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Sanctification is not a work of us, but a work of grace. The evangelical order of salvation
has ten parts. Election/predestination, gospel call, conversion, regeneration, justification,
adoption, union with Christ, sanctification, perseverance, and glorification. This paper will
address the aspect of sanctification. John 17:17-19 says “Sanctify them in truth; your word is
truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I
consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.” Sanctification is a process in which
we are set apart and purified though the word of the Lord. You might be asking, what makes this
aspect of the order of salvation so important, and why did I choose to talk about it today? And
the answer to that question is this: Each person who has given their life over to Jesus has been set
apart for a divine purpose. And that purpose can only be found through the process of
sanctification. Through sanctification and the process of being made clean and holy, God lays
desires on our hearts and begins to show you the purpose that he has for your life.
It is stated above that sanctification is a work of grace, so we must first define what grace
is. We find different definitions of grace within the Old Testament and the New Testament,
“showing favor to someone of lesser status”, “spontaneous goodness”, “to show compassion”,
then there is the idea of common grace and special grace, and many other “ideas” or
“interpretations” of the meaning of grace, yet ultimately throughout scripture we see grace as a
characteristic of God. Grace is undeserved favor, given by God to us as sinners, it is the mercy of
God.
Sanctification is to be set apart, or to be holy, but the meaning of sanctification goes even
deeper than this. God commands holiness because he is holy. 2 Timothy 2:21 says, “Therefore, if
anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set
apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.”
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“We were impure due to sin, but now we are being made holy and pure through the holy
spirit.” (Blackwell & Hatchett 202). We can see in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 that God’s intention for
our sanctification is holistic. “May God himself, the God of peace,Bsanctify you through and
through. May your whole spirit, soulBand body be kept blamelessBat the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit to write this letter, describes our sanctification as
something that takes place in us “through and through,” or, “wholly.” He then elaborates on this
statement by delineating that this whole sanctification is in our spirit, our soul, and our body- and
when we look at other scriptural references to these three parts of the being, we see a very clear
picture that sanctification is refining every fiber of us, from the inside out.
The first word, spirit, or pneuma, literally translates to “breath.” It is the same word used
when New Testament authors refer to the Holy Spirit. It is the word used in Galatians, speaking
of the fruit of the Spirit. It is the word used in the Gospel of John, when the “Spirit descended
like a dove.” This concept of “God’s breath” being our innermost being is consistent with the
creation story of man in Genesis 2:7, where, after forming Adam from dust, God breathed into
him- the action by which Adam “became a living being.”
The third word in the verse: “body,” is literally “soma” referring to a corporeal, tangible
part of our personhood. This word does not necessitate life or death as “corpse” does, but rather
is a totally objective description of the physical being. The idea that this is last in the order of our
process of being made Holy is consistent with the doctrine of glorification in that the 10th and
final step is receiving our new physical bodies.
This middle word, “soul,” is where get the best picture of sanctification. Spirit and Body
have very clear definitions, but Soul is a little bit harder to nail down. Many western believers
even use soul and spirit as interchangeable vocabulary, but if that were so, there would be no
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need to separate them in this verse. Speaking of separating spirit and soul, Hebrews 4:12 says
that "The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far
as the division of soul and spirit". So, what is the soul?
This word for soul- psuche- is used in by various New Testament authors to mean “the
mind.” For Example, Acts 14:2 uses the same word in the sentence “Unbelieving Jews stirred up
the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.” We also see it translated in
Colossians and Ephesians as “the heart” or “life.”
In the Old Testament, the concept of “soul” is referenced many times. Psalm 139
describes the soul “knowing.” And the book of Proverbs references the knowledge of the soul.
(The Economy of God, Chapter 6) The Book of Ezekiel, as well as Psalms, translate the Hebrew
word for soul into “will.” And Job 17:15 describes where the soul is operative in “choosing.”
Aside from the New Testament translation to “heart,” Old Testament Authors consistently
describe grief, hope, and desire as being experiences of the soul specifically.
Though harder to define than spirit and body, we can clearly see in scripture that the soul
involves our minds, our emotions (heart), and our volition. All of this comes together to enhance
our perspective of life as a believer, being sanctified. Our growth in Holiness is something that
coats our thoughts, our emotions, and our choices as we are little by little transformed to the
image of Christ.
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Bibliography
“Excerpts from the Ministry.”BThe Economy of God. Accessed November 2, 2024.
https://www.ministrybooks.org/display/index.php?ent=AMA&id=3995.B
Lunn A., Lunn: The Theology of sanctification and Resignation in Charles Wesley’s Hymns
(New York, NY Routledge, 2019)
Blackwell C. Ben, Hatchett R. L., Engaging Theology (Houston Baptist University, 2019)
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