When I graduated from college all those many years ago, I packed up my Volkswagen Beetle, left the familiar environs of the beaches of Southern California and headed off to seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas, affectionately known by locals as, “Cow Town.” Suddenly I had gone from sand and surf to cowboys and boots. To describe my experience as “culture shock” would be an understatement.
My destination was Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; a historic institution with 5,000 pastors-in-process that proudly bore the title of the largest theological seminary in the world. It was like nothing I had ever seen. And I quickly realized that they felt the same about me.
The first day of school began with the President’s Chapel. The faculty of the seminary was assembled in full academic regalia on the stage, the auditorium was packed with 5000 eager seminarians, including me—front row, center—directly in front of the pulpit, wearing the same thing I had worn every day through 4 years of college at Long Beach State—a beach themed t-shirt, cut off jeans and sandals.
The chapel service unfolded along familiar lines—we read scripture, we sang some hymns, the choir sang a lofty anthem and then the president of the seminary, Dr. Robert Naylor, made his way to the pulpit. It was an electric moment for me. The first day of my seminary education. The first taste of the next five years of my life. I could hardly wait to get started. And what a way to start—the president of the seminary was standing on the stage no more than 15 feet away. It was almost like having a private meeting with him. And then he began to speak.
“Before I deliver my prepared remarks, I want to say a few words about this sacred institution. An institution fulfilling a divine purpose ordained by God. An institution that God is using in a unique way to build His kingdom. This institution deserves our full commitment, our best efforts and our greatest respect.”
And then, an amazing thing happened. As I nodded a silent, “Amen,” to the president’s remarks, he turned his head and made eye contact with me and said, “And that begins in dressing appropriately when we come onto this great and noble campus.” And as he elaborated on his remarks and I sank lower and lower in my seat, I decided that front row, center may not have been the best choice.
As I later reflected upon that experience, I decided that the president’s message to me basically came down to this—“You made it in to the Seminary Family…now you need to live like a member of the Seminary Family.”
This is week #7 in this series of messages I’ve titled, “Getting to know the Holy Spirit.” Each week we’ve been digging into God’s word and asking Him to teach us about the person and the work of the Holy Spirit. Who is He, what He does and what it all means to us? This morning, we’re going to look at the role of the Holy Spirit in helping those of us who get into God’s Family begin to live like members of God’s Family. It’s a process, described in the Bible, by the word, “sanctified” or “sanctification.” It’s an arcane sounding theological word that is totally foreign to most and misunderstood by many. But it describes a process that is absolutely vital to every healthy Christian life and, once we understand it, I hope you’ll see that it’s also incredibly exciting.
Let’s begin by reading our text, Romans 15:14-16.
(14) I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another. (15) I have written you quite boldly on some points, as if to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me (16) to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Our key word is there at the end of verse 16 in the phrase, “…sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” Now, let’s walk back through the text so see how it fits into the passage.
In verses 15-16 we get a wonderful glimpse into Paul’s vision of his ministry. Paul has been called to be a “minister,” not because he deserved it but solely because of God’s “grace.” And among his ministerial responsibilities are two “priestly” duties— he preaches the “gospel” to the Gentiles and he presents “offerings” to God.
So, what are these offerings that Paul is presenting to God? His offerings are the Gentile converts who have accepted the gospel. They are the kind of people that we read about in Ephesians 1, last week, they, “heard the word of truth, the gospel… (and) …having believed… (they were) …included in Christ.” In other words, they were saved.
And what is it that makes these offerings, “acceptable to God?” They are, “acceptable to God,” when they are, “sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”
So, what exactly does that mean?
The word, “sanctified,” is derived from two Latin words: “sanctus” which means, “holy” and “ficare” which means, “to make.” When you put those two words together you get a new word, “sanctified,” which means, “to make holy.” So, when “something” that was previously not holy is then made to be holy that “something”…whether it’s a person, a place or a thing…has been “sanctified.”
Now, while that’s helpful, we’re not exactly home free because the word “holy” is just about as misunderstood as the word, “sanctified.” So, let’s take a moment to look a little more closely at the word, “holy,” specifically at two ways in which being “sanctified” is related to being “holy.”
(1) One of the primary meanings of the word, “holy,” is “separate” or “set apart.” When something was declared, “holy,” it was “separated” from the ordinary and “set apart” exclusively for God.
–In the Old Testament a prime example would be the Sabbath. God’s people were commanded to keep the Sabbath Day holy by separating it from the 6 ordinary days of the week and setting it apart exclusively for God.
–In the New Testament we see a good example in 1 Peter 2:9, which says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God…” So, the word to Christians, here, is that God has separated us from the non-believing world to belong exclusively to Him.
So, applied to a person, the word, “holy,” in this sense, describes a person’s status, specifically, this person has been “separated” from the world and “set apart” for God. That’s one meaning of the word, “holy.”
(2) A second primary meaning of the word, “holy,” is pure. It conveys the idea of righteousness and moral goodness. And, in this sense, the word “holy” describes not a person’s status but a person’s lifestyle. They live their life according to God’s standards, values and priorities.
So, when we put those two dimensions of “holiness” together we get this glimpse into the meaning of being “sanctified”: people who are sanctified have been set apart from the world to belong to God and God alone…and…their lifestyle proves it.
So, that’s what sanctification is. The question we need to ask now is—How does it happen? How do we get sanctified? I want to answer that question with a couple of seemingly contradictory statements.
How do we get sanctified? We get sanctified instantaneously AND one day at a time for the rest of our lives. Here’s how those two conflicting thoughts fit together.
When the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth he was writing to a group of Christians who took dysfunctional to new levels. Some of you will remember that this is the church about which Paul said, “The best thing that you could do to help your church is to stop meeting together so you don’t make matters any worse.” So, these are seriously flawed Christians. Even so, after pointing out yet another of their many problems, he reminds them, in 1 Corinthians 6:11, “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
So, the point is that even with their continuing struggle with sin, they were, in fact, sanctified the moment they were justified. And so were we. It was an instantaneous transaction that took place the moment we were made right with God by trusting in Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. In that instant, God declared us, “justified” and in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit we were also, “sanctified,” separated from the world to belong exclusively to God. We are God’s holy people. And it happened in an instant.
But even though our status changed in an instant, our old sinful nature continues to exert its influence on us. We were not instantaneously freed from the allure of sin. That takes time. The way we get increasingly free from the influence of sin to become increasingly responsive to the word and the will of God is to continue in the process of “being sanctified.”
COLOSSIANS 3:9-10 says it like this, “…you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed…” That’s an ongoing process.
1 CORINTHIANS 1:18 says it like this, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” “Being saved.” That’s an ongoing process.
2 CORINTHIANS 7:1 says it like this, “…let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” “Perfecting holiness.” Holiness that is already present, but holiness that is in the process of being perfected.
So, the question is, how do we get sanctified? And here’s our first answer is, we get sanctified instantaneously and one day at a time for the rest of our lives.
Now, let’s move on to our second answer which begins like this—Sanctification is only possible through the power and working of the Holy Spirit.
No one gets sanctified by their own efforts. The text we looked at earlier, Romans 15:16, made that clear: we are “sanctified by the Holy Spirit.”
Indeed, the rest of the New Testament repeatedly emphasizes the fact that every step we take in the direction of being more like Jesus, which is the aim of sanctification, is taken in the power of the Holy Spirit. And nowhere is this clearer than in Galatians 5 where…
Verse 16 says that we, “live by the Spirit.”
Verse 18 says that we are, “led by the Spirit…”
And as we continue in that process of living and being led by the Spirit, verses 22-23 describe the “fruit” that the Holy Spirit will begin to produce in our lives: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
Folks, what you see there is not self-improvement. What you see there is a picture of a person who is being, “sanctified by the Holy Spirit.” But here’s the twist: the New Testament makes it abundantly clear that we are to be actively engaged in our own sanctification even though it can only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit. Does that sound contradictory? Good. Then I must have got it right.
Hebrews 12:14 says it like this, “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy…” In other words, only the Holy Spirit can make you holy, but don’t ever stop striving to be holy.
Philippians 2:12 says it like this, “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” In other words, only the Holy Spirit can make you holy, but don’t ever stop working to be holy.
And, finally, Romans 8:5 offers a key insight into this process of what we can do to participate in a process that we know, up front, can only be accomplished by the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:5 says, “those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.”
Do you know what that means? It means that one of the most important things that you can do to progress in holiness is to desire it for yourself the way the Holy Spirit desires it for you.
So, let me ask you—Is holiness important to you? Let me give you a real simple test to help answer that question. Whether you pray a lot or a little, when you pray you will pray about the things that are most important to you. How often do you pray for God to make you holy? And when you pray for holiness, do you pray with a sense of urgency? If you do not see yourself consistently becoming more and more like Jesus, could it be that, as James 4:2 says, “you do not have because you do not ask.”?
So, now we know what sanctification is—it’s the process by which God’s people grow in holiness, living more and more like Jesus.
And we know how we get sanctified—it happens when our desire and effort is met by the power of the Holy Spirit?
One last question in closing: What does it look like? How do we recognize it when we see it? What does, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit really look like? Let me give you a couple of examples. You can tell me if it helps.
–When 3 retired men who can do whatever they choose to do with their time and energy choose to go on a week-long mission trip to Mexico with a bunch of teenagers—that’s what being sanctified by the Holy Spirit looks like.
–When a man who earns his living driving a truck all week long volunteers to drive the bus on his day off to pick up those same kids at the airport when they come back home—that’s what being sanctified by the Holy Spirit looks like.
–When a Christian 10…20 or 30 years into their relationship with the Lord chooses to start setting the alarm an hour earlier than usual so they can have an extended quiet time with the Lord in the hope of experiencing greater intimacy with God—that’s what being sanctified by the Holy Spirit looks like.
–When men who are worn out at the end of a long work day get out of the Lazy-Boy and come to church to study the Bible and pray with their Christian brothers—that’s what being sanctified by the Holy Spirit looks like.
–And when a middle-aged pastor, 35 years into his ministry begins and ends each day saying, “O Father, don’t let me grow weary. Keep me pressing in and pressing on”—that’s what being sanctified by the Holy Spirit looks like.
Folks, if it’s happening for you…or if it’s happening so slowly that you can’t detect it…here’s a starting point to help get you headed in the right direction: Ask God to increase your desire for being holy. Ask God to fill you with a desire to be more like Jesus. Ask God to fill you with holy discontent so that you can want to be holy as much as the Holy Spirit wants it for you.
