Sanctified

Hebrews 2:10-12 – For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying:

  “ I will declare Your name to My brethren;

      In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”

Sanctification, like the word holy, tends to bring strong reactions when mentioned to the saved and unsaved because it’s been often misused and misunderstood. Let’s start by defining sanctification according to the Word:

1) to render or acknowledge, or to be venerable or hallow

2) to separate from profane things and dedicate to God

a) consecrate things to God

b) dedicate people to God

3) to purify

a) to cleanse externally

b) to purify by expiation: free from the guilt of sin

c) to purify internally by renewing of the soul

The things that stand out for me are that sanctification is the cleansing of something and that it’s dedicated to God once it is. It is saying that God claims something or someone as His once they are cleansed. How are they cleansed? The process of cleansing us begins when we make the Lord Jesus our Lord and Savior. It is NOT the common misconception/lie of “getting it together” before making Him Lord and Savior. As we grow in our relationship with Him, via regular times of prayer and in the Word, fellowship with other saints and obedience to Him, it is revealed to us more and more what actions, words, habits, associations, etc. that need to be changed or removed so that we can be more like Him and less like the world in which we live. He knows us better than we know ourselves and what is best for us so that we will be all the He wants us to be.

This past week, I celebrated 15 years since I made the decision of making Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. These 15 years have been a time of sanctification, my mind has been renewed on several things, habits have been changed or stopped and even some friends are no longer a part of my life. Sanctification is a painful process but the end result is undoubtedly worth it! So, whatever the Lord has put a finger on in your life and told you to let go of, by His grace, do it. Being disobedient to Him is not the option you want to choose!

There’s a couple last things I want to address. A saint is sanctified. That means all of you who are my brothers and sister in Christ Jesus are saints. Just like perfect in the Bible does not mean flawless, saint does not mean that you have it together. It simply means that you are in covenant with the Father through His Son, Christ Jesus and are His work in progress. It is WAY past time that the citizens of God’s kingdom be and accept who they are in Him and stop avoiding it and being ashamed of it! Lastly, in this process of sanctification, realize that those who want to call you “holier than though” are convicted by your remaining steadfast in being sanctified and do NOT back down or apologize for it. A suggested response is one my husband once used. He said, “You obviously believe that I am.” Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth does speak and as a man thinks in his heart so is he. Hopefully, this will make the accuser look back at himself and his heart which will hopefully lead to their repentance.

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