Sanctified by the Word

On the night Jesus was betrayed, He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane concerning His disciples in John 17:14-17:  "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵ I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth."  Those who are born again by faith in Jesus Christ are not of this world, even as Jesus is not of this world.  Though Jesus would soon be received into heaven after His death and resurrection, He did not leave His people in a vulnerable state.  Our LORD did not pray we be taken out of the world, but that His redeemed followers be kept and preserved from evil in the world.  The child of God need not assume a defensive or combative posture in Christ, for those filled with the Holy Spirit are enabled to stand and remain upright--despite Satan's schemes.

Jesus, the Word who became flesh and dwelt among mankind, gave His people the word of God.  Jesus went on to request the Father sanctify His people by God's word--which is true like Jesus is the Truth.  Here we see the sanctification of believers is done by being born again by the Gospel, Christians are further sanctified by reading, believing and heeding God's word, and we will ultimately be fully sanctified forever in the presence of God in heaven.  Sanctification, like justification, is first God's work in us.  At the same time, we must willingly humble ourselves in regards to recognising our spiritual position and responsible posture.  Our sanctification is clearly God's will as it is written in 1 Thessalonians 4:1-5:  "Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; ² for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus. ³ For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor...".  Sanctification by the efforts of our flesh is impossible, yet it remains God's will to sanctify us surely as Jesus rose from the dead.

Some who came to Christ in faith, having been entrenched in the Law, thought their sanctification was primarily obtained by their efforts.  Yet even under the Law God was clear the sanctification of His people was His doing:  He gave them His law, and their responsibility was to walk in it.  He said in Leviticus 20:7-8:  "Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. ⁸ 'And you shall keep My statutes, and perform them: I am the LORD who sanctifies you."  In the book of Colossians, Paul explained how we are sanctified, not by keeping the Law or the traditions of men, but by subjecting ourselves to our living Saviour Jesus who is the Head of the Body, His church.  Having been spiritually regenerated by the Holy Spirit, we are empowered and supernaturally helped to walk in wisdom, to go beyond the letter of the law that can only condemn, and to faithfully obey Jesus our LORD.

Sanctification never comes by our efforts to please men, but to seek and set our affections on Christ as Paul wrote in Colossians 3:1-4:  "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. ³ For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory."  God's word plays an enormous role in our sanctification, for the Bible teaches us of Christ, our new identity in Him, and how to please God who is our life.  Having died to worldly principles with Christ, believers have been raised with Jesus and divinely enabled to put sin to death in practice and put on the new man which is renewed in the image of Christ who made us new creations (Col. 3:10).  Having put on love, Colossians 3:16 says:  "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."   May the word of Christ dwell in us richly in all wisdom, for Christ is wisdom for us and life.  Remember, departure from God's word stunts our sanctification--and can even lead people to depart from their Saviour.