BEYOND SALVATION: SANCTIFICATION

“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”

– John 17:15-17 NIV

Consecration means to make sacred. Sanctification means to be set apart.

A person who sincerely seeks to make themselves ‘sacred’ to God is accomplishing the goal of being sanctified as Jesus prayed for every believer to become prior to His death, resurrection and ascension. As a Christian, I live in the world, but I am not of the world. The essence of who I am is no longer defined by the standards of the world, because I belong to God, through faith in Christ, and within me I now have the Spirit of the Living God!

The process of consecration and sanctification is about the personification of Jesus Christ expressed in and through me by thought, word and deed. “Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” – 1 John 2:6 NIV Through the process of consecration and sanctification, we are distinguished as Christ’s followers. Not because we profess, but because of what our lives proclaim before others that illuminates the person of Jesus Christ to others and inspires them to thirst and hunger for what they recognize that has quenched and filled us. Our lives will begin to resonate the person, power and presence of Jesus Christ in a way that makes others curious, inquisitive and inspire admiration. At the same time, there will be others that will reject, scorn and persecute what we embody that also helps us to identify with Christ’s sufferings as we share in His glory. “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him.” – Philippians 1:29 NIV

I do not believe the suffering that the Apostle Paul mentions in the passage in Philippians is just about the ‘suffering of persecution’ associated with being a follower of Jesus Christ, but also the ‘internal suffering of our flesh’ (sinful nature) as we strive to become sanctified through the process of being consecrated, or made sacred to God by denying ourselves, taking up our cross daily and following the principles and teachings of Christ. It is the ambition of the sincere believer to be consecrated and distinguished publicly as one set apart, or recognized as a follower of Jesus Christ. “If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. The LORD replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ Then Moses said to him, ‘If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” – exodus 33:13-16 NIV

It was important to Moses to be distinguished as one who followed God. A sincere believer will not have to profess being a Christian, because if they walk in His ways it will be evident and clear to everyone. “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” – Acts 4:13 NIV

May God bless you and help you to walk in His ways to be distinguished as one who has been with Jesus and experience the fullness of life Christ came for us to have.