WALK IN SANCTIFICATION

“For this is the will of God, YOUR SANCTIFICATION: that you should abstain from sexual immorality” – 1 Thessalonians 4:3

To walk in perfection is to WALK IN SANCTIFICATION: “For this is the WILL of GOD, your SANCTIFICATION: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor” (1 The.4:3-4). God wants us to walk in His Will – to walk in sanctification. To sanctify is to set apart for God's special use and purpose; to make distinct from what is common. It’s helpful to speak of Three Tenses of Sanctification: past, present, and future tenses. Scriptures often speak of sanctification in past tense: we are saints having been made holy (Rom.1:7; 1 Cor.1:2; Eph.1:1; Col.1:2). The present tense refers to our becoming holy and more conformed to the image of Jesus. In the future, when the battle is done and the race is run and we see Him face-to-face, then we will be like Him.

We are already sanctified because of what Jesus has done for us: “we have BEEN SANCTIFIED through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb.10:10). The Father hearkened to His prayer: “Sanctify them through Your truth; Your word is truth” (Jh.17:17, 19). Christ has become “for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and SANCTIFICATION and redemption” (1Cor.1:30). Sanctification has been done once for all, but its effect still continues in “those who are BEING SANCTIFIED” (Heb.10:14). That is, along with our positional sanctification in Christ, there is a progressive “walk” or practical sanctification that’s available through faith in Him: “He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not WALK according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Rom.8:4).

Justification occurs instantaneously at the new birth. Sanctification continues step-by-step, throughout the believer’s lifetime. We are progressively transformed to be more like our Lord (2 Cor.3:18). God and the Christian have specific responsibilities in this process. Having been set free from sin’s slavery, you are to “possess your vessel in sanctification and honour” (v.4); “present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification” (Rom 6:19 NIV); and “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Phil.2:12-13). God works to make us more like Christ, but we participate by continually turning away from sin and by faith, obeying His commands (1Pet.1:2). As we walk in the power of the Spirit we “will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal.5:16).

“God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief of the truth” (2The.2:13b). And that work of sanctification is essentially an inside affair, but the WALK is a visible, outward expression: “that you may WALK properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing” 1The.4:12). Along with empowering us by His Spirit for this lifelong growth in righteousness, God enhances our sanctification by these means: Reading, studying, and being taught Scriptures; praying to the Sovereign God to accomplish what only He can do; fellowship with other believers to put our faith and one-another ministry into practice; giving to wean our hearts off trusting in the fleeting things of this world and valuing the Kingdom work; and witnessing the gospel to others, with the joy of participating in His Kingdom-extension.

Based on what God has done for us in Jesus, we have already been set apart for His special purposes. Our ultimate hope however is fixed on when Jesus returns. We are called to walk in sanctification in anticipation when Christ will return and complete the process of making us perfect reflections of Christ: “Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 Jh.3:2-3). Our Walk of Sanctification manifests in two key dimensions: Holiness and Purity – our next ports of call!