You have been, are being, and will be, sanctified

Good morning everyone,

Our theme for this month: “Sanctification”

Our Bible verse for today: “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23 (CSB)

Our thought for today: “You have been, are being, and will be, sanctified”

To sanctify something means to set it apart as holy unto the Lord. It is removed from the ordinary, cleansed and purified, and then reserved to be used in such a way that is pleasing to God. In the Old Testament the implements of worship in the Temple were sanctified in that manner. They were special not ordinary. They were kept in a cleansed and purified condition. And they were used to bring honor and glory to God.

The people of God are sanctified in a similar manner. In the moment you placed your faith in Christ for the forgiveness of your sins you were removed from the realm of ordinary people and you became a child of God. At that time, you were washed in the blood of Jesus and you were therefore cleansed and purified from the stain of sin. You were then set aside to be used for God’s honor and glory. Therefore, your life should now be lived in such a way that it glorifies your Father in heaven. You have been sanctified.

But also, you are being sanctified. From the moment of your salvation the Holy Spirit went to work in your life to begin a process of transformation that slowly changes you from the person you were, into the person God has always wanted you to be. That is a process and it unfolds over a lifetime. As long as you are still breathing, you should also be changing and growing and progressively becoming more and more spiritually mature.

And finally, in the moment you arrive in heaven, the process of sanctification will be completed and you will then be the person you are going to be for all eternity. At that point the transformation will be complete and the changing and growing will be done.

Sanctification is a work of the Holy Spirit in our lives and only He can bring about the change. But we have a role to play in this too. The amount of transformation that takes place, and the pace of it, depends to a large degree on the effort we put into serious discipleship. We must want to change and grow, and we will need to consistently place ourselves in a position before the Holy Spirit whereby He is being given full access to our mind and heart so that transformation can take place.

That is what we will spend the rest of the month thinking about – there are things we need to do to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as He does His work in our lives.

God bless,
Pastor Jim

(If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville

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