Note V: Holiness and Sanctification

Worpbs mean exactly what they pass current for, and with the English Bible before us, it is idle to insist on a distinction between ‘‘holiness” and ‘‘ sanctification.” But I think an examination of the various passages where the Greek correlatives of these terms occur, will help much towards accuracy of thought and a clear grasp of the truth upon this subject.

The meaning of dyidgew in Scripture, (and I am not aware that it ever has any other meaning), is to separate, or set apart, for God, or to some sacred purpose; and dyiacuds means either the act of consecration, or the condition into which that act introduces the subject of it. There is no question, mark, of any change of essential qualities. The subject may be (a) intrinsically holy already, or (b) be and continue to be intrinsically unholy, or (c) it may be incapable of moral qualities altogether. (a) Christ was sanctified by the Father, (John x. 86), (b) the sinner is sanctified on believing (1 Cor. vi. 11); and an unconverted husband or wife is sanctified in virtue of marriage with a holy person, (1 Cor. vii. 14); and (c) the vessels of the temple were sanctified, as also the creatures we use for food are ‘‘ sanctified by the word of God and prayer,” (1 Tim. iv. 4, 5).

‘Ayidgew is therefore to make a person or thing holy, in the sense in which to justify a person is to make that person right-. eous. His condition is changed, but not necessarily his character. I subjoin a list of all the passages where the word occurs, and a careful perusal of them will show that in one case only does the word seem to bear a different meaning. I allude to the prayer of 1 Thess. v. 23. ‘*The God of peace sanctify you wholly.” But a consideration of the context will show that ‘‘ wholly” refers not to progressive sanctification of the whole man regarded as a unit, but to the absolute sanctification of every part of the man considered as a complex being, made up of “body, soul, and spirit.” So Bloomfield, Alford, &c., take it, notwithstanding their strong bias towards the other view. In John xvii. it is wholly unjustifiable to put a different meaning on the word “sanctify,” when the Lord uses it of Himself, and when Heapplies it to His disciples. Eph. v. 26 calls for notice only to point out that our translation is inaccurate. The right rendering is ‘‘that he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the washing of water by the word.” ‘‘ He gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify it:” It is the burnt-offering again. (Ex. xxiv., see p. 111 ante.)

It will be observed that we are said to be sanctified by God the Father, sanctified by the Spirit, sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus, sanctified in Christ Jesus, and sanctified by blood. These all refer to one and the same sanctification. God is the Author, the Spirit the Agent, and the blood the means, of our sanctification, and it is in Christ that all this is ours. The attempt of some commentators to cut up the verse in the 6th of Ist Cor., and make ‘‘ justified” refer to Christ, and “sanctified” to the Spirit, is mere special pleading. The believer is sanctified absolutely and for ever, even as he is justified; and of necessity it is by the Spirit, for through Him it is that every blessing flows to us.

All this is confirmed by a careful study of the passages where ayiacouds is used. It is very remarkable, that when sanctification is spoken of as by the Spirit, it is connected with election, and precedes faith. And the reason of this seems to me to be that, though chronologically, faith and sanctification are simultaneous, there is nevertheless a moral order varying according as we view the subject from our own standpoint, or in the light of the sovereignty of God. In the former case, faith comes first, and sanctification follows as a consequence; but when election comes in, we see our faith to be the result of the Divine decree which set us apart to eternal life.

It is further remarkable that neither continuous nor progressive sanctification is ever spoken of as being the work of the Spirit. But the reason of this is clear; the truth is too obvious to need even to be stated. It is only by the help of the Holy Spirit that a believer can stand for a moment. Truth is emphasised in Scripture, not, as in a creed, according to its doctrinal importance relatively to other truths, but according to the practical need which exists for enforcing it upon the believer,

Holiness means, as we have seen, not merely the state of being sanctified, but also the moral character akin to that state. And here the Greek, a language rich in such distinctions, is not confined to a single word. I have dealt with ayiacuss. The quality or attribute of holiness is expressed in dywovvn, a word which, strange to say, is used but thrice, namely, Rom. i. 4, ‘the Spirit of holiness;” not the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit of Christ, in contrast with the flesh mentioned in the preceding verse: 2 Cor. vii. 1, upon which I have already commented (p. 119, ante); and 1 Thess. iii. 13, ‘‘unblamable in holiness,” a very solemn and significant word, especially in the connection where it occurs. The kindred word éyérns is found only in Heb, xu. 10, ‘‘That we might be partakers of His holiness.” And dovérns in Luke i. 75; and Eph. iv. 24.

A comparison of Eph, iv. 24 with 1 Cor. i. 30, will give an insight into the difference between this last word and dyacpés. Israel’s sanctification, and indeed their entire position as a redeemed people, was maintained by the “middle wall of partition” which separated them from other nations. (See Lev. xx. 26.) But Christ Himself is to His people, now, what the ‘* middle wall of partition” was to the Jew: He is made unto us sanctification. The first xaos in this verse has the force of both; I presume the last is equivalent to even; Christ is made unto us ‘* wisdom from God, and both righteousness and sanctification, even redemption.” It is only in virtue of what Christ has done for us that we can gain the place we hold in redemption: it is entirely in virtue of what Christ now is to us that we can be maintained in that place.

But in Eph. iv. 24, it is not a question of what Christ is to us, but of the essential qualities of the new creation of which He is the Head, and of what we ourselves ought to be in practical conformity therewith. The new man is created in holiness. To ignore the truth that Christ is made unto us ayacpués, and that therefore the believer is holy, independently of his life on earth, is to abandon or deny the true position of the Christian; but to suppose that Christ is made unto us holiness in this further sense also, would lead to the still deeper error of regarding hol livin as of no account whatever. co) y ayid fo.

Matt. vi. 9. — “Hallowed be thy name” (and Luke xi. 2).

Matt. xxiii. 17, 19. — The temple that sanctifieth the gold: the altar that sanctifieth the gift.

John x. 86. — Say ye of Him whom the Father hath sanctified.

John xvii. 17, 19. — Sanctify them through Thy truth. For their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

Acts xx, 82. — Inheritance among all them that are sanctified (and xxvi. 18).

Rom. xv. 16. — That the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.

1 Cor. i, 2. — Sanctified in Christ Jesus.

1 Cor, vi. 11. — But ye are sanctified... by the Spirit of our God.

1 Cor. vii. 14. — The unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband.

Eph. v. 26. — That He might sanctify it (the Church).

1 Thess. v. 28. — God of peace sanctify you wholly.

1 Tim. iv. 5. — (Every creature) is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer.

2 Tim. ii, 21. — A vessel sanctified and meet for the Master’s use.

Heb. ii, 11. — He that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified.

Heb, ix. 13. — If blood and ashes... sanctifieth to purifying of flesh.

Heb. x. 10. — By which will we are sanctified.

Heb. x. 14. — Hath perfected them that are sanctified.

Heb. x. 29. — Blood... wherewith he was sanctified.

Heb. xiii. 12. — That He might sanctify the people.

1 Pet. iii, 15. — Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.

Jude 1. — To them that are sanctified by God the Father (the better reading is beloved of God the Father).

Rey. xxii. 11, — Let him be holy still (é. ¢., let him be sanctified still),

ByLAT ibs.

Rom. vi, 19. — Yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

Rom. vi. 22. — Ye have your fruit unto holiness.

1 Cor. i. 30. — Christ is made unto us... sanctification.

1 Thess. iv. 3. — This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication,

1 Thess. iv. 4. — Possess his vessel in sanctification.

1 Thess. iv. 7. — God hath not called you to uncleanness, but to holiness.

2 Thess. ii. 18. — Salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.

1 Tim. ii, 15. — Saved in childbearing if they continue in holiness.

Heb. xii. 14 — Follow ... holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.

1 Pet. i, 2. — Hlect... through sanctification of the Spirit unto, &e.