What many shepherds teach today and what Scripture teaches are often two different things. Today’s emphasis is mostly on getting “saved”, and being “raptured”. What is missing is the teaching of the necessity of sanctification and holiness, which is the proof of your faith in Christ Jesus while on this earth. Customarily, those who teach sanctification portray it as either optional or positional. But Scripture teaches that moving forward in your faith in His promises empowers you to be washed from every lawless deed, proving your faith is genuine, resulting in your sanctification (2 Corinthians 7:1). Without the washing (discipline) of the Word, you will continue to live in willful ignorance (sin) just like the world and will be condemned along with it (1 Corinthians 11:25-32). “[For God] disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness” (Hebrews 12:10). Consequently, all true converts to Christ will “pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 2:14). [Brackets within Scripture contain the author’s emphasis.]
“…God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:13).
“He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him” (Ephesians 1:4).
To be sanctified you must be freed from your sins (John 8:31-32). The power to be freed from sin is by faith in His Word, “which also performs its work in you who believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13). Freedom requires you to first count the cost of leaving unbelief and lustful pleasure behind, never to return to sin again. This is repentance. Sin must have no place in your life and to continue in sin is to trample underfoot the blood of Christ and to insult the Spirit of grace who sanctifies you (Hebrews 10:29). If you should sin you have an Advocate, but your goal as an obedient child is found written in Scripture, “…like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior” (1Peter 1:15). “For if you go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment…” (Hebrews 10: 26-27).
When you repent and turn from sin in order to live for Christ, He supernaturally transforms your heart. You become a new creature with a new nature; your former nature has passed away. Consequently, you are empowered to clothe yourself with Christ’s life and complete the goal of “[growing] up in all aspects into Him” (Ephesians 4:15). At this point, the Holy Spirit creates and energizes in you the power and desire to do His will, so that you may prove yourself to be blameless. Christ’s Spirit is the guiding voice of the Word to teach, encourage, and empower you for sanctification (Philippians 2:12-16).
“For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to possess your own vessel in sanctification and honor… For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. Consequently, he who rejects this [sanctification] is not rejecting man but [is rejecting] the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you” (1 Thessalonians 4:2-4, 6-8).
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass” (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).
Many shepherds neglect to teach sanctification because it does not agree with their doctrinal beliefs; thus, they invalidate both God’s Word and the purpose of the Gospel (Matthew 23:13). The apostle Paul warned the church of this apostasy, solemnly testifying to the Gospel of grace as the power to completely sanctify Christ’s church on this earth. “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves [deceived shepherds] will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves, men will arise, speaking perverse things [ear tickling words (2 Tim. 4:3-4)], to draw away the disciples [you] after them. Therefore [you] be on the alert; remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:28-32).
Listen! The end of this age is upon you! Yet few Christians believe that the power of the Gospel is for the purpose of sanctification. Neither do most grasp that when they stand before God on Judgment Day their completed sanctification by faith in the truth will be the proof of their salvation, granting them entry into eternal life (Revelation 3:1-6).
Romans 6:22 explains the path of salvation clearly: “But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit [in this life], resulting in sanctification, and the outcome [of your sanctification], eternal life.” Do you see this? First, you are granted freedom from sin, making Christ Jesus your master. This commitment develops your present benefit–your sanctification–which results in eternal life. However, it is commonly taught that first you are saved, and then eternal life follows, with your sanctification actually being completed in heaven. This twisting of truth gives the church false confidence and beguiles her to remain unsanctified (Romans 6:16-18, 22; 2 Thessalonians 2:12).
Please consider the Gospel’s power and purpose: “[For] Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless… This mystery [of sanctification–becoming one with Christ (John 17:19-23)] is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:25-27, 32).
Did you hear the Spirit’s words? Christ is betrothed to a sanctified church! “Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless” (2 Peter 3:14).