Sanctification

From: Doctrinal Definitions: A Handbook of Doctrinal Terms & Expressions in the New Testament By: Stanley Bruce Anstey

• 4 min. read • grade level: 10

This term means “to make sacred by being set apart.” It can be applied to:

• Persons (Ex. 13:2²Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine. (Exodus 13:2); John 10:36³⁶Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? (John 10:36); 1 Cor. 7:14¹⁴For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. (1 Corinthians 7:14)).

• Places (Ex. 19:23; 29:43²³And Moses said unto the Lord, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it. (Exodus 19:23)
⁴³And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. (Exodus 29:43)).

• Things (Gen. 2:3³And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. (Genesis 2:3); Ex. 40:10-11¹⁰And thou shalt anoint the altar of the burnt offering, and all his vessels, and sanctify the altar: and it shall be an altar most holy. ¹¹And thou shalt anoint the laver and his foot, and sanctify it. (Exodus 40:10‑11); 1 Tim. 4:5⁵For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4:5)).

In connection with persons, there are three main aspects in the New Testament. These are:

1) Absolute Or Positional Sanctification

This aspect is the result of a work of God done in the believer through new birth (1 Cor. 6:11¹¹And 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. (1 Corinthians 6:11); 2 Thess. 2:13¹³But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: (2 Thessalonians 2:13); 1 Peter 1:2²Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. (1 Peter 1:2)) and for the believer through being justified by faith in Christ (Acts 20:32; 26:18³²And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. (Acts 20:32)
¹⁸To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. (Acts 26:18); Rom. 1:1¹Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Romans 1:1); 1 Cor. 1:2, 30²Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: (1 Corinthians 1:2)
³⁰But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (1 Corinthians 1:30); Heb. 10:10, 14; 13:12¹⁰By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:10)
¹⁴For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. (Hebrews 10:14)
¹²Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. (Hebrews 13:12); Rev. 22:11¹¹He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. (Revelation 22:11)). As a result, the believer, who was once among the mass of unsaved persons heading for a lost eternity, has been set apart in a new place before God. This aspect of sanctification is a one-time thing in a believer's life. Every Christian has been sanctified in this positional sense—regardless of what state his or her practical life may be in.

2) Progressive Or Practical Sanctification

This aspect is a result of the believer being exercised about his moral and spiritual state and seeking by the grace of God to perfect holiness in his life practically. See John 17:17¹⁷Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. (John 17:17); Romans 6:19¹⁹I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. (Romans 6:19) ("holiness"); 2 Corinthians 7:1¹Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians 7:1) ("holiness"); 1 Thessalonians 4:4-7; 5:23⁴That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor; ⁵Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: ⁶That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. ⁷For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. (1 Thessalonians 4:4‑7)
²³And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23); Ephesians 5:26-27²⁶That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 5:26‑27), and Hebrews 12:14¹⁴Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: (Hebrews 12:14) ("holiness"). This aspect of sanctification is to be an on-going, daily exercise in the believer's life.

3) Relative or Provisional Sanctification

This aspect has to do with persons being set in a clean place on earth through separation, without necessarily having an inward work of faith in their soul.

In the case of a marriage where one partner is saved and the other is not, the unbelieving one is “sanctified” in a relative sense by his or her association with the believing partner who is sanctified (1 Cor. 7:14¹⁴For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. (1 Corinthians 7:14)). It does not mean that the unbeliever is thereby saved, but that he is in a place of holy privilege.

In the case of those associated with Abraham, Romans 11:16¹⁶For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. (Romans 11:16) states that they are in a place of relative holiness (sanctification). The point that the Apostle makes in this verse is that if the "root" of the nation of Israel (Abraham) has been set in a holy place of privilege in relation to God, then the "branches" (Abraham's descendants) are in that “holy” place too (Deut. 7:6; 14:2⁶For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. (Deuteronomy 7:6)
²For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth. (Deuteronomy 14:2); 1 Kings 8:53⁵³For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God. (1 Kings 8:53); Amos 3:3³Can two walk together, except they be agreed? (Amos 3:3)). He is not speaking of what is vital through new birth, but of being in a place of outward favour and privilege.

The Apostle Paul also refers to a person purging himself from the confusion that has come into God’s house (Christendom) by “separating himself” from it, and thus being “sanctified” in this relative sense (2 Tim. 2:19¹⁹Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. (2 Timothy 2:19)).

Relative sanctification is also seen in Hebrews 10:29²⁹Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:29). The Jews who professed faith in Christ in that day had thereby taken Christian ground and thus had been “sanctified” in a relative sense by Christ’s blood. Again, being in this sanctified place does not necessarily mean that they were saved. The writer of the epistle warns them that if they abandoned that position and went back to Judaism, they would prove to be apostates, and there would be nothing but judgment waiting for them (Heb. 10:30-31³⁰For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. ³¹It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Hebrews 10:30‑31)).

The Lord Himself was also "sanctified" in this relative sense. He was set apart to come into the world for the purpose of accomplishing the will of God (John 10:36³⁶Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? (John 10:36)). He also set Himself apart in leaving this world and going back to the Father (John 17:19¹⁹And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. (John 17:19)).

A person could also set himself apart to do evil (Isa. 66:17¹⁷They 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. (Isaiah 66:17)).

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J. N. Darby warned of the danger of over-emphasizing the practical side of sanctification, stating that it could be taken by some that a person can make himself acceptable to God in his natural state by cleaning up his life. He pointed out that if the primary setting apart of persons to God through absolute sanctification is not held, sanctification becomes a mere gradual fitting of man in his natural state for his acceptance before God—which, of course, cannot be done (Collected Writings, vol. 10, p. 78). Notwithstanding, this is exactly what has happened in the history of the Church. Many ignorant souls down through the years have tried to better themselves through law-keeping and asceticism in hopes of making themselves acceptable to God. Such an idea does not see the flesh as being irreparably bad and essentially ignores the need for new birth. Therefore, there needs to be balance in Christian ministry in presenting the truth of sanctification, and thus guarding against erroneous assumptions, such as the one Mr. Darby mentioned. In fact, Scripture actually refers to sanctification in its positional sense more often than the practical and relative senses.

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