Page 135 - TH200 Abundant Life A4 Final

Sanctification: The Process of Salvation

While God is separate from sin, He did not remain apart from sinful
people. He sent His Son, who became like people in order to redeem
them. Therefore, when Peter says that we are to sanctify the Lord in our
hearts, we understand that we are to reverence Him as God and Lord
(1 Peter 3:15).

The basic meaning of the word sanctification explains why Christians
can be called saints or holy persons. Paul said this of the Corinthians
(1 Corinthians 1:2), though they were guilty of serious failure. Paul
recognized that while the Corinthians were set apart by conversion,
they needed to mature in the faith.

In the same way, we can understand why lifeless things are sometimes
called holy. They are holy because they are set apart for sacred use. We
must remember that as it is used here, the meaning is that a person or
thing is to be holy because it is set apart.

Sanctification implies more than separation from sin and the things
that corrupt. It speaks of dedication to God. One who is separated from
the bondage of sin but who is not dedicated to God is like a ship that has
broken loose from its moorings but which has no steering mechanism.
In sanctification, we fully dedicate ourselves to fulfill the holy purposes
for which we have been set apart. As we do this, we are progressively
made holy. Included in the process of sanctification there is separation,
dedication, and purification.

God is the author of the
sanctifying process. It is because
of His holiness that we understand God intends to sanctify
the need for sanctification. God our spirit, soul, and
intends to fully sanctify our
whole being—spirit, soul, and body so we might be
body. His purpose for this is that free from every fault
we might be free from every fault
at the coming of our Lord Jesus at the coming of Christ.
Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

In sanctification we put off the old self and put on the new by the
power of the Holy Spirit. This means that we bring our sinful and willful

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