It's the duty of the Christian to live to do the will of God. God has placed his will in his holy scriptures and therefore expects us to not be unwise but rather be equipped with the knowledge of it. I pray that even as we search for the will of God in the bible, the holy ghost will grant us understanding .
Today God willing we will discuss sanctification as the will of God.
SANCTIFICATION
Now I know that many Christians do not have a firm understanding of sanctification. This is in part due to the lack of preaching about it in the pulpit . And it's sad that most Christians after they have received salvation through faith in Christ Jesus sit idle, thinking that everything is done and therefore God has no work to do in and with them anymore. But today I pray that by the end of this message , you'll understand that it's the will of God that you be sanctified.
The word sanctified can be understood in many ways. One of which is that
1. Every Christian has been sanctified (note the tense). It's true that every child of God has been separated from this world. He has not the root of Adam in him anymore but that of Christ. The blood of Christ runs through his or her veins and therefore has become a member of heaven's royal family. This separation can be likened to salvation. That is when we repented and believed in Jesus for salvation, he separated us from this world by purchasing us with his holy blood. He paid the price and bought us from our old master Satan and now we are free and totally separated from him.
- Apart from what has been said above, sanctification has another theological meaning which is most frequently used in the bible passages. That is that sanctification is the process by which God works in the heart of the saved to conform him to his image.In other words, although the saved is said to have been given a new life and nature, there is still the Adamic nature. This is also called the indwelling sin. And it's in response to this indwelling sin that we must be sanctified. This sanctification must be applied to the body to remove the old nature gradually. We read from 1 Thessalonians 4;3 that
God's will is for you to be holy, so stay away from all sexual sin.
So here it's said in plain words that sanctification , which is here translated as holy, is the will of God. The King James version employed the word sanctification.
"1 Thessalonians 4:3 For this is the will of God, [even] your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:". Are you saved ? Then you must be in this process. You must involve yourself in this process of trimming your soul and pruning it off anything that makes it sinful. I have never seen any Christian who is not eager to become holy. Without this holiness no one will see the Lord. It's expected of us to be in the fight. The fight is lifelong. No Christian is exempted and everyone who fights is guaranteed to be victorious . And we are sure of the victory in Jesus name.
Apostle paul closely linked holiness or sanctification to overcoming sexual immorality. All sins are the same. They all deserve hell and can equally trigger the wrath of God but there is this sin, the group called sexual immorality, which is the most dangerous and difficult to deal with and therefore has imprisoned many Christians. So the fact that the apostle would mention it in the first place mean to us that it was practiced without shame and was perhaps the most enslaving and difficult to overcome. And I think this is not different from the state of mankind in this generation. We are still buffeted by the same sin. This sin is now evolving into something "good" such that a time will come where this grievous sin will be practised without a bit of restiant and repentance. Let's kill it until it kills us.
He continued to explain it more by saying
"each of you will control his own body and live in holiness and honor— not in lustful passion like the pagans who do not know God and his ways." that's that we should live to control our bodies. We shouldn't allow our bodies to control us. We shouldn't yield to its desires but rather "through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live."Romans 8:13. Now we see that he urged them to not live like the pagans. This gives us a clue of the peoples lifestyle. Like any gentile community, they were still entangled to the old lifestyle and it's this lifestyle he is calling them to destroy. Are we desiring to live to obey the word of God? Are we desiring holiness ? Do we repent when we fall into sin? If yes then we can be sure that we are living in the will of God , sanctification. There's another instruction in 1 John 3. He said concerning our purity
1 John 3:2-3 Dear friends, we are already God's children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.
So therefore we can link sanctification to the hope of heaven. You can be rest assured that you're waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ when you keep yourself pure. Lest I forget, I would want you to know that this sanctification, unlike salvation which is a monogeistic work of God is rather synergistic ,meaning we perform it with God. How? By relying on the power of the holy ghost, we deprive every sin of its source of fuel and render it inoperable in our lives.
God bless you dear friend for studying the bible with me. It's God's will that you be sanctified. I hope to be purer than I was yesterday. How about you? Lemme hear in the comment section.
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