First Peter 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from among the dead.” Regeneration, like redemption and justification, is an aspect of God’s full salvation. Redemption and justification solve our problem with God and reconcile us to God. Regeneration enlivens us with God’s life and brings us into a relationship of life, an organic union, with God. Hence, regeneration issues and results in a living hope. Such regeneration takes place through the resurrection of Christ from among the dead. When Christ was resurrected, we, His believers, were all included in Him. Thus, we were resurrected with Him (Eph. 2:6). In His resurrection the divine life was imparted to us and made us the same as Christ in life and nature. This is the basic factor of our regeneration.
To be regenerated is to receive another life, God’s divine life, in addition to our human life. Through regeneration God imparts His divine life into us. We all have been born of His divine life. This is to be regenerated by God.
James 1:18 also speaks of God’s work in regenerating the believers: “Having purposed, He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a certain firstfruit of His creatures.” God brought us forth, regenerated us, of His own will, by His intention, to carry out His purpose, so that we might be the firstfruit of His creatures. To be the firstfruit of God’s creatures is to be the vigorous life that matures first. This is by the divine birth, our regeneration (John 3:5-6), which is carried out according to God’s eternal purpose.
God brought us forth, regenerated us, by the word of truth. The word of truth is the word of the divine reality, the word of what the Triune God is (John 1:14, 17). This word is the seed of life by which we have been regenerated (1 Pet. 1:23).
First John 1:9 speaks of God’s cleansing, or washing, the believers: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous that He may forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Whereas to be forgiven is to be released from the offense of our sins, to be cleansed is to be washed from the stain of unrighteousness. In this verse “unrighteousness” and “sins” are synonyms. All unrighteousness is sin (1 John 5:17). Both refer to our wrongdoings. “Sins” indicates the offense of our wrongdoings against God and man; “unrighteousness” indicates the stain of our wrongdoings, that we are not right either with God or with men. The offense needs God’s forgiveness, and the stain requires His cleansing. Both God’s forgiveness and God’s cleansing are needed for the restoration of our broken fellowship with Him so that we may enjoy Him in uninterrupted fellowship with a good conscience void of offense (1 Tim. 1:5; Acts 24:16).
In his work in the new dispensation God also sanctifies the believers: “The God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly, and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thes. 5:23). The God of peace is the Sanctifier. His sanctification brings in peace. When we are wholly sanctified by Him from within, we have peace with Him in every way.
The Greek word for “sanctified” means set apart, separated unto God, from things common or profane. However, to be sanctified involves more than being separated from a common, worldly position to a position that is for God, as illustrated in Matthew 23:17 and 19, where the gold is sanctified by the temple and the gift by the altar in changing their position, and in 1 Timothy 4:3-5, where food is sanctified by the saints’ prayer. To be sanctified is also a matter of disposition, that is, a matter of being transformed from the natural disposition to a spiritual one, as indicated in Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18. This involves a long process, beginning from regeneration, passing the whole Christian life (1 Thes. 4:3; Heb. 12:14; Eph. 5:26), and being completed at the time of rapture, at the maturity of life.
According to 1 Thessalonians 5:23, God is sanctifying the believers wholly. This means that He is sanctifying us entirely, thoroughly, to the consummation. God sanctifies us wholly so that no part of our being, either of our spirit or soul or body, will be left common or profane.
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