Having learned in the previous chapter that there is in the justified
believer a remaining element of depravity, we must now study the deeper
experience of sanctification. First let us seek a thorough definition of the
word " sanctification" in its use throughout the Bible. Before
proceeding to an affirmative definition, however, let us consider what
sanctification is not. This consideration is particularly necessary for the
reason that many persons have an exaggerated idea of what the experience of
sanctification is.
Sanctification is not infallibility. There is much
difference between an error in judgment and an error in moral conduct.
Sanctification is a purification of the moral nature and an infilling of the
Holy Spirit, not an impartation of infallible judgment. I t is true that the
presence of the Holy Spirit and the absence of native depravity enlighten the
intellect and may assist us in the exercise of good judgment, especially in
matters relative to moral conduct and the service of Cod, but the operations of
the Holy Spirit do not so overpower our human intelligence as to result in
infallibility.
Sanctification is not absolute perfection. such
experience as absolute perfection is promised in the Word of God, nor has such a
state been experienced by any mortal man. Sanctification is of the nature of
moral perfection, but does not make us either physically or intellectually
perfect.
Sanctification is not of such a nature as to preclude the
possibility of growing in grace. It is a qualitative, not a quantitative
experience. It removes depravity and sheds the love of God abroad in the heart
(Rom. 5: 5), but leaves us to grow in grace as long as we live.
Sanctification does not make it impossible for the
sanctified to fall from grace. It is merely redemption. Redemption means to buy
back. We are bought back to the moral plane—righteousness and true holiness
(Eph. 4:24)—from which Adam fell. If sanctification raised us to a plane where
to fall from grace were impossible, sanctification would do more than
redemption. It is true that sanctification makes perseverance not only possible
but highly probable, vet it does not preclude the possibility of falling from
grace, any more than did Adam's holy state preclude the possibility of his
disobedience and fall.
Sanctification is not the destruction of human nature. A
sanctified man is still a man, not an angel. The taking away of the "
carnal nature, " as native depravity is sometimes called, is not the
annihilation of those faculties and propensities peculiar to a natural man. The
sanctified are, therefore, still subject to trials, afflictions, and
temptations. Man has a physical, a mental, and a moral nature: sanctification
does not primarily affect either the physical or the mental, but elevates
especially the moral nature by cleansing it from native depravity and filling it
with the Holy Spirit.
There are two aspects of the moral self: man's moral
nature is either good or evil. For instance, a man is at one time sinful, but at
another time righteous. The sinful man and the righteous man are the same man,
but his moral nature is different. A change has taken place. What has happened?
The apostle Paul answers: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live;
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (Gal. 2:20). The "I" that was
"crucified" in Paul was the old sinful nature that dominated him when
he was a Pharisee; the "I" that "lived" was the better self
which lived through Christ. The human self, then, is the evil self when it
corresponds with evil, but the same self becomes the holy living self when the
evil is crucified and Christ comes in.
The verb "to sanctify" as used in the Old
Testament comes from the Hebrew qadash , and means to make, pronounce, or
observe as clean, either ceremonially or morally (see Strong's Hebrew-English
lexicon). The New Testament word comes from the Greek word hagios, and means (1)
to consecrate; (2) to make holy or to purify; and (3) to venerate. Our English
word "to sanctify" is a derivative of the Latin words sanctus, meaning
holy, and ficare, meaning to make. Its simplest definition therefore, is to make
holy. A concise definition of the English word is as follows: " To make
sacred or holy; set apart to a holy or religious use; to hallow. "
More important than the technical etymology of the word
is its use in the Bible. To a Biblical definition of the word through its
varying uses in the Bible let us now turn our attention. The following brief is,
I think, the clearest and at the same time the most concise way to express the
Bible use of the word:
BIBLE USE OF THE WORD SANCTIFICATION
I. In the Old Testament Use—
1. Men are said to sanctify:
a) Other men. Ex. 19: 10.
b) Temporal things other than man.
Ex. 19: 23; 30: 28, 29; Deut. 5: 12.
c) The Lord. Num. 20:12; 27: 14.
2. God is said to have sanctified:
a) Men. Ex. 31:13.
b) His name. Ezek. 36:23.
c) The Sabbath day, Gen. 2:3,
II. In the New Testament Use—
1. One text (1 Cor. 7: 14) excepted, no man except Christ is said
to sanctify another man or men.
2. One text excepted, temporal or material objects other than man
are never said to be sanctified.
3. No man except Christ is said to sanctify himself.
4. Men are said to be sanctified. Acts 20:32; 26:18; 1 Cor.1:2;
6:11; Heb. 2:11; 10:14, 29.
5. Men are said to 'sanctify the Lord God in their hearts,' that
is, to regard God as holy. 1 Pet. 3:15.
6. Husband and wife are said to sanctify each other. 1 Cor. 7: 14.
7. Foods are sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 1 Tim. 4: 5.
8. Men are said to purge, or sanctify, themselves from heretics. 2
Tim. 2:21.
9. God is said to sanctify:
a) Christ. John 10:36.
b) Men. John 17:17, 1 Thess. 5: 23; Jude 1.
10. Christ is said to sanctify: a) Himself. John 17: 19.
b) Men. Heb. 13: 12; 10: 10; Eph. 5: 26.
11. The " offering up, " or sacrificing, of the Gentiles is
said to be sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Rom. 15: 16.
In view of the foregoing, it will be readily perceived
that the word " sanctification ;' has various meanings. Hereafter in the
prosecution of this work, "sanctification" will be used in its
primary, New Testament sense, meaning to purify or make holy, or in its specific
sense, meaning entire sanctification (1 Thess. 5: 23). In our study we may find
ideas parallel in meaning to sanctification in connection with which the word
"sanctify" or "sanctification" are not employed. The idea of
sanctification is often expressed in such words as " purifying their
hearts," "they received the Holy Ghost." It is the doctrinal idea
of sanctification in which we are primarily interested, but for the sake of
clearness, the term " sanctification" has been adopted as the uniform
word for the expression of the idea.
TWO PHASES OF SANCTIFICATION
In the experience of sanctification, as in that of
justification, there is both a positive and a negative phase. In justification
guilt is washed away by the atoning blood of Christ and innocence takes its
place; in sanctification native depravity is taken away and purity takes its
place. The Holy Spirit also is received in a special sense, which completes the
work of redeeming grace. We shall have occasion further to develop these two
phases of sanctification in the following chapters.
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