To be holy, to be separated unto God, we must first believe into Christ (Acts 26:18). Christ offered Himself as the sacrifice to redeem us from our sins, shedding His blood to repurchase us (1 Cor. 6:20; Acts 20:28), that we may be sanctified (Heb. 13:12). If we desire to participate in this fact, we must believe into Him (Acts 26:18), that is, we must be joined to Him by faith. When we believe into Him, when we are joined to Him by faith, we are sanctified through His redemption. We have sanctification in fact, sanctification in position. Hence, the way for us to be sanctified is by believing into Christ.
When we believe into Christ, we enter into Him and are joined to Him. Because He is holy (Luke 1:35; Acts 2:27; 1 John 2:20), when we are in Him and are joined to Him, we are separated, sanctified (1 Cor. 1:2). Christ is the element and sphere that separates us, makes us holy, unto God. Therefore, the way for us to be sanctified is also by being in Christ.
The sanctification we receive in God’s salvation is of two aspects, positional sanctification and dispositional sanctification. Positional sanctification is a fact which we receive in Christ when we believe. When we believe, we may not immediately have the experience of subjective sanctification, but we do receive the fact of sanctification, that is, we are sanctified positionally.
We were forever sanctified at the time we were redeemed through Christ’s offering of His body on the cross as the one sacrifice for sins (Heb. 10:10). When Christ offered Himself to God, He took away our sin (John 1:29) and accomplished the purification of sins once for all (Heb. 1:3; 7:27; 9:26). Once we were far off from God because of sin, but through His redemption Christ has delivered us from sin and has brought us back to God to be separated unto Him forever. This is the positional sanctification which we have received in God’s salvation.
We are sanctified positionally because of the blood of Jesus. By His own blood the Lord Jesus has found an eternal redemption for us (Heb. 9:12) and has purchased us back to God (1 Cor. 6:20; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 5:9). Thus, He has sanctified us (Heb. 13:12), making us distinct from the worldly people. Therefore, when we were purchased back by the Lord with His blood, we were sanctified in fact, in position; that is, in God’s eyes we were separated, sanctified, unto Him.
We are sanctified positionally by being called. God’s calling is to call us out from among the worldly people unto God Himself. Therefore, when we were called, we were separated, sanctified, and we became the called saints (1 Cor. 1:2; Rom. 1:7). Not only Paul and Peter were saints, but we, the saved ones, also are saints. We are those who are sanctified unto God.
Sanctification is not only a matter of position, but it is also a matter of disposition in that God imparts His nature into us that we may partake of His divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4).
We are sanctified dispositionally by Him who sanctifies. Hebrews 2:11 says, “For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one.” This indicates that Christ as the Sanctifier and we as the sanctified are all out of one source, one Father. God the Father is not only the source of the Sanctifier, but He is also the source of all who are being sanctified by Christ. Christ and we are all out of one Father, one source. He and we have the same life (Col. 3:4) and nature. This clearly reveals that sanctification in this sense does not concern position but disposition.
In order to be the One who sanctifies us positionally, Christ needed to pass through the process of incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, glorification, and exaltation. Before His incarnation, Christ was the only begotten Son of God, having only the divine nature but not the human nature. Hence, He could not be the Sanctifier to sanctify us dispositionally. When He was incarnated, on the one hand, He was still the only begotten Son of God; on the other hand, He put on human nature. Although the divine nature within Him was the Son of God, His human nature was not, because His human part was not yet born of God. Hence, He could not be the Sanctifier to sanctify us dispositionally. He needed to pass through death and resurrection in order for His human part to be born of God and for Him to become the firstborn Son of God (Acts 13:33), having both the divine nature and the human nature. Furthermore, through His joining Himself to us, we have been regenerated of God to become the many sons of God, having both the divine nature and the human nature as He does. Therefore, He can be our Sanctifier to make us as holy dispositionally as He is.