Sanctification is another important aspect of God’s full salvation, and it becomes a facet of our experience in the enjoyment of God’s full salvation.
1) “...ye may put difference between holy and unholy” (Lev. 10:10).
The meaning of Sanctification, whether in the Hebrew of the Old Testament or in the Greek of the New Testament, is mainly separation. Thus, to be sanctified (to be made holy) in the Bible means to be separated from the ordinary and common things. Holiness is the state of God’s nature, which is not only sinless and without evil, but also different from all and distinct from the common. Hence, whenever the Bible mentions God and the things concerning God or belonging to God, it describes them as holy. Any person, thing, or matter that is not rendered unto God or does not belong to God is common. Once it is rendered unto God and belongs to God, it is sanctified, separated.
1) “But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified” (1 Cor. 6:11).
It has already been mentioned in Lesson Thirty-seven that, according to the revelation in the Bible, Sanctification in God’s salvation is divided into three stages in us: the first is for our repentance, the second is for our justification, and the third is for our transformation. The verse quoted here refers to the second stage, after washing and before justification. Hence, this stage of sanctification follows the cleansing away of sins covered in Lesson Thirty-eight and ushers in justification, to be discussed in the next lesson. Before we can be sanctified, we must first be cleansed from our sins; likewise, before we can be justified, we must first be sanctified.
1) “Receive forgiveness of sins...among those who have been sanctified” (Acts 26:18).
In the second stage, the sanctification which we receive in God’s full salvation is both positional and dispositional. Positional sanctification is a fact, a sanctified position, which we receive in Christ when we believe. The sanctification spoken of in this verse is such a positional sanctification.
1) “We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:10).
This positional sanctification is accomplished through the offering of the body of Christ once for all, as a sin offering, to set us apart.
1) “...Jesus, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood” (Heb. 13:12).
This positional sanctification is obtained by us through Christ’s redeeming blood shed on the cross. Once we are bought back by the Lord’s blood, we are separated from the world, receiving a sanctified position and being made holy unto Him.
1) “Who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints” (1 Cor. 1:2).
This positional sanctification is obtained by us as a result of our being called by God. When we are saved and called by God, we are separated by God to be saints. This is a matter of position. Of course, we also received God’s holy life when we were saved and regenerated, but this holy life was not yet lived out to become our experience of sanctification.