The Lord opened our eyes to see that there is a third aspect of sanctification, which is to be saturated with God’s divine element and substance. We may illustrate this with a glass of water. First the water is cleansed from all impurities, and then it is set apart for a particular purpose. However, regardless of how clean and separated it is, it is still only plain water with a natural, clear appearance. As such, it is not yet a full picture of sanctification. We may now add a golden-colored juice into the water, signifying the addition of the divine element of God into us. Eventually the water will be not only cleansed and separated but also saturated with the golden juice, signifying all that God is, the divine “ingredients” of God. To be sanctified is not only to be cleansed from sin and separated from common people. These aspects are only on the negative side. To be sanctified is also something positive. It is to be saturated with God’s divine element. In this way we are made holy by the One who alone is holy.
To be sanctified is not merely to have a positional change. It is mainly to have a dispositional change. Together these equal our full sanctification. We are made holy, not only outwardly and positionally but inwardly and dispositionally. Gold is sanctified by the temple only because its position has changed. However, the nature of the gold is not changed in this way. Likewise, food is sanctified by the prayer of the saints only because its position, not its nature, has changed. Our full sanctification is not in this principle. The Holy Spirit within us changes not only our position but also our disposition, our nature within.
Stanza 3 of Hymns, #509 says, “The river does the Spirit show, / Coming man’s spirit to supply, / That with God’s riches he be filled, / Holy to be thereby.” The enjoyment of God’s riches makes us holy. After we eat food, we assimilate it, and whatever we assimilate saturates us and changes us. Likewise, when we take God as food into us, we assimilate Him as our nourishment, and His substance and element become our “ingredients.” It is in this way that we are made holy, that is, sanctified by God and with God as holiness. The way to be sanctified is by taking the Lord as our nourishment. When we feed on Him and drink of Him, we assimilate Him and are sanctified.
To be sanctified is also to be transformed into the image of God (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18). We may refer again to the illustration of the water and the golden-colored juice. Before the water was saturated with the juice, it had a plain appearance. However, after being saturated, it is transformed into the same likeness and appearance of the juice. Eventually, we cannot distinguish the water from the juice. In the same way, through sanctification we are being transformed into the likeness, the appearance, of God Himself, and we are being conformed to His image (Rom. 8:29). There is no doubt that John 17 speaks of our separation from the world, but Romans 12:2 and 2 Corinthians 3:18 speak further of a change in our disposition, which is accomplished within us through saturation and permeation with the element of God. In this way, our soul will eventually be transformed, and even our body will be changed through glorification. Then we will be wholly sanctified in our spirit, soul, and body (1 Thes. 5:23). This is the full meaning of sanctification.
To be sanctified is also to be glorified with the divine glory. One day our physical body will be brought into the glory of God (Rom. 8:23, 30; Phil. 3:21). At that time we will be fully, thoroughly, absolutely, and wholly sanctified (1 Thes. 5:23). We are now under the process of sanctification, but at that time our sanctification will be fully accomplished. Second Thessalonians 1:10 says that the Lord Jesus will come to be glorified in His saints. When we as the saints are thoroughly, fully, wholly sanctified, the Lord Jesus will be glorified in us. We will all be brought into the divine glory, and the Lord Jesus will be glorified in us in that glory. This is a great matter. In 1935 we began to see the third aspect of sanctification, and within ten more years we began to see the fourth aspect. However, it is only within the last few years that we have begun to see the last aspect. These five aspects are the full meaning of sanctification.
Romans 1:4 mentions the Spirit of holiness, and 2 Thessalonians 2:13 speaks of sanctification of the Spirit. There is a difference between holiness and sanctification. J. N. Darby helped us to see that holiness is the nature of God, and sanctification is the practical effect produced by holiness in action. On the one hand, we have the Holy Spirit within us, and on the other hand, we have His work of sanctification. The Spirit within us is the Holy Spirit, who is constantly doing the work of sanctification in us to make us holy. God’s salvation includes three steps: the regeneration of our spirit, the transformation of our soul, and the transfiguration of our body. It is through the sanctification of the Spirit that we realize God’s salvation. At present we are under the process of sanctification; that is, we are being transformed. Eventually we will be glorified, which is to be brought into the glory of God even in our physical body. This will be the completion of God’s sanctification. In summary, sanctification includes being set free from sin, being separated from the world, being saturated with the divine element, being transformed into His divine image, and being glorified with the divine glory. This is the work of the sanctifying Spirit in the two books of Thessalonians.