SPIRIT SANCTIFIES
“ Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctifica tion of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multi plied” (I Peter 1:2).
in this life been characterized by exceptional ac t s o f saintliness. Saints are described as “ them that believe” (II Thess. 1:10), meaning the total number of the redeemed. All the redeemed, then, are God’s sanctified ones, His set-apart ones. The way in which the Holy Spirit does this work is to make Christ our sanctification. "But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who of God is made unto us . . . sanctification” (I Cor. 1:30). This verse means that all who are in Christ are sancti fied, or separated to God. They are God's possession, set apart to glo rify Him. The Agent in sanctifica tion is the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:16; I Cor. 6:11). Now this positional sanctifica tion, the setting apart of every be liever by the Holy Spirit at the time of his regeneration, does not mean that the new-born child of God is sinlessly perfect. That the born-again person sins in thought, word, or deed is obvious from his own experience and from the teach ing of Scripture. Where is there a Christian who is not aware of the sinful failures in his life? In fact, the more spiritual and holy a Chris tian becomes, the greater is his awareness of his own sin. Isaiah
was a sanctified man, and still he said, “ Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips” (Isa. 6:5). Paul was a sancti fied man, and he said, “ I am car nal. . . . For I know that in me [that is, in my flesh,] dwelleth no good thing. . . . 0 wretched man that I am” (Rom. 7:14, 18, 24). The closer a sanctified man draws to God, the more sensitive he is to sin. Man never attains sinless per fection in this life on earth, nei ther instantaneously nor gradually. But still he is God’s sanctified, set- apart possession by the Holy Spirit who indwells him. But the Christian’s sanctification is not merely positional; it is pro gressive and practical. Practical sanctification is a continuous proc ess. Every born-again person is sanctified once for all judicially, but the process goes on throughout all of his life on earth. Experientially we Christians should be further ad vanced in practical sanctification today over what we were yesterday. This practical aspect of sanctifica tion is set forth clearly in the words of the Apostle Peter where he said, “ But like as He who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living” (I Peter 1:15
R.V.). Just as all Christians are sancti fied positionally by the Holy Spirit, even so the Spirit is the Agent in the Christian’s practical sanctifica tion. Our bodies being the temple of the Holy Ghost, we are sancti fied by His presence and by allow ing Him to have full control of our minds and bodies. The new life begun by the Spirit must mature by the Spirit. But remember, the Spirit will not coerce us in the mat ter of spiritual growth. He occupies the all-important place in that growth, but He will not force us against our will. The Christian can not remain passive and expect to grow spiritually. He must recognize the Holy Guest and maintain un broken fellowship with Him. Notice how Paul concludes the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen” (II Cor. 13:14). Here we have the expression, “ the communion of the Holy Ghost.” Do not pass it by lightly. It is of the utmost imp o r t a n c e and signifi cance. The word communion is the same word translated fellowship. Now a fellowship is a partnership,
MAY, 1970
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