First Peter 1:2 says, “According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.” This verse contains matters that are deep both in doctrine and in experience. One of these deep matters is the sanctification of the Spirit; a second is the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. According to this verse, the blood of Jesus Christ is the object both of obedience and of sprinkling. Hence, the obedience is of the blood, and the sprinkling also is of the blood. It is not easy for us to understand how obedience can be of the blood. Furthermore, it is not easy to have a proper understanding of the sprinkling of the blood.
Recently I have spent much time to study the writings of Peter again. In years past I did not realize that Peter, a Galilean fisherman and an evangelist, as indicated by the book of Acts, could be so deep in doctrine and experience. The Epistles of Peter are a composition of doctrines confirmed by experience. Peter’s writings are mainly on experience, yet the experience is based on doctrines.
Humanly speaking, Peter did not have a high education. He was not nearly as learned as Paul was. Nevertheless, the vocabulary used by Peter in his writings indicates that he was deep both in doctrine and in experience.
Paul in his Epistles indicates clearly that the sanctification of the Spirit is of two aspects. The first aspect is positional sanctification, and the second is dispositional sanctification. But Paul does not tell us that the sanctification of the Spirit positionally and dispositionally is of two periods of time, the first period before we were justified and regenerated, and the second period afterward. Peter, however, does refer to the two periods of time related to the sanctification of the Spirit.
According to the general understanding of the sanctification of the Spirit held by Christians today, first God the Father selected us, then Christ redeemed us, and then the Spirit sanctifies us positionally and dispositionally. I have had this understanding of sanctification for many years. The messages I have given concerning sanctification also have pointed out that after the Father selected us and the Son redeemed us, the Spirit comes to sanctify us. But in 1:2 Peter says that sanctification comes after the Father’s selection and before Christ’s redemption. According to this verse, the sanctification of the Spirit is unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ. Surely, this indicates that the sanctification of the Spirit precedes the redemption of Christ. As I prayed over this verse and studied it, I was enlightened to see that not only Christ’s redemption needs to be applied by the Spirit, but the Father’s selection also needs to be applied by the Spirit. Without the application through the Holy Spirit, how could God’s selection have anything to do with us in a practical, experiential way? God’s selection has reached us through the Spirit’s application. This application is what Peter means by the sanctification of the Spirit.
In eternity past God selected us. But how could this selection be applied to us? In order for it to be applied, there is the need of the Spirit’s application. We all can testify of this from our experience. We were wandering on earth, perhaps as those who never had a thought concerning God. But one day the “wind” of the Spirit “blew” us to a place where we heard the preaching of the gospel. While we were listening to the preaching of the gospel, faith was infused into us. In this way God’s selection was applied to us. The next thing to be applied was the redemption of Christ. In this sense the sanctification of the Spirit preceded our experience of Christ’s redemption.
In 2 Thessalonians 2:13 Paul says, “But we ought to thank God always concerning you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.” As far as sanctification is concerned, this verse is all-inclusive. Paul says here that God’s salvation is in the sanctification of the Spirit. This means that the part played in salvation by the Father and the Son are in the sanctification of the Spirit. Therefore, without the sanctification of the Spirit, there would be no way to apply what the Father and the Son have done for us. What the Father and the Son have done for us is applied to us by the Spirit. Paul refers to this application as sanctification of the Spirit. The salvation of the Triune God, therefore, is carried out in the sanctification of the Spirit.