I Sanctified You

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5

There is no other word in Christianity that is blown more out of proportion than the word, sanctified, or sanctification. Among Christian theologians, sanctification is described as "a state of separation unto God; all believers enter into this state when they are born of God." In layman's terms, it means that when a person accepts Jesus Christ as their savior, they are set apart from the world and placed into the family of God. It is akin to a family using fine China or porcelain dishes on a special occasion or a man putting on a tuxedo for an upscale event. These items have been "set apart" for a particular use. Unfortunately, instead of leaving this definition alone, many Christians have complicated sanctification to the point that it has taken on a life of its own. For example, in order to advance their theology, some Christians will break sanctification down into at least three parts; positional, progressive and ultimate sanctification. Positional sanctification, as was just mentioned, "is the believer's unchanging status or position before the Lord God that never changes. Every true believer has been set apart to God." Progressive sanctification is said to be "a lifelong daily process whereby the Holy Spirit deals with our sins and growth in righteousness conforming us to the image of God." And, finally, ultimate sanctification is when we are glorified with God in Heaven or as one Christian says; it "will be our ultimate separation from sin, a total sanctification in every regard." I agree that Christians are sanctified, or set apart, at the moment of salvation and that as we grow and mature in our faith, we should see a diminishing of sin in our life. But I don't agree that there are three types of sanctification or that we "progress" in our sanctification. In my humble opinion, to break down sanctification into three parts is just another way to try and introduce works into the life of the believer and deny the finished work of Jesus Christ on behalf of every believer. Otherwise, how else would one say, "Prior to salvation, our behavior bore witness to our standing in the world in separation from God, but now our behavior should bear witness to our standing before God in separation from the world. Little by little, every day, “those who are being sanctified” are becoming more like Christ"? In order to insert works into the Christian life, the primary focus of life must be on our behavior. And in order to get somebody to behave properly, a focus on sin is necessary. You have to have something be "sanctified" from in order to justify the "process" of sanctification and the works you must obey in order to modify your behavior.

However, the truth is that our sins are no longer an issue between us and God. "For sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law (Romans 5:13)." The death of Jesus Christ took away our sins. Therefore, if God is not judging us on the basis of our sins, there is no law to have to obey in order to deal with our sins. This, in turn, robs the positional, progressive and ultimate sanctification crowd of their desire to get Christians to behave properly. Obviously, Christians still sin and sin is never okay. But, the diminishing of sin is a byproduct of a Christian getting to know their God, through the indwelling Holy Spirit meeting the deepest needs of their heart, not from their focus on getting their flesh to behave. In fact, subjecting ourselves to laws designed to modify our flesh will have the opposite effect of what is intended. The Bible says, "The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law (1 Corinthians 15:56)" and Paul said, "but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died (Romans 7:9)." The exact thing we are told will "sanctify" us and get us to be "more like Christ" will only prove how unlike Jesus we truly are. Furthermore, the goal of the Christian life is not to be more like Christ. The Fall of Man, the one act of disobedience that allowed sin to enter the world, was a direct result of Adam and Even desiring to be like God! The devil deceived Eve by saying to her, "For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:5).” In order to "be like God," you must know good and evil. What defines good and evil? It is the law. The same law that Christians are not under. "For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace (Romans 6:14)." If you want sin to be your master, then attempt to "sanctify" yourself by trying to rid yourself of sin. You will fail miserably. The only way to live the Christian life is by acknowledging that you are forgiven of all your sins so that you can learn to rest in and depend on your God, in Christ, to live out the His life in and through you. At the beginning of the book of Jeremiah, we read were God set apart Jeremiah from the womb. God was the one who sanctified him so he could live out the plan God had for his life; to be a "prophet to the nations." Jeremiah's life was one of discovering all that God had already planned out for him. Similarly, as Christians, we have been set apart from the moment we were born again through faith in Jesus Christ. Our lives are ones of discovering all that we have already been given by God as an inheritance because of what Jesus has done for us. We don't spend our lives trying to become more sanctified in an effort to be like God. We spend our lives resting in what God has given us because we are already sanctified. This allows us to focus on what God has planned for our lives; being ordained as "prophets to the nations."