1 Thessalonians 5:23
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.
*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 37
Sanctify: to make holy, consecrate, sanctify; I make holy, treat as holy, set apart as holy, sanctify, hallow, purify
To be sanctified is to separate one's self from that which is unholy and cling to that which is holy. This begins to happen when we first believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. It is both a spiritual thing and a physical.
The physical separation from wickedness happens when we choose not to do the things we did before we got saved. The spiritual separation from a wicked lifestyle happens when the Holy Spirit takes up residence in us and on us, leading us to a consecrated, set apart lifestyle. The Holy Bible helps us do just that.
Every study of God's Word should be bringing us closer to God, not farther. We must submit what we want to learn from it to what God wants to teach us from it. He is the Author after all.
I was an alcoholic drunk. I had blackouts. There are nights I don't remember how I got home. There came a time when I didn't want to drink any more. But I couldn't stop completely on my own. I got married, had kids, and went back to church. The kids got saved and I got saved again. And this time I heard about and saw the Holy Spirit in action.
But the enemy of our souls attacked me when I wasn't ready for it. Separation of the family, divorce and moving to another city. I started drinking again even though I didn't want to, until a new friend reprimanded me for drinking, questioning the why of it. My physical separation from sin had been temporary. I knew I needed more. Then the new church I was attending had a week-long revival. That's what I needed. I was working now and the job kept me from the revival until the very last night.
That's the night I got baptized in the Holy Spirit and began to sing in tongues. It was a totally new experience for me, and a wonderful one, at that. It was as if I had exploded in song. That began my spiritual sanctification process. I no longer had the desire to drink. When I was around it, I got nauseous. I am no longer an alcoholic. I am delivered.
I neither drink nor do drugs because the Holy Spirit of God has breathed on me and set me on fire to serve God with my body, my talents and my gifts. My choice. It is not that I can't live a life of wickedness now, it is that I choose not to. I have turned my back on sin and my face on God. For I have chosen to live a sanctified life: a life that is set apart for God. A life that chooses to honor God and be a good and faithful servant in His kingdom.
If you think my testimony sounds awful, you need to acquaint yourselves with *other Christians who have been delivered from the sin in their lives. Examine yourselves. For example, John Bunyan was an illiterate tinker, having dropped out of school to learn his trade (he learned to read after he got married). He was a 'ringleader of vice and ungodliness' (in his own words) during his youth, before he got saved and became the author of Pilgrim's Progress, a book second only to the Bible in its publishing and distribution.
GOD OF PEACE
1 Corinthians 14:33
For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
Romans 16:20
And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
GOD SUSTAINS US THROUGH IT ALL
1 Corinthians 1:8
He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Malachi 3:2
But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner's fire, like a launderer's soap.
1 Corinthians 3:12-14
If anyone builds on this foundation (Jesus Christ) using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward.
CHRIST OUR WISDOM FROM GOD
1 Corinthians 1:30
It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.
WISDOM OF GOD FROM GOD
The Book of Proverbs in the Holy Bible is called The Book of Wisdom. It is filled with pearls of great truth and nuggets of riches which can only help a man or woman grow into the person God wants us to be. These, too, help sanctify us. We read that Wisdom has a voice and calls out to us to listen to what Wisdom has to say. Wisdom informs us of right living results and wrong living results, sometimes in the same verse.
Proverbs is written by King Solomon son of King David of Israel way back in ancient times, yet the very wisdom imparted is still crucial today. Wisdom from God, is after all, what King Solomon asked God for when God asked him what he wanted after Solomon became King.
1 Kings 3:1-15 tells us of Solomon's dream, in which God asks him what he wants and Solomon replies, "Discernment, an understanding heart that would know how to judge and rule over God's people."
James 1:5
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
BEING HOLY IS A WAY OF LIFE
Holiness is a command from God to us. 1 Peter 1:15. 16 reiterates Leviticus 11:44, 19:2, 20:7, 26; Deuteronomy 7:6, 14:2. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
Our conduct in this life should be impeccable. 1 Peter 1:17 "Since you call on a Father who judges each one’s work impartially, conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as foreigners."
Sanctification requires a submissive heart which surrenders its rights to God's desires, God's will. Wisdom directs our hearts to seek out God and inquire of His will for our lives. We cannot be fully functioning Spiritual Warriors unless we do both. Without a set apart lifestyle, we are hypocrites. Without godly wisdom we are ignorant wretches.
This is what we have been studying every day since the beginning of this year. I had thought the new study Being Born Again Is A Lifestyle would be January's study. Little did I know that I would still be studying such a message even now and perhaps into the end of this year or into the next. I am merely the pen, the conduit, which the Holy Spirit flows through, which God wields when He writes with me.
And subdivided from the main study have come separate studies within the mainframe study. Such as Arming The Spiritual Warrior, this month's study. I'm having fun both learning the Word and applying the Word to my life. Aren't you?
*Deeper Experiences of Famous Christians by James Gilchrist Lawson (1911)
