament is the dispensation of the Father; Christ’s earthly ministry is the dispensation of the Son; and the age beginning between the ascension and the second coming of Christ is the dispensation of the Spirit.  The Spirit’s ministry will continue until Jesus comes, after which another dispensational ministry will succeed.  The characteristic name for the Spirit during this dispensation is the Spirit of Christ.

      The entire Trinity co-operates in the full manifestation of God during the great dispensations.  Each exercises an earthly ministry:  the Father descends at Sinai, the Son descends at the incarnation; the Spirit descends on the day of Pentecost.  The Father commends the Son from heaven (Matt 3:17), the Son commends the Spirit (Rev. 2:11), and the Spirit testifies to the Son. John 15:26.  As God the Son fulfills to men the work of God the Father, so the Holy Ghost fulfills to men the work of God the Son.

The Christian life is a life dedicated to the worship and service of God, that is, a sanctified life.  In relation to the sanctified life, God is the Holy One; Christ is the high priest; sin is defilement; repentance is consciousness of defilement; the atonement is an expiatory sacrifice; the Christian life is dedication on the alter (Rom. 12:1); the perfection of this aspect is entire sanctification from sin and separation to God.

Basic Doctrines of the bible by Myer Pearlman

We are Spirit, soul (mind, will, emotions) and body.  Our Spirit which is born again if we respond to the Holy Spirit’s nudging, to repent of our sin with a godly and honest sorrow does remain so.  However our mind (soul) needs to be renewed and as such our body will cooperate with our spirit which is perfect and regenerated through our acceptance of the free gift of life through Christ.  In the beginning God made man in His image but after the fall through the temptation of Eve and the high treason by Adam; that image (of God) was marred and distorted through the presence of evil and spiritual death of man.  The soul and body of man continued to degenerate until God created a way of rescue and salvation for us through the God-Man, Christ Jesus.  Now as born again believers our human spirit is made alive by our Fathers Spirit and through the miracle and process of regeneration our minds are renewed.  We have to cooperate in that process on a daily basis, by continually reading His Word and being baptised for service into the Holy Spirit and  submitting to His will.  Our salvation is for us but we must replicate this experience for others whose image is still marred by sin and satan.  Satan knows his time is limited and given that he was at one time a beatiful angel of music in heaven, he is jealous and rages against man because God loves man. Satan was thrown out of heaven as a result of his iniquity which was found in him when he rebelled and wanted to be like the most high God.   Satan chose his end by getting out of God’s perfect, just, and loving order.  Man on the other hand can still make a choice as to where he will spend eternity.  On this day I pray that you listen to that still voice in your soul that beckens you back to Him….Repent and accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and submit to Him as His yoke is easy and  watch your life blossom in front of you and others.  Be open and obedient to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to empower you to do the work of a servant of the most High God. Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together as we are all a vital part of His body and He is the Head!!  Watch your Father in heaven open up Himself to you in such miraculous and loving ways!!!!  Your life will be forever changed and I mean for eternity!!

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