SANCTIFICATION: BEING AND BECOMING HOLY, PART 2

To the question of what is the work of sanctification, the same online source says the following:“ Sanctification can be described as an inward spiritual process whereby God brings about holiness and change in the life of a Christian by means of the Holy Spirit.” 6 Because of the effects of living in a fallen world, it has harmed different people in different ways. So believers face different issues, struggling with sin in different ways, and facing past hurts of varying degrees. I feel that when Christians face their past hurts, in areas such as child sexual abuse, where they go back to the time of their childhood and feel now how they felt then, and now they can face it with anger and at the same time learning to see that they need to forgive, whether it is God Himself , if they have blamed Him in any way, which is more than likely the devil the source of cause, themselves for bitterness, and of course the abuser, then they start getting healed and change starts happening by means of the Holy Spirit! Because these hurts hinder a Christian’s ability to live the life God desires for them and so that they can grow in the transformation process, or in what is called progressive sanctification! When they start facing their past hurts , they are then able to grow closer in perfection, as they receive healing!

According to New Dictionary of Theology7, the term sanctification connotes ‘cleansing’ as for example the washing of garments in preparation for an encounter with God’s presence (Exodus 19:10) and also ‘consecration’ as is the dedication to the service of God (Exodus 19: 22). Even though this is the ritual sphere in the Old Testament, its meaning also extends to the moral sphere, as for example in Joel 2: 13 it says: ”Rend your hearts and not your garments.” In the New Testament the concept of holiness and sanctification emphasize their moral meaning, as for example in Jesus’ confrontation with the Pharisees and scribes over their rules of purification and where He tells them that it is what proceeds from the heart that defiles a person(Matthew 15: 19-20). Also the apostle Peter holds that people must be sanctified by a cleansing of the heart in Acts 15:9 and the apostle Paul holds that they must be sanctified by a cleansing of the conscience in Hebrews 9: 14.

NOTES
6http://www.allaboutfollowingjesus.org/sanctification.htm(February 25, 2011),2.
7Sinclair B. Ferguson, David F. Wright and J.I. Packer, eds., New Dictionary of Theology, (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1988), 613.