CHAPTER 11
SANCTIFICATION
We often read in the paper about people being sent to prison. Perhaps they have been stealing, or it may even be that they have killed someone. The sad thing is that when they come out of prison they are no better, no different from what they were before. How often we read of a person committing some crime the very day he was set free from prison!
Now when God forgives a person it is not like that. When God forgives He makes that person different. From now on his life is completely changed.
The most wicked man in the Bible was the Old Testament king, Manasseh. But one day God began to deal with him; he was in great trouble, and asked God to forgive him. And God did. But from that moment Manasseh's life was different. He stopped doing the bad things he had done and started doing the opposite.
The Bible calls this sanctification. Manasseh was not only forgiven but God sanctified him. Every person God saves from going to hell He sanctifies. If a judge forgives someone, he cannot sanctify him; but what men cannot do, what the law cannot do, God does.
To sanctify something really means to set it apart for some holy use. In the tabernacle and temple in the Old Testament, cups and basons were 'sanctified'; they were set apart to be used only in the services, they were not to be used for ordinary things. God set apart His people before they were born, but when they are born again they are actually sanctified—made holy in heart and conduct.
The little children's hymn says: 'He died that we might be forgiven'—that is salvation; 'He died to make us good'—that is sanctification. The grace that saves also sanctifies.
Many girls and boys mix up justification and sanctification; so do many older people. If we are God's people,
Is outside of us Is within us Is perfect Is not perfect Counts us holy Makes us holy Is our standing Is our experience Saves us from sin's guilt Saves us from sin's power We need the work of the Lord Jesus for us (justification) and the work of the Holy Spirit in us (sanctification).
The Roman Catholics seem to have no doctrine of sanctification. A man sins; then goes to the Mass, partakes of the wafer, and may even have 'holy feelings'; then perhaps he goes out and does the same sins again. But if God's people are saved they must be sanctified. This is what people notice—even ungodly people. They do not read the Bible; they cannot understand some of the doctrines of the Bible; but they do understand when a wicked man begins to behave differently: when a drunken man becomes sober; when a man who has ill-treated his wife becomes kind; when a foul-mouthed man stops swearing; when a dishonest man becomes honest.
Even if people have not been outwardly wicked, yet still there will be a difference. A little servant girl was once asked if she could prove that her life had been changed, that grace had made a difference. She thought a moment, and then said, 'Yes. Up till recently I used to clean everywhere beautifully if it was where people could see; but now the places no one can see are cleaned just as well.'
Sanctification is part of God's work in preparing His people for Heaven. If you took a fish out of the sea to a most beautiful meadow, it could not live. If you plunged an eagle into the depths of a beautiful lake it must die. It would be out of its element. So an unsanctified person could not be happy in Heaven.
We read once of a very poor, ignorant man who inherited a mansion with horse and carriage, beautiful grounds, servants, and untold wealth. (He was a very distant relation, though the next of kin.) But the poor man was miserable. His behaviour was so uncouth that in the end everyone was laughing at him. He had the mansion and the inheritance, but his manners and his nature were unchanged. He was out of his element. Yes, 'Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people.'
Years ago all Scottish children had to learn their catechism (which they knew as well as their multiplication tables). Every little Scottish girl or boy could answer the question: 'What is sanctification?'—'Sanctification is the work of God's free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled ... to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.'
But no-one is perfect while still on Earth. There are still the remains of sin in us, and Satan tempts us. So life will be a battle, a hard battle. There are two different natures inside the Christian (like a dog and a cat in one cage). But through God's grace the Christian will win at last-through Christ.
To any girl or boy who feels what it is to struggle and fight, the advice of Scripture is:
Be much in prayer. Look to Jesus for help. Depend only on Him.
Distrust your own strength; seek His strength. Avoid bad places, bad company. Realize that Satan, the world, and the flesh are stronger than you.
Seek to be kept, daily, hourly. Pray for grace to stand. Cling to Christ.
Most of you have heard of John Newton, once a slave dealer and a blasphemer, later called by God's grace and made a minister. John Newton once said: 'I am not what I want to be. I am not what I ought to be. I am not what one day I shall be. but i am not what i once was.'
Suggested Bible readings
The closing chapters in most of the epistles.