
Emmanuel, Jesus The Sanctifier
Hebrews 2:9-11; 13:12-14.
Jesus is our Sanctifier, cleansing us from self and sin; and with all His Spirit’s fulness, filling all our hearts within. Sanctification deals with sin—inbred, inward sin that everyone was born with. When we begin to interact with people, the branches of sin begin to shoot out as the works of the flesh, but when we get saved, those branches of sin are cut off, cleansed, forgiven, and taken away. At sanctification, the inward and inbred sin is dealt with. God needs to deal with both the branches and the root of sin before we can see Him on the final day, that’s why He says, “Blessed are the pure heart.” It is the purity of the heart that takes away the root of sin. He cleanses us from self, internally, and sin, inwardly. “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,” (Hebrews 2:911). Christ died for everyone to save us from transgression, which is the expression of the branches of sin, and to uproot the root of inbred sin and the origin and source of sin in our lives. He died to save and sanctify us. It takes salvation and sanctification, forgiveness and freedom, and the holiness of heart that He produces and generates in us for God to bring us to glory. Sanctification brings us into oneness with the Sanctifier and other sanctified believers. “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.” (Hebrews 13:12-14). We are saved by the blood of Jesus that was shed for us, and that same blood has the cleansing power to sanctify us. After we are saved, we need to desire the sanctification experience as well. We seek to be saved because we know we are not going to live on earth forever, and the reason we seek the holiness and sanctification experience is so that when we leave here, we will be able to see Him in glory because “without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.”
1. THE ESTEEMED EXPERIENCE OF ESTABLISHED SANCTIFICATION
Hebrews 13:12-14; 2 Thessalonians 2:13.
“Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you.” (Leviticus 20:7-8). The word sanctify has two meanings. It means to set apart for God’s use only. To sanctify yourself means to set yourself apart so that Satan, self, pride, the Adamic nature, or evil society will not have any inroad into your life to make use of you, and that God alone will have the free, full, final use of your life. It is by doing that that you show your desire, expectation, and passion for the sanctification of the Lord. After that, God makes you holy, purifies you, purges your heart, purges your life, and you have the experience of sanctification. “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:26-27). When Christ sanctifies, He cleanses us on the inside from the birth stains of sin. At salvation, the church is gracious, but at sanctification, He takes us beyond being a gracious church to being a glorious church. When Christ sanctifies us, He takes away the wrinkles which are the marks of the old man, the dim vision, the decreasing passion, and the blockage of the flow of the word of God in our heart and life. Sanctification brings holiness of heart.
- The Scriptural Meaning of Expected Sanctification – Leviticus 20:7-8; Hebrews 10:14-16; Ephesians 5:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.” (Hebrews 13:12-14). God does not sanctify buildings or instruments; we set those things apart for God’s use. God sanctifies the people. We have a part to play in having the experience of sanctification. If we are not sanctified, purified, and made holy at heart, it is the greatest of wisdom for us to drop every other thing that occupies our attention and go forth to pray and consecrate and seek the Lord until we are sanctified. “Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” (1 Thessalonians 5:22-24). We cannot ask God for a deeper experience of sanctification if the deep experience of salvation is not evident in us by abstaining from all appearances of evil. At salvation, we become at peace with God, after which the God of peace sanctifies us wholly—completely, totally, thoroughly, and entirely. Anger and wickedness are branches of the tree of sin that are taken away at salvation. When we are saved, we love our spouses, children, members of the church, and the leaders to the point of obeying them as they teach us the word of God. After sanctification, God continues to preserve you blameless every day and every moment of your life because Christ can come at any moment.
- The Sufficient Means of Effectual Sanctification – John 17:6,8,14-17; Hebrews 13:12-14; 1 Thessalonians 5:22-24; Acts 15:9. “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” (Hebrews 11:5). The sanctified life pleases God. All the actions, attitudes, and everything a sanctified person does, please God. The sanctified person does not take time off from pleasing God to please himself. “Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:” (1 Thessalonians 2:10). People may be witnesses of our outward salvation, but God is the witness of the sanctified heart.
- The Shining Models of Edifying Sanctification – Hebrews 11:5-6; Daniel 6:35,22; 1 Thessalonians 2:10-12; 1 John 4:17-18. “Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.” (Daniel 6:3-5). When we are saved, we are so conscious of the salvation in us that we avoid any error in our lives. If Daniel who lived in the Old Testament was this faultless, how much more those of us who live in the New Testament? “My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.” (Daniel 6:22).
2. THE ESSENTIAL EVIDENCE OF ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; Ephesians 5:26-27.
H – Heart circumcised. Deuteronomy 30:6; Romans 2:28-29. “And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.” (Deuteronomy 30:6). The children of Israel were already saved when they came out of Egypt, they were baptised in water when they passed through the Red Sea, they were already having quiet time and devotion symbolised by the manna that came from heaven that they ate. But there was still heart circumcision undone for them. The children of Israel missed the Promised Land because their hearts were not sanctified, circumcised, or cleansed. In the New Testament, their ears and minds were not circumcised because they did not surrender themselves to the Lord for the circumcision of their hearts. Sanctification brings heart circumcision, and it makes us love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength.
O – Obedience conscientious. Romans 6:6, 17; Acts 5:29, 32.
L – Love Christlike. John 13:34-35; Romans 12:9-10. “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:34-35). The disciples were saved because they had become new creatures in Christ. After they were saved, Christ gave them a new commandment to love one another without tribalism or selection, as Christ loved them. When we have sanctification, the evidence of that sanctification is that we love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength, and we love the believers as Christ has loved us.
I – Integrity consistent. Job 2:3, 9-10; 27:5-6.
N – Nature cleansed/changed. 2 Peter 1:3-4; Ezekiel 36:26. “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2 Peter 1:3-4). There is a difference between giving and receiving. God has already provided the sanctification experience by the death of Christ on the cross and by the provision of His blood, but we must do our part to pray, receive and get what He has given us by His divine power. The evidence of sanctification is not just the outward acts and behaviour but a divine nature that He implants in us which controls us from the inside. The divine nature will show forth in our thoughts, minds, and disposition, in the things we do, and in the direction we go. “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:2526). Salvation is the work of God in which He sprinkles clean water upon us and cleanses us from all the idols. After that, He puts a new heart and a new spirit in us. If our lives are inconsistent, it is not coming out of the heart that God has given. The evidence of sanctification is a new heart and a new spirit that God has given us, and that the stony, rigid, stubborn, haughty, and rebellious heart that God has given us is taken away and we have a heart of flesh.
E – Expressions considerate. James 3:5-6,10,13,17,18; Matthew 12:36-37.
S – Selflessness confirmed. John 12:24-26; Philippians 2:3-5. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:” (Philippians 2:5). The evidence of sanctification is that we have the mind, the thought, the tenderness, and the obedience of Christ in us. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.” (John 12:24-26). If self is so pronounced in our lives, we abide alone, and our work bears no fruit. A self-filled person is untouchable, unteachable, untrainable, and untreatable. The evidence of sanctification is that the self-life dies, and the new life brings forth fruit.
S – Spirit contrite. Psalm 51:6-10,17; Isaiah 66:2.
3. OUR ENDURING EXPECTATION FROM EMMANUEL, THE SANCTIFIER
Psalm 130:8; Titus 2:14.
The Sanctifier has shed His blood, given His life, painted the picture, and sacrificed everything, and now He has expectations of those who profess to be sanctified.
- Definite Prayer and Effectual Supplication for Sanctification – James 4:2; Jeremiah 29:12-13; Luke 11:8-10; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24. “Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:12-13). After hearing about the experience and evidence of sanctification, God expects us to call upon Him and pray for the experience.
- Divine Provision for the Entire Sanctification of Seekers – Leviticus 20:7-8;
Ephesians 5:25-27; Hebrews 13:12-14; 2:9-11. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:25-27). When we come to the altar and God sanctifies us, we love God with all our hearts, soul, and mind, and we love the brethren as Christ loves the church, we love our spouse, children, and family as Christ loves us, and we love our neighbours as ourselves. Christ wants His church to be glorious, without any spot or blemish, and we are to pray until this is done. After this is done, we experience sanctification and we continue to demonstrate it in our homes, offices and everywhere.
- Daily Perseverance with Enoch’s Steadfastness in His Steps– Genesis 5:2224; Job 17:9; Hebrews 3:14; 1 Peter 2:21-25. “The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.” (Job 17:9). When we live in the experience, with the evidence, and with the expectation of the Sanctifier, we will be stronger and stronger in the visible demonstration of the experience of sanctification.