Word of Encouragement (10/12/2020)

Last Friday, we talked about God’s promise of the Holy Spirit. This morning, let’s talk about God’s promise of sanctification by the Holy Spirit.

One passage, which speaks of the gift of the Holy Spirit, is Ezek. 36. V. 27 says, “And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” As the authors point out, this shows why God gave us the Holy Spirit: “and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” We often think of salvation in terms of what we are saved from—like being rescued from drowning. But v. 27 shows us what we are saved unto—righteousness and holiness. How does the Holy Spirit achieve this goal of salvation in us?

He does so by uniting us to Jesus Christ: “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body [of Jesus Christ]—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.” We have to keep in mind that, technically speaking, salvation is not something Jesus gives out of Himself; salvation is something that is found in Jesus Christ. So, Paul says, “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification [or, holiness] and redemption...” (1 Cor. 1:30). Jesus doesn’t give us righteousness; Jesus IS our righteousness and we are declared righteous in Jesus Christ! The same is true of our sanctification [i.e., the process of becoming holy]: Jesus IS our sanctification/holiness.

What is holiness, anyway? It is to be set apart unto God, who is holy. Under the old covenant, the people of Israel were set apart unto God by covenant-making ceremonies. Under the new covenant, Christians are set apart unto Christ by the Holy Spirit, making the bond eternal and unbreakable. Why is this important to point out?

“It is from Christ and His perfect holiness (John 8:29) that we have our holiness, though it is ever imperfect in this life. His holiness is the root of our daily sanctification, resulting in the fruit of ever-increasing holiness. If we lose sight of this, we may erroneously strive after a holiness of our own making, a holiness that begins in regeneration [i.e., being born again] but is perfected by our own efforts and will power; a holiness that Christ initiates by pardon but we perfect by self-wrought good works. Such thinking is... an impediment to the comfort that flows to us from the promise that our sanctification is a gift of the covenant that His Spirit establishes, nourishes, and perfects in us” (pp. 123-124).

If sanctification was our work, it would be frustrating to no end and it will ultimately fail. But our sanctification is the work of God the Holy Spirit, which is grounded in the holiness of Jesus Christ. He doesn’t do this apart from us or against our will. He enables us to grow in holiness: “...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12-13). May our will and work be conformed to the goal toward which the Holy Spirit works all things in us—our sanctification!