before God' (Rom. 4:2).  If the children of God were sanctified by their

works, 1 Corinthians 1:31 would be nullified.

The subject of 'Progressive Sanctification' is by no means denied by

what we have written, any more than the Scriptural doctrine of justification

by faith means irresponsible living, or that because we are under grace we

may continue in sin.  What we seek to do is to put first things first; to lay

the foundation before we build the house.  The subject of sanctification is

several times referred to in the Epistle to the Hebrews.  In Hebrews 10:10 we

read, 'By the which will we are sanctified through the Offering of the body

of Jesus Christ once'.

'By the which will'.-- What does this mean?  We have already seen the

pre-determining will of God in the sanctification of the believer, but that

is not the thought here.  The 'which will' makes us look back in the chapter.

In Hebrews 10:9 Christ speaks, 'Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God'.  It is in

(en) the done will of God -- i.e. the obedience of Christ, and through (dia)

the Offering of Christ, that believers are sanctified (see again 1 Peter 1:2,

'obedience and sprinkling of blood').  Their 'doing' and the 'presenting of

their bodies a living sacrifice', is the outcome -- the fruit of this blessed

possession.  Hebrews 10:14 contains a wonderful truth.  'For by one Offering

He hath perfected into perpetuity (eis to dienekes) them that are

sanctified'; truly all the glory is the Lord's.

May we who have died with Christ from the rudiments of the world hold

the Head, remember our completeness in Him, set our minds on things above

where Christ is, and leave the doctrines and commandments of men, the touch

not, taste not, handle not, satisfying of the flesh, and confess to the God

of all grace that 'all our springs O God, are in Thee'.

Sanctification, like justification, is primarily and foundationally

connected with, and results from the atoning death of Christ.  We now seek to

show that the resurrection also has a great bearing upon this most important

subject.  Many of our readers will at once think of Colossians chapter 3.

Before quoting from this chapter, however, let us see what leads up to its

wonderful teaching.  The saints at Colosse, like all the redeemed, were

'perfect', 'complete', 'made meet', and will be 'presented holy' (1:12-22;

Not only had they died with Christ, and been buried with Him, but they

were risen with Him, quickened together with Him (Col. 2:12,13), which meant

that 'the body of the sins of the flesh' had been 'put off', the divine

inference from these passages being, 'Let no man therefore judge you in meat,

or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the

Sabbath days' (Col. 2:16); 'Let no man beguile you of your reward in a

voluntary humility and worshipping of angels' (2:18); 'Wherefore if ye died

with Christ from the religious codes of the world, why as though living in

the world are ye subject to ordinances?  Touch not (see 1 Cor. 8:1 for

meaning, and compare the same element in the false holiness of the apostasy

in the last days, 1 Tim. 4:3), taste not, handle not' (Col. 2:20,21).

Here is sufficient to point the contrast between holiness according to

God, and holiness according to man.  True holiness is only possible in the

power of the resurrection.  The saved sinner looks back to the cross and sees

Christ dying in his stead, and says, 'I died there too'.  He looks up to the

right hand of God, where Christ sitteth, and says, 'I have been raised

together with Him'.  This is the argument of Colossians 2 and 3.