Sanctification is an important part of the believers new life in Christ. In this study we will learn about the meanings of sanctification by looking into the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. My hope for you in this study is that you may learn what it means to be set apart for Christ.
- Sanctification (Hagiasmos; Gk; S# 38) - the activity of the Holy Spirit to set men apart unto salvation and enabling him to be holy even as God is holy.
Sanctify (Hagiazo; Gk; S# 37) - means to withdraw from fellowship with the world by first gaining fellowship with God.
- Sanctification's meaning is not primarily ethical but formal, its fundamental force being to seperate from the world and consecrate to God. To sanctify anything is to declare that it belongs to God. It may refer to persons, places, days and seasons, and objects used for worship.
When Christ sanctifies Himself (Jn 17:19), He means that he consecrate Himself to His mediatorial work as Redeemer. The word "saint" comes from the same root and means "a sanctified one"--one who belongs to Christ. This formal meaning appears in 1 Cor. 7:12-14, where the unbelieving husband is said to be sanctified by the wife, meaning not that he is different in moral character, but stands in a certain privileged relation to God.
In an ethical sense sanctification means the progressive conformation of the believer into the image of Christ, or the process by which the life is made morally holy. The transformation of the believer's life and character follow naturally from his consecration to a God who is morally perfect. Now that we belong to Christ we are to live to Him (Eph 4:1; Col 3:1-4; 1 Th 5:10). God has made a twofold provision for the believer's sanctification: the redemptive work of Christ and the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Sanctification has its beginning when a person becomes a Christian. God then, in regeneration, implants a new life in man, and gives to him the Holy Spirit, who makes real in his experience that for which Christ died for him at Calvary. It is in Romans 6-8 that we have the most extended teaching in the Bible on the ground and experimental at working of sanctification. In a sense it is a gift, as is every part of salvation, but it must be daily appropriated through the moral surrender of our life to God. It is not momentary and instantaneous, but a life long process, completed only when we see Christ.
Partially taken from Steven Barabas
To help you find what you're looking for on this site quicker I have provided the search engine box below.
|
|
