Sanctification
With this essay we will begin a series of essays on
the subject of
"Sanctification." This is a very broad, yet needful,
subject matter for
us as God's children to understand.
The word, "sanctify,"
means to "separate or to set apart." There are
several key words in this subject that have similar
or the same
meaning. These words are holy, sanctify, saint,
separate, and
consecrate. These English words are translated from
the same or similar
Hebrew and Greek words. For instance the words holy
and saint are
translated from the Greek word "hagios." Whereas the
word,
"sanctification," is translated from "hagiasmos" and
the words,
"sanctify," is translated from "hagiazo." A similar
pattern is also
found in the Hebrew words of the old testament. The
Hebrew word,
"qodesh," for instance is translated into the
following English words:
consecrated thing, dedicated thing, hallowed thing,
holiness, holy day,
holy portion, holy thing, saint, sanctuary,
consecrated, hallowed, holy,
most holy place, most holy thing, and most holy.
We will divide our
study of the subject of sanctification into three
parts. We will first look at how God is separate or
set apart. I will
confess that I have neither the knowledge nor the
time to completely
cover all aspects and all details of such a broad
subject. Thus our
study of this first part will be limited to my
knowledge and time I must
of necessity limit to this undertaking.
The second part of
this study will address the sanctification of God's
children. This will be divided into two parts. We
will first consider
how that God has set us apart for a holy use and
then we will consider
how that we are to set ourselves apart for the
worship and service of
God. Again our consideration of this second part
will be limited due to
time and my limited knowledge.
The third part of this
study will address those things that God has
instituted such as the church, her service, and the
ordinances of the
church.
I believe a study of
holiness or sanctification is a worthy endeavor
for any child of God to undertake. It is a quest for
the knowledge of
perfection and a desire to strive for perfection in
our lives. Paul
wrote in Phil. 3:12 15, "Not as though I had already
attained, either
were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I
may apprehend that
for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Brethren I count not
myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do,
forgetting those
things which are behind, and reaching unto those
things which are
before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the
high calling of God
in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be
perfect, be thus
minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded,
God shall reveal
even this unto you." I would encourage every one who
loves the Lord and
loves His word to strive on for perfection, not that
we can make
ourselves righteous before God, but that we may
"apprehend that for
which we are apprehended of Christ."
May God add his
richest blessings to our efforts as we strive to
sanctify ourselves and as we praise Him for his
holiness.
Prophet
Moses said in Deut. 18:15 19, "The Lord thy God will
raise up unto thee
a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren,
like unto me; unto
him ye shall hearken; according to all that thou
desirest of the Lord
thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying,
Let me not hear
again the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me
see this great fire
any more, that I die not. And the Lord said unto me,
They have well
spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise
them up a Prophet from
among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put
my words in his
mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall
command him. And
it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not
hearken unto my words
which he shall speak in my name, I will require it
of him."
A prophet is someone
who God has appointed, called, and sent to speak
the words God has revealed unto him to the people.
There were many old
and new testament prophets including Abraham, Moses,
Elijah, Elisha,
Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, the minor
prophets, Luke, and
Mark. The key to understand who Moses is referring
to in the above
quoted passage of scripture is found in the phrase,
"like unto me."
Jesus, the Son of God, is that Prophet, who is like
unto Moses. The
phrase, "like unto me," invites a comparison between
"that Prophet" and
Moses as a prophet. In John 1:17 we read, "For the
law was given by
Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."
God used his prophet,
Moses, to deliver the law to the children of Israel.
Jesus Christ, as
the Prophet, delivered the principles of grace and
truth unto us.
When reviewing the
work of Moses as a prophet of God we discover some
amazing parallels between the work of Moses and work
of Jesus. First,
Moses was sent of God to deliver the children of
Israel out of the
bondage of their enemies: Pharaoh and Egypt. Before
deliverance came
God manifest his miraculous wonders and power upon
the Egyptians thru
the ten plagues he sent when having Moses stretch
forth his rod.
Finally God destroyed Pharaoh and his host in the
Red Sea as they
pursued after Israel. In similar fashion Jesus came
to deliver his
people from their enemies: sin, death, grave, hell,
and the devil.
Before this
deliverance was consummated Jesus manifested the
great
wonders and power of God thru the multitude of
miracles of healing and
raising the dead, and preaching the gospel. At the
time appointed Jesus
destroyed the enemies of his people at his death,
burial and
resurrection.
Second, Moses was
charged of God to build a tabernacle in the
wilderness according to the pattern shown unto him
in the mount. This
tabernacle would be the place of worship and where
God would meet with
the people. In comparison, Jesus said, "upon this
rock I will build my
church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it." Paul in
describing the church in Eph. 2:19 22 said, "Now,
therefore, ye are no
more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints, and
of the household of God; and are built upon the
foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being
the chief corner
stone; in whom all the building fitly framed
together groweth unto an
holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded
together for an
habitation of God through the Spirit." Whereas Moses
and the children
of Israel built the tabernacle as a place of
worship, Jesus built the
church where we worship God in Spirit and truth
today.
Third, God delivered
thru his prophet, Moses, the laws, ordinances, and
precepts of the kingdom of Israel. A good part of
Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy deal with the order of that kingdom, and
how the people were
to conduct themselves towards their God and towards
one another, as well
as the ordinances of worship. In comparison, Jesus
Christ came
declaring that the Kingdom of God is at hand and
setting forth the
ordinances and precepts of worship, conduct, and
service of his people
in the kingdom of God. A great deal of Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John
deal with the statements of Jesus, "the kingdom of
heaven is likened
unto..."
Fourth, God used Moses
as an instrument in providing for the needs of
his people such as providing water by smiting the
rock, providing quail,
manna, etc. Similarly, we see Jesus feeding the
multitude by taking 5
barley loaves and two small fishes and blessing them
and breaking them
and giving them to the disciples to distribute to
the multitude. In
like fashion Jesus continues to provide for his
people thru the
preaching of the gospel today as he calls and sends
forth his ministry
to preach the word and feed his sheep.
While many individual
events could be compared such as Moses turning
water into blood and Christ turning water into wine,
yet we need to
consider the admonition in Hebrews: Heb. 1:1, 2,
"God, who at sundry
times and in divers manners spake in times past unto
the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by
his son..."; Heb.
2:1, "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest
heed to the things
which we have heard, lest at any time we should let
them slip." We are
living in a very dark period of ignorance of God's
word by most of the
Lord's people.
One old testament
passage says, "My people are destroyed
because they have no knowledge" and another, "my
people are gone into
captivity for lack of knowledge." We need to take
the attitude of Job
who said, "I have esteemed the words of his mouth
more than my necessary
food," and of David who said, "Thy word have I hid
in my heart that I
might not sin against thee."
The Prophet, like unto
Moses, has spoken unto us and we need to take
heed.
