Sanctification is a term that mystifies some people and scares others; it mystifies some who think that it is some deep, mysterious doctrine; it scares some Baptists because they think that it is "Holy-roller" doctrine. But we must remember that every heresy is simply the perversion of some truth. There is a great deal of confusion in the religious world about sanctification, and this is because this doctrine has been abused by some denominations, and error has been taught by them. Some of the errors associated with this doctrine are: (1) That it is some sort of "second blessing", but this term is never found in the Scriptures, and it is a pitifully impoverished saved person who has never progressed beyond two blessings from the Lord. Indeed, every truly saved person daily receives many blessings from the Lord. However, "Sanctification" is generally used erroneously in regard to: (2) Sinless perfection. But the Bible no where holds out the hope that any person will ever achieve sinless perfection while in the flesh. Indeed, it moves on the assumption that sin will remain in the flesh so long as the flesh continues in its present state, and only with the glorification of the body at the coming of the Lord will anything like sinless perfection be reached. (3) Some also hold that sanctification has to do with the betterment of the flesh, but there abides in the flesh "no good thing" (Rom. 7:18), and the flesh continues to be the great antagonist of man’s spiritual nature until death severs the two. See chapter ten, which deals with the two natures in the believer.
The most common of these errors is the second one, yet the only connection that sanctification has to perfection is that it is progress toward it. C. D. Cole has well said that:
The words "sanctify," "sanctification," "saints," "sanctuary," "holy," "holiness," and "hallowed," are all derived from the same root word, and this word and its derivatives appear some 280 times in the New Testament. This doctrine is a very important one, inasmuch as it has to do with living the Christ life and progressing toward the divine ideal for which we are saved. Many dislike this doctrine because of the great responsibility that it places upon them to conform their lives to their profession. Its importance is seen in Hebrews 12:14: "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." Its importance is to be seen in that it is a part of salvation, being the outgrowth and continuation of that which is begun in Regeneration. Charles Spurgeon declares:
The Scriptures use the word rendered "sanctification" in three different ways, but none of which contradicts the others. The first of these meanings is "to set apart for a specific purpose." It often means to set apart to holy purposes. There are many passages of Scripture illustrative of this usage, and this is especially true in the Old Testament. The very first appearance of this word in the Bible illustrates this meaning: "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made" (Gen. 2:3). The meaning "to purify from sin" which some attempt to make the only meaning of sanctification, will not fit here, for a day of the week, not being a living, rational being, cannot have any morality about it and hence cannot be purified of sin; however, it can be set apart for holy purposes, and this is the meaning here. We believe that the Sabbath is set apart as holy for five reasons: (1) Rest From Labor. (2) Reverence Of The Lord. (3) Religious Instruction. (4) Reviving Of The Saint. (5) Recognition Of God’s Bounty.
It was in exactly this same way that the Tabernacle and all its furnishings, the garments for the priests, the sacrifices, etc., were all sanctified: they were all set apart for holy uses. In just this sense of the word, Jesus said of Himself in John 10:37: "Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?" And again in John 17:19: "And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth." In neither case can "sanctified" have the meaning of "to purify from sin," for the Son of God had no sin; the word necessarily carries its root meaning of "to set apart." Jesus, as the "Elect One" was set apart for the fulfillment of the Father’s purposes. In like manner, the believer is set apart initially for the purposes of God, but he is also set apart in the other senses of the word as well.
The basic meaning of the word "sanctify" enters in to every usage of it; the other two meanings are extensions of the word, developed from the way it is used, and do not necessarily apply in every case. The root meaning may be used even of unsaved persons separating themselves unto sinfulness, as in Isaiah 66:17: "They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord."
The more common usage of this word in its basic meaning, is to set apart for holy purposes, and it is so used by Jesus in John 17:17: "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." The Word of God is the instrument whereby men are set apart, separated, but all of these references manifest the basic meaning of the word "sanctify" to be simply "to separate or to set apart" without regard to the moral significance of that separation.
In the second place, this word developed the meaning of "to regard, treat or declare to be holy." This meaning developed because the word was most commonly used of the setting apart of certain things or persons to a holy purpose, and so these would be regarded as holy because of this setting apart. This word is used in this sense in Isaiah 8:13: "Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread." The Lord does not need to be purified from sin, and so this cannot be the meaning of this word here; neither does He need man to set Him apart for any reason, so this likewise is not the idea here, but He does require man to regard and treat Him as he truly is—the thrice holy God, Isa. 6:3,
This is the same sense in which this word is used in Matthew 6:9: "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name." See also Luke 11:2. The Greek word used is that which is commonly translated "sanctified," there being only three exceptions to this rendering out of twenty-nine appearances. Because God Himself is holy, and is to be regarded as holy, so also is His name, which represents Him. This is the positive side of that which is negatively expressed in the third commandment: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain" (Ex. 20:7). Even in prayer, man is to treat God’s name as holy and above common usage; it is never to be used commonly or as a mere filler in one’s speech. There are many supposedly good Christians who are daily guilty of this sin by their light use of the Lord’s name.
Thirdly., the word "sanctify" sometimes means "to purify or to make holy". This is a further extension of the former shade of meaning. It sometimes means to purify only in an external way, as in Exodus 19:10-11: "And the Lord said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, and be ready against the third day: for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai." At other times it has to do with the inward cleansing and purifying of the soul in regeneration. It is in this sense that the word is used in 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."
"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth" (John 17:17). Here the reference is to the progressive sanctifying of the life of the saint after he has been initially set apart in salvation.
1. A deep sense of unworthiness. In all dispensations true piety has exalted God and humbled man....
2. An increasing hatred of sin. Sin is the opposite of holiness, and, so far as we know, God cannot make us holy without making us hate sin....
3. A growing interest in the means of grace. The word of God is more highly appreciated as the instrument of sanctification; for Jesus prayed, "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth" (John 17:17)....
4. An increasing love of things heavenly.....Now, one of the effects of increasing sanctification is the weakening of the ties that bind Christians to this world, and the strengthening of their attachments to heavenly things." —Condensed from Christian Doctrines, pp. 306-310. American Baptist Publication Society, Philadelphia, 1878.
One great mistake of many in regard to this doctrine is that they attribute sanctification entirely, or in large part at least to man’s energy and ability. Often such passages of Scripture as 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4: "For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor," are interpreted as if sanctification were entirely of man, but this is not so. It is true that there is an element of human responsibility here, but the power of it is wholly of the Lord, and all sanctification must be ascribed ultimately to the Lord’s workings. To ascribe the power of sanctification to one’s self is nothing short of robbing God of the glory that is His, for the Scriptures teach that sanctification comes from God, and that all three Personages of the Trinity have their part in it. Jude 1 speaks of saints as those who "are sanctified by God the Father," yet this must never be understood as denying the work of Christ or that of the Holy Spirit. Charles Spurgeon well remarks in a sermon on "Threefold Sanctification:"
But not only are believers said to be "sanctified by God the Father" (Jude 1), but they are also said to be "sanctified in Christ Jesus" (1 Cor. 1:2). Sanctification, or holiness, is that "without which no man can see the Lord" (Heb. 12:14), yet there is no sanctification possible apart from union with Christ in His redemptive work.
True sanctification comes about only as a result of being in union with Him Who said "And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth (John 17:19). The truth of God’s Word is the instrument whereby this union is brought about, and the believer is made partaker of the divine nature. "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Pet. 1:4). It is through the knowledge and practice of the Scriptures that the regenerated man is brought more and more into a likeness to Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 3:18; 4:4,6).
Which brings us to consider that men are also "sanctified through the Spirit" (1 Pet. 1:2). This explains Romans 8:14: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God," for the same Spirit that leads men to a saving trust in Jesus Christ, also sanctifies them as the sons of God. Sanctification is vitally related to both justification and regeneration, being the outgrowth and proof of them. E. Y. Mullins observes:
The Holy Spirit’s part in sanctification is more prominent than either that of the Father or the Son, because His work is the active application of the sanctifying Word, which produces the evidences of sanctification, and therefore we are apt to think that He alone does the sanctifying of the believer unless we are attentive to what the Scripture teaches. It is a blessed thing to know that the whole Trinity is arrayed, not only for our salvation, but also for our sanctification and our security.
Sanctification accomplishes three things in man when it is operative in him; we say when it is operative in him, for there are many who claim to be sanctified, yet in whom we see no evidence of a true, biblical sanctification, and so we must conclude that these have only a pseudo or quasi sanctification. There is no truth that Satan has not counterfeited and perverted, and it is so that he has produced a spurious sanctification in many people so as to bring the true sanctification into question and disrepute. Many unsaved people assume that they have been sanctified just because they have "turned over a new leaf," "gotten religion," or "joined the church." But none of these things constitute sanctification, nor are they necessarily the evidences of sanctification, for all of these things can be done by those who have never been truly born again. Sanctification must not be confused with justification; Abraham Booth has well contrasted these two in the following words:
From this text the following things may be noted: (1) The initial sanctification is associated with the Lord’s sacrificial death. (2) This sacrifice is sufficient to sanctify "once for all," and while the words "for all" are italicized (showing that there is not a separate Greek word for these words), yet this idea is in the Greek word ephapax; (see it again in Rom. 6:10; Heb. 7:27; 9:12). This same idea is found in verse 12: (i) Only one sacrifice is offered. (ii) It is offered "for ever". (iii) After the offering of which, Christ "sat down on the right hand of God," signifying thereby that His work was finished. (3) This one offering was sufficient to "perfect forever" those who are sanctified thereby.
Christ’s sacrifice for the saint effects his cleansing from sin and setting apart unto the Lord; thus, in this instance, all three shades of meaning of this word are met together, for the saint is set apart unto holy purposes, he is declared by the Lord to be a "saint" or holy person, and is so regarded, for he has actually been made holy by the sacrifice of Christ.
The second effect of sanctification is a continual consecration of the saint to the will of God, as the believer yields himself to the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit. Spurgeon, in the sermon before referred to, again says:
The third effect of sanctification—its final stage—then is glorification. This is when God has finally perfected the believer in body, soul and spirit. He is never frustrated in His redemptive work, nor does He ever begin such a work only to cease in the midst and let it come to naught. This is referred to in Philippians 1:6: "Being confident of this very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." The "day of Jesus Christ" marks the end of God’s sanctification, for at the resurrection and renovation of the bodies of the saints every believer is brought to complete likeness to Christ. Not until the flesh is renewed and glorified, will sanctification be complete, for not until then will sin be completely eradicated from the saint.
This is the hope that has ever been held out to the Lord’s people as the one great goal to be aimed at, striven for, and expectantly awaited. "For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, according to the working whereby he is able even to subject all things unto himself" (Phil. 3:20-21, R.V.). Glorification is the last link in that golden chain of God’s redemptive dealings which began with His foreknowledge of His people in His elective love (Rom. 8:29-30). It is often spoken of in association with the return of Christ to the earth, for this is when it will take place. This is why every true saint, from a purely selfish standpoint, ought to desire the return of Christ, for it will mark the end of his struggle with sin and with the problems that sin has caused, and the beginning of his eternal enjoyment of glory with his Saviour and Lord. May God hasten the day.
By this, we mean to consider how this sanctification is accomplished. What power accomplishes it? As we have already observed, the Holy Spirit is the One Who applies this sanctification; He is the active agent in it. But we must remember that there is not only an agent in sanctification, but also an element; and that element is the Word of God. The word of God alone is a cold, lifeless letter which can do nothing but condemn man; it takes the active application of the Lord by the Holy Spirit to enliven man both in salvation and in sanctification. "Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life" (2 Cor. 3:6). The Holy Spirit works initially in salvation to set apart the saint unto God, but He does not then cease His workings, but continues to carry it on throughout the life of the saint.
Neither does the Holy spirit work independently in this matter, for in Hebrews 10, where we earlier noted the references to Christ’s sanctifying work of redemption (vv. 10-14), we find in verses 15-18 that this is all a matter of the covenant of the Triune God, for all three persons are mentioned as having their part in this great accomplishment.
For in the second place, there could be no application of sanctification to the individual by the Holy Spirit but for the sacrificial work of Christ, which is the ground of that sanctification. Men are sanctified by the blood of Christ (Heb. 13:12), which is termed the "blood of the covenant" (Heb. 10:29). The Holy Sprit applies what Christ has wrought by His atoning death, but His death had more than a mere transient effect upon His people; they are not simply saved by a once for all application of His blood; they are also kept in a state of salvation by the continual application of the saving effects of Christ’s death by the Holy Spirit. This is why, when speaking of those who were already saved, John was inspired to say: "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth (note the present tense) us from all sin (all sin, future, as well as past)" (1 John 1:7). Not only so, but the blood of Christ also purges the conscience from dead works (Heb. 9:14), and continues to purify the lives of the redeemed (Titus 2:14). Not until the sanctification of the saint is complete will the cleansing efficacy of Christ’s blood cease to be applied to the life and conscience of the saint.
The adequacy of the atoning work of Christ is to be seen in Hebrews 10, where He is contrasted with the Levitical priests and their ministry; this especially stands out in verses 12-14. But in speaking of this "one offering" which was offered "for sins for ever," and which "perfects for ever" the sanctified, no room is left for any supposed offerings of the "mass" as a repetition of His atoning work, nor is room left for the supposed need of human works to perfect His redeeming work, and it is blasphemy of the worst sort for anyone to try to substitute such "filthy rags." All that is needed is for the Holy Spirit to apply the benefits of the blood in regeneration, and continue to apply the cleansing benefits of it in sanctification.
Thirdly, we see another working in sanctification in that this is all the will of the Father, for the sacrifice of the Son, and the application of the benefits of Christ’s death by the Spirit are declared to be His will in Hebrews 10:9-10. "Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." What is the instrument of the application of the saving and sanctifying benefits of Christ’s death by the Holy Spirit? It is the preached Word, by which the Father is said to sanctify believers: "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth" (John 17:17). Remember, Jesus was speaking, but He was not speaking to the Spirit, but to the Father, and so it becomes clear that the Father also works in the sanctification of saints. Thus, the preached Word is not only "the power of God unto salvation" (Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor. 1:18), it is also the power of God unto sanctification.
We cannot divide the Trinity in this matter; all Three work together to effect the complete separation of the saint from the world and its defilements, and while our Heavenly Father’s chastisements are often grievous at the time, yet they are meant to develop holiness in us and to fit us for eternal fellowship with Him. "Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby" (Heb. 12:9-11).
Sanctification is an important doctrine, for it is a barred door which keeps out of heaven all who are not possessed of the holiness of Christ. Many will be turned away who have thought to present their own personal righteousness, which God views only as "filthy rags" (Isa. 64:6). But while some have erred in trusting in their own works, there are others who go to the opposite extreme and make no effort to practice personal holiness. Both of these are mistakes, for the Scripture speaks both of the believer’s sinfulness, and of his perfection in the Lord Jesus Christ (1 John 1:8; 3:9). A. J. Gordon says of this:
By Davis W. Huckabee, Pastor,