For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,
~ Hebrews 2:11
For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
~ Hebrews 9:13-14
And Moses spake to the children of Israel, that they should bring forth him that had cursed out of the camp, and stone him with stones. And the children of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses.
~ Leviticus 24:23
And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor.
~ Joshua 7:24
And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.
~ John 19:17-18
And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.
~ Acts 7:58
This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
~ 1 John 5:6-8
Sanctified by Jesus’ Blood, by Charles Haddon Spurgeon. 1858.
Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.—Hebrews 13:12
In one sense, sanctification is wholly the work of the Lord Jesus Christ; but there is another meaning, which is more usually affixed to the term, in which sanctification is rightly described as the work of God the Holy Spirit. Many disputes have arisen concerning this doctrine because all men do not distinguish between the two meanings of the same word.
There is one kind of sanctification that signifies setting apart. In that sense, God’s people were sanctified from all eternity. They were sanctified in election78 before they had a being, for they were even then set apart from the impure mass to be vessels of honor meet for the Master’s use.
Further, as redemption has in it much of peculiarity and speciality, God’s people were sanctified, or set apart, by the blood of Christ when on Mount Calvary, He offered up Himself, an offering without spot or blemish, for the sins of His people. So, it is true that Jesus is not only made unto us wisdom and righteousness, but also sanctification.
You will remember that, in one of my recent sermons, the text of which was “Jesus only,” I made the remark that it was “Jesus only” for sanctification. I have not had any reason to retract that expression, for there is a sense in which sanctification, as far as it means setting apart, is an eternal work and is a work wholly completed for us by the election of the Father and the blood of Jesus Christ.
Still, sanctification sometimes, and most generally, too, signifies another thing: it means the work of the Spirit within us. There is a work that God the Holy Ghost carries on from the first moment of our spiritual birth to the last moment when we are taken to heaven—a work by which corruptions are overcome, lusts restrained, faith increased, love inflamed, hope brightened, and the spirit made fit to dwell with the glorified above. That is the work of God’s Holy Spirit; yet we must remember that, even though it is the work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ even in this still sanctifies His people. For with what does the Holy Spirit sanctify them? Beloved, He sanctifies them with the precious blood of Jesus. We know that, when our Savior died, His sacrifice had a double object: one object was pardon, the other was cleansing; and both the blood and the water flowed from the same source to show us that justification and sanctification both spring from the same divine fountain. Though sanctification is the work of the Spirit in us, yet, to accomplish this purpose, the Holy Spirit uses the sacrificial blood of Jesus and the sacred water of His atonement applied to our heart, sprinkling us from dead works and purging us from an evil conscience that we may serve God without let or hindrance.
So then, Christian, in thy sanctification, look to Jesus. Remember that the Spirit sanctifies thee, but that He sanctifies thee through Jesus. He doth not sanctify thee through the works of the law, but through the atonement of Christ. And wilt thou therefore remember that the nearer thou livest to the cross of Jesus, the more of sanctification, growth, and increase in all spiritual blessings will His Spirit give to thee? So then, we see that, whatever sanctification may mean, the text is still true: “Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.”
Let us pause here a minute, and let each of us…ask this question: how far has Christ’s purpose of sanctifying me been answered in my own case? I know that, in one sense, I am completely sanctified; but, in another sense, I still feel my imperfections and infirmities. How far have I progressed in sanctification during the past year? How much has my faith increased during the year? How many of my corruptions have I overcome? How much nearer am I living to Christ, now, than on the first Sabbath of last year? How much do I know of the Savior? How much closer do I approach in my likeness to Him? Have I more power in prayer? Am I more careful in my life? Is my spirit more loving than it used to be? Am I more decisive for that which is right? At the same time, am I meeker in standing up for it? Am I, in all respects, more like my Master than I was a year ago? Or, on the other hand, have I been going backward? Stand still, I cannot; I must either go forward in grace or go backward. Which have I been doing during the past year? And I charge thee, O my heart, whatever answer thou hast to give to these questions, still to remember that, if thou art never so much sanctified, thou hast not yet attained perfection.
I beseech thee, forget that which is behind and press forward toward that which is before, looking still unto Jesus, Who is both the Author and the Finisher of faith. The Lord give you so plenteously of His grace that you may be wholly sanctified, body, soul, and spirit; and I pray God to preserve you all unto His coming and glory.
No wise man will purchase a trifle at a great price, much less the most wise God. Now the redemption of every soul stood in no less than the most precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. “You know,” saith the apostle there, “that we were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish or spot” (1Pe 1:18-19). All the gold and silver in the world was no ransom for one soul; nay, all the blood of the creatures, had it been shed as a sacrifice to the glory of justice, or even the blood which is most dear to us, as being derived from our own; I mean, the blood of our dear children, even of our first-born, the beginning of our strength, which usually has the strength of affection: I say, none of these could purchase a pardon for the smallest sin that ever any soul committed, much less was it able to purchase the soul itself. It is only the precious blood of Christ that is a just ransom.—John Flavel
Q. When was the redemption wrought by Christ?
A. It was decreed from eternity; it was actually wrought on the cross (Col 1:20). And (having made peace through the blood of his cross) by him to reconcile all things unto himself, by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.—John Flavel
https://takeupcross.com
takeupcross
Take Up the Cross 