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Be Sanctified
By William C. Summers
The Longest War in History
The longest war in history was the so-called Hundred Years’ War between England and France, 1337-1453, 116 years long. That may be the longest on record, but there was an even longer war—it’s still going on, between good and evil, God and the devil. It began when Lucifer was kicked out of heaven. He scored a mammoth victory in the Garden of Eden, when he persuaded Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit. Adam was not innocent. He listened to the whole conversation, and then took part in eating the fruit.
This resulted in mankind dying spiritually at once, and putting the process of physical death into operation, as God had said. “And the Lord commanded the man, You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17).
The disobedience of Adam and Eve brought about the emptying of the Holy Spirit from their hearts. This allowed “original sin” to fill the void, and man has had to contend with it ever since. The Apostle Paul said, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do: no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it (Romans 7:18-20).
So God planned redemption. Jesus would go into the world and give His life a sacrifice
for every member of the human race. By His sacrifice He provided redemption and salvation to everyone who would repent and follow God in obedience.
So the war goes on. What does all this have to do with sanctification? If it weren’t for all this we would not need to be sanctified. Cruden’s complete concordance says, “[sanctify means:] (1) to dedicate, (2) to set aside, (3) to make holy.” The Bible says, “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” (1 Corinthians 1:30). He is our righteousness, making us right with God, our holiness, which is our sanctification, and redemption, which speaks of our new birth into His family (John 3:3-16).
Sanctification is the Will of God
“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification…” (1 Thessalonians 4:3 KJV). “...that you should be consecrated (separated and set apart for pure and holy living)” (Amplified Bible). “It is God’s will that you should be holy” (NIV). So this verse tells us sanctification is: (1) the will of God, (2) a synonym for consecration, (3) to be made holy, and (4) to set apart for pure and holy living.
In the Old Testament, to sanctify in most cases meant to set apart for holy service. But in the Old and New Testaments it also meant to dedicate, consecrate, and make holy. When a person claims to be wholly sanctified he is making a huge declaration. I believe an entirely sanctified person must keep the only two commandments given by Jesus: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” You cannot keep these two if you’re breaking any of the ten (Matthew 22:37-40). If you keep these two you will be fulfilling all the others as well. But keeping them, that’s the problem.
Sanctify the Lord God in Your Hearts
This is something, which is not possible until “we have been regenerated by receiving God’s Holy Spirit.” To be regenerated spiritually one repents of his sin, prays for forgiveness, is baptized, and a minister of God lays his hands on the head of the newly baptized one and asks God to give the new convert His Holy Spirit. The new child in Christ will then have the ability on a daily basis to make the decision to follow God. By living in obedience to, and walking in the light of God, He becomes more important than anything or anybody. It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we can enthrone Christ in our heart as supreme Lord. He has been our Savior, now He will be our Lord and Master. He has been your copilot, now you invite Him to take the controls and fly you where He wants you to go. Now you can live in a more wonderful fellowship than ever before.
With Christ as the supreme Lord of your life, you will begin producing fruit of the Spirit in abundance: “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control” (Galatians 5:22). Production of this fruit will not happen automatically. It comes by a decision to make these things a part of the way you live.
The Apostle Peter said, “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith.” And then Peter lists the graces (or fruit) of the Spirit (2 Peter 1: 5). You cannot succeed in this except by the power of the Holy Spirit. But you have that Power now that you have enthroned Christ in your heart.
A big help in doing this is to study the epistles diligently. Follow the instructions of the Apostle Paul when he said: “Therefore, 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. Do 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).
Before you were guilty of committing “the acts of the sinful nature [which] are obvious:
sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witch craft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the Kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21). Now that you have enthroned Christ in your heart you don’t live like that, you are producing the Fruit of the Spirit instead.
Christians in general fall into groups;
Those who are satisfied with what they have. They call themselves Christian, but they don’t live much different from the world. They attend church irregularly and rarely, if ever, pray or read their Bible.
Those who have regular attendance habits, but do not study the Bible, nor pay too much attention to what is being taught in the church. They are the ones that the Apostle Paul referred to as “infants in Christ.” He had to carry around the milk bottle for them (1 Corinthians 3:1-2).
There is the group that attends regularly, listens carefully to what is being taught, pays tithe, is diligent in Bible study and prayer life, and witnesses faithfully with every opportunity. They have declared Jesus Christ to be Lord of their life.
Peter, James, and John are always in the top group of disciples. They were present with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-8), in the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:37), and again when he brought the daughter of the synagogue’s ruler back to life (Mark 5:37).
Wouldn’t you like to be close enough to Jesus to have Him invite you to go along with Him? You have an open invitation; He always wants you to go with Him. How close we are to Jesus depends on the choices we make. It’s not a matter of geography, rather of commitment to keep Christ enthroned as Lord in our hearts. i
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