Sanctification is closely related to holiness. Holiness is objective and refers to God’s nature. God’s doings are righteousness, and His nature is holiness. When objective holiness becomes our subjective experience, it is sanctification. Holiness is an objective nature, and sanctification is a subjective experience. To be sanctified is to have God’s nature and to be separated unto God from anything other than God. Our living may be righteous but not yet sanctified, for we may be right with God and with man but still not separated unto God. As we grow in Christ, our life will first become righteous, and it will eventually become sanctified.
A young sister may have been dishonest before she was saved. Perhaps she took something from a department store without paying for it. This may have even become a habit of hers. After she is saved, however, she stops stealing and becomes completely honest. This is righteousness; it is Christ within her as the power and the wisdom of God. After a period of time, when she goes to the department store, the Lord may inwardly bother her when she considers buying a certain item. Something within tells her that it is not holy. Although she would be acting righteously by purchasing the item rather than stealing it, Christ within her as sanctification convicts her that it is a worldly item. This illustrates the difference between righteousness and sanctification. We enjoy Christ as power and wisdom not only for righteousness but also for sanctification. In this way we become righteous and sanctified.
We need to be not only righteous and sanctified but also redeemed. Redemption is necessary because we were created as God’s possession, but we were lost in the fall. Therefore, God had to redeem us. On the one hand, our redemption was once for all in a general way when we first believed in the Lord Jesus. On the other hand, because we were all born in a completely fallen condition, we still need to be redeemed in all the areas of our being, including our mind, emotion, and will. Our every thought needs to be redeemed. Although I have been saved for over half a century, even today I still need to be redeemed in some areas.
Christ is the power and the wisdom for us to be righteous, sanctified, and redeemed. Our life may be righteous but not fully sanctified. Our life also may be sanctified but not fully redeemed. Suppose I buy a necktie from a department store. If I pay in full, I am righteous, but if the tie is worldly, I am not sanctified. Furthermore, I may be sanctified if I buy a tie that is not worldly, but if my thoughts then become proud because my mind is natural, I still need to be redeemed in my thinking. We need to be righteous, sanctified, and redeemed. These are three aspects of our Christian living.
Every Christian should live a life that is righteous, sanctified, and redeemed. Even if we are righteous and sanctified, we still need to be redeemed. For instance, we may love others in a natural way. We may be kind to our neighbors but in a natural way. Because we have not been fully redeemed from our fallen condition, we should pray, “Lord, I need You as my power and wisdom to be righteous, sanctified, and redeemed. I do not want to remain in a fallen state, living naturally. I do not want to remain in Adam. God has transferred me into You, and I want to abide in You to be redeemed from my natural way of thinking, my natural way of loving others, and my natural way of making decisions. I do not want to express myself, Lord; I want to express only You. I need to be redeemed from my natural attitude.”
Several good Bible teachers have pointed out that righteousness, sanctification, and redemption refer to three stages of the Christian life. First, Christ became our righteousness for our past. Now Christ is sanctification for our present living. In the future, when Christ comes, our body will be redeemed. I agree with this, but I believe that righteousness, sanctification, and redemption are also three aspects of our daily Christian life. Every day we need Christ as our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Day by day Christ is the power and the wisdom for us to have such a proper Christian living that is righteous, sanctified, and redeemed.
In 1 Corinthians 2:9-10 Paul says, “As it is written, ‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard and which have not come up in man’s heart; things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But to us God has revealed them through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.” Christ is the depths, or the deep things, of God. Everything in human society is superficial. However, we enjoy something deep—Christ as the deep things of God. Christ is deeper than scientific knowledge; He is the deepest thing. Unbelievers may have education and wealth, but these things are shallow. As those who love the Lord, we enjoy something deeper. Our joy and our inner strength are deep. We are often a mystery to our unsaved friends and relatives because we have something within that is deep. It is easy to see what unbelievers have, because it is superficial, but what we have is mysterious because it is deep. They may wonder why we are joyful when we are outwardly suffering loss. We are joyful because we have Christ, the depths of God.