(Note: In the tradition of John Wesley, this blog is based on common sense Bible interpretation AND NOT theology nor doctrine. In fact, it COULD contradict many "beloved" doctrines.)
I do not at all mean that the way sanctification is being taught today is wrong. What I really mean is that the way it is articulated by teachers/preachers in their explanations are faulty or lacking in depth so as to be understood for what it really is. When the book of Romans is discussed, there is too much emphasis on justification by faith to the detriment of the MORE IMPORTANT sanctification by faith.
And that is why the concept of full salvation is often misunderstood by the hearers. There is no full salvation without full sanctification. God in the New Testament, especially the Lord Jesus Christ, is not so concerned with what happens inside of you more than what you demonstrate on the outside of you.
In fact, what you demonstrate outside of you either confirms your salvation (Book of James) or SHAMES THE NAME OF GOD (The 3rd commandment in the Exodus 20, "You shall not bear (take, carry, wear) the name of the Lord in vain". What is worse, what you demonstrate outside of you could commit the unforgiveable sin since you are shaming (blaspheming) the Holy Spirit who indwells you by showing the world that his molding work in your personal life is a failure!!!
Here are some points that should be articulated well. If this Biblical doctrine is still unclear to you after you read this, then I am not sure what will make it any clearer. Biblical sanctification has two aspects: instantaneous sanctification and progressive sanctification. We will explain/articulate both.
The INSTANTANEOUS aspect of sanctification:
This is the born-again experience. It is a point-in-time event and not an activity. It is NOT progressive. It is an instantaneous miracle work of the Holy Spirit. IRONICALLY, this is what most western Christians think they have gone through calling it the "born again experience". But being truly born again is really sanctification and is technically an event. Although they should ALWAYS go together, being born again is not exactly being justified by faith.
- Paul says in the first three verses of Romans 6 that when we are truly justified by faith, we are ALSO DEAD TO SIN! Anyone who did not experience this is not truly saved. That is the instantaneous part of being truly born again. That is the instantaneous aspect of sanctification and the aspect often misunderstood because it is poorly articulated in pulpits and Bible studies today especially in western Christianity.
- We are sanctified by faith and not by works. Many Christians implicitly think that they are saved by faith but then they think that they have to work in order to grow in their Christian life. That is sanctification by works. Nothing can be farther from the Bible truth. Christians receive the finished work of Christ by faith and they are subliminally taught that now they have to work on spiritual activities and disciplines in order to grow in their faith. Whether they believe this or not, it is what they do! True salvation is being justified AND sanctified by faith at the point of being born again.
- Yes, sanctified in the Greek is literally, "set apart". The way this is commonly articulated today is to restate this as "being set apart FOR GOD" or "being set apart FOR God's purpose" or the now-becoming-vague synonym, "consecration". Yes, they know what being "set apart FOR" or being "set apart TO" is, which is why it is often understood by believers that we are set apart from the world. That is not correct! Teachers rarely state what we are "set apart FROM" and that is really the more important New Testament gospel TRUTH! Teachers should repeatedly emphasize and articulate that we are SET APART (separated) FROM our sin nature. We are set apart from what Wesleyans call "inbred sin" or "indwelling sin". We are practically set apart FROM BONDAGE TO OUR SIN NATURE. This condition is what Paul calls in Romans 5 "slavery to sin". After salvation, we are (and should be) "slaves to righteousness" because we are DELIVERED, FREED from the power and dominion of the sin nature.
- The SIN NATURE may be more understood by everyone if they know that the Bible really means SIN NATURE = HUMAN NATURE. When a Christian commits a sin and says, "I am ONLY human (so I thought and behaved like any human would)", it is clear evidence that he is not sanctified) and not saved at all, OR he does not know that that is not Christian and against the word of God. His statement should ALWAYS say and mean, "I AM a child of God and think and behave like Christ"
- Being FREED or DELIVERED from human nature does not mean the person becomes sinless or has achieved the impossible "sinless perfection". True, that describes the Christian's position in Christ BUT THAT IS NOT SANCTIFICATION!
- Being FREED FROM the SIN NATURE (human nature) does NOT mean that the sin nature (human nature) disappears!!! When we say we are free from fear, it does not mean that the fear disappears, it simply means that we have conquered fear. When we are free from worry, it does not mean that the object of worry disappears, it simply means that we have overcome that worry by our faith in the word of God! So when we are free from the power and dominion of sin (or the sin nature), it does not mean that sin or the sin nature disappears, it simply means that we have overcome our sin nature, we have conquered its power by our faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ! If we HAVE NOT, there is something REALLY WRONG with our faith or Christian walk!!!
- God's will for every Christian is to be FULLY SANCTIFIED (completely "set apart") or to experience ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION. That can NEVER happen unless they have truly experienced the instantaneous part of sanctification. This is a Bible PREREQUISITE to ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION.
- While SIN NATURE = HUMAN NATURE Biblically, in contrast, SET APART NATURE = the DIVINE NATURE. Only when we are fully sanctified are we "partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4)"
- We restate what we wrote in a previous blog: No one is filled with the Spirit by faith alone. Romans 6 declares that we need to be dead first before we can have the Romans 8 life. Otherwise we have to settle for the Romans 7 life!
- Progressive sanctification CAN NEVER happen unless the Christian has gone through the Romans 12:1 experience, i.e., "present your bodies, a living sacrifice" to God. Note that it is our BODIES that we offer and NOT our spirits or soul! Many Christians do not notice THAT difference. The body is the seat of inbred sin, the seat of the sin nature, the seat of human nature, tendencies, passions and mundane preoccupations. A justified Christian has a new spirit and does not need to offer it.
- Progressive sanctification in the book of Romans starts with Romans 8. Paul simply describes in detail the doctrine of salvation from Romans 1 to 8. Romans 9 to 11 is simply a digression from Paul's main discussion. Nevertheless, he uses this digression to start motivating the Christians in Rome to digest and guard the principles he discussed specifically:
- The Romans 6 cannot be overemphasized. Romans 6:18 declares clearly that we have been set free from the sin nature and are now slaves of righteousness. Romans 6:14 declares that the sin nature has no more power over us because we are no longer under law but under grace. The law which shackles our sin nature always coaxes our human nature towards sinning. Grace has divine power which, according to Peter himself, "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness". Paul called this power, "resurrection power (Philippians 3:10)". That is the power of the Holy Spirit who indwells the believer and Paul describes how powerful this power is in Romans 8:11, "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you."
- Romans 12 cannot be overemphasized because it is the key to assurance of salvation and the abundant life. Paul now admonishes every Christian on how to have the benefits of what he described in the previous chapters. The offering of our bodies means the offering of our sin nature, our human nature. It means we have reckoned our old self dead to sin, we have crucified the flesh, "therefore, I no longer live (Galatians 2:20)". It is only when we have offered our bodies to God completely that we begin to naturally demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit, that we naturally obey the Great Commandment to love God and love neighbor and we acquire the blessedness of the Beatitudes and naturally perform Christlikeness as described in the Sermon on the Mount. We will literally fall in love with the Lord Jesus, spending the whole of our day in the presence of God love demonstrating it by by meditating on the Word of God (listening to God) and conversing ("pray without ceasing") with God.
- a. That God elected to include Gentiles into his grandiose plan of building his Kingdom. Election is never applied to individuals, it is always applied to a group. The only time it was used to address an individual is in 2 John where John was addressing the woman pastor/elder of her church. Incidentally, Phoebe, a woman, in the book of Romans was also the pastor (most probably the senior pastor as there was no mention of any other leader) of the Roman church. (but I digress...)
- b. Paul shares his heart and passion to save Israel even if only a remnant (minority) will be saved. He grieves that they will never hear unless someone is sent to proclaim and explain the gospel to them. But Paul gets comfort in looking forward to the time when God has met his quota for the Gentiles (the fullness of the Gentiles) joining the kingdom and God will revisit Israel to bring in the remnant.
- c. That Gentiles were grafted into the kingdom of God in the same way that all are adopted into the kingdom. Paul uses this to warn that if God did not spare the branches (like the Exodus desert punishment of dying in the wilderness without seeing the Promise Land) then neither will God spare the grafted branches (a clue to losing salvation even emphasized by Peter in 2 Peter 1:10-11)
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