Sanctification – A Heart Thing

Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. 1Jn 3:9

            Wait just a minute, here! What did that say? He cannot sin because he is born of God? How can that be? What about all of those well-prepared Sunday sermons that say just the opposite? What about all those T.V. preachers that have made a career of getting behind the pulpit, screaming hellfire and brimstone is about to descend on all of those Believers that are not obeying this command or that command?

            We are all born of flesh of blood, born into original sin, aren’t we? We are all just sinners saved by grace, right? There was only one sinless man that ever walked the face of the earth, right? Wait just a minute! How is it possible that the Bible could say that those that are born of God cannot sin?

            Don’t revolt on me, just yet. I can already hear some of you threatening to throw your computer out the window if the false teacher you have unwittingly allowed into your living room doesn’t straighten up and check his doctrine!

            But yet there it is. 1 John 3:9 leaves no room for misinterpretation, does it? It’s right there in black and white: those that are born of God cannot sin. How can that be? That flies in the face of everything we’ve ever been taught, doesn’t it? How can it be that any man can reach a point in his walk with God that he cannot sin? And this verse doesn’t even put it that way. It says “born of God”. As a matter of fact, it says, “Whosoever is born of God”. But how can that possibly be the case?

            Easy, there! Don’t faint just yet! There is a plausible explanation for this, I promise!

            The problem with our understanding of this verse lies in our interpretation of one of the most foundational doctrines of the Church; the doctrine of sanctification.

            We all know that when it comes to our salvation, that comes by grace through faith, right? Ephesians 2:8 is pretty clear that salvation is the gift of God because of His grace and love for us, and because of the work of Christ on the cross. We’ve all heard that before, right? But what about this sanctification thing?

            To be sanctified (Grk. “hagiazo”, Strong’s # G37, meaning “to make holy, purify, or consecrate”) means to be set aside for the service and the work of the Lord. For instance, the Tabernacle of Moses was sanctified for the service of the Lord. That means that the Tabernacle and all of the required furnishings, and those that performed the service of the Tabernacle were set aside as holy unto the Lord. In other words, the things of the Tabernacle could not be used for any other purpose.

            But how does that apply to us? And what has that got to do with being born of God so that we cannot sin? Be patient, I’m getting there, I promise.

            I cannot speak for anyone else out there in computer-land, but I was raised with the doctrine that salvation happens instantaneously, but sanctification takes a lifetime. Sound familiar?

            We were taught that sanctification was a process which allowed those that were washed in the blood of the Lamb to live a holy life. In fact, we were taught that sanctification was, in fact, living a holy lifestyle. And we were lied to. Sorry if that offends anyone out there, but the truth is the truth.

            Well, if living a holy lifestyle isn’t what it means to be sanctified, than what, exactly is sanctification all about? Glad you asked. Please allow me to explain.

            For an explanation of what it means to be sanctified, we must first understand what it means for a Believer to sin. Oh, I know, we’ve all heard numerous very interesting sermons on that. But what does the Word say?

            For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there

remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery

indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without

mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be

thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the

covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of

grace? Heb.10:26-29

               It has taken the Lord a long while to pull me up out of all those nice sermons to a point of realization about one of the benefits we have as Believers. The benefit I’m talking about is that all of our sins – past, present, and future were forgiven as Jesus hung on the cross at Calvary. That being said, there are only two acts that a Christian can commit that will endanger our salvation.

            The first such act is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

            Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Mat 12:31-32

               In the above passage from Hebrews, blaspheming the Holy Spirit is phrased as “done despite unto the Spirit of Grace”. So what is the other act mentioned that is so heinous that it will endanger our salvation? It is stated as “who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing”.

            What does that mean? Glad you asked.

            It means that we have to look for another form of sanctification. Something other than the blood of Jesus Christ. In other words, our salvation is endangered every time something other than the blood of Christ is the motivating force that makes us holy unto the Lord. How does that work? Easy.

            In order to understand this concept, we must first understand the process of salvation. Salvation is a two-step process: we must confess with our mouths (salvation) and then believe in our hearts (sanctification).

            That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Rom. 10:9,10

               “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness.” This is sanctification. It is the process

which leaves us standing holy before our Lord and Savior. Doesn’t sound anything like what we’ve been taught, does it? I’m with you on that.

            I had always been taught that it took a lifetime to be fully sanctified. Sanctification was, in the opinion of my teachers, a process by which God got rid of all our bad habits and sinful acts. In other words, sanctification was “holy living”. And I was taught wrong.

            Jesus only left the New Testament Church two commandments:

             Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

               Why only those two? Why not a whole list of things, like “Don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t cuss, don’t have any fun, don’t smile, don’t be an individual, don’t wear makeup, don’t don’t don’t”?

            Why? Because God has always looked at the heart of a man.

            But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. 1 Sam 16:7

This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Mat. 15:8,9

It is only man that looks at another man’s behavior and decides that the man is unholy. God looks at the heart. Jesus gave us two commandments. The first one is to love God with all our hearts, minds, and souls. Unfortunately, the Church is teaching two other forms of doctrine. We are teaching either salvation without sanctification or sanctification by works.

            As a result, the Church of today is desperately in need of sanctification. Somewhere along the line, we managed to lose sight of the Truth. As a result, our people are either ignoring the need for sanctification, or they are killing themselves trying to attain it on their own. And they become more disheartened with every sermon on sin, because they still haven’t managed to get rid of their obvious shortcomings as pointed out by the last such sermon. Sad.

            Jesus only required us to do two things: love God and love people. That’s it. That’s all. Instead of fulfilling the only two commands that really matter, we are teaching our people that they are going to hell for a myriad of reasons that do not line up with the Word.

            We have been given two commandments. That’s it.

            What we need to understand, is that every time we hear one those fire and brimstone sermons that tell us we’re all going to hell, then run down to the altar in fear, and go home to kill ourselves trying to solve an issue which is not ours to deal with, we have gone through it all for nothing. The works of the flesh will be consumed in the fires of God like wood, hay and stubble.

            Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;  Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. 1 Cor. 3:12-15

               All of the works accomplished out of fear and guilt and every other human emotion will be lost in the fires of God. Only those works that we accomplish in the name of the Lord will be saved. In other words, every time we try to sanctify ourselves by struggling against this issue or that issue, we have just taken on a battle that wasn’t ours to fight, and God didn’t even take notice.

            All God is concerned about is do we love Him with our whole heart, and do we love people. That’s it. That’s the whole program.

            As we pursue God with our whole heart, He will deal with our bad behavior. We are not to let another man condemn us over it. We are not to let the adversary condemn us over it. Why?

            There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

Rom. 8:1-5

            We are not to mind the things of the flesh. We are to be concerned about walking in the Spirit. In other words, we are to focus on Jesus with our whole heart, mind and soul. We are to go through our life in this earthen vessel trying to concentrate on loving Him more today than yesterday. As we do this, He will deal with our flesh. Simple, right?

            To those that have struggled with condemnation, and have been the target of self-appointed “fruit inspectors” in the Body of Christ, my heart sincerely goes out to you. I hope this article helps you to see that you do not have to feel that God condemns you because of a behavior problem. Simply ask yourself this question: is my God the most important thing in my life?

            If you answered “yes” then you have nothing to worry about. Just keep it that way. Let Him do the rest.

            If you answered “no” then you have found the real issue. Recommit yourself to God. Repent for the times that you have placed something else higher in priority than Jesus. And understand that He loves you still, and He still wants that intimate love relationship with you. Are you seeking that kind of relationship with Him? I hope so. That relationship is the only key to life in the hereafter.

           

For more articles by this author, please go to www.thelighthousespeaks.blogspot.com