Preface- This is not about calling or anointing; this is about the next miraculous work after the miracle of the New Birth that God desires to do in EVERY born again child's life!
John 6:40 (NKJV)“And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV)
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Ephesians 5:15-21 (NKJV)
“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.”
1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 (NKJV)
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NKJV)
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Hebrews 10:5-14 (NKJV)
“Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come— In the volume of the book it is written of Me— To do Your will, O God.’ ” Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”
1 Peter 2:15-17 (NKJV)
“For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.”
1 Peter 4:1-3 (NKJV)
“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.”
Sanctification:
The general meaning of sanctification is "the state of proper functioning." To sanctify someone or something is to set that person or thing apart for the use intended by its creator. Hearing aids are sanctified when used to improve hearing, and eyeglasses are sanctified when used to improve sight. Biblically speaking, things are sanctified when they are used for God’s purpose. Mankind is sanctified when he or she lives according to God's design and purpose!
The Greek word for sanctification is “hagiasmos (hag-ee-as-mos’) means purity or holiness. To sanctify means to make holy. We must understand that God is holy, scripture is clear about this attribute of God!
Isaiah 6:3 (NKJV)
“And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”
Revelation 4:8 (NKJV)
“The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”
No human being or thing compares to the holiness of God's nature. There is one God (Deut. 6:4; 32:39; Isa. 43:10). However scripture does tell us about holy things, in fact God commands human beings to be holy, for He is holy.
Leviticus 11:44 (NKJV)
“For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
1 Peter 1:15-16 (NKJV)
“but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
The Greek word for saint is “hagios (hag’-ee-os), meaning sacred, physically pure, morally blameless, consecrated, a sanctified one. What I am about to say is something every born again child of God must get ahold of, and the sooner they do the sooner they will not strive to free themselves from sin, but will walk in the freedom they’ve been given in Jesus Christ!
1 Corinthians 1:2 (NKJV)
“To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:”
1 Peter 2:9-10 (NKJV)
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”
Through the miracle of the New Birth the old you dies, and you are resurrected into a new life in Christ. You are transferred into His Kingdom and are now a saint, a royal priest unto Him! Really meditate on that, pray into it and let the Lord set you free from your striving to try and get into His good graces. Because, you are already there!
Now, the opposite of holy is profane which means to treat (something sacred) with abuse, irreverence, or contempt, to desecrate, to debase by a wrong, unworthy, or vulgar use. As children of God we are to distinguish between what is holy and what is profane!
Leviticus 10:10 (NKJV)
“that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean,”
As priests of God we are called to teach His people the difference.
Ezekiel 44:23 (NKJV)
“And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.”
Mankind is made in God's image (Gen, 1:26), and is the pinnacle and focus of His creation. The sanctification of mankind is the highest goal of God's work in the universe. The process of sanctification always requires God's presence. His presence is more than His simply "being there" through His omnipresence. Through His manifest presence in our lives fruit is produced, for which He alone is the source. The indwelling of the Spirit is not God's way of getting close to us sensually. We must understand that we may not always “feel” His presence, but that does not mean He isn’t there. We truly experience His presence by faith, not by feeling.
2 Corinthians 5:7 (NKJV)
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Mankind is made holy through Christ's work on the Cross. The blood of Jesus Christ sanctifies (Heb. 13:12) because His substitutionary atonement reversed all of the dysfunctional, as well as legal/condemning effects of sin. We are then progressively sanctified now through faith in Christ and by the indwelling Spirit, while awaiting full sanctification at the resurrection, when we step into glorification!
2 Corinthians 3:8 (NKJV)
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
What breaks my heart nowadays is the unneeded pressure put on so many born again children of God. We see someone positively react to the Gospel message and then we begin to pressure them into going and doing. There is a measure of sanctification each person will get to before the Lord begins to use them for His specific purpose.
Luke 24:49 (NKJV)
“Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”
Acts 1:8 (NKJV)
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
An effective witness is not just someone who evangelizes a crowd, or singles someone out to preach the Gospel to them. It is simply someone who lives the holy life in the midst of others. They, like the four living creatures in Revelation 4, becoming a declaration of Who they are looking at! If every child of God stepped into this truth, how much further would the Kingdom advance? Yet so many are living devoid of power, chained in depression, addiction and struggling just like the lost. Why Why Why???
The fact is many backslide and fall from confusing the call of all to "be redeemed" and God's calling to "be a redemptive agent” or calling into the ministry. The former is a foundational requirement for the latter. The latter cannot substitute for the former!
If someone is called and when they are ready for the ministry, the Holy Spirit will speak and send them.
Acts 13:2-3 (NKJV)
“As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.”
Sanctification is applied justification! By its nature justification is not progressive, it is complete and firm, it is God's declaration of righteousness!
Romans 5:1-2 (NKJV)
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
Justified means “to be declared or made righteous in the sight of God”. Justification is the act of God not only forgiving our sins but imputing to us His righteousness in Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
The primary purpose of sanctification is the healing of the dysfunctionality of sin. We must understand that all spiritual blessings, which includes both justification, sanctification, and much more are ours the moment we are born again! You have to catch this saints!!!
Ephesians 1:3-6 (NKJV)
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”
Friends, please understand that this process of sanctification is seen as complete in God’s eyes! This is why we see scripture using “sanctified” at times (Acts 20:32; 26:18; 1 Cor 6:11), it is complete in Him! However, the measure we choose to walk in here and now is completely up to each of us. The more we feed upon the Word of God and believe it, the greater measure we will step into.
However it is due to our inability to truly comprehend the fullness of God, and having to deal with the flesh, our mind, and the enemy that sanctification will continue until we are glorified, when Jesus Christ returns. It is at that time that we will be like Him!
1 John 3:2 (NKJV)
“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”
And the very next verse speaks to the continuance of sanctification.
1 John 3:3 (NKJV)
“And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
Our present preoccupation is with progressive sanctification, as we saw previously in 2 Cor 3:18, where the present tense "are being transformed" is used. The Holy Spirit isn’t just the power, but He is the helper, teacher, and yes even the one who helps pray for our sanctification. Jesus said he would pray to the Father to send another Helper (John 14:15-31). The Holy Spirit's name declares His function, He is not holier than the Father or the Son, but His specific ministry beyond what we see in John 16:5-15, is sanctification.
Romans 15:16 (NKJV)
“that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”
2 Thessalonians 2:13 (NKJV)
“But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,”
1 Peter 1:1-2 (NKJV)
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.”
The Spirit that inspired the Word of God now uses it to sanctify His people. Jesus prayed for His own, "Sanctify them by the truth" (John 17:17). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth (John 16:13). The blessing of the new covenant is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit!
Ezekiel 36:27 (NKJV)
“I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”
Romans 8:11 (NKJV)
“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
1 Corinthians 3:16 (NKJV)
“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”
2 Timothy 1:14 (NKJV)
“That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.”
The Holy Spirit is not just the restoration of the presence of God in believers; He also equips believers to serve the church and the world. The Fruits of the Spirit are the outward manifestation of the Christlike character, which are to be evident to both the church and the world, and comes from our sanctification.
Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV)
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”
Now the Gifts of the Spirit are the means by which believers edify and serve each other.
Romans 12:4-8 (NKJV)
“For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.”
1 Corinthians 12:7-11 (NKJV)
“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.”
Genuine faith includes repentance, by identifying and forsaking everything that characterizes the "old man." Genuine faith also includes trust and commitment, by living in the light of everything that characterizes the "new man.” All of this is done in hope, or that of a forward looking faith, with full confidence that God will carry out his sanctifying purposes to the end. Upon the Lord Jesus’ return, He will complete His work by resurrecting the dead in Christ, transforming those alive at His coming, banishing Satan eternally, and creating the new heaven and new earth!
The follower of Christ in the process of sanctification has assurance that he or she is a child of God.
Romans 8:17 (NKJV)
“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,”
The call to sanctification reminds the Christian that he or she cannot presume only upon justification. Genuine followers of Christ are to "pursue" sanctification.
Hebrews 12:14 (NKJV)
“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:”
God will judge any person claiming identification with Christ while not actively engaged in pursuing sanctification.
Matthew 7:21-23 (NKJV)
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”
John bases assurance on a faith that perseveres in sanctification.
1 John 2:3-6 (NKJV)
“Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.”
1 John 5:2-5 (NKJV)
“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
Though sanctification is never complete in this life, it is not optional, it is vital and the absolute next part of salvation after justification! The result of sanctification is a Christlike character!
Salvation is not a one time encounter…
Philippians 2:12 (NKJV)
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
It is a day by day work of the Holy Spirit in us, in which we must partner with Him and allow the transformation to take place. It comes through beholding Jesus, and maturing in the Kingdom!