Hebrews 12:10 says that God the Father disciplines us “for what is profitable that we might partake of His holiness.” This indicates that through the discipline of the Father the believers are sanctified so that we might partake of His holiness—an attribute of His holy nature. To partake of the holiness of the Father is to partake of an attribute of His holy nature. The Father’s disciplining us so that we might partake of His holy nature is related to the work of transformation (2 Cor. 3:18); this refers to the result of the inward divine dispensing and the outward discipline in the environment.
There are several portions in the New Testament concerning the pursuit of holiness. Hebrews 12:14 says, “Pursue peace with all men and sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord.” A proper Christian living should be balanced between peace and sanctification. With regard to God, holiness is the attribute of His holy nature; with us, holiness is our sanctification, our being separated unto God. The implication here is that while we are pursuing peace with all men, we must pay attention to the matter of sanctification before God. Our pursuing peace with all men must be balanced by our sanctification before God, our being separated unto God, without which no one will see the Lord and have fellowship with Him.
First Peter 1:15 says, “According to the Holy One who called you, you yourselves also be holy in all your manner of life.” The Holy One is the Triune God—the choosing Father, the redeeming Son, and the sanctifying Spirit (vv. 1-2). The Father has regenerated us, as His elect, imparting His holy nature into us (v. 3); the Son has redeemed us with His blood from our vain manner of life (vv. 18-19); and the Spirit sanctifies us according to the Father’s holy nature, separating us from anything other than God, that we, by the holy nature of the Father, may be holy in all our manner of life, even as holy as God Himself (vv. 15-16). Through the sanctification of the Spirit we become holy in all manner of our life. This is based on regeneration which brings us the holy nature of God and issues in a holy life.
Second Peter 3:11 says, “Since all these things are to be thus dissolved, what kind of persons ought you to be in holy manner of life and godliness...?” Although all things, whether on the earth or in the heavens, have been reconciled to God through Christ by His blood, and even the heavenly things have been purified by the blood of Christ (Col. 1:20; Heb. 9:23), they will still need to be cleared up by being burned up in God’s governmental dealing, that they may become new in nature and appearance in God’s new universe (2 Pet. 3:13). Thus, what kind of persons ought we, the children of the holy God, to be in holy manner of life and godliness; that is, what kind of transformation ought we to experience in order to live a life in the manner of God’s holy nature and godliness to express Him, that we may be qualified to match His holy government? It is wonderful that His divine power has granted to us everything we need to live a holy life according to godliness (1:3).
First Thessalonians 4:3-4 says that God’s will is our sanctification; He wants each one of us to “know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor.” Sanctification refers to a holy condition before God; honor refers to a respectable standing before man. Verse 7 says, “For God has not called us for uncleanness but in sanctification.” Since God has called us in sanctification, we must remain continuously in sanctification.
Second Timothy 2:21 says, “If therefore anyone cleanses himself from these, he will be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, useful to the master, prepared unto every good work.” Unto honor is a matter of nature, sanctified is a matter of position, useful is a matter of practice, and prepared is a matter of training.