For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one,
for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.
Hebrews 2:11
The one who sanctifies is a sanctifier. Common sense will tell you that, but common sense doesn’t tell you what a sanctifier does – He sets people apart for God’s service, makes them holy, and equips them for a holy work.
When the Apostle Paul gave instructions to his disciple Titus, he told him that Christ “gave Himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:14 KJV). Salvation wasn’t given just to get us out of hell and into heaven; it was also with the purpose of making us Christ-like.
In both the Old and New Testament, we’re told to be holy, because God is holy. The nation Israel couldn’t do it, nor can we without a Sanctifier. In the New Covenant, Christ puts God’s laws in our hearts and writes them on our minds (Hebrews 10:16). Holiness becomes the outward result of the Lord’s sanctifying work in our lives.
In Romans 12:1 and 2, Paul exhorts the saints (those sanctified former sinners) to become a living sacrifice. Serving Christ, then, is just a holy, acceptable, reasonable response to being saved. As we agree with God and do what He wants us to do, we’ll understand that God’s will is good, acceptable, and perfect.
All around us, there are dysfunctional people with broken lives who desperately want to change. The problem is that many druggies and alcoholics spend years taking only twelve steps, instead of walking hand in hand with the Sanctifier.
January 13
