Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth (John 17:17)
This is our month of SANCTIFICATION. To be sanctified means to be set aside or set apart especially for a holy use. It speaks to being separated from the crowd to a life of devotion to God for a particular purpose. There are no calls for sanctification except there first be the defining of the purpose. The pains accompanying sanctification can sooner than later become boundless joy once we are able to tie those seemingly unpleasant denials to a purpose that has the capacity to live on even long after we are gone from the earth. Simply put, sanctification is punishment until purpose is discovered. Jesus kept faith with the cross not for nothing but for the joy that was set before him (Hebrews 12:2).
The world acts in a certain way and often, the way of the world is inimical to the purposes of God.
The flesh often presents as an undue interference to the discharge of divine responsibilities. The man who must be used of God must first learn to act and reason in a manner that is alien to the world. The key to a fruitful walk with the LORD can be found in a life of daily self crucifixion. Paul understood this when he committed himself to dying daily (1 Corinthians15:31). The business of sanctification is not a one off thing. It is a daily commitment to becoming increasingly like Jesus (Philippians 3:10-14).
There is no doubt that before we came to the LORD, we were bound by, and to diverse elements, many of which were either overtly or covertly against the purposes of God. Daily we must make the commitment and see to it that through the grace of God and the outworking of the Holy Spirit (Philippians 2:13), we rid ourselves of these elements. These are the same worldly elements that impede divine progress and that attempt to pin us down to a life dictated and sponsored by the flesh. Paul is unequivocal that to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace (Romans 8:6). He added that the carnal mind cannot receive, appreciate, or walk in the ways of God (Romans 8:7-8). We are never too holy or too spiritual to pursue a life of daily sanctification, consecration and dying to self. Not only are we to die daily, we are to do so not as an act of religious compulsion but as willful and intentional exercise by the which we demonstrate our preference for the things of the spirit of God. sanctification should not be what is forced on us, but something that we make our daily priority. We all must daily seek to come to that place where the apostle Paul was when he boldly declared, “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain “ (Philippians 1:21). Men who speak like this clearly testify that they have crossed that point where earthly desires mean anything to them in comparison to the glory that they have seen in Christ.
Genuine, spirit-birthed consecration is borne, not out of mere religious fanatism, but a deep knowing that God desires of us a progressive commitment to the things that matter most to the LORD. It is not so much about the feeling of being accepted in the sight of God as it is about what we do in appreciation of our divine acceptance. The man who has been graciously invited and admitted into the banquet of the king, and organized for nobles must see to it that he behaves and comports himself in a manner befitting of his noble call. So, we are admonished not just to make our calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10), but to walk worthy of same (Ephesians 4:1).
Paul is clear that the flesh wars against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh; these are contrary the one to the other (Galatians 5:17). The import of this, is that fleshly living imposes a limitation on how much the LORD can accomplish through us. Pursuing a life of daily sanctification opens for us in the spirit, new vista of possibilities.
It must be pointed out here and clearly so, that by a call, is not meant only a ministry-related assignment. While many may indeed be called into any or some of the five-fold ministry, the highest call of God to the believer is the call to the higher life. And even in consideration of ministry, the greatest priority of God is to change the men and women who must change the world. Daily, God desires to work in us until we become the exact image of his son. Like gold passed through the furnace, God must free us of dross and purify us until we come to that point where like Jesus, we can cry, “the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me” (John 14:30). Daily, God changes us as we behold the perfect law of liberty (James 1:25). As we, with open faces behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18). As we behold, God graciously reveals to us those things that stand in the way of our advancement in the things of the LORD. He brings us to that point where the things we once priced very highly become like dungs to us (Philippians 3:7-8).
Truth sanctifies, and understanding sets us apart. One major truth about the sanctification process is that God cannot take away from us, trash that we still consider as treasure. For as long as we continue to see vices as virtues, and hold on dearly to those things that are ‘killing’ us, God will remain helpless in bringing our salvation to the full. We must therefore willfully align our desires with those of Heaven, and like Jesus submit to the will of the Father even in the most unpleasant circumstances (Luke 22:42). The cross and not the crown remains our most valued and indispensable tool if we are to go anywhere near the sanctified life. And interestingly, God has so designed it that we all have our crosses to bear, howbeit in different shapes, colours and sizes.
We are consecrated only to the degree that we understand and value our assignment. There are no divine calls without divinely imposed restrictions on the one who has been called.
Samson was to take no wine or strong drink. He was to ensure that no razor come upon his head (Judges 13:5-6, Judges 16:16-17). The example of Samson shows to us clearly that the enemy can pay any price, no matter how high to take away from us that which makes us special in the sight of God. The grace and strength for our assignment derives from our consecration. If Samson was mighty, he was, only because he kept faith with the divine restrictions that God had placed on him. Where there are no restrictions, there is no discipline and men who must walk in power must first be men of uncommon discipline. Walking in the power and anointing of the Holy Ghost requires that we stay disciplined along the lines of those things that make our calling and election sure.
Sanctification and consecration go beyond abstaining from sin. It implies that we may be forbidden, even from things that others may freely and lawfully do. Such restrictions may be either an act of our will or in strict obedience to a clear command from the LORD, customized solely for us. Paul knew that he had a right to be married and to lead a sister by the hand, but he chose not to (1 Corinthians 9:5). That didn’t make Peter and the others who were married any less accepted in the sight of God. Moses was undoubtedly Israel’s greatest leader but didn’t have to wear dreadlocks as did Samson. The point being made is that we each must identify clearly the areas God is calling us to consecration and sanctification. Identifying what the LORD is calling us away from is principal to our accepting and walking in our divine mandate. God can not call us to Himself without calling us out of something. Fishing was by no means sinful. In fact, it was one of the noble professions of the time, yet Peter was forbidden from ever going back to fishing (Luke 5:8-10, John 21:1-3, 15-17). This is the depth of sanctification God may require of us- how that what He allows others to freely do, He sternly forbids us from doing. This is why no one is our standard.
While we may admire other people and the grace of God upon their lives, we must nevertheless work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). We must within the liberty that the LORD has given us in Christ, seek to identify the specific recommendations the LORD is giving us to guide our customized walk with Him. Truly, He writes the rules now, no longer on tablets of stone but on the tables of our hearts (Hebrews 10:16). The implication of this is that what is our sanctification may very well be another’s leisure activity or pastime. The call to us this month is to walk with the LORD, not as we see the crowd do, but as the LORD daily instructs our hearts to, knowing that to Him alone we shall render accounts.
