What is the meaning of sanctification? On many occasions, God asks His people to be holy. For example, we read in this Bible passage: ” What God wants is for you to be entirely his. Do not have an immoral life. ” 1 Thessalonians 4: 3.
The servants of God in the Bible have always urged the people to practice sanctification. From Genesis to Revelation we find that sanctification has been dealt with in various ways and in various forms.
It is true that we find in the Bible semblances of sanctification. What is Sanctification? What is his true meaning? How do I understand the word “sanctification” in the Bible? This article written by Thomson Dablemond will help you understand what really means sanctification.
The word sanctification comes from the verb ” to sanctify ” – sanctification also means.
To sanctify oneself, in a more practical sense, means to be separated from sin, from iniquity, to surrender, and to keep oneself pure (purity). It is hating sin. It is not to please oneself in sin. It’s fleeing sin. It’s moving away from iniquity. It is to adopt and internalize in our daily life the moral principles of God. It is opening one’s heart and disposing of one’s mind only for good. It is to attach oneself to the way of God, walking according to the principles of sanctification related to marriage (purity or chastity, sexual morality, legality or legitimacy of marriage).
It is not being seduced by sin, resisting sin. It is always trying not to disagree with the principles of God.
In the following lines we have tried to define the word “sanctification”, now we will seek to know What is the meaning of sanctification?…
What Is the Meaning of Sanctification?
” May the God of peace sanctify you wholly, and may your whole being, the spirit, the soul, and the body, be kept blameless, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ! ” 1 Thessalonians 5:23.
The sanctification of which the Holy Scriptures speak concerns the whole being: the mind, the soul, and the body. Here lies the true idea of total consecration. Paul wants the church of Thessaloniki to enjoy this immense blessing. “May the God of peace sanctify you wholly, and may your whole being, the spirit, the soul, and the body, be kept blameless, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ!”
True Sanctification Consists in Conforming Wholly to the Will of God.
Every thought and feeling of revolt is then appeased and the voice of Jesus creates a new life that penetrates the whole being. Those who are truly sanctified do not impose on others their personal view of good and evil. They show neither narrow-mindedness nor self-righteousness, but, demanding for themselves, they are constantly in fear of not fulfilling the conditions necessary to deserve the promise made to them. […]
Sanctification According to the Bible Does Not Consist of Strong Emotions.
Many Christians go astray on this point. Their feelings serve as a criterion. When they are transported with happiness, they claim to be sanctified. Now, whether a person feels happy or not, it does not prove that he is sanctified or not. Instant sanctification does not exist.
“ True sanctification is the work of every day, a work that continues throughout life ” (Thomson Dablemond). Those who struggle against daily temptations, who overcome their sinful tendencies, and who seek holiness of heart and life, do not boast of having acquired holiness. They are hungry and thirsty for justice. Sin seems monstrous to them.
Perfect sanctification … is nothing but a daily death to oneself and daily obedience to the will of God.
In the following lines, we give an example of sanctification in order to grasp the true meaning of Sanctification. Consider this biblical passage from Ephesians 5: 25-27.
” Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church, and gave himself up for her, to sanctify her by the word, after purifying her with the baptism of water, to make it appear before him that glorious Church, without spot, wrinkle, or anything like it, but holy and blameless. ” Ephesians 5: 25-27.
This is the sanctification of the Bible. It does not consist only of exterior work, a parade. It is received, by means of truth, in the heart and put into practice in life.
Jesus-man was perfect, but it is said of him that he “grew in wisdom, in stature, and in grace, before God and men.” Even the most perfect Christian can grow continually in the knowledge and love of God. […]
“But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory, now and for eternity! Amen!”
Sanctification Is a Perpetual Growth in Grace
Sanctification is not the work of a moment, an hour, or a day: it is a perpetual growth in grace. We do not know today how hard the fight will be tomorrow. Satan is alive and active. Every day we have to cry to God to receive the strength to resist. As long as Satan reigns, we will have to overcome the “self,” overcome our inclinations, without ever stopping, because we cannot say at any moment that we have definitely achieved the goal. […]
The Christian Life Is a Constant Step Forward
“ The Christian life is a constant step forward ” (Thomson Dablemond). Jesus stands ready to purify his people, and when his image is perfectly reflected in the lives of his children, they will be perfect, holy, and able to be transmuted.
Every fervent Christian must advance every day in the divine life and while advancing he renews a daily conversion; this conversion is complete only when it reaches the perfection of the Christian character, which is the culmination of preparation for immortality.
The majority of those who deny the immutability of the Law of God lose the notion of sanctification. If the law is a pedagogue that shows us what sin is. Sanctification shows us how to get away from sin. A life of sin makes us slaves while a life of sanctification makes us free, and it makes us strive for perfection.
Do not we say that practice is the key to perfection? In other words, sanctification is the key to perfection. It is by making efforts on oneself that one progresses. Sanctification is the violence we exert on ourselves voluntarily in the sense of our well-being and especially of the salvation of our souls.
Sanctification has always brought joy to those who practice it; especially since it is practiced in love.
Let us read to end the following passage from Hebrews 12:14 ” Seek peace with all, and sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord. ”
This with this preaching of the day I wish you a pleasant day by asking you to stay in sanctification for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen !!!
The preacher Thomson Dablemond.