Sanctification means to set apart.  In the Old Testament an object, such as a bowl or a cup, could be set apart from common use for exclusive use in a ritual.  The object would then be considered consecrated or holy, the same root from which we derive sanctify.  But deeper and more meaningful is relationship of the believer in Christ where he is separated from sin and consecrated to God.^[1]  One who is set apart can rightly be called saints since this is from the same root as sanctify and holy.  In fact, the Bible refers to the believer in this term, as a saint or separated one.  The church, or eklesia, means the called out ones.  This position is both moral and theological.  Morally, we are to be separated or dead to sin.  Theologically, at the point of salvation the individual enters from death into life, from darkness into light, and we are separated unto God.  God says be holy even as He is holy.  God is holy.  He is without sin.  There is no one like Him.  Hebrews tells us unless we are holy it is impossible to see God (Hebrews 12:14).  That is, until the sin problem is taken care of, no one is qualified to walk in relationship with a holy God who cannot abide to allow sin into His holy presence.

However, God is not only holy, He above all else is love, and therefore His ultimate desire for human beings is for them to be restored to full, loving fellowship with Him.  But there is a barrier- sin.  For complete unity of heart, two persons must be in harmony of spirit (Amos 3:3).  They must have the same purposes, the same way of life.  If one is sinful and the other holy, how can there be fellowship?  The barrier must be removed if humans are to be able to fellowship with God.  The removal process of the sin barrier is called sanctification and the process comes in three stages: positional, experiential, and complete sanctification (glorification).  Each work is accomplished on the part of God as an act of His grace. 

 Positional sanctification takes place at the point of salvation.  It is our standing with God, set apart from the penalty of sin by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When a person accepts the substitutionary death of Christ as payment for their own personal sins, they are set apart unto God; they become God's own possession (I Corinthians 6:20).  Their position moves from sinner to saint, unrighteous to righteous, profane to holy (Romans 6:15-19).  Christian are holy because Christ is holy, His righteousness becomes our righteousness.  The reality of our position in Christ is accomplished in basically three ways.

First we are forgiven.  The result of sin, eternal punishment, is done away with.  The debt of sin, death, is removed and God's wrath is turned away because of the Cross. 

The second reality is our justification.  Justification is a legal term Paul uses in the book of Romans to explain the reality of our position before God a the point of salvation.  Because of sin, each person stands guilty before a holy God.  Justification means that someone else paid the penalty of our sin.  Jesus Christ took our place on the cross and paid the penalty for our sin.  When we repent and receive forgiveness by grace through Christ the guilt is removed.  Our guilty record is deleted.  God no longer views the Christian as a weak, stubborn, and failing sinner.  God views the Christian as clean, pure and holy- just as if the Christian had never sinned.  It is a judicial position.  The transaction between the Father and the Son, substitutionary atonement, declares the sinner forgiven and restored in right standing before God.

Third, the forgiven, justified sinner turned saint is regenerated or set free from the controlling authority of a sinful disposition.  Some make this part of sanctification part of the experiential aspect of our standing with Christ, since it is a condition experienced more than perceived as a legal standing such as justification.  However, I prefer to place this aspect of sanctification under the positional nature of sanctification since it is an integral part of the initial salvation experience and results in a position that is the condition of every true believer.  The change at the point of salvation is so radical that Jesus compares it to birth (John 3) and Paul compares it to death (Romans 6).  This not to say that the individual losses identity or personality; there is a continuity of human personality.  However, in regeneration there is a passage into a totally different dimension of human existence.  Sin is the prevailing characteristic of a person separated from God.  Sinners sin because it is their job description, their nature.  They do not have the power to choose consistently the right nor can they change their disposition.  When a person accepts the forgiveness of Christ and the union with the Holy Spirit, the process is reversed.  A new life-force, the presence of the Holy Spirit, is introduced and enables the believer to overcome his sinful disposition.  Obviously, Christians may not act this way, but it is their true nature and potential.  In these three ways, every believer has been sanctified by the atoning death of Christ (Hebrews 10:10) and has been made holy (Ephesians 4:24).  Thus, in keeping with the meaning of the word sanctify, each believer is set apart and can be rightly called a saint (I Corinthians  1:2; 6:11).  As alluded to earlier, not all believers act saintly, but they are indeed positionally released from the condemnation due from their sins and the bondage of a sinful disposition.  Sanctified is the completed, positional condition of every true believer.

The second element of sanctification is experiential sanctification.  Experiential sanctification is the realizing or working out one's official position in daily life.  Holiness means more than a legal standing with God, it means salvation also from sinful attitudes and actions.  We are called on by God to complete or perfect the measure of holiness we have (II Cor. 7:1).  This process is available to all who are by God's grace set apart from sin to God's ownership. 

Finally there is complete and permanent sanctification, often called glorification.  This occurs when the believer is totally transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ (I John 3:2). 

Though there are three stages in God's process of making unholy people holy, sanctification ordinarily deals with the experiential aspect of the process.  How may the believer experience freedom from sinful thoughts and actions?  Why is it that the average Christian is not very saintly nor perceptively free from the grip of sin?  Why does the average Christian not reflect the character of Christ?  Why does the average believer live much like his non-believing neighbors and rely pretty much on the same resources?  Why are our churches not holy?

The answer can be found in the Scriptures.  Scripture recognizes a basic difference among Christians.  It distinguishes between carnal (of the flesh) Christians, Christians who behave like unconverted people, and spiritual Christians,   Christians whose life is dominated by the Spirit of God ( I Cor. 3:1-3).^[2]  All Christians are indwelt by the Holy Spirit at the point of salvation.  In fact, the believer, at the point of surrendering to the message of the Gospel receives all of the Holy Spirit, he is indwelt completely.  The Spirit is a person, not a force, and therefore, when the Holy Spirit comes into the life of the new believer and quickens or brings to life the spirit of the new believer, the Holy Spirit resides in the spirit of the believer completely.  The issue subsequent to the point of salvation is a matter of control; whether or not the Holy Spirit has complete control of the individual's mind, will, and life.  The Bible uses other terms to distinguish between the Christian who is being controlled by selfish passions and desires and the Christian controlled by the Holy Spirit.  All Christians are indwelt by the Holy spirit (Romans 8:9) but some Christians are filled with the Spirit.  The Bible speaks of both mature Christians and immature Christians (Hebrews 5:11-6:3).  This distinction is not merely a difference in degrees of growth, but more that Christians' lives manifest qualitative differences: some Christians have a life pattern of defeat whereas others have a life pattern of spiritual success or victory.   This distinction in the Scriptures have fueled ongoing debate as to how to differentiate the two distinctions.  Are church members living in sin saved or are they lost?  Can you lose your salvation?  Have they been truly saved?  Have they lost their salvation?  I have opinions, even convictions, to these questions.  However, the length of this paper does not allow to adequately deal with this divisive aspect of the evidence of the Holy Spirit.  It suffices to say that if a person is truly saved, then they are secure. 

The Bible leaves a healthy tension in this area of theology in regards to salvation.  The issue of eternal security is important, but the Bible consistently deals with people where they are and only rarely answers the theoretical problems that divide us as believers, especially in the area of eternal security.  Rather than bogging down in the mire of once saved always saved verses falling from grace, it is more pertinent to understanding the experiential aspect of sanctification to deal instead with repentance.  For the saints who desperately want to please God, Scripture gives an abundance of reassurance.  No power can ever separate us from the love of God (John 10:28-29; Romans 8:31-39) and they will complete the race successfully, by His grace (Phil. 1:6).  However, for those who continually and deliberately reject the known will of God, Scripture gives a fearful warnings:

      Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.  Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Matthew 7:16-23

 

  Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him..... He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil......  Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.  In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.  We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.                                              I John 3:6,8,10, and 14