The Spirit of Sanctification

The Spirit of Sanctification

“…for by one offering, He has perfected
to the end those being* sanctified”
Hebrews 10:14 (LSV)

Sanctification is more than a theological term. Sanctification is evident in a life that is becoming His. It literally means to be set apart unto God Himself. The fabric of such a life is becoming ever purer because of the living hope that burns within.

“and everyone who is having this hope on Him,
purifies himself, even as He is pure”
1 John 3:3 (LSV)

Those whose hope is set upon Him cooperate with the cleansing fire of the Holy Spirit. There is a circumcision of the heart transpiring, a desire to be pure “even as He is pure”! May His word affect our hearts unto a new submission and longing for His work to be “yea and amen” in us. The true in heart cannot be comforted by the mere words of His promises. There is something that burns within to know the fulfillment, the substance, and the reality of those promises that Christ is to be in us.

“so Christ having been once offered “to bear the sins of many,” Christ shall appear a second time without sin to those expecting Him for salvation”
Hebrews 9:28

Those with the “first-fruit” of the Spirit know this longing for His fulness. This intensity of spirit is not the product of a teaching nor of association; it is a result of His Spirit moving and pressing us to greater depths of relationship with Him who loved us and gave Himself on our behalf. It is the deep in Him calling unto us that we might know the greater fulness that Paul prayed for the church in the Book of Ephesians: “that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God*”. May we be found reaching unto Him, forgetting the things behind, and pressing unto Him alone who is worthy (Philippians 3:12-13).

“And not only [so] but also we ourselves, having the first-fruit of the Spirit, we also ourselves groan in ourselves, expecting adoption—the redemption of our body”
Romans 8:23

Those who have the first-fruit of the Spirit live with the expectation of His fulness and cooperate with the moving of His Spirit within.

As a bride prepares herself, going to extravagant measures and careful arrangements to be her very best for her groom, so the Bride of Christ is moving in this hour to present herself unto Him as a “chaste virgin” (2 Corinthians 11:2).

“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready”
Revelation 19:7

The actual expectation of His appearing motivates and moves His own to the purity of heart and the forsaking of all other things.

“and everyone who is having this hope on Him,
purifies himself, even as He is pure”
1 John 3:3

The Greek tense here reveals the present tense of the moving of God upon our hearts: “and everyone who is having” this hope, this expectation, are purifying themselves “even as HE is pure”.

The Bride of Christ loves, serves, and honors her Lord. She pays tribute to no one else. She has eyes for Him alone and, though she suffers reproach for her singleness of heart, her reward is coming.

“Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve”
Luke 4:8

See Related Article: The Way to Purity

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*Note: The Greek tense is critical to having a proper understanding of God’s work in our hearts. While many today take it as a completed work, the true in heart understand the process of His will moving and purifying our hearts unto the fulness of becoming His. The great work of His Grace stirring us to greater depths of obedience is the evidence of our being sanctified. How blessed are those who know of this sanctifying grace!

Brian Troxel