God’s sanctification of us is of three aspects. The first aspect is His seeking sanctification by the Holy Spirit with the enlightening Word initially (1 Pet. 1:2; Luke 15:8); the second aspect is the positional sanctification by the redeeming blood of Christ judicially (Heb. 13:12; 10:29); the third aspect is the dispositional sanctification by the Holy Spirit organically (Rom. 15:16; 6:19, 22). We have covered the first two aspects on other occasions. What is covered in this message is the third aspect. Romans 15:16 unveils to us that the believers in Christ are sanctified in the Holy Spirit to be acceptable to God, especially the Gentile believers, who are more common. All the regenerated and growing believers need to be sanctified in their disposition with the element of the resurrection life of Christ, which they received through the feeding, so that they may be sanctified with the holy nature of God (2 Pet. 1:4) that they may be made holy unto God (Eph. 1:4). The sanctification mentioned in Romans 6:19 and 22 refers to this kind of sanctification. Our fallen nature became a fallen disposition, distorted, crooked, and perverted, which needs to be adjusted and straightened particularly in God’s sanctification with His holy nature.
The dispositional and organic sanctification by the Holy Spirit begins from our spirit, through our soul, unto our body, so that our entire being can be wholly sanctified. First Thessalonians 5:23 says clearly that the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying us begins from our spirit (not from our soul or our body), through our soul, unto our body, that our entire being can be wholly unto God.
Going along with the dispositional sanctification, the Lord renews us by His Spirit (Titus 3:5).
The renewing Spirit is mingled with our regenerated spirit as one mingled spirit to spread into our mind (Eph. 4:23) to renew our entire being as a member of the new man by putting off our old man (Eph. 4:22), that is, by renouncing and denying our old self (Matt. 16:24), and by putting on the new man (Eph. 4:24), that is, by applying what Christ has accomplished in creating the new man (Eph. 2:15).
Ephesians 4:23 says that we are to be renewed in the spirit of our mind. To put off the old man and to put on the new man are by being renewed in the spirit of our mind. When the Holy Spirit who dwells in and is mingled with our spirit spreads into our mind, that mingled spirit becomes the spirit in our mind. It is by this mingled spirit that our mind is renewed.
We have been made a new man by Christ on the cross. Ephesians 2:15 says that Christ on the cross created the two, the Jews and the Gentiles, into one new man. He created the new man already, but we have to apply the new man. We have to put off the old man and put on the new man by the renewing Spirit mingling Himself with our spirit to spread into our mind and renew our mind. This is to change our mind.
In Matthew 16:24 the Lord says that if we want to come after Him we need to deny ourselves and take up our cross. To deny ourselves is to renounce ourselves, to apply the cross to ourselves. This is to put off the old man. To put on the new man is to live and magnify Christ through the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19-21). The renewing is altogether wrapped up with the Spirit and our regenerated spirit which became the one spirit. This one spirit is the renewing spirit in our mind to change our mind.
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