| The Christian Life | June 1948 |
Elect and Sanctified
“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.”—I Peter 1:2
WHEN James stood up before the council of brethren at Jerusalem to sum up the findings of that group of consecrated followers of Jesus relative to the position of Gentiles in the Gospel church, he included in his remarks the statement, “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” (Acts 15:18) This indicates that every feature of the divine plan has been working out according to a divinely fixed purpose, and that those who would be co-workers with God in his plan must of necessity conform to all its requirements. In our text the Apostle Peter, addressing the church made up of both Jews and Gentiles, describes its members as being “elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.”
How does God’s foreknowledge operate with respect to the various members of The Christ company? Has he arbitrarily chosen them in advance as individuals, and apart from any qualifications which they may possess? The Scriptures do not so indicate. Jesus, the Head of the church, was of course chosen as an individual to fill the position which he occupies in God’s plan; but even with him, God’s election was not so arbitrary that the Master would have gained the position to which he had been elected, had he failed to qualify under test. The Apostle Paul was chosen from his mother’s womb, but in his case, even as with Jesus, the Heavenly Father exercised his ability to know in advance that Paul would possess certain qualifications which would be needed in order to fill the place in the divine plan for which he was chosen, and that his heart qualities would assure his obedience to the Father’s will. Thus we see that even with the two outstanding personalities—the Head of the church, and the great Apostle to the Gentiles—although God chose them in advance, it was not irrespective of their qualifications. And there is no indication in the Scriptures that others of the church have been selected in advance as individuals even in this limited sense. God has the ability to do this if he wished, and without in any way interfering with the individual’s free choice in the matter, for he can foreknow what a person will do without the necessity of controlling his actions.
Conformed to His Image
What, then, does Peter mean by the “foreknowledge of God” by which the followers of the Master are made of the “elect”? Paul answers that question, saying, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” (Rom. 8:29) To phrase this in our own words it means that if we wish to be among those who are elected in harmony with the conditions of God’s foreknowledge we will need to become copies of God’s dear Son, for it has been divinely predestinated that only such can be counted in as among the “many brethren” of the firstborn class. How many of the individuals in this class God may have chosen in advance because he knew that when given the opportunity they would meet his predestinated conditions is quite unimportant. The really important consideration is that we become conformed to the image of his Son. Even Paul, who was chosen as an individual, wrote of the necessity he had to keep his body under and bring it into subjection, lest, after having preached to others, he himself might become a castaway.—I Cor. 9:27
Through Sanctification
Sanctification is a setting apart to God and to his service. Our part therein is the consecration of ourselves to do his will, a dedication of all our time, strength, and means to the holy purpose of God. It is the giving up of our own will and accepting God’s will as the supreme arbiter of our lives. The act of consecration, when we pour out our hearts to God and say, “Take me and do with me as thou wilt,” is but the beginning of sanctification, the expression of our desire to be sanctified or set apart to the doing of God’s will.
From the time this first important step toward sanctification is taken, God begins to work in us, and if our consecration was genuine we begin to co-labor with God. Paul speaks of it as working out our salvation as God works in us to will and to do of his good pleasure. (Phil. 2:12,13) In our text Peter speaks of God’s part as “sanctification of the Spirit,” meaning that God works in us to bring about our sanctification through the influence of his Holy Spirit. One of the definitions Jesus gave of the power of God which works in us as Christians was the “Holy Spirit of truth.” It is the power or influence of God’s mind, his thoughts, over our lives, and his thoughts reach us through the written Word.
Jesus prayed to his Heavenly Father on behalf of his followers, saying, “Sanctify them through thy truth; thy Word is truth.” (John 17:17) The entire Word of God is a work of the Holy Spirit, hence its influence in our lives is the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit even as it is also the power of the Word that is working in us and by which we are sanctified. Jesus said, “For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” (John 17:19) Jesus had never been a sinner, so sanctification does not mean a turning from sin to righteousness, but rather, as we have seen, a setting apart to God and to the doing of his will, and in the Master’s whole life we have a wonderful example of what our own sanctification must be.
Jesus said, “For their sakes” I sanctify myself. Jesus was sanctified through the Spirit, or by the Word of truth, even as we are. And his sanctification began at the time of his consecration even as ours does. It was then that Jesus, in his consecration, expressed his desire to do all that was written of him in the “volume of the Book.” (Heb. 10:7-9) It was in carrying out this consecration that his sanctification was accomplished. It was in the “volume of the Book” that Jesus found the complete expression of God’s will for him, and that will was that he should lay down his life in sacrifice for his church and for the whole world. Thus his sanctification was for the sake of his church, because it led him to sacrifice his life for them.
And in another way also Jesus’ sanctification was for our sake—it serves as an example. This is very important, for the making of our calling and election sure depends upon being conformed to his image. We are guided by the same word of truth, the same “Book,” that revealed the Heavenly Father’s will to Jesus, hence sanctification means the same to us as it did to him. And what are some of the elements of sanctification as we see them exemplified in Jesus? First of all we should take note of his obedience to his Heavenly Father. He continued to emphasize that his words and his works were not his own but his Father’s—“I delight to do thy will, O my God.”—Psalm 40:8
“Unto Obedience”
In our text the apostle speaks of the principle of obedience, indicating that it is the basic principle of sanctification—“through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience.” This suggests that as our sanctification is accomplished it will be manifested in our unqualified obedience to the divine will. It was because of Jesus’ unqualified obedience to his Heavenly Father that he could say, “I and my Father are one”—that is, I have the same purpose as my Father, I have no will but to do his will.—John 10:30
And it was this fullness of sanctification which the Master sought in his followers. To this end he prayed: “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou halt sent me.” (John 17:21) It is the absolute obedience to the divine will which makes us one with the Heavenly Father as Jesus was at one with him, to which complete sanctification leads. This is the exacting condition upon which we may hope to be among the elect of God—elect according to his predestinated condition that each one in this class was to be conformed to the image of his Son.
Evidences of Sanctification
The only perfect example of a sanctified life which we have to guide us is that of Jesus. Even the great Apostle Paul admonished us to follow him only to the extent that he followed the Master. And inasmuch as the will of God expressed through his Word is the same for us as it was for Jesus, and we are to be conformed to his image, it is highly important that we look unto him and be guided by the perfect example of his wholly sanctified life.
Jesus possessed a perfectly balanced character. He was patient, longsuffering, gentle, and kind. At the same time he was resolute and firm in his stand for truth and righteousness. These are all godlike characteristics, and will abound in every sanctified life. In themselves, however, they are not necessarily evidences of sanctification, for sanctification is much more than righteous elements of character. When God created our first parents he implanted in them his image, and despite six thousand years of a downward trend from original holiness, frequently a great deal of the original godlikeness is still to be found. Noble men and women are to be found in all walks of life—not that they are sanctified, nor that they are filled with the Spirit of God as it emanates from his Word, but simply because traces of his image remain in them despite the fall.
But in the life of the consecrated Christian these noble qualities are augmented by the infilling of God’s Spirit, hence should become dominant, and more manifest. In the case of Jesus there was not a single trace of imperfection or sin to mar their beauty. He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.” (Heb. 7:26) Because of this he was able to say to his disciples, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father”—that is, the righteous qualities of the Heavenly Father’s character were fully displayed in the life of his beloved Son.—John 14:9
But in addition to his righteous character, Jesus’ sanctification was a setting apart of his life, his being, to carry out the divine will for him with respect to his Father’s plan of salvation for the lost race, and this phase of his sanctification required much more, than living a righteous life. Fundamentally God’s will for Jesus was that first of all he was to die as man’s Redeemer. But in the laying down of his life he was to be a servant, a co-worker with God with respect to various details of his plan. He was to lay the foundation for the Gospel church by the selection and training of the apostles. He was to bear witness to the truth amidst the crooked and perverse generation of his day. And it was by his preaching of unpopular truth and exposing popular error that he incurred the enmity of the religious rulers of his day, an enmity which finally resulted in his death.
And our sanctification calls for the same kind of service. We, too, like the Master, are called upon to lay down our lives in sacrifice. In fact, God’s will for us in this respect is identical to what it was for the Master, so much so that Paul speaks of our being “planted together in the likeness of his death.” (Rom. 6:5) In laying down our lives in sacrifice, we too serve the brethren. Jesus served his immediate brethren, the disciples of his day, and we serve one another, building one another up in our most holy faith.
We too are commissioned to bear witness to the truth—commissioned by the Holy Spirit, hence activity in the work of witnessing is a necessary part of a sanctified life. This is not a matter which our Heavenly Father has left optional with us, nor is it relatively unimportant. If our consecration to do God’s will was genuine, then every expression of his will should be considered as a command, a mandate which leaves us no alternative but to obey. And if we are truly emptied of self, and the influence of God’s Holy Spirit is unobstructed in our lives, then we will delight in every phase of the divine will, even as Jesus did.
The Foretold Sufferings
Peter’s reference in our text to “sanctification of the Spirit” is in a sense a statement of the theme of his epistle. In the 11th verse of the opening chapter he speaks of the “Spirit” which through the prophets testified beforehand concerning the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. Time and again throughout the epistle he makes it clear that the church participates in those foretold sufferings, as well as in the promised glory. He writes, for example, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”—I Pet. 4:12,13
In this manner also, then, is emphasized that “sanctification of the Spirit” means the same for us as it did for Jesus; and for him it meant first suffering and death, and then the glory which followed. In our text these two objectives of sanctification are alluded to in the expression, “Unto obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” First we are sanctified unto obedience; that is, the sanctification of the Spirit leads to obedience, and our obedience to the mandate of the Holy Spirit expressed through the Word leads to death.
The Blood of Sprinkling
It is interesting to note that according to our text “sanctification of the Spirit” is said to be “unto” a “sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ,” and not by that sprinkling. True, our standing with the Heavenly Father is only by virtue of the blood of Jesus Christ, but the construction of this particular text indicates that the reference is to a future sprinkling of the blood, and that it is for this work of sprinkling that we are now being sanctified or set apart to divine service.
Here is a future work of sprinkling the blood of Jesus Christ. It is referred to in Hebrews 12:24. The apostle is enumerating the many glorious things to which we of the Gospel church are approaching, and among them he mentions, “To Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” All the body members of The Christ, those who suffer and die with him, are “ministers of reconciliation,” and together they will share in the glory of Jesus’ mediatorship of the New Covenant. (II Cor. 5:18) They are described by the apostle as “able ministers” of that covenant.—II Cor. 3:6
Part of the ministry of that covenant is one of sacrifice, and it is this phase of the ministry in which the truly sanctified followers of the Master participate while they lay down their lives sacrificially, being planted together in the likeness of his death. But there is a future ministry of glory that follows the work of sacrifice. That will be at the inauguration of the New Covenant with the “house of Israel and with the house of Judah,” and through them with the whole world of mankind. This glorious work was typified by the mediating of the Law Covenant by Moses, and in connection with that mediatorial work there was a sprinkling of blood.—Heb. 9:19
Prior to the inauguration of the old Law Covenant by Moses, he did a work of sacrifice. Oxen were slain, and part of their blood was sprinkled upon the altar of sacrifice, and the remainder was poured into basins. The Hebrew word translated “basins” has more the thought in the English of a goblet, or cup. It was from these vessels that the blood was sprinkled upon the people when the Law Covenant was made with them. See Exodus 24:4-8.
We have in this a beautiful picture of the manner in which the sanctified of the Gospel age will participate in the future sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Part of the blood which Moses obtained from slaying the oxen was poured upon the altar. Here is illustrated the manner in which our sacrifice is made acceptable to God. But the, other half of the same blood was to be held for another purpose, which was that of sprinkling “both the book and all the people” as a means of sealing the Law Covenant. This blood was put into basins.
We think it is reasonable to conclude that these vessels were typical of the many members of Christ’s mystical body, those who are now being “sanctified unto obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” Those typical cups had no blood of their own. They had to be filled with the blood of the oxen which Moses slew. So we have no blood, no life—“The blood is the life thereof”—of our own. The life we now live is by faith in Jesus Christ, faith in his blood. It is only if we think of Christ’s blood becoming ours that we can speak of having any blood of our own. We add nothing to the merit of his sacrifice.
But if our sanctification is complete, if it leads to full harmony with God, to absolute oneness with him and with Jesus, we will become the channels through which Christ’s blood, his life, will flow out to the people in the next age. Concerning the church class the Lord said, “And I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages.” (Isa. 49:8) This simply means that the Lord will use his sanctified people of this age, Jesus and his church, as the instruments for establishing a covenant—the New Covenant—with Israel and the people at the beginning of the restitution age.
So it is clear, we think, that the apostle’s expression, “Unto … the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ,” is his way of explaining the great objective of our sanctification, that we are being set apart, not merely for the service of the Lord now, but more particularly for that glorious service of the future, that service of God through which his promises to bless all the families of the earth will be fulfilled. This will be the glory feature of our ministry of the New Covenant, and what a blessed prospect it is!
When we see the wide scope of God’s purpose in and through the church, the word “elect” does not convey the same restricted meaning as it has to many in the past. It is not that God elects some and torments others, or even ignores others; but rather that the elect are chosen to be channels of blessing for all. And when we realize this, what an incentive it should be to strive to meet the foreordained qualification of the elect; namely, to be conformed to the image of God’s dear Son!
There is but the one way in which this can be done, and that is by being emptied of self and being filled with the Holy Spirit. This cannot be accomplished in a moment. It is the work of a lifetime. But if we are yielding to the influences of the Spirit, we should daily find ourselves rejoicing more and more in the will of God, even though his will at times may mean our loss of earthly blessings of one kind or another. We should find that as earthly blessings vanish our heavenly joys increase, and that the joy which is set before us is furnishing inspiration to continue on faithfully in the way of sacrifice, assured that if we endure to the end we will share Christ’s glory, and together with him have the privilege of imparting the blessings of life to all the willing and obedient of mankind. Surely the prospect is glorious!