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This same truth is typically set forth in Lev. 14: in the cleansing of the leper.
"The priest shall take some of the blood. . . . and put it upon the tip of the right ear. . . .
and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot" (v.14).
"The rest of the oil. . . . upon the blood"... (v.17).
"The priest shall put the oil. . . . right ear, . . . . thumb. . . . great toe. . . . upon the
place of the blood of the trespass offering" (v.28).
Beware of any so-called sanctification that would apply the OIL without first applying
the BLOOD, or would seek to put the OIL on any other place except "upon the place of
the blood."
For the benefit of any reader who may not know, the words "saint," "sanctify,"
"holy," "holiness," are words from the same root in the original of the New Testament.
We have already referred to I Cor. 1:, and we turn to it again for further teaching on the
subject of sanctification. Verse 29 gives the divine object in the method of salvation.
God hath chosen the foolish, the weak, the base, the despised, yea, the things which are
not--"That no flesh should glory in His presence." Verse 31 bears a similar witness, "He
that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." Verse 30 comes in between these statements,
and reads, "but of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, both
righteousness and sanctification, and (as well as) redemption." Christ became unto us
sanctification precisely in the same way and degree in which He became unto us
righteousness. "He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him." So with sanctification, it is imputed to the
believer as absolutely as righteousness is. "If Abraham were justified by works, he hath
whereof to glory, but not before God." If the children of God were sanctified by their
works, I Cor. 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
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 chapter 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 verse 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
I Pet. 1:, "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.
Verse 14 contains a wonderful truth. "For by one offering He hath perfected into
perpetuity them that are sanctified;" truly all the glory is the Lord's.