To believe the gospel is the obedience of faith. The Word wielded by the Spirit and received as of God thus separates to Him and is indeed exactly what is called "sanctification of the Spirit" in 1 Peter 1:2, not in the practical sense, but, in principle and absolutely, that setting apart to God from the beginning which constitutes a saint. Hence it precedes the knowledge of forgiveness or the possession of peace with God, as Peter says, "By sanctification of the Spirit, unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." [15]