 Exposition by Dr. Randy Colver. Copyright ©  Graphics developed by Cathy Garland.  Each of the Sixteen Fundamental Doctrines will be introduced and quoted. Each quote will be highlighted in light yellow font in the text.  Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

 The AG Statement of Fundamental Truths states:  Sanctification is an act of separation from that which is evil, and of dedication unto God (Romans 12:1, 2; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 13:12).  Scriptures teach a life of “holiness without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

 By the power of the Holy Spirit we are able to obey the command: “Be ye holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15-16).  Sanctification is realized in the believer by recognizing his identification with Christ in His death and resurrection, and by faith reckoning daily upon the fact of that union, and by offering every faculty continually to the dominion of the Holy Spirit (Romans 6:1-11, 13; 8:1, 2, 13; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 2:12-13; 1 Peter 1:5).

 God’s three-part purpose can be summarized as a holy God, among a holy people, in a holy place.  Jeremiah wrote about this purpose: “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people” (Jer. 31:33; cf. Lev. 26:12).

 Paul wrote affirming this purpose and tied it to sanctification:  “What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people” (2 Cor. 6:16).

 “‘Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.’  “‘I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty’” (2 Cor. 6:17).

 “Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” (2 Cor. 7:1).

 In summary: these verses have everything to do with sanctification, or holiness— being set apart from sin and being set apart to God.  God’s purpose reveals that He desires fellowship with His people.  But Paul is saying that God, as a holy God, desires His people to be holy as He is.  The author of Hebrews affirms this: “Without holiness no one will see the Lord” (He. 12:14).

 Because of the atonement of Christ, we have been made holy.  “We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”—He. 10:10  “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness [sanctification] and redemption.” —1 Cor. 1:30

 Also, Paul says that since we are now the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16, 6:19), we are therefore set apart as holy to the Lord, or sanctified.  Therefore, we are God’s holy people.  This is why all New Testament believers are called “saints,” or holy ones.

 But we must also separate ourselves from ungodliness, purifying “ourselves from everything that contaminates” (2 Cor. 7:1) body, soul, and spirit.  For we are also in the process of “being made holy” (He. 10:14).  Peter wrote: “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’” (1 Pe 1:15).

 Thus, sanctification is both a condition (in Christ we are holy) and a process (we are becoming more like Christ).  The “believer both lives in holiness and grows into holiness” (Porter 399).

 We become more holy by daily practicing the spiritual disciplines of prayer, Bible study and meditation (Eph. 5:26), and regular fellowship with other believers.

 The Message Bible also declares, “Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever” (1 Tim. 4:7-8).  In other words, keep yourself spiritually fit.  Don’t become a spiritual “couch potato!” 9. Sanctification

 Dallas Willard (159) provides a useful list of several spiritual disciplines under two primary topics:  Disciplines of Abstinence (from the world)  Disciplines of Engagement (with God)  “Abstinence and engagement are the outbreathing and inbreathing of our spiritual lives and we require disciplines for both movements” (Willard 175). 9. Sanctification

 Disciplines of Abstinence include:  Fasting – Choosing to abstain from food for an extended period of time (sometimes, but rarely, to abstain from drink as well). Isaiah 58 sets forth fasting motives and blessings—both right and wrong. 9. Sanctification

 Frugality – Choosing to “abstain from using money or goods at our disposal in ways that merely gratify our desires or our hunger for status, glamour, or luxury” (Willard 168). Frugality frees us from the bondage of debt. 9. Sanctification

 Sacrifice – Choosing to abstain from something or give away something that is necessary in your life. Sacrifice also means that we learn to trust God to provide some necessity that we have thus given away. 9. Sanctification

 Giving and Tithing – Choosing to contribute monetarily to God’s work. 9. Sanctification

 Solitude – Choosing to abstain from fellowship with others; to be alone—to separate ourselves from life’s distractions, urgencies, and worries. 9. Sanctification

 Disciplines of Engagement include:  Worship and Celebration – Choosing to give God alone the glory due Him. 9. Sanctification

 Service – Choosing to invest our time, energy, and talent into the lives of others for Christ’s sake. 9. Sanctification

 Prayer – Choosing to talk and listen to God. Prayer involves thanksgiving, making requests, and intercession. 9. Sanctification

 Prayer – Choosing to talk and listen to God. Prayer involves thanksgiving, making requests, and intercession. 9. Sanctification

 Petitions – Choosing to present our case before the Lord our Judge, often on behalf of others. 9. Sanctification

 Fellowship – Choosing to commune, worship, or serve with other believers. We are edified, or strengthened by the gifts of one another (1 Cor ) when we contribute those to meet each other’s needs. 9. Sanctification

 Study – Choosing to engage in regular and systematic personal Bible study, and to engage in listening to godly Christian Teachers and reading their books. 9. Sanctification

 Study – Choosing to engage in regular and systematic personal Bible study, and to engage in listening to godly Christian Teachers and reading their books. 9. Sanctification

 Study – Choosing to engage in regular and systematic personal Bible study, and to engage in listening to godly Christian Teachers and reading their books. 9. Sanctification

 Study – Choosing to engage in regular and systematic personal Bible study, and to engage in listening to godly Christian Teachers and reading their books. 9. Sanctification

 Meditation (or reflection) – Choosing to carefully consider God’s Word and His works. 9. Sanctification

 Meditation (or reflection) – Choosing to carefully consider God’s Word and His works. 9. Sanctification

 Paul also admonished us to apply what Christ has made us:  “Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him…In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”—Ro. 6:8, 11

 “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.”—Ro 6:12-13

 As we noted in our previous study of the ordinances of the Church— specifically regarding water baptism— our identification with Christ places us in a position to live a holy life.  We are dead, buried, risen, and glorified in Christ.

CHRIST Death Dead in Christ Ro. 6:5-8, 11 Buried with Christ Ro. 6:3-4 Raised with Christ Ro. 6:4-5, 13 Ro. 7:4-6 Glorified Ro. 8:30 BELIEVER Burial Resurrection Ascension

 Since we are united with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, Paul gives us clues to the process of overcoming the constant pull of sin (Ro. 7:7-8:4).

 Since we are dead and buried in Christ, we no longer live for the things of this world.  For a “dead” person cannot sin.  We simply reckon the members of our body to this condition of death.

 Since we are risen with Christ, we live in the new life of the Spirit.  We simply yield the members of our body to the leading of the Spirit.

 We see, then, that Paul uses the language of surrender, which is the language of Christ’s Passion:  “count yourselves dead to sin;”  “do not let sin reign,”  “do not offer the parts of your body to sin,”  “offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness” (Ro. 6:11-13);

 “offer [the parts of your body] in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness” (Ro. 6:19), and  keep your “mind set on what the Spirit desires” (Ro. 8:5).

 Thus, the Holy Spirit brings this holiness about in our lives, giving us the ability to “put to death the misdeeds of the body” (Ro. 8:13).  To take a brief, but specific example, Paul clearly maps the Christ Event to the problem of larceny in Ephesians 4:28.

 Here Paul admonishes the thief to stop stealing (which is the putting to death of this sin), to work with his hands (which is the putting on of new life), and to learn to give (which seems to be the ascension aspect).

 It is often not sufficient to apply only the “putting off” aspect, but we must also apply the “putting on” aspects of the Christ Event as well.  Many try to simply stop stealing, shoplifting, and so on, but if they never put on the habits of hard work and giving, then they will most likely fail.

 Paul declared, “ Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature…” (Col 3:5).  Then he followed up with the fact that we “have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Col 3:10; emphasis mine).  Thus, Paul gives us here in Colossians a summary of the process of sanctification.

 Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection dealt the death blow to the control of sin in our lives.  Through faith, prayer, and the working of the Holy Spirit, we can appropriate many of the benefits of the new life now.  Whatever the need, Christ is the answer!

 Ultimately, however, our complete sanctification occurs only at the Lord’s return.  “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” —1 Thess. 5:23 (cf. 1 Thess. 3:13)

 In the New Creation age we will exist in a state of holiness, having a glorified body no longer tainted with sin (1 Cor. 15:42-44).

 “I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.”

 “For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” —1 Cor. 15:50-53

 Although we have this hope, we must never lose the zeal to “keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25) as He changes us daily into the likeness of Christ.  “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”—2 Cor. 3:18.

 Porter, S. E. “Holiness, Sanctification.” Gerald Hawthorne, Ralph Martin, Daniel Reid, editors, “Dictionary of Paul and His Letters.” Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press,  Moo, Douglass. “The NIV Application Commentary.” Grand Rapids: Zondervan,  Murray, Andrew. “The Believer’s Prayer Life.” Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers,  Swindoll, Charles. “The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart.” Nashville: Word Publishing,  Tan, Paul Lee. “Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations : A Treasury of Illustrations, Anecdotes, Facts and Quotations for Pastors, Teachers and Christian Workers.” Garland: Bible Communications, Works Cited

 White, James Emery. “A Mind for God.” Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press,  Willard, Dallas. “The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives.” San Francisco: HarperCollins Publishers, Works Cited