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As we are separated to God, so we shall thereby be separated from all that displeases
Him. Yet sanctification is one of the subjects on which a very great deal of confusion
reigns. There are those who believe sanctification is a matter of a `second blessing' and
should result in `sinless perfection'; others expresses the opinion that they are already
sanctified, and therefore can now do as they like; yet others make this an experience
which is entirely the work of the believer. While there is some truth in each of these
positions, not one of them is wholly true, and each one of them has its own particular
perils.
It is true that the believer is already sanctified, such Scriptures as I Cor. 1: 29-31 bear
this out:
"That no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, Who
of God is made unto us . . . . . sanctification . . . . .: that, according as it is written, he that
glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."
In the same epistle Paul is writing (verse 2) "Unto the church of God which is at
Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints . . . . .". The
original shows a very close relationship between the words for `sanctified' and `saints',
so much so that it could be rendered "to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called
`sanctified ones'." Yet these sanctified ones are, we find as we read on in the letter,
guilty of immorality "as is not so much as named among the Gentiles" (5: 1).
Nonetheless they are called of God and sanctified. It is significant that of all his letters,
only in this one, to a church which is particularly unsanctified and carnal (3: 1, 3) does
Paul lay such stress upon the fact that they `are sanctified'. It seems clear that his
purpose is to encourage them to reckon on the fact of their sanctification in Christ Jesus,
and so to live according to the fact, to be in practice what they are in Christ in the sight of
God. Having dealt with their divisions, their immorality, their litigiousness and their
general unrighteousness in chapter 5: and the first part of 6:, he continues (6: 11)
"And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God". Of such people
the Apostle could say "ye are sanctified!" But obviously he is not satisfied with their
behaviour, for he continues: "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not
expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any".
While it may be true that because they are sanctified and justified "all things are lawful",
nevertheless "all things are not expedient", and they should not be `under the power of
any' of those things which once exercised authority over them. The reason for this is "ye
are not your own. For ye are bought with a price." Paul reminds them that the supreme
compulsion for their behaviour should be `the mercies of God' (Rom. 12: 1), `therefore'
he says, `glorify God in you body'. The motivation for Christian living is the glory of
God.
The word for glory, doxa, has to do with opinion, judgment, reputation; from the
same root comes doxoo `to give one the character of being so and so'. Hence, whatever
else may be involved in the meaning of glory, it has very much to do with the character
of God. The believer's life should accord with the character of God. No longer is it what
I wish to do, but a life which will reveal, increasingly, the true character and reputation of