Christ Our Sanctifier
(4FG-2)
I. Why Do I Need a Sanctifier?
A. What is sanctification?
B. What is the relationship between salvation and sanctification?
C. How important is sanctification?
II. What Is God’s Plan to Meet My Need?
A. A perfect man
B. A perfect sacrifice
III. How Do I Receive Christ as My Sanctifier?
A. Recognize my need
B. Reject personal attempts at holiness
C. Receive His holiness
1. A crisis experience
2. A progressive experience
D. Remain in Christ
Introduction
Several years ago a Washington, D.C. TV reporter who was working on an assignment called“The Spirit of Christmas,” telephoned the British Embassy and asked to speak to the British ambassador.
“Ambassador,” the reporter said, “you have been very kind to us through the year and we would like to include you in a special Christmas news segment we’re going to run. Tell me, what would you like for Christmas?”
The ambassador replied, “I am very touched by your offer, but I must decline to accept any gift.”
“Oh please,” said the reporter, “you really have been very helpful to us, so won’t you please tell me what you would especially like for Christmas?”
Again the ambassador refused, but the reporter persisted, and he finally gave in. “All right then, if you insist. This Christmas I would like the jar of mint jelly.”
Having forgotten about the conversation, the ambassador was surprised when several weeks later, on Christmas Eve, he turned on the evening news and heard the same reporter introducing a segment on “The Spirit of Christmas.”
We recently interviewed three visiting ambassadors and asked them what they would like for Christmas. These three diplomats each gave revealing answers when they pondered what they would most like during this Christmas season of goodwill.
The German ambassador said: “I would like to see a peaceful and prosperous decade ahead for the newly liberated German people, and all citizens of the planet. May God bless us all during this historic period of change.”
The Swiss ambassador wished: “May the Spirit of Christmas last throughout the year. It is my dream that our world leaders will be guided toward a common goal of peaceful coexistence. This is my wish this Christmas season.”
And then we asked the British ambassador who said, “I would like a jar of mint jelly.”
I wonder what kinds of answers I would get from each of you if I asked you tell me what you would like for Christmas. No doubt there would be at least as many different answers as there are people assembled here. Some of the items on our lists might include toys, candy, clothes, snow, or sports equipment. Other lists might include intangibles like love, peace, joy and happiness. No matter what we wish for, the motivation behind all of our wishes is the same: we want what we believe will give us a sense of satisfaction or fulfillment in life. “If I only had that thing, my life would be more complete.”
What would you like for Christmas? Or more importantly, what would you like from the Christ of Christmas? Perhaps you’ve never considered that question before. It’s kind of hard just keeping up with the shopping lists, where do you find the time to think about other things? But then, what is Christmas if we don’t think about Christ? After all, He is what Christmas is all about, isn’t He?
Some of you may be thinking, “Of course Christmas is about Christ. I always keep Him in the center of my celebrating. And besides, I know what I want from Him. In fact, I’ve already received it. I want Him to be my Savior, which is the reason He came to earth.” And that sounds like the right answer, but I remind you that the British ambassador gave the right answer when he said that he wanted mint jelly. But his answer was based on what he understood the reporter to be asking. He didn’t realize that the implications of the question ran much deeper than what he personally wanted to get out of Christmas giving. What the Christ-child came to do also runs much deeper than just what we usually contemplate.
Christ came not only to be the world’s Savior, He also came to be the world’s Sanctifier. There is a world of difference between being saved and being sanctified. Accepting Christ as Savior is the first step—our initiation into the kingdom of God. But we must also accept Him as our Sanctifier if we desire to experience the richness of our new life in Him—that experience which He described as life to the full (John 10:10). Let’s consider Christ our Sanctifier.
Why Do I Need a Sanctifier?
As we did last week in our look at Christ our Savior, we will begin with the question, “Why do I need a Sanctifier?”
In John 17, we have Christ’s prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night He was betrayed. He had told His disciples earlier that in a little while He would no longer be with them. The time was approaching fast. Jesus sensed the urgency of the moment and uttered this prayer.
Upon reading this prayer, you will quickly notice that it does not focus on trying to find a way to escape the horrors that awaited him. Rather Jesus is asking His Father to provide for the well being of His followers. I want to look at just one portion of this prayer beginning with verse 15. John 17:15-19 (p. 805). [Read] In these verses, Jesus uses the word sanctify three times. Knowing that His time was short, He petitioned His Father to sanctify His disciples.
What Is Sanctification?
Some of you may be wondering what the word sanctification means. It’s not a word we use a lot in everyday conversation, so it would be wise to take the time to define it.
Sanctification is a translation of the Greek word (hagiasmos) which is rendered as holiness, consecration or sanctification in our Bibles. George Pardington, noted theologian and one of the early leaders of the C&MA, said the word sanctification “has three meanings: separation from sin; dedication to God; [and] appointment to ministry.” It’s a word, like a salvation, which can be understood “in a moral sense for a process or…it’s result (the state of being made holy)” (Bauer, p. 9). On the one hand, sanctification is a stated condition, a declaration of God, that a believer is holy. That is, in a judicial act by God, on the basis of accepting Christ as Savior, every believer is declared to be holy. Often times Paul addressed his letters to the holy ones or saints, emphasizing this “already” aspect of the work of sanctification.
But sanctification is also a process. We are already sanctified positionally before God, yet, on an experiential level, we are not fully sanctified, or to use Simpson’s phrase, “wholly” sanctified. It is a present reality, yet there is a further work of holiness which still needs to be carried out. It is both a work performed in the life of the believer by God and a work of that each individual Christian must be involved in.
Numerous commands in the Bible imply that believers also have a responsibility in the process of sanctification. We are commanded to “be holy” (Lev. 11:44; 1 Pet. 1:15-16); to “be perfect” (Matt. 5:48); and to “present [our] members as slaves of righteousness for holiness” (Rom. 6:19) (IBD, p. 949).
What Is the Relationship Between Salvation and Sanctification?
What is the relationship between the salvation and sanctification? At the moment we received Christ as Savior, we entered or were initiated into the process of sanctification or becoming holy. As William Barclay points out, “The aim of reconciliation is holiness. Christ carried out His sacrificial work of reconciliation in order to present us to God consecrated, unblemished and irreproachable.” Christ came not only to save us from the power of sin, but from the effects of sin as well. He came to make us holy.
Does this mean that once I’m sanctified, I will never struggle with the power of sin again? Sanctification is a process—a lifelong process. You and I will probably never be completely sanctified or holy in this life. But there is a direct correlation between sanctification and our ability to overcome temptation. In Jesus’ prayer for His disciples He said, My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one (John 17:15). After that He said, Sanctify them (v. 17). Our ability to stand against the attacks of Satan is affected by our relationship to the work of sanctification. Arlo Newell puts it this way, “While holiness [or sanctification] does not make it impossible for you to sin, the experience does make it possible not to sin.”
How Important Is Sanctification?
How important is sanctification really? Isn’t it a good enough if I just ask Christ to be my Savior? Do I really need Him to be my Sanctifier as well? What difference does it make any way—I’m still going to heaven, right?
The Bible makes it clear that it is by grace that we are saved through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). We do not need to receive Christ as our Sanctifier in order to obtain eternal life. That’s a gift that is received by placing our faith in Him. Does this mean that the work of sanctification is secondary? Let say without apology that it is not. It is a necessary work in the life of a believer if he/she is going to experience life to the full (John 10:10). It is possible to go through this life without accepting Christ as Sanctifier. Many have done it. Many will do it. But I can tell you that it is a joyless, powerless and degenerate form of Christianity. It’s missing out on the greatest part of following Christ. A.B. Simpson described it in this way: “In regeneration we pass out of death into life, but in sanctification we pass out of the self-life into the Christ-life.”
The Bible makes it clear that salvation is received by faith, but it also stresses the importance of sanctification. We already looked at Jesus’ final prayer during His earthly ministry. These are some of the last words He uttered before His death. His mind was directed toward the well being of His disciples. In particular He was concerned that they be sanctified. I’ve mentioned in passing two other references to the importance of sanctification. In Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, He commanded His disciples to Be perfect…as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). And Peter quotes from the book of Leviticus in his first epistle, But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy and all you do; for it is written, “Be holy because I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15-16).
I’d like you to turn to one other passage in the NT: 1 Thessalonians 4:3-7. [Read] Paul tells us that it is God’s will that we should be sanctified. You may be familiar with the devotional work by Oswald Chambers entitled My Utmost for His Highest. Here’s what he has to say concerning the importance of Christ as our Sanctifier: “God has one destined end for mankind—holiness! His one aim is the production of saints. God is not an eternal blessing-machine for men. He did not come to save men out of pity. He came to save men because He had created them to be holy.” It is God’s will—His eternal design—that every believer receives Christ as Sanctifier.
What Is God’s Plan to Meet My Need?
As a rule, you can be assured that if God commands us to do something, then He will also supply the means to meet that end. God’s will is that we be sanctified, so He provided a Sanctifier.
God’s answer came in the form of a baby. In Luke 1, we have the account of Mary’s visit from the angel, Gabriel. He told this a young virgin that she was going to be a mother. She was informed that the child she would carry was no ordinary baby. Every other child that had been born, or would be born, came into the world with sin. But this child would be conceived of the Holy Spirit and be free from sin. The angel referred to Him as the holy one…the Son of God (v. 35).
A Perfect Man
God’s plan was to send a perfect man to show us the way of perfection. Through His life He taught us that it is possible to live in a sinful world and not be overcome by it. As the Bible points out, Jesus has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). Living a holy and blameless life is not just a pie-in-the-sky kind of wishful thinking—it is a lifestyle that every believer can experience. But it can only be experienced by accepting Christ as our Sanctifier. It is through His power that we can be victorious over sin.
A Perfect Sacrifice
God’s plan also included a perfect sacrifice. Ultimately, our sanctification is based on Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross. He was crucified so that you and I could be made holy. We read in Ephesians 5 that Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy (v. 25). The author of Hebrews refers to Jesus as the one who makes men holy (2:11).
How Do I Receive Christ as My Sanctifier?
It is God’s will that every believer be sanctified. Christ has come to be our Sanctifier. How do I receive Christ as my Sanctifier? A.B. Simpson, in his book, The Four-Fold Gospel, states that there are four steps that we must take in order for Christ to become our Sanctifier.
Recognize My Need
As in the case of salvation, we began by recognizing our need. God must do a work in our hearts to show us that we need more than just a declaration of holiness—we must feel the need to become holy. We have to be dissatisfied with our lives as they are before we will seek a deeper work of the Spirit within us. As Jesus prayed in the Garden, we can come to see our need for Christ to be our Sanctifier as we spend time in God’s word. Jesus prayed, Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth (John 17:17).
As we study His word, we come to realize that He has much bigger plans for us than to simply give us a fire insurance policy. He wants us to become what we were created to be—holy people made in the image of God. His word serves as a mirror showing us that we have yet a long way to go before we arrive at our desired destination. We soon discover through this self-revealing adventure that the things that once appealed to us and consumed our time and energy are no longer as desirable. And we begin to become hungry for something more—that something is His kingdom and his righteousness.
Reject Personal Attempts at Holiness
The second step is simply to see Christ as our sanctification–He is our Sanctifier. This means turning away from our own well-crafted schemes in order to seek favor with God and accept His plan. We must see that we cannot become holy and pleasing in our own power.
In one of his meetings, D.L. Moody was explaining to his audience the truth that we cannot bring about spiritual changes in our lives by our own strength. He demonstrated the principal like this: “Tell me,” he said to his audience, “how can I get the air out of the tumbler I have in my hand?” One man said, “Suck it out with a pump.” But Moody replied, “That would create a vacuum and shatter it.” Finally after many suggestions, he picked up a pitcher and quietly filled the glass with water. “There,” he said, “all the air is now removed.” He then explained that victory for the child of God does not come by working hard to eliminate sinful habits, but rather by allowing Christ to take full possession. It is only through Christ that we can be sanctified.
Receive His Holiness
Next, we move from recognizing what the right course of action is to doing it. We must surrender to His plan and receive Christ as our Sanctifier—He becomes our very sanctification. This is where we throw our hands up in the air and give in to His will. We must open ourselves up and allow Him to begin the work of sanctification in us. As one Christian writer explains, “To live the sanctified life we must choose to be holy. Sanctification is a life of Christ-centered choices, made evident in loving obedience to God” (Mel E. DePeal).
A Crisis Experience
This act of surrendering to God’s will is both a crisis and a progressive experience. Let me explain what I mean. The word crisis denotes a decisive moment, a turning point. It is a specific decision at a specific time—a one time decision. We must ask Christ to rid us of our own plans, wants and ambitions and come in to fill us with Himself and be our Sanctifier. That is the crisis aspect of our sanctification.
A Progressive Experience
Sanctification is also a progress of experience. When we ask Christ to be our Sanctifier, we will not to be wholly sanctified at that moment. There are a number of reasons that we could cite. But just let it me sum it up by saying that while our hearts may be completely surrendered to doing God’s will at that moment, to the best on our knowledge, it is only to the best of our knowledge. If your experience has been anything like mine, then you have come to many crossroads in your walk with Christ. At these crossroads, the Holy Spirit illuminates our minds to see that we are still trying to selfishly hold on to some areas of our lives—we are not fully surrendered. This is where the progressive aspect of sanctification comes in. As we are enabled to see other areas of our lives that we are trying to control rather than submitting them to the reign of Christ, we need a fresh work of sanctification to take place.
At this point there is no need to ask Christ to be our Sanctifier—we decided that issue already. What we need is a new filling of his presence. This is the exactly what Paul is referring to in Ephesians 5:18, Do not to get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. The verb be filled carries the idea of giving control over to God. It is a present, passive, imperative verb, which in English denotes a continual action, which is brought upon us from the outside, and is not an option that we can choose to obey or ignore. In practical terms, it involves a daily, voluntary giving of ourselves over to God to be filled by Him so that just as the air was removed from the tumbler in Moody’s illustration by pouring water in, so, too, our sinfulness and selfishness are replaced by the fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit.
Remain in Christ
The final step is to believe that Christ has come into our lives to be our Sanctifier and to remain in Him. We must have faith that He has accepted our denial of self and has begun His work of making us holy. In his defense before King Agrippa, Paul explained that we are sanctified by faith in Christ (Acts 26:18). We must believe that He is in us and that He will provide the means for holy living. Simpson writes, “His presence has come into your heart; it may be like a little trickling spring upon a mountain, but it will become great rivers of depth and power” (4FG, pp. 43-44).
Conclusion
I began this message with a story about an ambassador who was asked what he would most like during the Christmas season. I’d like to ask you the same question, “What would you most like for Christmas?”
God would like to give you your heart’s desire. He wants you to have it, but there is only one way it can be yours—that is by following His plan. It is His desire that we be holy, that’s why we were created. Holiness is found by receiving Christ as our Sanctifier.
Why not get what you really want for Christmas this year—something that can’t break, ever go out of fashion, and will satisfy you for the rest of your life? Ask Christ to be your Sanctifier.
If you would like to spend some time in prayer to ask Christ to be your Sanctifier, then I invite you to come to the front row while we sing together Hymn #248, Himself.
