SANCTIFIED

 
September 19, 2022                                               SANCTIFIED
1 Thessalonians 5:21-24 “But examine everything carefully, hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”
1 Corinthians 6:11 “And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
To ‘sanctify’ something is to set it apart for special use; to ‘sanctify’ a person is to make him holy. Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary says that the ‘generic meaning of sanctification is the state of proper functioning-to function as intended by the designer; a human being is sanctified, therefore when he or she lives according to God’s design and purpose.’ In our culture, when one hears the word ‘saint,’ they likely think of a marble sculpture of someone who has been declared a saint, as if they had a special standing with God. (To excuse one’s wrong deed or mistake, the response is something like “I’m no saint you know.”) The truth is that all believers have been set apart and sanctified to live as He designed and to fulfill the purpose for which they are called. We have been set apart; now it is a matter of living as though we have been set apart. Sanctification happens when we accept Christ as our Savior, but it is also a continuing process. As believers, we should see that living as saints of God in this world is our highest calling. As saints, we are called to live in a way that reflects the nature of our Father and to please Him in all we do. We are not here to live our own life; we are here as ambassadors for Christ-to represent Him. As ambassadors, we are to conduct ourselves in such a way that honors Him and rightly represents Him. Our words, our actions, and the intentions of our heart matter-more than we may realize. We have the privilege of being reflectors of the very nature of the Creator God. God has saved us, reconciled us, given us His Holy Spirit, and has sanctified us to be vessels for His use. Of course we could never live life in a way that pleases the Lord apart from the work of the Spirit in us. For sure we  do not become proud or boastful over the fact that we are saints, but neither are  we to deny or ignore the fact that God has sanctified us; He has set us aside for His purposes; now let us now live out of who we are-saints of God.
2 Corinthians 7:1 “Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”
Blessings,
Buddy