Having established the fact that faith is believing God’s Word (Rom. 10:17), let us see how essential that Word is in regard to sanctification, which is necessary for eventual salvation. “Sanctification” is the process by which God “sets aside” a believer for holy living. The “ekklesia” (church–“called out ones”) is “called out” of both the secular and the false church worlds (Catholicism/Protestantism) to walk the walk of Christ (1 Jn. 2:6) in obedience to God’s Word. Only those who have chosen to be “set aside”/ “called out,” who have “counted the cost” and are willing to pay it will answer God’s call to righteousness, which leads to holiness, which leads to salvation (Rom. 6:19-22). Notice in verse 19 that the END RESULT of true righteousness and holiness is salvation. Our reward comes to us upon Christ’s return, not in this age. Now we have the “… hope of salvation.” See Hope and Salvation. To manifest righteousness and holiness one must be sanctified (called out and set aside for that purpose) by God. Let us examine the process by which sanctification takes place.

In the 17th chapter of John’s gospel Jesus is speaking to the Father about those whom He has chosen to be His disciples. Jesus is saying that He will soon depart from the world, but that His disciples will remain in it. He is asking the Father to “keep” them from “the evil one” while they walk through this world. He reminds the Father that “THEY ARE NOT OF THE WORLD, JUST AS (IN THE SAME WAY THAT) I AM NOT OF THE WORLD.” Then in verses 17-19 Jesus asks the Father to “Sanctify them by Thy Truth. THY WORD IS TRUTH. AS (IN THE SAME WAY THAT) YOU SENT ME INTO THE WORLD, I ALSO HAVE SENT THEM INTO THE WORLD. AND FOR THEIR SAKES I SANCTIFY MYSELF (BY OBEYING THE TRUTH/GOD’S WORD), THAT  THEY ALSO MAY (IN THE SAME WAY) BE SANCTIFIED BY THE TRUTH.” Note it: Jesus sanctified Himself by obeying God’s Word. The disciples (and all true saints) must be sanctified in the same way–BY OBEYING HIS WORD. “Man must live … by EVERY WORD that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Mat. 4:4). “All Scripture is given by inspiration (via the Holy Spirit) of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for TRAINING/INSTRUCTION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS” (2 Tim. 3:16,17). To what end? “He who PRACTICES RIGHTEOUSNESS (obeys God’s Word) IS RIGHTEOUS, JUST AS HE (JESUS) IS RIGHTEOUS. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is NOT OF GOD (does not belong to God)” (1 Jn. 3:7,10). In verse eight John says that to not practice righteousness (obey God’s Word) is to sin, and that “He who sins is OF THE DEVIL.” The dichotomy is total–to obey God’s Word is righteousness; to not obey God’s Word is sin. The wages of righteousness is life (Rom 6:19-22); the wages of sin is death (Rom. 3:23). God’s free gift is eternal life IF ONE QUALIFIES FOR IT BY OBEDIENCE TO HIS WORD. The deceived church rejects these and many other passages of Scripture which will be brought out in future postings.

With your indulgence I would like to relate my experience with sanctification. Being a multiple sport athlete in my younger days, I entered adulthood still loving sports, only vicariously–I enjoyed watching great athletes do what they do. But once I became a Christian I began to hear God’s voice telling me that I needed to be sanctified, set apart for holy use, which is the call of every God-seeker. One day as I was walking down the hall to watch a heavyweight boxing match I asked God to remove the desire from me if it was not of Him. Before I could take another step the desire to watch the fight left me. I stopped, turned around and have never watched a boxing match since. The same thing happened concerning football, basketball and baseball–God removed every desire I had to watch those sports. There is nothing wrong with sports (I did watch my grandson play in high school). Throughout the years I had also developed a liking for police and medical t.v. programs. At my request, God took away those desires. The passage of Scripture He uses to remind me concerning my use of time is Ephesians 5:14-17: “Therefore He says, ‘Awake, you who (spiritually) sleep, arise from the (spiritual) dead, and Christ will give you light (Truth). See that you walk circumspectly (paying attention), not as fools, but as wise, REDEEMING THE TIME, for the days are (filled with) evil. Therefore, do not be unwise (by wasting time), but understand what the will of the Lord is.'” God’s will is that we come out of the world–be sanctified, called out and separate from all that Satan has to offer. Many things in the world are not sins in and of themselves. However, if they keep us from studying God’s Word we cannot gain His approval (2 Tim. 2:15). Sheep will obey Him; goats will find that, as one woman said, “It’s too much trouble to obey God.” She has hours each day to do worldly (not sinful) things, but cannot find a couple of hours to dedicate to the Lord–that is “… too much trouble.” Unless she changes course, this former missionary will stand before Jesus on Judgment Day and hear Him say, “I do not know you” (Mat. 25). God seekers must compare the time they give to non-essential pursuits (t.v., reading, recreating, etc.) to the time they give to God’s Word, prayer, etc. Time cannot be regained; we must redeem it from the clutches of the devil who will fill it with everything but the right thing. To be continued. L.J.