| The Christian Life | February 1942 |
Even Your Sanctification
“This is the will of God, even your sanctification.”—I Thessalonians 4:3
SANCTIFICATION means holiness, or purity. Not holiness in the abstract, but holiness as a vocation in life, in harmony with the will of God as outlined in the divine plan of the ages. The thought is well expressed by the inscription on the headband worn by the priests of Israel, which read: “Holiness to the Lord.” The “Holy” and “Most Holy” of the Tabernacle were so called because they were dedicated, or set apart for the exclusive service of God. Moses, at the burning bush was told that the place whereon he stood was “holy ground,” because for the time being God occupied it and was using it.
So the state of sanctification, while truly being that of holiness, or purity, is such because it is a state of separation, or of being set apart from all else save the things of God. To be sanctified, in God’s sight, means to be dedicated to the doing of His will. God’s will for the Christian is that he suffer and die with Christ, that he may live and reign with Him. The purpose of the reign of Christ is the blessing of mankind with life and happiness. Viewed thus, sanctification means a dedication of our lives to full participation in God’s great plan of reconciliation and rehabilitation, and a determination to do our part in harmony with the rules and regulations set forth for us in the Bible.
This is a day in which whole nations, and nearly all individuals in those nations, are being mobilized to serve a cause—ostensibly the cause of liberty and future happiness for the human race. It is expected of those who enlist in this cause that they shall permit nothing to stand in their way of doing their part successfully. Privation, hardship, and even death may be encountered in the pathway of faithfulness to the cause in which they have enlisted, but they must not falter, they are hopeful for that victory which means so much, and defeat would be tragic, even though the expenditure in human life and materials to accomplish this end tax all imagination.
The cause of all human suffering became manifest more than six thousand years ago when selfish ambition germinated in the mind of Lucifer, and he, in turn, when the opportunity presented itself, injected the poison of sin into the minds of our first parents and they decided to disobey the divine law. Selfishness—self-interest—was the motive which led them into transgression, and self-interest has ruled in the hearts of nearly all their offspring during all the ages which have followed. Today humanity is witnessing the accumulative results of selfishness.
But the far-reaching and horrible results of unbridled selfishness was foreseen by God, and as soon as its fangs began to strike into the hearts and lives of His human creatures, He set in motion a program destined ultimately to defeat sin, undo its results, and compensate for the suffering it has caused. That program is spoken of by Paul as a plan of the ages. (Eph. 3:11, Emphatic Diaglott) That is, it is a plan embracing many ages for its accomplishment; but a plan, nevertheless, which, when it is complete, will find God’s will again enthroned supreme in the hearts of all mankind, and full “restitution” accomplished for all those who hear “that prophet” when they are given the opportunity to do so.—Acts 3:19-23
This divine program is God’s way of assuring the future and everlasting happiness of all mankind, and throughout the various ages during which it has been moving forward to completion He has invited members of the fallen and dying race to take part in it—that is, to cooperate with Him in its execution. All the ancient worthies had a part in that plan, and in the future, are to have a still greater part. We need only to read the apostle’s account of the faithfulness and suffering of some of these ancient worthies, to realize what it cost them to be wholly devoted to God’s cause.
They refused to accept “deliverance” through any compromise arrangement with the enemies of God and of righteousness because they had faith that in God’s long-range plan, victory was inevitable and the promised reward for their sacrifices certain. By appeasing their flesh through falling into line with the ways of those with whom they were surrounded and more or less associated, those ancient worthies could have had a measure of temporary peace and earthly prosperity; but like Moses, who preferred the reproaches of Christ rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, they all kept their hearts centered on the great divine objective, hence their devotion to God’s will and cause was unshaken.
THE MESSIANIC CAUSE
God’s great program, or cause, centers in Christ, as the Redeemer and Messiah. All the divine promises of the Old Testament pertaining to it are predicated on His purpose to send a Messiah who would be the emancipator of the world. It is to this Messiah that God alludes in His early reference to the “seed” of the woman that would bruise the serpent’s head. (Gen. 3:15) God’s promise to Abraham of a “seed” through whom all the families of the earth were to be blessed is likewise a reference to the coming and work of the Messiah. (Gal. 3:8,16,27-29) The Messiah is referred to in the prophecies in many ways, and by different names. He is “Shiloh” (Gen. 49:10); “That Prophet” (Deut. 18:15; Acts 3:22,23); the “Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6); the great “King” (Psa. 2:6; 72:6-8); “Michael” (Dan. 12:1); the “Messenger of the Covenant” (Mal. 3:1), etc.
The ancient worthies were inspired by these promises, and devoted themselves fully to the cause which they outlined. This was the Messianic cause of the Old Testament and the “Christ” cause of the New Testament. That’s why Moses could suffer the “reproaches of Christ” even though the Messiah had not yet come; that is, his suffering, and the suffering of all the ancient worthies, was because of their faithfulness to the Messianic program. In this program they saw the real hope of humanity, and they were willing to lay down their lives in order to have a share in it.
The Messianic program is still operative. With the coming of the Messiah nineteen centuries ago that program moved forward into a new phase, a phase, nevertheless, in which representatives of the human race were still being invited to participate. While previous to this time those whom God called were given the opportunity to co-labor in the Messianic program, since the first advent of the Messiah, the called ones are given the opportunity of becoming a part of the Messiah—that is, His body members.—I Cor. 12:12-14
This is a very high honor indeed, but accompanied by very exacting conditions of discipleship. “Drink of My cup”; “be baptized with My baptism”; “take up his cross and follow Me”; lose life “for My sake and the Gospel’s”; are some of the expressions employed by Jesus in setting forth the conditions upon which any in this age may enlist in the divine cause for rehabilitating the world following the great “time of trouble” with which the age is now ending. “Planted together in the likeness of His death”; suffering “with Him”; presenting our bodies a “living sacrifice”; being “killed all the day long,” are some of the expressions used by Paul in describing this same blessed privilege.
“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you,” said Peter. (I Pet. 4:12) These are they “that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God,” is the way it was explained to John in his vision on the Isle of Patmos. (Rev. 20:4) But to John the angel further said, “and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Yes, this is the great objective of it all—to live and to reign with the Messiah for the purpose of consummating the divine program in the actual blessing of all nations. Our dying with Christ would truly be in vain, but for that. If this future work on behalf of mankind is not to be consummated, even to the raising of the dead, “Why are we then baptized for the dead?” asks the apostle.—I Corinthians 15:29
DEVOTION TO GOD’S CAUSE
What does all this have to do with Christian sanctification? someone may ask. It has everything to do with it, because Christian sanctification means devotion to the Messianic, or Christ cause—the divine plan for the redemption and salvation of the human race. At this time when so large a portion of the human race are evincing their willingness to suffer and to die in order that future generations may have a decent world in which to live, it should be a matter of particular satisfaction and keen delight to every truth-enlightened Christian that there is before him this blessed opportunity to lay down his life in a cause that is planned and sponsored by the Almighty, and one which will bring not temporary, but everlasting peace and happiness to all mankind; even to the millions who are now dying.
Here is a real cause to which we are invited to devote ourselves—the divine cause. It’s a cause, moreover, which cannot fail. We may fail, through unfaithfulness, to have a victorious part in the divine plan, but the plan itself, cannot, will not fail. The unlimited power and resources of the Creator Himself stand back of it to insure its success. There has been no defeat of that program down to date, and there will be no defeat of it in the future. The enemies of God and of righteousness probably thought they had scored a victory when they were about to crucify Jesus, but the Master explained that if He wished to ask for it, the Father would give Him “twelve legions of angels” for His protection. Jesus didn’t do this, for it was a part of the plan that He should die as man’s Redeemer.
Those “twelve legions of angels” and many more—yea, all the divine resources of heaven and earth (even the wrath of men and of devils which He can turn to His praise) continue to work for God and His plan. This means that these same resources are working for each individual who is devoting himself to that plan. No mortal man has ever occupied such a strategic position of security, nor been given such bonafide assurance of success, as is given to the sanctified Christian—“Happy Zion, what a favored lot is thine.”
SECURITY IN FULL DEVOTION
Yes, Zion’s lot is a favored one, but to maintain that position as individuals we must be wholeheartedly for the Lord and for His cause. God shows Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are perfect toward Him, the Scriptures declare. (II Chron. 16:19) That’s one of the unique features of the divine plan, namely, that half-hearted devotion to it is unacceptable to God. It is all, or nothing. It is a voluntary service, but once we have volunteered, if there is any drawing back, the Lord will have no pleasure in us.—Heb. 10:38,39
Full devotion to the divine cause calls for an energetic effort on our part to acquaint ourselves with a knowledge of the divine will. Our sanctification, or setting apart to God is not an abstract devotion to a Supreme Being, without regard to the nature or object of that devotion. God calls us to be co-workers with Him, and He gives us the necessary knowledge of His plan to enable us to cooperate intelligently. It was only because the various nominal church groups were unable to harmonize their conflicting creeds, and unable, also, to extend their limited knowledge of Christ to the heathen world, that the idea developed that knowledge is unimportant in God’s dealing with us. The heathen will be saved in their ignorance, was the theory advanced. This, logically would mean that knowledge isn’t very important even to a Christian, hence the unscriptural thesis that it doesn’t make any difference what one believes so long as he lives right.
But from the divine standpoint, a consecrated Christian cannot live right unless he knows how God wants him to live. “Living right” for the Christian is more than merely adhering to a certain moral code. The Christian lives for God. His whole life, his whole being is devoted to God. If that life is to be devoted acceptably to God it must be “according to knowledge”—a knowledge of the divine plan, and his own part in that plan. Attaining to a high moral standard in one’s mode of living is not sanctification; but merely one of the necessary prerequisites to the sanctified life.
BELIEF OF THE TRUTH
Paul says that we are “chosen … to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” (I Thess. 2:13) Sanctification of the Spirit is accomplished through “belief of the truth.” The Word of truth is a product of the Holy Spirit, and is where our minds meet the mind of God, and we are instructed by Him. That’s why the Holy Spirit, or power of God, in its guiding role in our lives, is described by Jesus as the “Spirit of truth.”—John 14:17
“But ’tis one thing, friend, to read the Bible through; but another thing to read to learn and do,” the poet has aptly said; hence the importance of a genuine “belief of the truth.” We are admonished to “study” the Word of truth that we may show ourselves “approved unto God,” but we cannot hope to secure divine approval unless we accept and believe the Word without reservation. (II Tim. 3:15,16) Only thus will the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit effectively operate in our lives to set us wholly apart for God.
The Apostle Peter emphasizes this thought, saying of the footstep followers of Jesus that they are “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience.” (I Pet. 1:2) “Unto obedience”—that’s one of the secrets of a truly sanctified life. And the apostle reminds us of the sort or quality of obedience required when he explains that our election: to this high station is in conformity with the “foreknowledge” of God. In Romans 8:29 we are told how God’s foreknowledge affects our sanctification. He says that it was predestinated that we should be conformed to the image of His Son.
This would mean, then, that our election according to the “foreknowledge of God” is based upon our being like Christ. Our obedience is to be like His obedience—nothing less. In John 17:17-19, Jesus prays for the sanctification of His church, and explains that this sanctification is to be patterned after His own—“I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth,” He explains. Jesus was sanctified by the truth because He obeyed the truth, “every word” of the truth. (Matt. 4:4) We cannot do less and be fully sanctified.
JESUS’ EXAMPLE OF SANCTIFICATION
In Jesus’ life and ministry we are furnished a perfect example of true sanctification, or devotion to God and to His plan. Should we ever be in doubt as to the meaning of any of the divine instructions to us as followers of the Master, we need only to ascertain what He did under similar circumstances, and we have the answer as to the course we should take. Notable among the examples of His life is the manner in which He turned down the three temptations that were presented to Him by Satan. One was an appeal to His flesh, to satisfy His hunger by illegitimate means. Another was that He make good His claim of being the Son of God by putting Himself in a position that would call for a miracle to save His life. The third was an offer to give Him all the kingdoms of this world in return for a transfer of His devotion from God to Satan.
The principles involved in all three of these temptations, and the manner in which the Master resisted them, serve as important guides to us. The offer of the kingdoms of this world was a subtle one indeed; and offered an opportunity for the Master to be a benefactor of the human race. He had come into the world for this very purpose, and why shouldn’t this be looked upon as a favorable opportunity to carry out that purpose? Ah, but there was a catch in it! “Fall down and worship me,” was the condition attached to the offer by Satan, and Jesus knew full well that the success of the Messianic purpose to bless the world with everlasting peace and happiness, was dependent upon obedience to God. It was disobedience to God that brought all the trouble in the first place, and now an act of disobedience on His part could not rectify that trouble.
Jesus delighted to do God’s will, and although here was an opportunity to “do good unto all men,” He couldn’t accept it because it wasn’t God’s way of doing it. One of the divine commands affecting our sanctification is that we “do good unto all men,” but it is to be only “as we have opportunity.” (Gal. 6:10) We are not to transfer our allegiance from God with the thought of devoting our lives to moral uplift, or other good works, simply in order that we might “do good.” We should not lose sight of the objective of our calling, namely, that by it we have been enlisted to serve in the greatest humanitarian cause of all time—a cause which, when complete, will see the whole earth made a paradise and the entire human race living everlastingly upon it in peace and happiness.
We cannot continue to have a part in this great cause unless we are obedient to the commands concerning our share therein. This is God’s plan, and only by obedience to His ways of cooperating, may we be among those whose sanctification was typically set forth by the inscription on the high priest’s forehead, which read, “Holiness to the Lord.” Yes, holiness to the Lord. That, in short, is the meaning of true sanctification. It is a holiness that separates us from all other plans and schemes, even our own, and denies our flesh the right to have its way in any of the affairs of our consecrated lives.
FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH
Our full and continued devotion to God and to His program will cost us our lives. This is the condition upon which God accepts us to be co-workers with Him. Paul says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, … that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Rom. 12:1,2) Yes, only upon the basis of the complete sacrifice of our humanity, may we do the will of God.
God’s will for us involves a complete separation from the world and its spirit. It means a separation from its projects and delusive hopes. We’ll be glad to do good to the worldly whenever we have the opportunity, but we will not join with the world in order to do it. We’ll not be “conformed” to this world, nor labor with the worldly to bring about their conception of a better world; but we will be “transformed” by the renewing of our minds, filling them more and more with the instructions of God’s Word, with the objective of having those instructions become a more and more complete guide in our lives.
Thus we will “prove” what is that “good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God,” which is our “sanctification.” To be fully sanctified means that “all things” become new. That is, we are separated completely from the world and its aims, and, turning our backs also upon the will of the flesh, “all things become new.” These new things are not new merely in the sense that they are different. They are new because they are the things of God. Having heard and accepted His call to enter His service, He entrusts us with the carrying out of a part of His project for world-blessing—He commits unto us the “ministry of reconciliation.”—II Corinthians 5:17,18
Could we be engaged in a better cause? Could we be laying down our lives for a better purpose? Surely not. And even now, before the victory of God’s cause is in sight for the world, we can say to the discouraged and mourning ones that peace is coming. There will be a decent world in which to live. There will be freedom from aggression. There will be freedom from fear and from poverty. Yea, there will be freedom also from sickness and death. This is a real program—it is God’s program, and what a privilege to participate in it!
ACCEPTABLE THROUGH THE BLOOD
But how can God accept the services of such imperfect creatures? How can we pass the test? Paul explains that it is because Christ “gave Himself” for the church, that He might “sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word.” (Eph. 5:25,26) Only by the blood are we made worthy. Through the blood our bodies are made acceptable for sacrifice. But beyond that there must be continued the cleansing work of the Word. This “cleansing” is but the alignment of our wills with the will of God. It is accomplished by the Word of truth because it is therein that God’s will is revealed. As we bring our lives into line with each new item of the divine will, as it is revealed to us through prayerful study of the Word, it means a further step in our cleansing, and a more complete setting apart to full “holiness unto the Lord.”
Consecration is the act of presenting ourselves to the Lord, the entering into a covenant with Him to do His will. Sanctification is the life-long, studied and prayerful effort to carry out more and more fully the terms of our consecration. Our consecration is acceptable through the blood, and we continue to be covered by the “robe” of Christ’s righteousness, but the fact that there is this covering does not release us from the responsibility of steadfastly and resolutely continuing in the narrow way of sacrifice, with ever increasing desire to be like our divine Master. So, beloved, let us “gird up the loins of our minds” and set our faces like a flint to know and do the Lord’s will. In a cause so worthy, and so certain of ultimate success, no sacrifice is too great and no task too onerous to perform. The followers of the Master in thus laying down their lives—first for the brethren, who now are their chief concern; but also in the interests of the world, being “baptized for the dead”—will be crowned with glory, honor and immortality, and share in the inestimable privilege of bestowing upon the world of mankind restitution blessings of life forevermore.