Sanctification – Part 1

If justification tells us what God has declared about the believer, sanctification tells us what God has claimed the believer for. It is one of the great words of Scripture, and it is often misunderstood as something only the especially devout pursue. In truth, it begins for every believer on the very day he trusts Jesus Christ as Savior.

What Does “Sanctified” Mean?

To sanctify means to set apart. Something sanctified is set apart from common use and devoted to God. In the Old Testament the word described the tabernacle, the altar, the priests, and the vessels used in worship. None of them was changed in its substance. What changed was that each now belonged to God.

The same thought runs through God’s word to Israel: “And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine” (Leviticus 20:26).

A Word Family

Here is something that helps the doctrine come alive. In the New Testament, the word for “sanctify” shares its root with the words for “holy” and for “saint.” In the Greek they are the same family: to sanctify (hagiazō), holy (hagios), and saints (hagioi). Even in English, the word saint and the word sanctify come from the same Latin root.

That means a saint is, quite literally, “a sanctified one,” someone set apart for God. And the Bible does not reserve that name for a spiritual elite. Paul writes “…to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints…” (Romans 1:7).

Three Aspects of One Work

Scripture speaks of sanctification in three aspects, and it helps to see them together before we focus on the first:

• Positional sanctification is past. It happens in a moment, when a person trusts Christ, and he is set apart to God and becomes a saint.
• Progressive sanctification is present. It is the ongoing, experiential growth of the believer’s life into what he already is in Christ.
• Ultimate sanctification is future. It is the completion of God’s work when we are made perfectly like Christ.

In this post we will discuss Positional Sanctification. Part 2 will take up Progressive and Ultimate Sanctification.

Set Apart in a Moment

Positional sanctification is not something a believer grows into. It is a status given at the moment of faith, and it rests entirely on what Christ has done. “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). Notice the words once for all. It is complete, and it is not repeated.

The writer adds, “For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14). The sanctified are the ones He has perfected forever in standing before God.

This is the same finished work that saved us from the penalty of sin. Jesus said, “…He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). The penalty has been paid, and the one who trusted Christ now belongs to God.

The Church at Corinth

The Corinthian church shows us how real this standing is. It was a troubled congregation, with divisions, immorality, and disorder. And yet Paul opens his letter by writing “…to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints…” (1 Corinthians 1:2). Later he reminds them of what they once were and what God has done: “…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” (1 Corinthians 6:11).

Paul called them sanctified before he ever corrected them. Their standing did not depend on their performance, and that is exactly what makes it a firm place to stand.

What This Means for You

If you have trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are a saint. That is not a title you earned or a goal you are chasing. It is what God has made you, set apart for Himself by the offering of His Son. Your place with Him does not rise and fall with your best or worst days.

That is the foundation. In Part 2, we will look at what God is doing in the believer’s daily life, and at the day when that work is finished: “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” (Philippians 1:6).