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Sanctification
or
Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.
#1.
The defilement of death.
pp. 181 - 185
However diverse the manifestations of sin may be, they may be ranged under two
main heads. Under the first, sin is regarded as a crime; its penalty is condemnation and
death. The figures used in this connection suggest a court of law; we read of judge and
advocate, and the sinner may either be condemned or acquitted. The only possible hope
is the gift of righteousness proclaimed in the gospel; and the epistle to the Romans with
its doctrine of justification is God's gracious means of meeting the case.
In the second aspect of the question sin is viewed as defilement, and the sinner as
unclean. The atmospheres is not so much that of a court of law as of a temple. In place
of justification, sanctification and cleansing are the terms used, and the subject is
considered most fully in the epistle to the Hebrews. Having said so much we must add as
a corrective that we are speaking only in general terms; sanctification is not absent from
Romans, nor righteousness from Hebrews.
One way in which the various view-points of the books of Scripture may be
discovered is by observing the occurrences of distinctive words. Let us notice the way in
which hagiazo, "to sanctify" occurs in Romans and in Hebrews. The only occurrence in
Romans is in 15: 16:--
"That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of
God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the
Holy Ghost."
This aspect of sanctification is dispensational, not individual. Once, the Gentiles,
as such, were "far off", "common and unclean" (Acts 10: 28). The ministry of
reconciliation had made the offering up of the Gentiles as acceptable as that of the
circumcision. This is a sanctification by the Holy Ghost.
This aspect is absent from Hebrews, where we find sanctification is always connected
with the offering of Christ. It is significant that hagiazo occurs seven times in Hebrews, a
usual number of occurrences when a word is of importance in a particular book.
Hagiaző in Hebrews.
A | 2: 11. Jesus, one with His brethren (two occurrences).
B | 9: 13. The blood of bulls and goats.
C | 10: 10. The offering of the body of Jesus Christ.
C | 10: 14. The one offering that perfects the sanctified.
B | 10: 29. The blood of the covenant.
A | 13: 12. Jesus, one with His people.