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There are other aspects of sanctification, as for example, the sanctification of the
Spirit. There are also various terms such as "cleansing", "purifying", "separation",
which must be included in our study. But underlying it all is the sevenfold sanctification
of the epistle to the Hebrews, with its insistence upon the identification of the believer
with the Lord. The apostle expresses this "oneness" in Rom. 6:: "crucified with";
"dead with"; "buried with"; "raised with". The Christian is identified with the one
offering of the Lord, His precious blood, and its complete delivering power from the
defilement of death.
Rom. 5: reveals that by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and that
sin and death reign. Romans meets the dominion of sin by justification; Hebrews meets
the dominion of death by sanctification. When both sin and death are rendered
inoperative, the path is open for progressive and experimental sanctification, in obedience
to the exhortation to go on unto perfection.
Here we must stay. Further aspects of this important subject we reserve for future
articles.
#2.
Separation, the underlying idea of sanctification.
pp. 208 - 211
Our first article was intended to quicken the interest of the reader in this important
phase of redemption, and we now take up the teaching of Scripture on the subject a little
more systematically.
Before we deal even with types and shadows, we must seek to determine the primary
or underlying meaning of the words that are used in Scripture to express holiness and
sanctification. We are prepared from a reading of the epistle to the Hebrews to learn that
the ceremonial law governing the Levitical economy was designed visibly to set forth the
moral and spiritual qualities of holiness in images. We therefore turn to the Old
Testament Scriptures. We find, as we should expect, that the main teaching concerning
holiness begins with the book of Exodus, but there is one isolated yet important
occurrence of the word "sanctify" (Hebrew qadesh) in the book of Genesis that throws
light upon the intrinsic meaning of which we are in search:--
"And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested
from all His work which God created and made" (Gen. 2: 3).
One day of twenty-four hours cannot differ intrinsically from another day of
twenty-four hours because it is the seventh of a series. The seventh day received a
special sanctity because it was signally marked off from the preceding six days of the
creation week, and was accordingly set apart by God as specially associated with
Himself.