Question about 'sanctification'

Sanctification has a couple of aspects. First of all, the word simply means "set apart".

God has set apart certain people (Christians). Their position before God is holy and perfect.

Sanctification is also the process by which Christians will definitely be conformed to the image of Christ. Christians are constantly moving forward to Christlikeness.

 

I took a theology class in '99, my Pator taught it, actually I had more theology classes then just in '99, but that is when he taught on Sanctification.
It is to be set apart from sin, to the exclusive work of God for his holy service, this is at the time of salvation.
The consequence is God's calling to live a holy life.

 

Hi:

I just led a Ladies Bible Study on another board on Regeneration, Repentance, Santification Justification Glorification and Propitation. This is my research on Santification. It is probably more info then you wanted but since I had it I just pasted it in here. Hope you find something useful in here.

Santification is the experience, beginning in regeneration, by which the believer is set apart to God's purpose and is enabled to progress toward moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in Him. Growth in grace should continue throughout the regenerate person's life. We all know the need for obidence to God but it is only through the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives are we able to to be made Holy as He is Holy.

Sanctification involves more than a mere moral reformation of character, brought about by the power of the truth: it is the work of the Holy Spirit bringing the whole nature more and more under the influences of the new gracious principles implanted in the soul in regeneration. In other words, sanctification is the carrying on to perfection the work begun in regeneration, and it extends to the whole man (Ro 6:13; 2Co 4:6; Col 3:10; 1Jo 4:7; 1Co 6:19). It is the special office of the Holy Spirit in the plan of redemption to carry on this work (1Co 6:11; 2Th 2:13). Faith is instrumental in securing sanctification, inasmuch as it (1) secures union to Christ (Ga 2:20), and (2) brings the believer into living contact with the truth, whereby he is led to yield obedience "to the commands, trembling at the threatenings, and embracing the promises of God for this life and that which is to come."

Perfect sanctification is not attainable in this life (1Ki 8:46; Pr 20:9; Ec 7:20; Jas 3:2; 1Jo 1:8). See Paul's account of himself in Ro 7:14-25; Php 3:12-14; 1Ti 1:15; also the confessions of David (Ps 19:12-13; 51:1-19), of Moses (Ps 90:8), of Job (Job 42:5-6), and of Daniel (Da 9:3-20). The more holy a man is, the more humble, self-renouncing, self-abhorring, and the more sensitive to every sin he becomes, and the more closely he clings to Christ. The moral imperfections which cling to him he feels to be sins, which he laments and strives to overcome. Believers find that their life is a constant warfare, and they need to take the kingdom of heaven by storm, and watch while they pray. They are always subject to the constant chastise- ment of their Father's loving hand, which can only be designed to correct their imperfections and to confirm their graces. And it has been notoriously the fact that the best Christians have been those who have been the least prone to claim the attainment of perfection for themselves.

1Ki 8:46 (KJV) If they sin against thee, (for [there is] no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near;

Job 42:5 (KJV) I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.

Job 42:6 (KJV) Wherefore I abhor [myself], and repent in dust and ashes.

Ps 19:12 (KJV) Who can understand [his] errors? cleanse thou me from secret [faults]. 13 Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous [sins]; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. {the great: or, much}

Ps 51:1 (KJV) <<To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.>> Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving- kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin [is] ever before me. 4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done [this] evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, [and] be clear when thou judgest. 5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden [part] thou shalt make me to know wisdom. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; [that] the bones [which] thou hast broken may rejoice. 9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. {right: or, constant} 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me [with thy] free spirit. 13 [Then] will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: [and] my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. 15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. 16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give [it]: thou delightest not in burnt offering. {else...: or, that I should} 17 The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

Ps 90:8 (KJV) Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret [sins] in the light thy countenance.

Pr 20:9 (KJV) Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?

Ec 7:20 (KJV) For [there is] not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinned not.

Da 9:3 (KJV) And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: 9:4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; 5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments: 6 Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 O Lord, righteousness [belongeth] unto thee, but unto us confusion of
faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, [that are] near, and [that are] far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee. {belongeth...: or, thou hast} 8 O Lord, to us [belongeth] confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. 9 To the Lord our God [belong] mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him; 10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11 Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that [is] written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him. 12 And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem. 13 As [it is] written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth. {made...: Heb. intreated we not the face of the, etc} 14 Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God [is] righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, that hast brought thy people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and hast gotten thee renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. {gotten...: Heb. made thee a name} 16 O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people [are become] a reproach to all [that are] about us. 17 (KJV) Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake. 18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteous- nesses, but for thy great mercies. {which...: Heb. whereupon thy name is called} {present: Heb. cause to fall} 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name. 20 And whiles I [was] speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;

Ro 6:13 (KJV) Neither yield ye your members [as] instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members [as] instruments of righteousness unto God. {instruments: Gr. arms, or, weapons}

Ro 7:14 (KJV) For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. {allow: Gr. know} 16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that [it is] good. 17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [how] to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? {the body...: or, this body of death} 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

1Co 6:11 (KJV) And 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.

Co 6:19 (KJV) What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

2Co 4:6 (KJV) For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. {hath: Gr. is he who hath}

Ga 2:20 (KJV) I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Php 3:12 (KJV) Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Col 3:10 (KJV) And have put on the new [man], which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

2Th 2:13 (KJV) But 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:

1Ti 1:15 (KJV) This [is] a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

Jas 3:2 (KJV) For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same [is] a perfect man, [and] able also to bridle the whole body.

1Jo 1:8 (KJV) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

1Jo 4:7 (KJV) Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. {is born: Gr. has been born}



--------------------
God Bless!
Kathy

Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall
mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall
walk, and not faint.

 

It means to be set apart. We, as Christians are set apart because of the blood aplied to our lives.
We ought to act set apart too. We aren't to identify with the world, by doing some of the things they do.
When I think of sanctification, I guess I think of the parable Jesus told of the harvest. speaking of the tares growing up with the weat, but eventualy you could tell the diffrence, and during the harvest, the tares would be cast in the fire.
Jesus is referring to us as the weat, the unsaved as the tares,the harvest as the rapture, burning the tares as the judgement for the lost.
We, being the weat, are to be set apart from the tares. We are sanctified by His grace.
I'm sure others will explain it better, but this is just my thoughts on the matter.
~Abby

 

Okay, I'll try this to say 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 just can't be. That is just not Christian; they still remain a unsaved.

The scripture is talking about why marriages whould stay together and not divorce. The apostle here states REASONS why a separation should not take place when there was a difference of religion between the husband and the wife.

The first is, that the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the believing wife. And the OBJECT of this statement seems to be, to meet an objection which might exist in the mind, and which might, perhaps, be urged by some. "Shall I not be POLLUTED by such a connection? Shall I not be defiled, in the eye of God, by living in a close union with a pagan, a sinner, an enemy of God, and an opposer of the gospel?" This objection was natural, and is, doubtless, often felt. To this the apostle replies, "No; the contrary may he true. The connection produces a species of sanctification, or diffuses a kind of holiness over the unbelieving party by the believing party, so far as to render their children holy, and therefore it is improper to seek for a separation."

That this is a reason why the parents, one of whom was a Christian and the other not, should not be separated; and, The reason is founded on the fact, that IF they were separated, the offspring of such a union must be regarded as illegitimate, or unholy; and, It MUST be improper to separate in such a way, and for such a reason, because even THEY did not believe, and could not believe, that their children were defiled, and polluted, and subject to the shame and disgrace attending illegitimate children.

This also gives the children that same shelter of God's provision of gorwing under the influence of a Christian and being drawn to that holiness.

HMMMM - What do you think?????

 

BrianT, the idea is about being set apart. The unbeliever isn't set apart to God because he has become saved. He is set apart in a unique sense because his spouse is saved and the exposure to the gospel and her Christian life puts him in a favorable position. Same goes with the kids. This is exactly why God forbid the Jews to marry the daughters of pagans. It is the mother that usually raises the children and whose teaching they follow.

 

Brian:

Do you believe that the only way to salvation is Jesus Christ?

If your answer is YES.

Then this type of santification can not mean "being set apart" as it applies to a Christian.

If you believe there are other ways to salvation then your options are wide open.

What is your belief system grounded upon?

It is really not a mystery if you rightly divide God's Word.

God Bless!
Kathy

[ July 31, 2002, 10:28 PM: Message edited by: kathy56 ]