THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE WORK OF SANCTIFICATION When I was growing up I often heard preached the doctrine of entire sanctification. I heard it so often, and preached so fervently, and using such verses as Lev. 20:7 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy that I can remember capitulating to its appeal. I was taught to understand it as a so-called second work of grace ( salvation being the first work). The doctrine of entire sanctification is the belief that the born-again believer can attain complete sinlessness in this life, - you can live an absolutely perfect and sinless life here on earth. John Wesley was one of its major exponents, he referred to it as Perfect Love. To be fair to Wesley, many of his followers went further than he actually went. He preached that entire sanctification was not necessarily absolute perfection in our activities, but perfection in our love for God. However, to the fore was his rampant Arminianism, - his free will salvation and his saved and lost theology, i.e. you can choose to accept God s sovereign offer of salvation or you can choose to reject it and therefore God s sovereign will and saving purposes are dependent upon your will and furthermore it is up to you whether you remain saved or not, because it is possible for you to lose your salvation, - your salvation depends as much on you keeping it as it does the work of Christ on the cross. Therefore as an added aid to you seeking to keep your salvation there is, - he argued, - a further, second work of grace that you need to request from God and it was so that the Holy Spirit would come into your life, fill you completely, and you would sin no more or so the theory of this doctrine goes! The official understanding of it is perfection is not the state of being unable to sin, but rather the state of choosing not to sin. In other words, it is man s choice that takes him out of his sin to salvation, and it is man s choice that keeps him in his salvation, - all glory to man!! Such a gospel is not my Gospel, and I find it more repugnant each time I consider it, - it is the doctrine of Arminianism, and it is a doctrine the seeds of which undermine every false doctrine for it teaches man has a contribution to make towards his own salvation.
2 However, we find in God s Word that salvation is all of the Lord (Jonah 2:9). We find, for example, a man struggling with his sinful fleshly nature, Rom. 7:14 we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Here we find it is God that keeps us. We have nothing to boast of Eph. 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. Jude 24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever. Let s leave the error and turn to the truth. The doctrine of sanctification is a Biblical doctrine. Once again it is a mightily profound subject but we shall try to understand it under three simple headings God s Will, God s Way, and God s Work. GOD S WILL Sanctification Refers To A Cleansing I have already mentioned the Word of God through Moses in Lev. 20:7 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy. It is God s will for every born again believer to be sanctified. It is not a call to a second work of grace. It is not something the believer grows into. It is not an experience for an exclusive type of believer it is a clear command for every child of God throughout the Old and New Testaments, and through every time since. God expects nothing from His people but their full attention and their complete allegiance. A half-hearted Christian is a concept God never intended. A Sundayonly Christian is not what Christ was sent to save. The doctrine of sanctification is the believer being set apart from birth and unto God. In other words, when you are saved from sin you are sanctified unto the Saviour.
3 The word sanctify simply means set apart for a particular purpose and/or to a particular person. In the Hebrew vd;q' qadash {kaw-dash}, its meaning is to consecrate, prepare, be hallowed, be holy, be separate. In the temple the Levites were a people sanctified for the service of the Lord The implements on the Altar were sanctified for God alone, and to be used for no other purpose. The wife was to be sanctified to her husband alone. Our church is only a building made of bricks and mortar and yet it is sanctified for the purpose of worshipping God. We would never consider letting it out or using it for parties or dances, - yes, it is only a building, but it is a building set aside for the glory of God! Believer, you are indwelt by the Holy Spirit how have you become so indwelt? You are like the Tabernacle in the wilderness because that Tabernacle was the dwelling-place on earth of God. Today, you have taken over from the Tabernacle. Paul wrote about how we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened (II Cor. 5:4) and Peter spoke about it too, as long as I am in this tabernacle (II Pet. 1:17). It is what Paul was referring to when he reminded the people of Corinth they were the temple of God, with the Holy Spirit living within them (cf. I Cor. 3:16,17). If you have God living inside you, - as Peter put it, - II Pet. 3:11 what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God? Since Peter asked the question, we shall allow Peter to answer it, he said, II Pet. 3:17 therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, 18 grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. Christian, that is God s will for your life and for mine how then how does God desire for us to achieve His will? GOD S WILL GOD S WAY Sanctification Requires A Commitment God will never give us a command without showing the instructions. As Pilgrim quickly discovered when he made his way out of the City of Destruction there was only one way to reach the Celestial City. There are no two ways, three ways, four ways or any other number of ways to reach Heaven there is only one way, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ, Jn. 14:6 I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
4 Even as believers, we must never forget there is only one way God s Way God has only one way of salvation, and He also has only one way of sanctification. God s way of sanctification is completely separate and foreign to any of the ways of the world. When the church adapts the agenda of the world it ought not to expect God s blessing. It might be a roaring success in the eyes of the world and in the calculations of men but if God s will is not carried out in accordance with God s way, it will not have God s seal of approval upon it no matter how successful it might seem to be! The world s way is not God s way but how sad when we see the church mimicing the world. It is detrimental to the cause of Christ! Instead, the psalmist declared, II Sam. 22:33 God is my strength and power: And he maketh my way perfect Ps. 18:32 It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect. Beyond any shadow of a doubt, God has set a way before me. He knows every pothole in the road, every corner, every hill, every valley in my life. By His grace, I shall go nowhere that can rob me of His company or of His attention Songs 2:16 My beloved is mine, and I am his 17 Until the day break, and the shadows flee away. And yes, I do have the greatest and the gravest of responsibilities to remain on God s Way. It would be too easy to become caught up in the almost impregnable castle of the Giant Despair, or to become entangled in the pursuits and attractions of Vanity Fair. I must not allow my gaze to be diverted from Christ, because I know it would be detrimental to my walk with Him. If I stood and looked at something else, it would be taking my attention away from Him. He has blessed me with the greatest privilege of saving me. I would never have searched for Him, I would never have loved Him but He came and found me and I love Him because He first loved me! And because He saved me, I now see the responsibility I have to serve Him because it is God s Will and God s Way, and it is absolutely imperative you and I must wholeheartedly attend to GOD S WORK Sanctification Reveals A Christlikeness We look into the Scriptures and we find God working through Moses, and Samuel, Elijah and the prophets God used Paul, and Peter, and John and all the great saints of the New Testament, - He worked through them all
5 Is it not amazing that God says to you and me now, Phil. 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. God has wonderfully saved you... He has sent His only-begotten Son to purchase you with His perfect and precious blood... He is indwelling you with the Person of the Holy Spirit what an absolute privilege then, - all of God s grace, - that God has chosen you to work for Him! God does not have Moses, or Samuel, Paul or John, or any of the other saints of Scripture to do His work on earth today but He has you and me and in each one of us who are born again of the Holy Spirit, He continues His work until the Lord Jesus returns again. Paul put it like this, Eph. 2:10 we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. How has God so ordained such a work? I do not know, and I could never comprehend it. You ask me how to explain Election, and I cannot I can show it to you in God s Word, but I cannot explain it, I simply believe it. I know I am called according to his purpose (Rom. 8:28), I know God in eternity loved and foreknew me and predestined me to be conformed to the image of His Son (v.29). He called me with a voice I could neither ultimately ignore or refuse, and then, as a consequence, He justified me, - He did a work in me because of His love for me that I could never have done for myself and He looks upon me now just-as-if-i d never sinned. He lives within each one of us, - each child of God, - by the power of the Holy Spirit and it is His will to achieve His work. It is a great privilege to be saved, but with the privilege comes the responsibility. The proof of anyone s true conversion is that they follow Christ, and they follow Christ because of the work of the Holy Spirit, Rom. 8:14 as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Many may lightly profess to be saved, but when the first wind of the storm begins to blow, their profession disappears. Their profession disappears because there is no possession of the Holy Spirit within. No profession, - no real possession. No change, - no real conversion. God s work today is carried out through His people. It is our responsibility. It is the purpose for which God has saved us. He saves none to be idle, for He saves His people only to serve Him.
6 He looked out across the people of Israel and declared, Ps. 101:6 Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. God made the Garden of Eden so beautiful, and yet even there He intended the man and woman to work, Gen. 1:28 Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it. When does our work for Him come to an end? When we are retired? When something else comes along and takes up our time? When illness slows us down? No, we keep on working as long as the Holy Spirit continues to work within us and His work will not be completed until we leave this scene of time or until He lifts us up into glory to meet the Lord. CONCLUSION GOD S WILL, GOD S WAY, and GOD S WORK We are saved for the purpose of glorifying God, and He has placed within us the Holy Spirit to achieve that purpose. We could not do it on our own. Except for the Holy Spirit, it would be impossible for us to enter into Heaven. Except for the Holy Spirit we could never keep our salvation and we could never keep going on. He is the Potter in Whose hands we are being formed into the image of Christ. When I read God s Word I see how its perfect truth relates to me. He shows me what it says, and He applies to my mind what I must work out in my heart. He is the Spirit of truth and He leads His people into all truth. We are born again of the Holy Spirit, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, we are accompanied by the Holy Spirit and it is all GOD S WILL - Sanctification Refers To A Cleansing GOD S WAY - Sanctification Requires A Commitment GOD S WORK - Sanctification Reveals A Christlikeness What a wonderful salvation we enjoy! Christ died for you, - that s redemption, - in order that you would become like Him, - that s sanctification, - so that one day you will be with Him, - that is glorification the subject of our final study in this inexhaustible series.