To be spiritually "sanctified" means to be set apart to serve a divine purpose(s). Since the Fall of Man, with the exception of the Lord Jesus Christ, every person that comes into this world is spiritually dead (Psalms 51:5/1Cor. 15: 22), and remains so until the dead human spirit is (Titus 3:5) regenerated by the Work of God the Holy Spirit .
At the very moment that one IS born again, many things take place. One of the things that takes place is the permanent sanctification, or the setting apart for divine purposes, of the soul whose spirit has been regenerated (Titus 3:5). This is what theologians refer to as "positional sanctification. For this first time, the soul is now "set apart" from those who are spiritually dead. This is what it means to receive "positional sanctification".
God created the human race to glorify Himself (Col.1: 16) in the presence of angelic beings who were involved in a conflict that began prior to the creation of Man (See the Doctrine of the Angelic Conflict).
The first time that a human soul here in the Church Age has the opportunity to glorify God is when he/she uses his/her God-given free will and chooses to believe in a presentation of the true Gospel Message. Prior to this opportunity, the human soul is spiritually dead and incapable of doing anything or having anything done for him that glorifies God.
Even the ability to understand the Gospel is a part of the pre-salvation ministry and work of God the Holy Spirit. Apart from God, neither an unbeliever nor a born again believer can do ANYTHING that glorifies God! God is glorified by the individual soul's free-will choice to believe (place his full trust and confidence) in what God has already done on the cross to save him.
It is after, and ONLY after one has already received positional sanctification that he can bring further glory to God through experiential sanctification.
The sanctification process begins at the moment of salvation. From that moment on and for all of eternity, nothing can undo the Titus 3: 5 regenerating and Romans 14:4 sustaining Work that God the Holy Spirit performs. As Scripture reveals, salvation is a gift from God based upon one having faith in what God has already finished (John 19: 30) on the cross. God does not need the assistance of ANY religious ritual to finish the job.
There are two forms of sanctification. The first one (positional sanctification) is of the complete and permanent variety, as it pertains to the salvation that one has already received. No one can ever be any more saved or any less saved that he/she was at the moment he/she was born again. The believer has been forever sanctified, that is "set apart" as a "child" of God at the moment of salvation and can never lose, give back, or have the regenerating Work of God undone.
The second form of sanctification is experiential. The quality of this form of sanctification varies from one believer to the next. Experiential sanctification has n-o-t-h-i-n-g to do with retaining or enhancing one's salvation, but it has e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g to do with how well one can and in fact will glorify God in the course of his/her post (after) salvation spiritual life.
Unlike the permanent and complete sanctification that all believers immediately receive at the moment of salvation, experiential sanctification is an process that never ends during a believer's time here on Earth. If, or how quickly one advances in the experiential sanctification process is dependent on one's self-determined rate of progress in developing spiritual maturity. Many believers never grow up in the spiritual realm, but remain "babes in Christ" (1 Cor. 3) throughout the course of their post salvation spiritual life.
The majority (Matthew 7: 13) of born again believers are no further along the road to spiritual maturity than they were on the day they were born again. Many born again believers will go no further in their walk with the Lord, but fall prey to schemes of the devil that takes them away from entering into or remaining in the true past salvation spiritual life. Such believers are no less saved than any other, but never develop an appetite for the spiritual food of the Word of God.
Such believers have been taken captive and removed from the spiritual battlefield (Ephesians 6) of the post salvation spiritual life. Such capture is the result of either being deceived, distracted, or discouraged by the Ephesians 6:12 forces of evil.
Satan and the Ephesians 6 forces of evil can do nothing to undo the atoning Work of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 19: 30) or the regenerating Work of God the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5), but can do much to deceive, distract, and to discourage the development of spiritual maturity in the life of a born again believer. It matters not to the devil if he accomplishes this objective through temporal "blessings" (Luke 4:6) or adversity, as long as his ultimate goal of removing a born again believer from the battlefield is achieved.
When the devil deceives a born again believer into believing that the production of his/ her human good is what glorifies God, its a win-win situation for the Kingdom of Darkness. Keep in mind that Eve was deceived prior to the fall of Man.
Not only is it the devil's world (Luke 4:6) that benefits from the human good that is produced, but God is NOT glorified by it's production. The production of human good is the means by which most believers and unbelievers make a living. There is divine work to be done in the workplace, but one must learn to distinghish what divine good is, and that for the most part, the only contribution to the post salvation spiritual life that our divers secular professions and/or labor make is that it is by such means that God places His ambassadors (2Cor. 5:20) in every walk of life.
Human good can and is equally produced by both the believers and unbelievers here on Earth. Because all forms of human good can be equally produced by the human talents and abiliies of believers and unbelievers alike, it is viewed as being no more than the. "wood, hay, and straw" of 1Cor. 3: 12-15, destined to be, burned up (rejected) at the evaluation/judgment and rewarding of believers' deeds.
The classic example of great human good that has NO value as far as glorifying God or meriting eternal reward for the producer is the human good that is performed by a talented surgeon who is spiritually dead and incapable (John 15:5) of doing anything of value in the spiritual realm.
The devil and the Ephesians 6:12 forces of evil distract the born again believer by appealing to the fallen nature in all of us that is hostile (Romans 8:7) towards God and the things of God, and strives to promote self. As noted above, this influence can come in the form of both temporal blessings and/or adversity. The devil is a master in the art of deception and knows better than he just what buttons to press and when to press them for maximum effect.
The devil and the Ephesians 6: 12 forces of evil will attempt to discourage the advancement of the born again believer by attempting to raise doubts as to the security of his salvation or of his/her ability to please God in light of all the failures that are common to the human experience.
The devil and the Ephesians 6:12 forces of evil promote religion, knowing that those who fall for its lure will continue on believing all is right between them and God, when it fact Hell will be filled with "religious" and relatively good, moral people, but who never came to terms with the true Gospel. Likewise, there will be many born again believers who will leave this world believing that that they are going to be rewarded for all the good things they did, only to watch their record of human good go up in smoke and leave the judgment hall empty handed (1Cor. 3: 12-15).
There are no short cuts along the route to spiritual maturity. Each and every day of one's post (after) salvation life, the born again believer either takes a few steps forward or a few steps backwards towards reachng reaching or retaining spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity is reached and retained by studying (not merely reading) the Bible and applying the principles learned or have reinforced as we apply what we have learned to the circumstances of our personal periphery in our daily lives. We often pray to receive our daily bread. While this can refer to basic natural food, it also applies to the daily (spiritual) food of the Word of God.
The daily time that disciples (should) set aside for the study of the Word of God is "sanctified" time that we (should) set aside for God and things of God. Funny how we find the time to do what pleases our self, yet some of us "just don't have the time" for God or the things of God.
This daily process is what our Lord was referring to when He said that it is they who "continue" in His Word are His true disciples (John 8: 31). The daily practice of Bible study and the moment to moment application of Biblical principles to each day's events and circumstances is what distinguishes born again believers who are babes in Christ and born again believers who enter into and remain in discipleship.
Each and every day that we set aside time to study the Bible we take a few steps forward toward spiritual maturity. Each and every day we neglect our Bible study, we take a few steps backwards.
Each and every day we apply what we have learned to what we think, say, and do, or don't do, we take a few steps forward in the process. Each and every day we fail to apply what we have learned to what we think, say, do, or don't do, we take a few steps backwards. When either or becomes our lifestyle, it shows which direction we have been headed in recently.
In the initial years of discipleship, there is a tendency to grow in leaps and bounds concerning the amount of knowledge we take in and store away. Although one never reaches the point that he/she has learned all there is to be learned, our daily Bible study will eventually become more of a reinforcement and reiteration process to maintain the edified soul structure that God the Holy Spirit has built for us. Without daily maintenance, cracks caused by neglect can jeopardize the integrity of the soul structure that can lead to the collapse of one's progress in the post salvation spiritual life, but one's salvation remains secure.
The objective of experiential sanctification is to conform (Romans 8: 29) our thinking (1Cor. 2:16) and inevitably our behavior to the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. A born again believer can not be used of God to pass onto others anything that he has not first received for himself. It is through the silent testimony of an advancing disciple's daily speech, conduct, choices, and activity that we (should) attact others, setting the stage for God the Holy Spirit to minister to others. It is by way of example, and then by verbal communication that God the Holy Spirit ministers to others through us.
Until we learn that the divine good is produced by God through us and not by us, the true post salvaion spiritual life will be one of frustration. Our Lord made it perfectly clear that apart from Him, there is n-o-t-h-i-n-g that can be accomplished in the spiritual realm. When it is God that does the Work, through us, it is God who is glorified.
In summary, sanctification is manifested in two forms. The first is permanent and takes place, in full, at the moment of salvation, forever setting the soul apart as a child of God. The second form is a process that runs concurrently with the duration of one's post (after) salvation spiritual life. This is what conforms the believer in thought and action to the likeness of Christ. This transformation and resulting lifestyle is observed by fallen and elect angels, as well as human beings in our personal periphery. This is how God is glorified. It is the glorification of God that is at the center of the true post salvation spiritual life.
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At the very moment that one IS born again, many things take place. One of the things that takes place is the permanent sanctification, or the setting apart for divine purposes, of the soul whose spirit has been regenerated (Titus 3:5). This is what theologians refer to as "positional sanctification. For this first time, the soul is now "set apart" from those who are spiritually dead. This is what it means to receive "positional sanctification".
God created the human race to glorify Himself (Col.1: 16) in the presence of angelic beings who were involved in a conflict that began prior to the creation of Man (See the Doctrine of the Angelic Conflict).
The first time that a human soul here in the Church Age has the opportunity to glorify God is when he/she uses his/her God-given free will and chooses to believe in a presentation of the true Gospel Message. Prior to this opportunity, the human soul is spiritually dead and incapable of doing anything or having anything done for him that glorifies God.
Even the ability to understand the Gospel is a part of the pre-salvation ministry and work of God the Holy Spirit. Apart from God, neither an unbeliever nor a born again believer can do ANYTHING that glorifies God! God is glorified by the individual soul's free-will choice to believe (place his full trust and confidence) in what God has already done on the cross to save him.
It is after, and ONLY after one has already received positional sanctification that he can bring further glory to God through experiential sanctification.
The sanctification process begins at the moment of salvation. From that moment on and for all of eternity, nothing can undo the Titus 3: 5 regenerating and Romans 14:4 sustaining Work that God the Holy Spirit performs. As Scripture reveals, salvation is a gift from God based upon one having faith in what God has already finished (John 19: 30) on the cross. God does not need the assistance of ANY religious ritual to finish the job.
There are two forms of sanctification. The first one (positional sanctification) is of the complete and permanent variety, as it pertains to the salvation that one has already received. No one can ever be any more saved or any less saved that he/she was at the moment he/she was born again. The believer has been forever sanctified, that is "set apart" as a "child" of God at the moment of salvation and can never lose, give back, or have the regenerating Work of God undone.
The second form of sanctification is experiential. The quality of this form of sanctification varies from one believer to the next. Experiential sanctification has n-o-t-h-i-n-g to do with retaining or enhancing one's salvation, but it has e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g to do with how well one can and in fact will glorify God in the course of his/her post (after) salvation spiritual life.
Unlike the permanent and complete sanctification that all believers immediately receive at the moment of salvation, experiential sanctification is an process that never ends during a believer's time here on Earth. If, or how quickly one advances in the experiential sanctification process is dependent on one's self-determined rate of progress in developing spiritual maturity. Many believers never grow up in the spiritual realm, but remain "babes in Christ" (1 Cor. 3) throughout the course of their post salvation spiritual life.
The majority (Matthew 7: 13) of born again believers are no further along the road to spiritual maturity than they were on the day they were born again. Many born again believers will go no further in their walk with the Lord, but fall prey to schemes of the devil that takes them away from entering into or remaining in the true past salvation spiritual life. Such believers are no less saved than any other, but never develop an appetite for the spiritual food of the Word of God.
Such believers have been taken captive and removed from the spiritual battlefield (Ephesians 6) of the post salvation spiritual life. Such capture is the result of either being deceived, distracted, or discouraged by the Ephesians 6:12 forces of evil.
Satan and the Ephesians 6 forces of evil can do nothing to undo the atoning Work of the Lord Jesus Christ (John 19: 30) or the regenerating Work of God the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5), but can do much to deceive, distract, and to discourage the development of spiritual maturity in the life of a born again believer. It matters not to the devil if he accomplishes this objective through temporal "blessings" (Luke 4:6) or adversity, as long as his ultimate goal of removing a born again believer from the battlefield is achieved.
When the devil deceives a born again believer into believing that the production of his/ her human good is what glorifies God, its a win-win situation for the Kingdom of Darkness. Keep in mind that Eve was deceived prior to the fall of Man.
Not only is it the devil's world (Luke 4:6) that benefits from the human good that is produced, but God is NOT glorified by it's production. The production of human good is the means by which most believers and unbelievers make a living. There is divine work to be done in the workplace, but one must learn to distinghish what divine good is, and that for the most part, the only contribution to the post salvation spiritual life that our divers secular professions and/or labor make is that it is by such means that God places His ambassadors (2Cor. 5:20) in every walk of life.
Human good can and is equally produced by both the believers and unbelievers here on Earth. Because all forms of human good can be equally produced by the human talents and abiliies of believers and unbelievers alike, it is viewed as being no more than the. "wood, hay, and straw" of 1Cor. 3: 12-15, destined to be, burned up (rejected) at the evaluation/judgment and rewarding of believers' deeds.
The classic example of great human good that has NO value as far as glorifying God or meriting eternal reward for the producer is the human good that is performed by a talented surgeon who is spiritually dead and incapable (John 15:5) of doing anything of value in the spiritual realm.
The devil and the Ephesians 6:12 forces of evil distract the born again believer by appealing to the fallen nature in all of us that is hostile (Romans 8:7) towards God and the things of God, and strives to promote self. As noted above, this influence can come in the form of both temporal blessings and/or adversity. The devil is a master in the art of deception and knows better than he just what buttons to press and when to press them for maximum effect.
The devil and the Ephesians 6: 12 forces of evil will attempt to discourage the advancement of the born again believer by attempting to raise doubts as to the security of his salvation or of his/her ability to please God in light of all the failures that are common to the human experience.
The devil and the Ephesians 6:12 forces of evil promote religion, knowing that those who fall for its lure will continue on believing all is right between them and God, when it fact Hell will be filled with "religious" and relatively good, moral people, but who never came to terms with the true Gospel. Likewise, there will be many born again believers who will leave this world believing that that they are going to be rewarded for all the good things they did, only to watch their record of human good go up in smoke and leave the judgment hall empty handed (1Cor. 3: 12-15).
There are no short cuts along the route to spiritual maturity. Each and every day of one's post (after) salvation life, the born again believer either takes a few steps forward or a few steps backwards towards reachng reaching or retaining spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity is reached and retained by studying (not merely reading) the Bible and applying the principles learned or have reinforced as we apply what we have learned to the circumstances of our personal periphery in our daily lives. We often pray to receive our daily bread. While this can refer to basic natural food, it also applies to the daily (spiritual) food of the Word of God.
The daily time that disciples (should) set aside for the study of the Word of God is "sanctified" time that we (should) set aside for God and things of God. Funny how we find the time to do what pleases our self, yet some of us "just don't have the time" for God or the things of God.
This daily process is what our Lord was referring to when He said that it is they who "continue" in His Word are His true disciples (John 8: 31). The daily practice of Bible study and the moment to moment application of Biblical principles to each day's events and circumstances is what distinguishes born again believers who are babes in Christ and born again believers who enter into and remain in discipleship.
Each and every day that we set aside time to study the Bible we take a few steps forward toward spiritual maturity. Each and every day we neglect our Bible study, we take a few steps backwards.
Each and every day we apply what we have learned to what we think, say, and do, or don't do, we take a few steps forward in the process. Each and every day we fail to apply what we have learned to what we think, say, do, or don't do, we take a few steps backwards. When either or becomes our lifestyle, it shows which direction we have been headed in recently.
In the initial years of discipleship, there is a tendency to grow in leaps and bounds concerning the amount of knowledge we take in and store away. Although one never reaches the point that he/she has learned all there is to be learned, our daily Bible study will eventually become more of a reinforcement and reiteration process to maintain the edified soul structure that God the Holy Spirit has built for us. Without daily maintenance, cracks caused by neglect can jeopardize the integrity of the soul structure that can lead to the collapse of one's progress in the post salvation spiritual life, but one's salvation remains secure.
The objective of experiential sanctification is to conform (Romans 8: 29) our thinking (1Cor. 2:16) and inevitably our behavior to the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. A born again believer can not be used of God to pass onto others anything that he has not first received for himself. It is through the silent testimony of an advancing disciple's daily speech, conduct, choices, and activity that we (should) attact others, setting the stage for God the Holy Spirit to minister to others. It is by way of example, and then by verbal communication that God the Holy Spirit ministers to others through us.
Until we learn that the divine good is produced by God through us and not by us, the true post salvaion spiritual life will be one of frustration. Our Lord made it perfectly clear that apart from Him, there is n-o-t-h-i-n-g that can be accomplished in the spiritual realm. When it is God that does the Work, through us, it is God who is glorified.
In summary, sanctification is manifested in two forms. The first is permanent and takes place, in full, at the moment of salvation, forever setting the soul apart as a child of God. The second form is a process that runs concurrently with the duration of one's post (after) salvation spiritual life. This is what conforms the believer in thought and action to the likeness of Christ. This transformation and resulting lifestyle is observed by fallen and elect angels, as well as human beings in our personal periphery. This is how God is glorified. It is the glorification of God that is at the center of the true post salvation spiritual life.
Click HERE to return to HOME Page.