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This podcast is purposefully crafted to serve as a reminder for born-again believers about our identity in Christ. It seeks to deepen our comprehension of the profound power and potential inherent in the Gospel that has been entrusted to us. In this show, we will delve into various contemporary challenges confronting believers and provide biblical insights to diagnose these issues.
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Here's the question for you? Are you sanctified?
There are a lot of discussions on sanctification. The most common teaching is that
we are positionally, sanctified, and progressively sanctified. Positionally sanctified means that we are sanctified because we are in Christ jesus and Jesus is sanctified. And progressively sanctified means that we are being sanctified every single day. So in other words, we are sanctified and we are being sanctified. I know it's very confusing, but that is the mainstream theology out there. That means if you ask someone,
are you sanctified?
Then they are confused because they are not very sure if they are sanctified right now. So I thought it will be good to look into this topic so that we will get some clarity on this topic.
First of all, what is [00:01:00] sanctification? Sanctification is also known as holiness throughout. It is used interchangeably throughout the scriptures. But the moment we think about holiness, we can think of a person,
who behaves really well,
who is a perfect,
probably he's wearing a white robe with a halo on top and all that. But the way scripture teaches us, holiness is that holiness means to be set apart for something. Or in other words, sanctification means to be set apart. Many of you might have not heard of it in this way. Because our thinking about holiness and sanctification often has behavior connotations to it. Let's say you see someone who's a believer sitting quietly and praying and you say that person is so holy. On the other hand, you see someone, checking his phone during the service, and you would say that person is not holy. That's the way people [00:02:00] understand holiness and it's the way that holiness has been taught, but if you really want to go into the scriptures and see what holiness really means, holiness means to be set apart for a purpose. So that's what sanctification is to be set apart for a purpose.
The reason why there's a lot of confusion on sanctification or the topic of sanctification is because a lot of people still understand sanctification from the behavioral perspective. If you only understand it from a behavioral perspective, you'll always be confused. Let's look at what the scriptures really say about sanctification. Did you know that Jesus himself said in John 17: 19. I for their sakes.
I sanctify myself
that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. We can not conclude that Jesus was lacking in the some behavioral realm that his behavior was not perfect. So he [00:03:00] decided to become more, holy He decided to do something about it. And because of that, he became more holy,
no.
But rather we see that he was saying he was setting himself apart for a purpose. Clearly in the case of Jesus, you see that sanctification was being set apart for a purpose. Also in the old Testament, we see that places and utensils were also sanctified. And it's not that the places or the utensils had a certain behavior obviously, but you see that it was holy because it was set apart for a purpose. Also in Exodus you see when God met Moses at the mountain, we see God telling Moses that the place where he was standing was sanctified or a holy place. Obviously, it was not like the ground had good behavior. There are many more examples. I don't want to go into each and every one of those examples, but there [00:04:00] are many more examples that prove that
sanctification is not about behavior,
but rather it is about being set apart.
Probably a lot of people might be a little bit confused right now. You should understand when I say that sanctification is not about behavior. I'm not saying that you should not have good behavior or you should not behave well. Because you are sanctified inside the effect of your sanctification will show outside eventually
that is true.
But I'm saying the real sanctification is done in the spiritual realm, it is done in the done by God.
So God can sanctify whatever, whoever or anything. And whatever God sets apart become sanctified or holy. It is God who really sets apart things to be holy and once god sets apart for his purpose. It becomes holy it is God's decision. Nothing that the [00:05:00] object does makes it not sanctified. You understand what I'm saying here? Nothing that the object does makes it not sanctified. Nothing that the object does makes it sanctified. It was not because of what the utensils did that the utensils became sanctified. it was not because of what that someone did, that they became sanctified.
God set apart for a purpose.
There are three points regarding sanctification. The first point is that. We have been sanctified. Set apart. It's a done deal. And the point number two is that our behavior is being set apart. It is our responsibility. Point number three is that
we are not defined by our behavior. Okay, let's go to point number one. I said that we have been sanctified. Set apart. It is a done deal. [00:06:00] And we see it throughout the scriptures. It says that we have been sanctified. We have been set apart. You see this in 1 Cor 6:11
such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified. You were justified
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the spirit of our God.
Paul says this to the church in Corinth. And you know, that the church in Corinth was not the best church when it came to behavior, there were divisions problems, difficulties. And still he's saying that
you were washed,
you were sanctified. He says this in past tense
and he says this very clearly. And also in Heb 10:10, it says.
By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once and for all. We have been sanctified. Also we read aim 1 [00:07:00] Cor 1:2.
To the church of God, who, which is Corinth to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus saints by calling. You see, it says
we have been sanctified.
In Acts 26:18, it says to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sin and inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in me. It say's that
we have been sanctified. How is it that we were sanctified? It says we have been sanctified
in Christ Jesus
by faith. So it is
because of our position in Christ Jesus,
that we are sanctified and all we have to do is to
believe. In what God has said and that we are sanctified in Christ Jesus,
and it is not because of the [00:08:00] belief that God makes us sanctified,
but we have been sanctified in Christ Jesus and because of that,
we believe it.
Again, Heb 10:10, it says
we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once and for all. We don't have to keep sanctifying though. So this goes against the teaching of progressive sanctification, where it says that we have to be progressively sanctified every single day. But the Bible clearly teaches us that we have been sanctified
once and for all. So when is the, when did the sanctification happen?
Sanctification happened at salvation. Like I said, the setting apart happened at salvation.
There was a setting apart or a certain move. As we know that when we sinned against God, we lost our connection with God and we were alienated from him. So when we believed God, when we were saved we were [00:09:00] set apart. We were moved from the darkness into the light. And in, like it says in Col 1:13, it says that
he rescued us from the domain of darkness
and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son. There is a transfer, which is happening from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. And that is the setting apart for a purpose, and you have been set apart for a purpose. The moment you believed you have been set apart for a purpose, and that is what sanctification did for you.
That is how you became sanctified. And you were placed from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son, you were placed in Christ. And because Christ is sanctified,
you are sanctified.
Because Christ is justified. You are justified. Because Christ is righteous. You are righteous. [00:10:00] Because Christ is glorified. You are glorified. You see what has happened here. The transfer or the setting apart is your sanctification. You were set apart for a purpose by God. Now you cannot say I'm not sanctified that you are not set apart, because if you are in Christ, you are sanctified. You have received everything from Christ when you were put in Christ. That answers point number one. So let's go to point number two.
Point #2 is that our behavior is being set apart. It is our responsibility. So like I said, sanctification is done by God. God is the one who sets apart something for his purpose. And once he sets apart something for his purpose. It is sanctified.
Our sanctification was complete when God set us apart for his purpose. But the thing is that God expects whatever has happened in the [00:11:00] spiritual realm
to be lived out in the natural realm.
For instance, God, say's Romans 6, that we have been crucified with Christ. He says that your old man has been done away with. And then he say's
so reckon yourselves to be dead to sin.
That means he asks us to live it out in the natural realm. So similarly for every truth that he gives, makes the deposit or he gives, he does everything in this spiritual realm and he expects us to express it in the natural realm. Let it be healing for instance, he has provided us healing in the spiritual realm and he is saying, live it out in the natural realm. By his stripes, we were healed, and because of that in the natural realm, you may see that you still have certain sickness or physical ailments, but that is not God's will for you. God expects you to live out perfect health in the natural realm. Similarly for [00:12:00] sanctification,
you have been sanctified in the spirit.
God relates to you from the spiritual realm. And you have been seen as someone who is sanctified. And because of that, when you are sanctified, God expects you to live out the sanctification in the natural realm. In the natural realm. Is your responsibility. It's your responsibility to set yourself apart. First to all, you should set yourself apart by having the understanding of who you are and what happened to you in the spiritual realm. Secondly, this setting apart is by letting Christ live through you like in Gal 2:20, it says
I have been crucified with Christ. And it's no longer I, but Christ who lives in me. So let Christ live in you. That is a setting apart.
When I say to people that I am sanctified, some people take it as some sort of a pride [00:13:00] thing. What I'm saying is that God relates to me in the spiritual realm and when God relates to me in the spiritual realm, he sees me sanctified. He doesn't see me based on my behavior. Think about this. That is what happened even to you, when you were born again, when you were born again,
why are you born again?
Because you believed in God and you accepted his Lordship over your life. And because of that, when you confess with your mouth, And like the Bible says. You became born again. You became saved. However, We know, that our lives are
not always perfect. So does that mean that we are not saved? We never say that we are being saved. We say that we were saved once there. We never say that we
are being saved. We were saved at the point when we believed initially. We were saved in Christ Jesus. When we see sinful behavior,
we did not conclude that we are not saved. [00:14:00] So similarly when we see that our lives in the natural realm is probably not in the way it should be for a sanctified person in Christ jesus , we shouldn't conclude that we are not sanctified, but rather we just need to set ourselves apart to the sanctification that has already happened in the spiritual realm.
This is why Paul was able to call the people in the church of Corinth sanctified, despite all their shortcomings.
In 1 Thess 4:3, where it says for this is the will of God. Your sanctification that you abstain from sexual immorality and a lot of people say, see, this is what I'm saying, that
you be sanctified. By abstaining from sexual immorality. See, this is in the physical realm. Like I said, your sanctification happened in the spiritual realm. And here Paul is asking the THESSALONIANS
TO sanctify themselves or [00:15:00] set themselves apart in the natural realm,
by abstaining from sexual immorality. It doesn't change what God has already done in the spiritual realm.
Now in 1 Thess 5:22-24 it says. Abstain from every form of evil. May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely. May your spirit and your soul be preserved completely without blame at the coming of our Lord jesus Christ. So it says here.
It says here may the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely. God is the one who sanctifies you and your spirit has been sanctified by being in Christ jesus. Then it talks about your soul, your thought life, your mind, emotions will, but still have to be set apart for God. And you have a responsibility in that. And your body will have to be set apart for God. And that is also your responsibility, but irrespective of all that you are still sanctified because God relates to you in the spirit.
[00:16:00] Like a said, Paul talks time, and again, that we should live out the sanctification that has happened in you. We should live out the righteousness that has happened in you. And so the way he expects us to do it is by letting Christ live through us. So he says in Romans 6:19 to present your members as slaves to righteousness resulting in sanctification. So again, he's talking about in the natural realm, but in the spiritual realm, you are sanctified.
In 1 Pet 1:13-16. Therefore prepare your minds for action. Keep sober in spirit. Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you
at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the holy one who called you be holy yourselves in all your behavior, because it is written,
you shall be [00:17:00] holy for, I am. Holy.
There's a lot to unpack here. It says,
do not be conformed to the former lust. It says former. That means you're not that person anymore. You are sanctified, but again, the external part of it, your physical realm is what that needs to be sanctified by you. That is not God's responsibility. Yes. God will help you for that,
but that is on you. That is primarily your freewill to sanctify your bodies but in the spirit, we have been sanctified in Christ jesus.
So let's go to point number three. Point #3 is that we are not defined by our behavior. That means our external behavior does not determine who we really are in the spiritual realm, this is a significant point because a lot of people look at things from the outside and they say that this person is not sanctified. In 2 Cor 5 itself paul says that
we refuse to look at things from the outside. But from the spiritual realm, but we [00:18:00] know that the church in Corinth had messed up big time right? Like I said before, There were issues in the church. Which we're not even there in the pagan world. And yet Paul was calling them sanctified. And Paul's opening remark was that the church has sanctified. Can you believe that? Because you could ask Paul, Paul, how can you say. That they are sanctified. Don't you know what you're doing? And Paul would say, yes,
I know what they're doing,
but what they are doing is not an indicator that they are sanctified or not.
Like I said,
I'm not giving a license to sin here. Abraham was righteous in Gen 15. And you know that his life right after that, was not in accordance with, righteousness that you would expect, but. But still. Abraham was called righteous and lot was called righteous and his life was not in accordance with what you would expect from [00:19:00] a righteous person. You see, the life, which you see externally will not give you a clear indicator of, who they are in the spirit. It is true. However, whoever has been sanctified in the spirit
will not keep on continuing, enjoying sin, they will not keep on going forever.
They will eventually just like someone who is sinful cannot, will get exhausted doing good for the sake of it. And eventually we'll turn back into sin. Similarly, we being the slaves of righteousness
sin is not natural for us. If someone was a born again, person and for whom sin is not natural. If they keep on doing sin, eventually
they will get exhausted doing those sins and they will turn back into righteousness. They will be a course [00:20:00] correction. But it's better to set yourself apart for God, because you don't want to dig yourself into a hole in the natural realm the hoping that you will get out of it sometime.
First point was that we have been sanctified. Sanctification happened to us God is the one who sanctified us in christ jesus. You don't have a sanctification outside of christ jesus. And the second thing is that our behavior is being set apart. That is something which god expects us to do and god and we can take the help of the holy spirit to do that. God expects us to live out the sanctification that has happened in the spirit into the natural realm. And the Point #3 is that we're not defined by our behavior about what we do or do not do So that means connecting Point 2 and 3. we see that Our behavior is being set apart but at times even if it's [00:21:00] struggling to be set apart For god and there are times and when you fall into sin it does not change who you really are in the spirit because You have been sanctified In christ jesus. Reality is that we are sanctified if you're not completely sanctified says in Heb 12:14-15. That without holiness, no one will be able to see god
that means good luck,
right? You're not going to see the lord if you're not sanctified So the bible clearly says that you are sanctified. i praise god that i am sanctified in christ jesus
i don't have to do spiritual gymnastics
in order to make me more sanctified than i was before Because my sanctification is in christ jesus. I don't have to do a lot of fasting
praying and all that to sustain my sanctification which is in christ jesus 'cause i got it for free and I sustainable free. I will live out my sanctification which i've received and the spirit into the natural realm.
And christ is my [00:22:00] sanctification
god bless you all