In this message we shall see that, as part of their present, the believers have been sanctified by the Spirit and that they have repented.
The believers are sanctified, separated unto God, by the Spirit (1 Pet. 1:2). The divine title “the Holy Spirit” signifies God reaching us to make us holy even as He is holy. The Holy Spirit separates us unto God for the purpose of making us holy. Therefore, following God’s calling, the Spirit comes to sanctify us.
First Peter 1:2 speaks of “the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” In this verse sanctification of the Spirit is not the sanctification of the Spirit which comes after justification through the redemption of Christ. Here sanctification of the Spirit is before justification through Christ’s redemption (1 Cor. 6:11). This indicates that the believers’ obedience unto faith in Christ results from the Spirit’s sanctifying work.
Concerning the sanctification of the Spirit, there are two aspects. The first aspect precedes justification. This aspect of sanctification carries out God’s choice, His selection, and brings the chosen ones to the obedience and sprinkling of the blood for their justification. Thus, this aspect of the Spirit’s sanctification is before justification through the redemption of Christ. Then, following justification, the Spirit continues to work to sanctify us dispositionally. The sequence is this: God’s selection, the Spirit’s sanctification, justification, and subjective sanctification.
In eternity past God, according to His foreknowledge, chose us. He selected us and made a decision to gain us. But how could this selection be applied to us? In order for it to be applied, there is the need for the Spirit to separate us unto God. Therefore, after God selected us in eternity, the Spirit came to us in time to sanctify us, to set us apart, from the world so that we would obey Christ’s redemption. This means that the Spirit came to separate us for the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ. It is the sanctifying Spirit who separates us from the world unto the obedience of Christ’s blood. First, we repent and believe, and then we obey what Christ has done on the cross. Following this, we receive the sprinkling of the blood of Christ. This is the sanctifying work of the Spirit following God’s selection to carry out God’s choice and to bring us to Christ’s redemption.
We all can testify of this sanctifying work of the Spirit from our experience. We were wandering on earth, perhaps never having a thought about God. Then one day the “wind” of the Spirit “blew” us to a place where we heard the preaching of the gospel. While we were listening, faith was infused into us. In this way God’s selection was applied to us. In this sense the sanctification of the Spirit preceded our experience of Christ’s redemption.
The Spirit separates us unto God through seeking us by enlightening us. This enlightening of the Holy Spirit is illustrated by the second parable in Luke 15, the parable of the seeking woman. Luke 15:8 says, “What woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, and sweep the house, and seek carefully until she finds it?” The lamp signifies the word of God (Psa. 119:105, 130) used by the Spirit to enlighten and expose the sinner’s position and condition so that he may repent. The word “sweep” indicates the searching and cleansing of the inside of a sinner. The Spirit’s seeking here is inside the sinner, carried out by the Spirit’s working within the repenting sinner.
The Spirit seeks the sinner as a woman seeks carefully one lost coin until she finds it. This means that the Spirit comes to find us out. After the accomplishment of redemption by the Son, the Spirit comes to seek us and find us by enlightening us.
As indicated by the parable of the seeking woman, the Spirit enlightens us inwardly. The Spirit seeks us by enlightening our inner being in a fine, careful way. As the result of the Spirit’s enlightening, we are separated to God and we repent. The repentance resulting from the enlightening of the Spirit is an inward matter. Such a subjective work can be done only by the penetrating Spirit, for the Spirit is able to penetrate the depths of our being to enlighten us and expose us.