Sanctified to the Lord

Sanctified to the Lord

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thess. 5:23.

Christ has redeemed us with His precious blood, and He wants to possess us entirely. Only after we have consecrated ourselves to Him—are radically set free and separated from all other influences except from that which we receive from Christ—can He begin to sanctify and glorify us. Then we will have constant fellowship with the God of peace in everything we say and do.

We are to sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts once and for all, just as we are to sanctify ourselves for certain tasks each day. “I will also sanctify both Aaron and his sons to minister to Me as priests.” Ex. 29:44. In this state of sanctification God guaranteed that their work would prosper and be glorious.

God’s blessing and power departed from the children of Israel when something impure entered their midst. As a result, they were defeated by a few men from the little town of Ai. Then Joshua and the elders fell to the earth on their faces before the ark of the Lord until evening. The Lord said to them: “Get up, sanctify the people, and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because thus says the Lord God of Israel: “There is an accursed thing in your midst, O Israel; you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you.”’” Josh. 7:13.

If there are areas in our life that we have not sanctified and sacrificed, we will be powerless on the day of battle, and the Lord will not be able to perform His blessed work within us. To be a true disciple of Jesus, we have to sacrifice everything; otherwise we are not fit for the kingdom of heaven.

God could guarantee the victory as soon as the people had sanctified themselves and had destroyed Achan and his entire family as well as the accursed goods. Josh. 8:1. Jesus has promised to be with His disciples always, even to the end of the age. They have forsaken everything in order to follow Him, and they are guaranteed all grace and help in every kind of situation.

“Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” 2 Tim. 2:21. We are to be clean vessels of gold and silver, separated and sanctified, so that we can always be ready for the task and the work that God has prepared for us.

“I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.” Acts 26:17-18. If we are to help people to rise from the miry clay, then we need to stand on solid ground. We must be set free and redeemed from the sins from which we want to help others to become free. Nothing is as separated as light is from darkness. This is the kind of separation in which the five wise virgins lived—in the midst of the darkness of midnight. They were sanctified, holy, glorious, and prepared to meet their Bridegroom.

“And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” Acts 20:32. Only those who are sanctified to the Lord have a share in His inheritance. God shares all His riches with them while He performs His great work. They are qualified to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. Col. 1:12.

Everything and everyone will be sanctified to the Lord in the millennium. “In that day ‘HOLINESS TO THE LORD’ shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. The pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness to the Lord of hosts . . . . In that day there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts.” Zech. 14:20-21. Yes, those will truly be glorious times when everything and everyone is sanctified to the Lord, and no one will say that anything is his own.

It is wonderful that we can enter into this glory even now by being sanctified, by walking in the light, and by dying to this egotistical Canaanite in us.

“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” John 17:17. We are to be sanctified to obey every word of God. “Then Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you also want to go away?’” However, Peter stood before the Truth, sanctified and separated from everything and everyone, and could say: “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Because he was obedient to the Word, he could present himself before the throne of God; thus his consecration was richly rewarded.

“And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.” V. 19. How exceedingly great it is that Jesus sanctifies Himself for us so that we will be fully united with Him in this sanctification in the truth. He is extremely interested in each one of us. He loves us and intercedes on our behalf. He wants to give us all grace and help at the right time so that it will succeed for us. If we sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts, He will sanctify Himself for us, and then it can only succeed.