Lesson 7. Sanctification. A school on the foundations of the Christian faith that every Christian should know. The school consists of twelve lessons. The school was founded by the Christian Bible Institute.
As we saw in the previous lesson, the salvation given by Christ to a born-again person is a completely finished work. It was accomplished by Christ and does not depend on human merit. Moreover, Jesus Christ says that this salvation is guaranteed by God the Father Himself:
John 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”
Christ says here that the new birth is a one-time event in a person’s life, as a result of which they receive a new nature and the righteousness of Christ. From the moment a person becomes a child of God, the words of Jesus Christ quoted above apply to them:
- First, a person born of the Holy Spirit is characterized by listening to the voice of their Lord, Jesus Christ, and, in obedience, following their Savior.
John 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”
- Second, if a person is truly born again, Jesus Christ grants them eternal life. This life lasts forever from the moment of their new birth. This means that God keeps His children, who have a new nature, safe in His hand. Since God is greater and stronger than all, there is no power that could snatch a person from God’s hand.
Below, we will examine these two questions in greater detail.
The Life of Sanctification
A born-again person is someone who has received a new nature that seeks God and submits to Him. Nevertheless, this does not mean that born-again people do not sin.
1 John 1:8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
The point is that a person who has received a new nature from God continues to live in a mortal body that has a tendency toward sin. Those who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior submit themselves to Him day by day, growing in likeness to Christ. The Bible calls this process sanctification.
1 Thessalonians 4:3 “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;”
The redemption and justification of God's children take place once, at the moment of their repentance and new birth. Sanctification, however, is a lifelong process. In his letter to Titus, the apostle Paul describes this process as follows:
Titus 2:11–14 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”
This passage says that the grace of God, which brings salvation to a person, also teaches (trains) him “to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.” This means that at repentance, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in a person, joining with his spirit in order to motivate, prompt, and teach him to live a holy life. Sanctification is the process of bringing a person's life into submission to his new nature, which came about through the new birth.
In his letter to the Ephesians, the Bible explains this process as follows:
Ephesians 4:21 “if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. 25 Therefore, putting away lying, ‘Let each one speak truth with his neighbor,’ for we are members of one another. 26 ‘Be angry, and do not sin’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, 27 nor give place to the devil. 28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. 29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”
Sanctification is the righteousness of Christ given to a person at repentance, penetrating his life sphere by sphere and bringing it into submission. In Ephesians 4, the process of sanctification is presented as consisting of two parts:
1. Put off the former conduct of the old man.
When a Christian draws near to Jesus Christ in prayer and in knowing His Word, he sees his wrong actions. Because he is devoted to Christ and sin is contrary to his new nature, the first thing a believer does is seek to be freed from every sin. The text quoted above mentions several actions: “putting away lying…; let the one who stole steal no longer…; let no corrupt word proceed from your mouth….” This means that a Christian must do something to renounce the sins he discovers in his life. And this is always connected with dying to self. For our lives to become more subject to Christ, the influence of our “self” must become less.
2. Put on the new self.
The second aspect of sanctification includes obedience to Jesus Christ in a specific area of life. In addition to renouncing a sinful action, a person must learn to do good, which should fill the space that has been made available. The Bible says: “putting away lying, speak the truth,” “let the one who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor,” “let no corrupt word proceed from your mouth, but only what is good for edification.” Replacing sinful deeds with good deeds is a very important part of the process of sanctification.
The process of sanctification continues throughout a Christian’s life. It is a process of spiritual growth and truly knowing Christ. For a Christian to grow, he needs constant nourishment from the Word of God, to exercise himself in godliness by submitting himself to Christ, and to show love to his neighbors.
1 Pet. 2:1 “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babies, desire the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow up to salvation”;
Rom. 6:12 “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts; 13 and do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”
Assurance of salvation
- The reason for assurance is the new birth
1 John 3:9 “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.”
If we have a desire for sanctification and cannot remain in sin, then we have the testimony of the Holy Spirit:
Rom. 8:15 “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’ 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”
1 John 5:10 “He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son. 11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”
- Our salvation is based on the power of God and His authority
John 10:28 “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one.”
Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of God: tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: 36 For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
- Our salvation is preserved by God through faith
1 Peter 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Homework: Memorize Titus 2:11–12 and John 10:27–30
Source: Christian Bible Institute
