The third step in the Lord’s salvation program is sanctification. To sanctify means to set apart. To sanctify an entity is to  separate/segregate it from all that is different. In the spiritual realm, to be sanctified, which all must be, means to be set apart from those who are not of God’s family–His church. As the Apostle Paul tells us, we must physically live among those who are not God’s people whom He does not spiritually “know.” We are to be among them physically but not of them spiritually. Jesus said that on the Day of Judgment He would say to those who call Him ‘Lord, Lord” and remind Him of all they had done in His name: “I never knew you ….” because they had not obeyed His Word/Law. He referred to them as “… you who work iniquity (break His Law).” These are, in God’s view, heathen (spiritual Gentiles) who have not been sanctified. Spiritual sanctification means to be set apart by God for holy use. Holiness is Biblically characterized as obedience to God’s Word. In the spiritual realm, everything is based on His Word, by which all will be judged (Jn. 12:44-50). The sanctified one knows, believes and obeys His Word, which is the perfect definition of holiness which Jesus exemplified and which we must do also, as we are commanded in 1 John 2:6: “If we claim to be Christ’s we must walk (live) as He walked.” His “walk” perfectly defines sanctification.

As previously stated, God’s people are “peculiar”–obviously and totally different from those around them. For this reason they are hated and persecuted by religionists who “speak all manner of evil against” them for Christ’s name’s sake (Mat. 5:10,12;13:21/ Mk. 4:17/ Jn. 15:20). Paul warned Timothy that “ALL who live godly in Christ Jesus WILL, not might, suffer persecution (2 Tim. 3:12). If one does not suffer such treatment because of his stand for God, one is not His child. The entire world, particularly the church, hates God’s Very Elect just as Jesus foretold in Matthew 10:22; 24:9.

It is natural for worldly, Satan-controlled man to want to fit in with the crowd. This begins in childhood when we all wanted to be part of the group, to be like our peers in every respect. In order to fit in we wore the same type of clothes, had the same hair-do’s, spoke the same slang, watched the same t.v. shows and movies, etc. Anyone who did not fit into the “normal” mold was an outcast. The same mindset holds true among adults in the spiritual realm where basic beliefs and practices are accepted as “normal” regardless of one’s group affiliation. Becoming one of God’s people places one outside the norm. Sanctification takes the saint outside the “Christian” mold. God’s people are decidedly, obviously and publicly  different and therefore shunned by those within the church loop.

I know this from personal experience. I have been publicly shunned because I am different from those around me. People I have know for years have publicly avoided me so that no one would know that they knew me. To be hated and rejected by the world, especially the church world, is the greatest compliment people can pay God’s people. He tells us to “count it all joy” when our family and former churchmates reject us (Jam. 1:2). This hurtful situation causes most salvation seekers to reject Words relative to salvation. The overwhelming majority will do whatever is necessary in order to retain their approval. If we are to live eternally with God we must recognize this weakness as the work of Satan and react accordingly. In Acts 5 we are told how to react when others reject us. In this passage we find that some of the apostles on trial for speaking God’s Word (27-42). Having been found guilty, they were publicly beaten. In verse 41 we find them rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer such shame for Christ’s name. We must count it a privilege to suffer for the Lord.

The world, especially the church world, rejects God’s people because they are different, peculiar, strange. Their peculiarity–belief in and obedience to God’s Word–highlights the fact that their persecutors do believe and obey Him. True Christians and false Christians are as different as light and darkness. Light illuminates what goes on in darkness. In like manner, God’s lights reveal the failure of those living in darkness. This is especially troubling for those who claim to be His light but are not because they do not believe and obey His Word.

Sanctification requires one to separate himself unto a life of holiness and godliness in all areas of life. As earlier stated in this series, God’s true saints sanctify their every word, thought and deed by comparing them to His Words, by which each of us must live (Mat. 4:4). To the Counterfeit Church sanctification means that one can continue to be of God while breaking His Law–His definition of sin (1 Jn. 3:4). Having been deceived into believing that the Law was done away with they break His 4th Commandment and thereby break His entire Law (Jam. 2:10). The wages for doing so is death (Rom. 6:23). Not so, we are told from pulpit and podium. Grace gives us a license to sin, thereby nullifying its penalty. And Satan smiles.

True sanctification gives the sanctified one the mind of Christ which places him spiritually “in Christ.” However, “God is light, AND IN HIM IS NO DARKNESS AT ALL” (1 Jn. 1:5). If one claims to be a child of God–to be “in Him”–and continues to sin (live in darkness), he deceives himself (Jam. 1:22). True sanctification results in one maintaining strict control over his words, thoughts and deeds. The standard by which our words, thoughts and deeds are to be judged is God’s Word and nothing else. All SCRIPTURE was inspired (breathed) by God through His Holy Spirit to His prophets and Apostles who spoke it and recorded it for God-hungry people who seek holiness.

SANCTIFICATION=HOLINESS OF ONE’S LIFE-WALK. As we are told in Romans 6:22,23, God’s true saints have been set free from (not to) sin and have become slaves of God Whom they obey unto holiness. Note that the END RESULT OF HOLINESS IS ETERNAL LIFE. We are told that to be saved one need “only believe.” God tells us that belief (faith) is merely the beginning of the salvation process.

Sanctified people are slaves. A slave does only what he is commanded to do by his master. God has made available His Holy Spirit which empowers His slaves to overcome Satan as Jesus overcame Him. Only those who do so will sit with Christ on His throne in the world to come (Rev. 3:21). These are the sanctified, the righteous of God who, as the Apostle Peter tells us, will “scarcely (barely) be saved.” Note that righteousness comes first, then salvation. Jesus tells us that salvation comes at the end of life (Mat. 10:22). Peter tells us that it comes only as the result of righteousness. Incredibly, I have been told that it is “too much trouble” to obey God. It is both easier and quicker to believe Satan’s false prophets. Not only do they offer instant salvation without going through all that conversion, sanctification nonsense, their salvation is instantaneous. As an added bonus, one can, actually must, continuous to sin. It is easy to see why the church masses choose Satan’s wide gate and broad way (Mat. 7:13,14). This is, as the saying goes, to have our cake and eat it too. The problem is that the cake, though it tastes good, is laced with deadly poison. Recall that Eve found the forbidden tree to be pleasing to the eyes, good for food and a source of wisdom. L.J.