The more we are sanctified in the truth, the more we are one; sanctification through the word of the truth results in oneness by dealing with all the factors of division.
This is seen in the Lord’s prayer in John 17, where He prayed that His disciples and all those who believe into Him would be one, even as the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father, that they may be in “Us” (in the Triune God).
The more we are sanctified by the truth, the more we are one intrinsically and organically.
This is why we need to come to the Lord in His word every day, taking the written word into us by means of all prayer and petition so that it becomes the living word, which is applied to our being all throughout the day.
The Bible is not a book of knowledge, history, prophecies, and teachings; the Bible is the word of God, and the very essence of God is contained and embodied in the word of God.
When we exercise our spirit to contact God in His word, we have the divine reality – the very Triune God processed and consummated to be the life-giving Spirit – applied to us and infused into us.
Our coming to the word of God should not be the same as coming to any other book; we need to come to God’s word by exercising our spirit and having an open heart to contact the Lord and receive His element into us.
We can muse on the word of God; we muse on God’s word not by merely meditating on it, pondering what it means, or analyzing and studying it. We muse on God’s word by worshipping God with His word, conversing with ourselves with His word, speaking His word out loud, and praying His word back to God.
The word of God – the entire Bible – is the breath of God, and we can breathe in the very element of God by our prayerful reading and consideration of God’s word. If we do this, if we have such an attitude toward God when we come to His word, there will be a transfusion of the element of God into us.
The infusion of God’s element into us will free us from anything that is negative and will add more of God to us for us to be sanctified.
We cannot sanctify ourselves; we can’t get rid of our jealousy, hatred, pride, or temper, but when we enjoy the Lord in His word, all these negative things are spontaneously dealt with.
We are set free from any falsehood and hypocrisy when we come to the Lord in His word, for the element of God is wrought into us.
And we don’t realize this or feel this right away; rather, as we keep coming to the Lord in His word in a living way and take Him as life, opening to Him from the deepest part of our being, we will spontaneously be freed from the negative things and we are saturated with the element of God.
In such a way, we are made one with Him.
Sanctification through the Word of the Truth Results in Oneness by Dealing with the Factors of Division
How can we have genuine oneness? If someone would ask us this question, what would we answer?
According to John 17:14-24, we can have genuine oneness only by being sanctified through the word of the truth. Sanctification through the word of the truth results in oneness, for this deals with the factors of division.
The more we are sanctified in the truth, the more we are one.
Our being sanctified issues in our entering into the oneness of the Triune God, and this is genuine oneness; genuine oneness is the oneness in the Triune God.
Sanctification through the word of the truth is the way for us to be one. If we are not sanctified, we spontaneously have problems with the oneness.
We may think that this is the problem or that is the problem, but the real issue is not being in the sanctification through the word of the truth.
We may identify the symptoms of the real problem, and we may realize what the factors of division are, but unless we are sanctified in the truth, we can’t be one.
We need to get to the heart of the problem: we are short of sanctification, for we are too much in ourselves and we’re not enough in the Triune God; the result is that there’s a problem with the oneness.
If I am in myself and you are in yourself, how can we be one? It is only when we get out of ourselves and into the Triune God that we can have no problems with the oneness; we don’t even have to talk about the oneness – oneness is simply there.
Truth sanctifies us, and this sanctification issues in oneness; knowledge doesn’t issue in oneness, neither do teachings or doctrines – only sanctification issues in oneness.
It is very important for us to touch the truth in a proper way so that the result would be oneness, not more opinions, divisions, or sects.
The Lord Jesus – the Son of God – is the truth; the Spirit is the Spirit of truth; and the Father’s word is the truth (see John 1:14, 17; 14:6, 17; 17:17; 1 John 5:6).
![But when He, the Spirit of reality, comes, He will guide you into all the reality; for He will not speak from Himself, but what He hears He will speak; and He will declare to you the things that are coming. John 14:17 And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which [Spirit] is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints. Eph. 6:17-18](https://i0.wp.com/agodman.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/But-when-He-the-Spirit-of-reality-comes-He-will-guide-you-into-all-the-reality-for-He-will-not-speak-from-Himself.jpg?resize=450%2C675&ssl=1 "But when He, the Spirit of reality, comes, He will guide you into all the reality; for He will not speak from Himself, but what He hears He will speak; and He will declare to you the things that are coming. John 14:17 And receive the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which [Spirit] is the word of God, by means of all prayer and petition, praying at every time in spirit and watching unto this in all perseverance and petition concerning all the saints. Eph. 6:17-18")
The truth is simply the Triune God and His word; this is what we mean when we speak of the truth.
The Father is embodied in the Son, the Son is realized as the Spirit of truth (the Spirit of reality), and the Spirit is one with the Word; the Spirit is embodied in the Word (Col. 2:9; John 14:17; 16:13; Eph. 6:17-18).
God the Father is embodied in God the Son; Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God, and in Him, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells.
Christ went through death and resurrection, and in resurrection, He became a life-giving Spirit; this Spirit is the Spirit of reality, which is the realization of the Triune God, and this Spirit is embodied in the Word of God.
When we touch the Word of God, we touch the tangible Spirit.
Whenever we come to the Word with an open heart and an open spirit, we immediately touch both the Word and the Spirit as the truth; we need to have an open heart, an open spirit, and an open mouth to enjoy the Lord in His word.
The sanctifying word, the sanctifying Spirit, the sanctifying life, and the sanctifying God are all one; therefore, if we are being sanctified, we are one spontaneously because all the factors of division are taken away.
Lord Jesus, sanctify us through the word of the truth so that all the factors of division would be dealt with and we would be kept in oneness. Amen, Lord, bring us into the genuine oneness by sanctifying us in the truth. We come to You in Your word to be sanctified by You. Thank You for being processed and consummated to be the life-giving Spirit embodied in the Word. Hallelujah, we can come to the Word of God with the exercise of our spirit and an open heart to be sanctified in the truth. Have a way in us, Lord, through Your sanctifying work through the truth; sanctify us in the truth and make us one by bringing us into the enlarged oneness of the Triune God!
Sanctification Issues in Oneness by Keeping us in the Triune God, by Bringing us into the Oneness of the Triune God
In His prayer in John 17:17-23, the Lord asked the Father to sanctify us in the truth, and He ends by asking the Father to bring us into the Triune God so that we may be one.
Sanctification in the divine truth issues in oneness by our entering into the Triune God and being included in the enlarged oneness of the Triune God.
Sanctification issues in the genuine oneness because this sanctification keeps us in the Triune God; v. 21 says, That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us. The way for us to be one is to be in the “Us”, that is, in the Triune God.
How can we be in the Triune God so that we may be one in a genuine way? The only way to be in the Triune God is by the sanctifying truth that deals with all the factors of division.
John 14:21 shows that, for us to be one, we need to be in the Triune God; later, the Lord said that He has given us His glory so that we may be perfected into one (v. 23).
This means that there are levels of oneness, just as we see in Eph. 4, where we have the oneness of the Spirit which we have and need to be diligent to keep, but then we need to arrive at another level of oneness, the oneness of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, at a full-grown man (v. 13).
First, we need to be in the Triune God by being sanctified through the word of the truth, and then we need to be perfected to be one in the divine glory.
Glory is God’s expression; in ourselves, we have our own expression, for each one of us expresses himself.
When we are in the glory of God, we express only one thing, which is God Himself; this requires us to grow and be brought on not only into God but also into glory.
When the Lord was on the earth, He was in God the Father, but He was not in the Father’s glory, for He was not glorified yet; after death and resurrection, He was brought in the divine glory to express God in full.
Now we have His glory, and we are being perfected into oneness by being in the divine glory.
Today we are in Christ, but we still need to be perfected into one, that is, to be brought into the same expression, to be brought into the glory.
May we give ourselves to the Lord to be sanctified in the truth so that we may be brought into the Triune God and kept in the Triune God.
By being kept in the Triune God, we are one; whenever we are out of the Triune God, however, we are immediately divided.
We need to contact the Lord every morning and touch the living Word so that we may have the divine reality infused into our being.
As we contact the Lord in a living way in His word, all the factors of division are overcome; they are not wiped out once and for all but rather, day by day our outer man with the factors of division is being consumed.
When the factors of division in us are put to death by the sanctifying truth, we are brought into the genuine oneness, for sanctification keeps us in the Triune God.
Amen, we want to be in the Triune God through the sanctifying truth, so that we may express God in oneness with God and with one another.
Sanctification through the word of the truth results in the oneness of the Body of Christ, which is the enlarged oneness of the Triune God.
There’s no problem with the oneness between the Three of the Divine Trinity, so when we are brought into this oneness, we also have no problem with the oneness; however, we need to arrive at that point by being sanctified in the truth.
You are declared holy and you are set apart unto holiness. That is why you can be called a holy one. Sometimes that word is translated "saint." It's the same word. Every true Christian is a saint, you are a saint. When Paul wrote to the Romans in chapter 1 verse 7 he says, "To all who are beloved of God in Rome called saints." When Paul wrote to the Corinthians he called them saints, sanctified he said, sanctified saints. Now when you think of the Corinthians, you don't think of a sanctified saint, but they were. When he wrote to the Ephesians he called them sanctified...sanctified. His second letter to the Corinthians chapter 1 verse 1, again he calls them saints. Now that was achieved as a positional reality through Christ's provision on the cross.
Look at Hebrews chapter 10, very important text in order to fix this in your mind. In Hebrews chapter 10, the writer, of course, is looking at the cross of Christ and what it accomplished, and he says about the cross that through it, verse 10, "We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, we...past tense...have been sanctified." That's a past tense event, obviously with continuing significance. Down in verse 14 he says it again. "For by one offering," that is the offering of Christ, "He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified."
So we have entered into one dimension of sanctification through Christ, through His death. When you believed, you were set apart unto God. You were given a new and sanctified and holy impulse and you have the resident Holy Spirit taking up His place in your life so that you are His temple and you have the robe of Christ's righteousness covering you on the outside so that God sees you in Christ as righteous as He sees Christ. That's your position.
Now if you look at 1 Thessalonians, our epistle, chapter 4 for a moment and verse 7, it might help. First Thessalonians 4:7 says, "God has not called us for the purpose of impurity." When God called us, and here is an efficacious call to salvation, not a gospel call, not in the sense that you just call a lot of people to be saved. He's talking here about calling us into salvation. When God called us for the purpose of salvation, it was not that we would be impure. But look, "He called us not for the purpose of impurity but in sanctification." Not for sanctification but in it. That little Greek preposition "in" indicates the state resulting from the calling, it indicates the sphere in which we live. The call to salvation places us in a sphere of sanctification. We are holy as to our position, as to our official status. He called us in a sphere of sanctification. By His sacrificial work on the cross He has set us apart unto Himself, gave us a holy nature, an indwelling Holy Spirit, covered us with a robe of Christ's righteousness and therefore we have holiness. We are sanctified therefore we are holy, therefore we can be called saints.
This aspect of sanctification is fixed. It is fixed. It causes us to desire God's will, to love God, to hate sin and to long to obey.
Now there is a third, and I'll skip the second and come back, a third aspect of sanctification you need to understand, we'll call it ultimate sanctification...ultimate. It takes a look at sanctification in another way. Ultimate sanctification is a future aspect. Positional sanctification was past, ultimate is future. It is established at our glorification. The first was established at our justification. This at our glorification. The moment we are translated out of this world into the presence of God, we enter into ultimate sanctification. That's...that's when we lose this vile flesh, this unredeemed fallen humanness and we are absolutely sanctified body and soul and spirit, in every part. That is when this mortal puts on immortality, when this corruptible puts on incorruption, according to 1 Corinthians 15:52 to 54. That is when, to borrow the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:21, "God will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory." That's when we become like Christ for we see Him as He is. That's at that glorious moment when we are presented as a bride without spot and without blemish, glorious in holiness, to our bridegroom. That's future.
So, we already have the past-positional sanctification. We are guaranteed the future-ultimate sanctification. That leaves us with the second one, the middle one, experiential sanctification. And that's where we live, folks, right now. We are in between the two. The first is fixed, inviolable, permanent, and eternal. We will always bear the righteousness of Christ, that is an eternal gift. You cannot lose that. The second is fixed and inviolable, we will be glorified, we will enter in to ultimate sanctification...the one in the middle fluctuates.
It would not be wrong to say then that we are in the process as Christians of the coming what we really are and what we shall be. What we are is sanctified. What we shall be is sanctified. And in the middle we're trying to really be sanctified, we're trying to live up to what we are in position and what we will be ultimately. This is what Paul is dealing with in 1 Thessalonians. His prayer here is not for a sanctification that is past, his prayer here does incorporate the hope of a sanctification that is future at the coming of Christ. But the focus of it is that here and now, spirit, soul and body, we would be being continually conformed to holiness. That's his passionate prayer for the Thessalonians and for us, that we would be, as Paul put it to Timothy, sanctified and fit for the Master's use. True justification gives us the hope of glorification which should cause us to pursue sanctification. That's the goal of the Christian life. "Be holy as I am holy," Peter quotes God in 1 Peter 1. "Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect," Jesus said in Matthew 5:48.
So this is the goal of Christian living. This is the very core of our life. We are in this process period between past sanctification and future sanctification, being sanctified which is the decreasing frequency and incidents of sin and increasing holiness. I love the definition of the great Puritan writer, Thomas Watson, in His body of divinity, which is the old name for a theology. He said this, sanctification, quote: "Is a principle of grace savingly wrought whereby the heart becomes holy and is made after God's own heart. A sanctified person bears not only God's name, but His image." That's good. That's the difference in the Gallop Poll between the 80 percent and the less than ten percent. Lots will take the name but don't bear the image. So Paul can call Christian saints and holy ones, despite the lack of actual holiness in conduct because of what they are in Christ, because of what they possess in the new nature and because of what they will become in glory. And then he calls them on the basis of all of that that God has done to increasingly show the character of holiness in their lives.
Now let's look at the second point in our text then. We saw the nature of sanctification, let's look at the source of sanctification...the source, verse 23. "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you." Not too difficult to discern the source here. The source is God of peace. He is the source, the strength and the power for sanctification.
Having concluded now all the exhortations that Paul has been giving here, he turns to the source for fulfilling them. And there have been a lot of them. If you go back in to the book you could identify a number of exhortations, primarily they start in chapter 4. And through chapter 4 there are a number of exhortations. You come in to chapter 5 and there are a number more of exhortations in the first 11 verses. You hit verse 12 and all the way from verse 12 to 22 is a rapid-fire kind of staccato list of exhortations and commands that believers are to follow to make their daily spiritual duty. So he's been piling it on and it's accelerated and accelerated and come more rapidly and more rapidly until finally you hit verse 16 and it's just, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, don't quench the Spirit, don't despise the revelation of God, examine everything." And he's giving command after command after command and he has to recognize, at this point, and have us recognize that even with all of these commands which call for our duty and our responsibility and our effort and our dedication and our discipline and our devotion it is God alone who can really make it happen.
And so he leads us to the great reality that fulfilling all the divine exhortations and commands is frankly not within the power of human effort alone. Zechariah 4:6 gave that great principle, "Not by might or by power but by My Spirit, says the Lord." First Corinthians chapter 2 Paul says, "Look, when I came to preach to you," verse 4 and 5, "I didn't preach men's wisdom, but I preached to you the truth of God. And not only did I preach the truth of God, but I was dependent upon the power of God." He says, "I wanted your faith not to rest in the wisdom of men but on the power of God." He made his best effort, nobody would question Paul's effort, nobody questioned his diligence, his hard work, his discipline or his devotion, but he knew that it was still the work of God. Paul says in Colossians chapter 1, that wonderful, wonderful text that gives us his pastoral heart, he says, "I labor and I strive, I work to the point of sweat and exhaustion and I agonize, but it's according to His power which mightily works within me." There's always that symbiosis of the Christian working at a maximum level, and yet all the credit goes to God whose power alone can sanctify. No human effort can sanctify. And yet mysteriously it takes all that we have. It's a marvelous, marvelous principle. "Now unto Him," Paul said in Ephesians 3, "that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all you can ask or think, according to the power that works in us." It's Him, it's His power, but it's in us. And so, sanctification is God's work in us and through us.
Here He is called the God of peace. Why? Well He's called the God of peace many times...Romans 15:33, Romans 16:20, Philippians 4:9, Hebrews 13:20. You can check 1 Corinthians 14:33 also when it talks about Him as a God of peace and not confusion. Second Corinthians 13:11. Why is God often called the God of peace? Because peace is the best word to sum up His gospel work. The God of peace, that is the God who brought peace through the blood of the cross of Christ, the God who made peace with sinners. That's why the gospel is called the gospel of peace. So the God of peace, not here some tranquility of mind, but here the God who brought salvation, the saving God, the justifying God, the God who brought us salvation that sanctifies. The sum total of gospel blessing can be best expressed by that word eirene, peace. The God who brought peace through Christ. The God who brought justification is the God who brought sanctification.
And so he says, "Look, I'm praying to You, God, that You'll sanctify these people. You, the God who brought the sanctifying process all bound up in the saving work, do it." In fact, the kind of radical holiness that God requires, requires God. You understand that? The kind of radical holiness that God requires, requires God. How does God do it? Well John 17:17 Jesus said, "Sanctify them with Thy truth, Thy Word is truth." So if the Father's going to sanctify us, He's going to do it through the Word. First Peter 5:10 says He uses sufferings and trials to do it. That's how He perfects and strengthens and establishes us.
GOD'S Word is a record of prayer-of praying men and their achievements, of the divine warrant of prayer and of the encouragement given to those who pray. No one can read the instances, commands, examples, multiform statements which concern themselves with prayer, without realizing that the cause of God, and the success of his work in this world, is committed to prayer; that praying men have been God's deputies on earth; that prayerless men have never been used of him.
A reverence for God's holy name is closely related to a high regard for his Word. This hallowing of God's name; the ability to do his will on earth, as it is done in heaven; the establishment and glory of God's kingdom, are as much involved in prayer, as when Jesus taught men the universal prayer. That "men ought always to pray and not to faint," is as fundamental to God's cause, today, as when Jesus Christ enshrined that great truth in the immortal setting of the Parable of the Importunate Widow.
As God's house is called "the house of prayer," because prayer is the most important of its holy offices; so by the same token, the Bible may be called the book of prayer. Prayer is the great theme and content of its message to mankind.
God's Word is the basis, as it is the directory of the prayer of faith. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom," says Paul, "teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."
As this word of Christ dwelling in us richly is transmuted and assimilated, it issues in praying. Faith is constructed of the Word and the Spirit, and faith is the body and substance of prayer.
In many of its aspects, prayer is dependent upon the Word of God. Jesus says:
If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
The Word of God is the fulcrum upon which the lever of prayer is placed, and by which things are mightily moved. God has committed himself, his purpose, and his promise to prayer. His Word becomes the basis, the inspiration of our praying, and there are circumstances under which, by importunate prayer, we may obtain an addition, or an enlargement of his promises. It is said of the old saints that they, "through faith obtained promises." There would seem to be in prayer the capacity for going even beyond the Word, of getting even beyond his promise, into the very presence of God, himself.
Jacob wrestled, not so much with a promise, as with the promiser. We must take hold of the promiser, lest the promise prove inoperative. Prayer may well be defined as that force which vitalizes and energizes the Word of God, by taking hold of God, himself. By taking hold of the promiser, prayer reissues, and makes personal the promise. "There is none that stirreth up himself to take hold of me," is God's sad lament. "Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me," is God's recipe for prayer.
By scriptural warrant, prayer may be divided into the petition of faith and that of submission. The prayer of faith is based on the written Word, for "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." It receives its answer, inevitably-the very thing for which it prays.
The prayer of submission is without a definite word of promise, so to speak, but takes hold of God with a lowly and contrite spirit, and asks and pleads with him, for that which the soul desires. Abraham had no definite promise that God would spare Sodom. Moses had no definite promise that God would spare Israel; on the contrary, there was the declaration of his wrath, and of his purpose to destroy. But the devoted leader gained his plea with God, when he interceded for the Israelites with incessant prayers and many tears. Daniel had no definite promise that God would reveal to him the meaning of the king's dream, but he prayed specifically, and God answered definitely.
The Word of God is made effectual and operative by the process and practice of prayer. The Word of the Lord came to Elijah, "Go show thyself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth." Elijah showed himself to Ahab; but the answer to his prayer did not come, until he had pressed his fiery prayer upon the Lord seven times.
Paul had the definite promise from Christ, that he "would be delivered from the people and the Gentiles," but we find him exhorting the Romans in the urgent and solemn manner concerning this very matter:
Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea, and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints.
The Word of God is a great help in prayer. If it be lodged and written in our hearts, it will form an outflowing current of prayer, full and irresistible. Promises, stored in the heart, are to be the fuel from which prayer receives life and warmth, just as the coal, stored in the earth, ministers to our comfort on stormy days and wintry nights. The Word of God is the food, by which prayer is nourished and made strong. Prayer, like man, cannot live by bread alone, "but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord."
Unless the vital forces of prayer are supplied by God's Word, prayer, though earnest even vociferous in its urgency, is in reality flabby, vapid, and void. The absence of vital force in praying can be traced to the absence of a constant supply of God's Word by which to repair the waste, and renew the life. He who would learn to pray well, must first study God's Word, and store it in his memory and thought.
When we consult God's Word, we find that no duty is more binding, more exacting, than that of prayer. On the other hand, we discover that no privilege is more exalted, no habit more richly owned of God. No promises are more radiant, more abounding, more explicit, more often reiterated, than those which are attached to prayer. "All things, whatsoever" are received by prayer, because "all things whatsoever" are promised. There is no limit to the provisions, included in the promises to prayer, and no exclusion from its promises. "Every one that asketh, receiveth." The word of our Lord is to this all-embracing effect: "If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it."
Here are some of the comprehensive, and exhaustive statements of the Word of God about prayer, the things to be taken in by prayer, the strong promise made in answer to prayer:
Pray without ceasing; continue in prayer; continuing instant in prayer; in everything by prayer, let your request be made known unto God; pray always, pray and not faint; men should pray everywhere; praying always, with all prayer and supplication.
What clear and strong statements are those which are put in the divine record, to furnish us with a sure basis of faith, and to urge, constrain and encourage us to pray! How wide the range of prayer, as given us, in the divine revelation! How these Scriptures incite us to seek the God of prayer, with all our wants, with all our burdens!
In addition to these statements left on record for our encouragement, the sacred pages teem with facts, examples, incidents, and observations, stressing the importance and the absolute necessity of prayer, and putting emphasis on its all-prevailing power.
The utmost reach and full benefit of the rich promises of the Word of God, should humbly be received by us, and put to the test. The world will never receive the full benefits of the gospel until this is done. Neither Christian experience nor Christian living will be what they ought to be till these divine promises have been fully tested by those who pray. By prayer, we bring these promises of God's holy will into the realm of the actual and the real. Prayer is the philosopher's stone which transmutes them into gold.
If it is asked, what is to be done in order to render God's promises real, the answer is, that we must pray, until the words of the promise are clothed with the rich raiment of fulfillment.
God's promises are altogether too large to be mastered by desultory praying. When we examine ourselves, all too often, we discover that our praying does not rise to the demands of the situation; is so limited that it is little more than a mere oasis amid the waste and desert of the world's sin. Who of us, in our praying, measures up to this promise of our Lord:
Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go to my Father.
How comprehensive, how far reaching, how all-embracing! How much is here, for the glory of God, how much for the good of man! How much for the manifestation of Christ's enthroned power, how much for the reward of abundant faith! And how great and gracious are the results which can be made to accrue from the exercise of commensurate, believing prayer!
Look, for a moment, at another of God's great promises, and discover how we may be undergirded by the Word as we pray, and on what firm ground we may stand on which to make our petitions to our God:
"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."
In these comprehensive words, God turns himself over to the will of his people. When Christ becomes our all-in-all, prayer lays God's treasures at our feet. Primitive Christianity had an easy and practical solution of the situation, and got all which God had to give. That simple and terse solution is recorded in John's first epistle:
' Whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, `and do those things which are pleasing in his sight.
Prayer, coupled with loving obedience, is the way to put God to the test, and to make prayer answer all ends and all things. Prayer, joined to the Word of God, hallows and makes sacred all God's gifts. Prayer is not simply to get things from God but to make those things holy, which already have been received from him. It is not merely to get a blessing, but also to be able to give a blessing. Prayer makes common things holy and secular things, sacred. It receives things from God with thanksgiving and hallows them with thankful hearts, and devoted service.
In the First Epistle to Timothy, Paul gives us these words:
For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving. For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
That is a statement which gives a negative to mere asceticism. God's good gifts are to be holy, not only by God's creative power, but, also, because they are made holy to us by prayer. We receive them, appropriate them and sanctify them by prayer.
'Doing God's will, and having his Word abiding in us, is an imperative of effectual praying. But, it may be asked, how are we to know what God's will is? The answer is, by studying his Word, by hiding it in our hearts, and by letting the Word dwell in us richly "The entrance of thy word, giveth light."
To know God's will in prayer, we must be filled with God's Spirit, who makes intercession for the saints, and in the saints, according to the will of God. To be filled with God's Spirit, to be filled with God's Word, is to know God's will. It is to be put in such a frame of mind, to be found in such a state of heart, as will enable us to read and interpret aright the purposes of the infinite. Such filling of the heart, with the Word and the Spirit, gives us an insight into the will of the Father, and enables us to rightly discern his will, and puts within us, a disposition of mind and heart to make it the guide and compass of our lives.
Epaphras prayed that the Colossians might stand "perfect and complete in all the will of God." This is proof positive that, not only may we know the will of God, but that we may know all the will of God. And not only may we know all the will of God, but we may do all the will of God. We may, moreover, do all the will of God, not occasionally, or by a mere impulse, but with a settled habit of conduct. Still further, it shows us that we may not only do the will of God externally, but from the heart, doing it cheerfully, without reluctance, or secret disinclination, or any drawing or holding back from the intimate presence of the Lord.
Sanctification is provided through Jesus’ Blood. We are told in Hebrews 13:12, “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.”
Sanctification brings holiness. God is a holy God. Heaven is a holy place, and God has always demanded holiness. His Word says, “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16).
Christ wants His Church to be made up of holy, purified people. He gave Himself for the Church, “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:26,27).
Sanctification also brings unity, a oneness among God’s people. “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one” (Hebrews 2:11). Jesus prayed for His disciples “that they may be one, even as we are one” (John 17:22). This prayer was definitely answered, for before the Day of Pentecost they “all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication” (Acts 1:14).
Christ’s Prayer
The holiness and unity which are the results of sanctification should be the desire of every Christian. And the experience of sanctification is for all those who have been saved from their sins. This is also shown by Jesus’ prayer for His disciples,
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:16,17).
Jesus was not praying for sinners because He was praying for those who were in the world but not of it. However, He did include Christians of today:
“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17:20,21).
If you want to be sanctified, fully surrender your life to the will of God. Consecrate and yield yourself completely to Him and let Him have His way in all your plans, hopes, and desires. Look to God in simple faith, praising and believing Him for sanctification. God will make your heart pure and holy by the cleansing Blood of Jesus. The sinful nature with which you were born will be destroyed.
You will know when you receive the experience of sanctification just as surely as you knew when you were saved. The divine love of God will flood your heart. A deeper peace and rest and joy will come into your soul. The Spirit of God will witness with your spirit that you are sanctified.
After a person is sanctified, it is easier to live a joyous, victorious Christian life because the inherited sin nature is no longer inside. Temptation and trials will continue to come, but the inward tendency toward sin will be gone.
Humanity versus Carnality
However, even though a sanctified person has a heart that is perfect toward God, he is not perfect in the same way that God is perfect. He still is human and makes mistakes. He can misjudge a situation and be very much in error. But his motives are right. In his heart he craves to do the will of God, and to do right toward all men.
After receiving the experience of sanctification, a person must continue applying God’s Word to his heart. Study of the Bible, daily opportunities to learn God’s will, and His corrections teach a person how to follow His ways more perfectly.
Do you want to have this experience of sanctification? Do you want to live a holy life? You can. If you are saved, and not sanctified, pray to be sanctified. The moment you make a complete surrender to God and believe His Word of promise, the Lord will sanctify you. Then you will be ready to seek for and receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost, the enduement of power for service.
Sanctification is provided through Jesus’ Blood. We are told in Hebrews 13:12, “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.”
Sanctification brings holiness. God is a holy God. Heaven is a holy place, and God has always demanded holiness. His Word says, “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16).
Christ wants His Church to be made up of holy, purified people. He gave Himself for the Church, “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:26,27).
Sanctification also brings unity, a oneness among God’s people. “For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one” (Hebrews 2:11). Jesus prayed for His disciples “that they may be one, even as we are one” (John 17:22). This prayer was definitely answered, for before the Day of Pentecost they “all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication” (Acts 1:14).
Christ’s Prayer
The holiness and unity which are the results of sanctification should be the desire of every Christian. And the experience of sanctification is for all those who have been saved from their sins. This is also shown by Jesus’ prayer for His disciples,
“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:16,17).
Jesus was not praying for sinners because He was praying for those who were in the world but not of it. However, He did include Christians of today:
“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17:20,21).
If you want to be sanctified, fully surrender your life to the will of God. Consecrate and yield yourself completely to Him and let Him have His way in all your plans, hopes, and desires. Look to God in simple faith, praising and believing Him for sanctification. God will make your heart pure and holy by the cleansing Blood of Jesus. The sinful nature with which you were born will be destroyed.
You will know when you receive the experience of sanctification just as surely as you knew when you were saved. The divine love of God will flood your heart. A deeper peace and rest and joy will come into your soul. The Spirit of God will witness with your spirit that you are sanctified.
After a person is sanctified, it is easier to live a joyous, victorious Christian life because the inherited sin nature is no longer inside. Temptation and trials will continue to come, but the inward tendency toward sin will be gone.
Humanity versus Carnality
However, even though a sanctified person has a heart that is perfect toward God, he is not perfect in the same way that God is perfect. He still is human and makes mistakes. He can misjudge a situation and be very much in error. But his motives are right. In his heart he craves to do the will of God, and to do right toward all men.
After receiving the experience of sanctification, a person must continue applying God’s Word to his heart. Study of the Bible, daily opportunities to learn God’s will, and His corrections teach a person how to follow His ways more perfectly.
Do you want to have this experience of sanctification? Do you want to live a holy life? You can. If you are saved, and not sanctified, pray to be sanctified. The moment you make a complete surrender to God and believe His Word of promise, the Lord will sanctify you. Then you will be ready to seek for and receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost, the enduement of power for service.
anctification is one of the most challenging aspects of the Christian walk. Our natural tendency is to embrace sin, yet God in His divine wisdom has chosen to give us the responsibility of working out our own sanctification. "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," says 2 Timothy 2:21.
But how do we pursue sanctification? How are we personally responsible? Lovingly, God has sent His Holy Spirit and His written Word, the Bible, to guide us. Though every person's sanctification is unique and personal, there are common disciplines in the pursuit of sanctification that are unchanging.
Sanctification - Practical Steps
Prayer is of utmost importance. When we are suffering or facing temptation, our mind and body are weak. Satan knows this and tries to take advantage of us. When we pray, we are in spiritual union with God. Not only will prayer comfort us in our hardship, but it will also give us the strength to overcome sin. Through prayer, we are also more sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
God has also given us the written Word - the Bible. The Bible is not merely a history book, but its words have the power to sanctify us. When Satan tempted Jesus in Matthew 4, Jesus used the Word of God to overcome temptation. "But He answered and said, 'It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God'" (Matthew 4:4).
God's Word also has the power to transform our mind, convict, and bring to light the darkness that is within our hearts. It is the instrument which God uses to develop in us knowledge, faith, and personal holiness; all of which are essential elements of sanctification. "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). Whether by studying or listening to teaching, the sanctifying work of God's Word is enormous to a believer who recognizes its truth and power.
Believers are also sanctified in worship. True fervent worship is what God desires from His people. When our worship is genuine, it transforms our hearts and brings us into close union with God. John 4:23 says, "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him."
Additionally, before Jesus ascended into heaven he tells the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for a gift God will send (Acts 1). This is the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our ultimate helper and sanctifier. When we yield to His leading, He has the power to help us resist sin and make positive change. "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16).
When we sin and ignore the Holy Spirit's leading, we break fellowship with Him, thereby cutting off the life-changing power. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 commands us: "Do not quench the Spirit."
Sanctification - Key to Spiritual Growth
Sanctification is both a matter of position and progression. We are sanctified because Jesus Christ has saved us and yet sanctification continues to work within to transform us unto the likeness of Christ. Sanctification is the responsibility of every believer in Christ. When we choose to pursue sanctification in our life, positive growth occurs. The pursuit of it involves the surrender of the body and the will to the leading of the Holy Spirit. It takes time and is a working progress that cannot be hurried. Like a newborn baby that gradually matures unto adulthood, so is the work of sanctification in the life of a new believer. The work of sanctification will ultimately be completed in every believer's life when Jesus Christ returns. This is the hope of every Christian.
Paul puts it best in his epistle to the Thessalonians: "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 Thessalonians 5:23).
What is the process of spiritual growth—sanctification? Paul speaks to this congregation and challenges them to work out their salvation with fear and trembling. Now it must be noticed that Paul does not say to “work for” your salvation but to “work out” your salvation. Scripture everywhere teaches that we are saved not by our works but by grace through faith in Christ. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
We are not saved by our works. In fact, Paul argues that even our faith is a gift from God, and therefore, there is no room for man’s boasting. Salvation is a work of God. However, salvation is not simply a work that happens when we are born again. It is a work that continues till we are made into the full image of Christ. It will end at death or at the rapture, whichever happens first. Romans 8:29-30 says,
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
Paul here describes the process of salvation. It begins before time when God foreknew some in a saving relationship. The word “foreknew” does not mean to know some facts about a person but to know in an intimate saving relationship. Christ said in the last days many would say, “Lord, Lord,” but he would reply, “Depart from me, you workers of iniquity I never ‘knew you’” (Matt 7:23). Similarly, God said to Jeremiah, “before you were born, I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5). He knew Jeremiah in a saving relationship. He selected him not based on any merit of his own but based on grace—unmerited favor.
The next part of salvation is predestination. What is predestination? In this text it is God choosing those he knew in a saving relationship to be conformed to the image of his Son—to look like Christ. At some point, God effectually calls them as they hear the gospel and respond in faith. He then justifies them—declaring them righteous, then he will glorify them which is the completion of salvation. One day all believers will fully resemble Christ.
This is what Paul is talking about when he says “work out your salvation.” He is saying to work out this process of being made into the image of Christ. We often call this “sanctification”—the daily process of growing into the very image of Christ.
What is this process? How can we daily pursue growth into the image of Christ?
Throughout history many have held different views on this process. Some have said that this process happens solely by a work of God without the participation of man. What we must do is “Let go and let God.” We must rely on grace and give up working and striving to be holy. Sometimes these preachers will preach simply, “Grace! Grace! Grace!” to the exclusion of any discipline of our own. However, Paul said, “train yourself to be godly” or “exercise yourself to godliness” (1 Tim 4:7).
On the opposite side, others will preach “Work! Work! Work! Discipline yourself!” to the exclusion of reliance on God at all. These types of ministries often become legalistic, relying totally on works of the flesh. Listen to what Paul said to the Galatians: “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (Galatians 3:3).
What is the proper way to progress in holiness—to work out our salvation? Here in Philippians 2:12-13 Paul teaches a paradox. We must work and God works. We must work alongside God in the process of our sanctification. Paul says, “God works in us to will and do of his good pleasure.” He gives us the very desires to grow in Christ and he works in us to do it. This is why, when we get to heaven, there will be no room for boasting. Why? Because God did it all. However, both realities are true. We must work and God is working. Listen to what Paul said about this reality in his own life:
For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. (1 Corinthians 15:9-10)
Paul said he worked harder than everybody else but not him, the grace of God within him. He said that God’s grace was not without effect in him. The reality is that God’s grace works in each one of us to grow spiritually, but for some it is without effect. Some instead resist the work of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 7:51). We must work with God in the process of sanctification—responding to his conviction, allowing him to empower us to accomplish his will for our lives.
It should be noted that when Paul calls this church to work out its salvation, he is probably specifically referring to the problems going on in the church. At the end of chapter 1 and the beginning of chapter 2, he challenges them to be one in spirit—to be unified (1:27, 2:2). In chapter 4, some divisions were threatening the church’s unity (v.2). Paul calls for them to be unified by developing the mind of Christ (2:5) and working out their salvation together (2:12).
As we study this text, we will learn steps to work out our salvation—our sanctification.
Big Question: What is necessary for a believer and a congregation to work out their salvation—their sanctification?
In Order to Be Sanctified, We Must Focus on Our Model—Jesus Christ
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, (Philippians 2:12)
What is the first step in the process of sanctification? It is focusing on our model—Jesus Christ. The word “Therefore” in Philippians 2:12 means “because of this” and points the reader back to Paul’s previous comments. In Philippians 2:6-11, Paul gave Jesus Christ’s incarnation, death, and exaltation as a model for the church to follow in developing unity. Christ did not grasp onto his rights as God but became a man. In his incarnation he did not come as a wealthy king but a poor servant. His descent continued as he was obedient unto death—even death on a cross.
Paul says if we are going to work out our salvation—our sanctification—we must follow the model of Christ. He is the person we must seek to study and to emulate. The writer of Hebrews said this:
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:2-3)
The author says that we must fix our eyes on Jesus. The word “fix” means to focus on something to the exclusion of everything else. It essentially means to be single-minded. A person who has a fixed look on Christ is seeking to know and please Christ in everything he does. He wants to do God’s will in his career, marriage, hobbies, entertainment, etc. Paul said, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of the Lord” (1 Cor 10:31). We must have an unwavering focus on Christ in order to grow in our sanctification. Surely, we focus on him through time in the Word, prayer, serving, etc.
We must know our model in order to be sanctified. I cannot but think of Peter trying to walk on water in Matthew 14:22-33. As long as his focus was fixed on Christ, he could walk on the water. However, when he started to focus on the wind and the waves, he began to sink. It is the same with us. We cannot grow in Christ if we are focused on anything other than him. Sometimes the trick of Satan is to get us focused on our sin, failures, or even the devil himself to stop our spiritual growth. However, the more we focus on our struggles the more we fail. Similarly, the more someone focuses on demons, conspiracy theories, or the world, the more they become consumed with them. This is the opposite of how to be sanctified. We are not to focus on sin or the world. We are to focus on Christ in order to be sanctified.
Christ said this: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). If we make our home in Christ, if we make him our focus, then all good fruits will grow out of that relationship. Love, joy, peace, self-control all come from an abiding relationship—an abiding focus on Christ.
Listen to what Paul said in Philippians 3:10-12:
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
Paul said he wanted to know Christ. He wanted to know his power and have fellowship with his sufferings. For Paul, following Christ did not mean skipping the cross to go to glory—it meant being like Christ even in suffering. Paul said he pressed or ran after this since it was the reason that Christ took hold of him. Christ took hold of him for a relationship and for Paul to be made into Christ’s very image. Therefore, Paul challenged the Philippians to pursue the same path he took—an endless pursuit of Christ as his goal (Phil 3:15-17). In order to be sanctified, like Paul, we must focus on Christ. He must be our ambition and focus.
Application Question: How do we keep a fixed eye on Christ in order to grow into his image?
In Order to Be Sanctified, We Must Know the Love of God
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, (Philippians 2:12)
The next step in the process of sanctification is to know the love of God. Paul says, “dear friends.” This can also be translated “beloved.” The implication of Paul calling them “beloved,” as he commands them to work out their salvation, is that they needed to hear and understand that God loved them.
Love is a tremendous motivation for spiritual growth. Paul said this: “For Christ’s love compels us…” (2 Cor 5:14). What motivated the great apostle to suffer, serve, and preach the gospel? Love—the love of Christ compelled him. In fact, he thought it was so important for the church to understand this love that he prayed for them to grasp it. Ephesians 3:17b-19 says this:
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
He prayed for them to know Christ’s love so that they may be “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” To be “filled” means to be controlled and empowered by God (cf. Eph 5:18). Similarly, if the Philippians could know how much God loved them, it would propel them in their spiritual growth—into working out their salvation.
I believe it is for this reason that Satan constantly works against believers knowing the love of God. With Eve, he said, “Is it true that you cannot eat of every tree in the garden?” He wanted her to think God was a tyrant—that he was keeping the best from her. By doubting the love of God, she would be encouraged to sin. It was the same with Job. Satan, by bringing trials, was trying to get Job to curse God. Even his own wife said, “Why don’t you just curse God and die?” Satan wanted Job to doubt the love of God because that would encourage him to sin and curse God. However, Job’s reply to his trials was, “Even if God slay me I will still trust him” (Job 13:5).
In order for us to be sanctified, we must know the love of God. For when we know the love of God—the depth, the height, and the width of it—it will compel us to grow in our spiritual lives.
Application Question: How do we grow in knowing God’s love?
1. We grow to know God’s love through the love of others.
When Paul says “beloved friends,” he was not only speaking of God’s love but his own (v. 12). He loved the saints at Philippi (cf. Phil 1:8). Many times the way God will demonstrate his love to us is through others (cf. 2 Cor 5:20). Therefore, in order to know the love of God, we must be intimate with his saints. Many times they are the channel by which God lavishes his love on us.
2. We grow to know God’s love through prayer.
Paul prayed for the Ephesian church to grasp the love of Christ (Eph 3:17-19). We must pray this for ourselves and for others as well.
3. We grow to know God’s love through loving others.
Paul said this: “God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus” (Phil 1:8). Paul could feel Christ’s love radiating through him as he loved the Philippians. Many times we have to make ourselves vulnerable by getting involved in people’s lives and messes to know the love of God. While serving others, he pours out his love in us to bless others, and through this experience we come to know God’s love for us more.
I specifically have experienced this when loving people who have hurt me. By forgiving and serving them, God gave me a supernatural love that I couldn’t explain and didn’t make sense to me. I just knew I was experiencing God’s love for them.
4. We grow to know God’s love through spending time with God and obeying him.
Christ said this: “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). Jesus promised that he would make his home in people who were obedient to him. This happens at salvation, but it happens as we continue to obey him. He makes his home in us, as we become more intimate with him (cf. Eph 3:16-17).
In order for us to be sanctified, we must know his love. Love is one of the greatest motivations in this world—whether that be love for a sport, a person, or some goal. It motivates us. Knowing how much God loves us is a tremendous motivation to be sanctified. “The kindness of God draws men to repentance” (Rom 2:4). One of the reasons many Christians are stagnant is because they don’t really know Christ’s love. Lord, help us to grasp and know your great love!
Application Question: What are some of the ways that you have experienced God’s love? How has this love or lack of recognizing it affected you?
In Order to Be Sanctified, We Must Grow in Obedience to God
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, (Philippians 2:12)
Here Paul gives the next necessary step in the process of sanctification—we must grow in obedience to God. He says that they had always obeyed, but they must do it “much more” in his absence. They needed to be more obedient to God to work out their salvation.
Obedience to God is not only a necessary practice in sanctification but it is a proof of salvation. A person who professes Christ but does not practice daily obedience to God is deceived about his salvation. Jesus said this: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
Profession alone is not enough. Jesus said that in order to enter the kingdom of God one must be born again (John 3:3). A person that is born again has a new nature—a nature that desires to practice righteousness. Those who are truly part of the kingdom of God hunger and thirst for righteousness as Christ taught in the beatitudes (Matt 5:6). John said this in his epistle: “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother” (1 John 3:10).
The practice of daily righteousness is a proof of salvation, and this is what Paul said about the Philippians. He said they “always obeyed.” This doesn’t mean that they were perfect. Paul even said in his epistle that they were not (cf. Phil 4:2). Therefore, he meant that even when they failed, they repented and continued to practice obedience. However, in order to work out their salvation, they had to obey God “much more” (v. 12).
Interpretation Question: In what ways is obedience necessary to continue to progress in our sanctification?
1. Obedience to God’s Word leads to God’s blessing on our lives and progression in our sanctification.
James 1:25 says, “But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.”
The man who obeys God’s words will be blessed by God. This doesn’t necessarily mean wealth and health, though it doesn’t necessarily exclude those things. It primarily refers to spiritual blessings. God gives them more of the Word of God, more peace, more fruits of the Holy Spirit, etc.
Christ said this:
“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” (Mark 4:24-25)
Whoever faithfully obeys—using what God teaches them—will be given more. They will grow in Christ. Obedience is necessary for growth. This leads us to the next point.
2. Obedience to God’s Word protects us from stagnation and going backwards in our sanctification.
Listen again to what Christ said:
“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” (Mark 4:24-25)
“Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away.” When we are unfaithful to God’s Word, God begins to take away what we have. He takes away the knowledge that we have already attained of him. We become forgetful Christians like the Israelites. The Israelites saw the miracles of God in Egypt. They saw the parting of the Red Sea and manna come from heaven, but they still constantly failed God and didn’t believe in him. This was a natural result of lack of obedience—they could not appropriate the knowledge they had.
Many Christians are like the Israelites. They have sat under many sermons, seen the blessings and miracles of God but because their hearing wasn’t mixed with faith—obedience—they continued in the infant stage without progression. They stay in the wilderness—a time of stagnation and discipline in their spiritual life.
In order for the Israelites to leave the wilderness and go into the promised land, they had to practice obedience. This was a necessary component. Whoever has will be given more but he who does not have even what they have will be taken away.
What areas have you been unfaithful in that God is again calling you to obedience? Is it Scripture reading and prayer? Is it serving? Is it getting out of an ungodly relationship? Is it changing your language or entertainment? He who has will be given more, but he who does not have even what he has will be taken away.
Application Question: What areas of obedience is God calling you to practice “more” in order to progress in your sanctification?
In Order to Be Sanctified, We Must Practice Continuous Discipline
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, (Philippians 2:12)
The phrase “work out” is written as a command with a continuing emphasis. “The idea is, ‘Keep on working out to completion, to ultimate fulfillment.’”1 This implies the need for discipline in our spiritual lives. Yes, God gives us grace, but we must be disciplined in order to grow. We must “keep on working it out.” We see this taught throughout the Scriptures. Paul told Timothy, “Discipline yourself unto godliness” (1 Tim 4:7).
I had a professor in seminary that said, “I have never met a godly person that wasn’t a morning person.” What he meant was that he had never met somebody truly godly who hadn’t developed discipline in their lives. This is the kind of discipline seen in Christ who got up early before everyone else and went to the mountain to pray. Mark 1:35 says this about Christ: “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”
An implication of “keep on working out your salvation to completion” is that we must have continuous discipline in order to be holy.
Application Question: What types of disciplines must we practice in order to grow in sanctification?
1. Sanctification happens through rigorous study of the Word of God.
Jesus prayed this right before going to the cross: “Sanctify them by your truth, your word is truth” (John 17:17).
In order for us to grow in Christ, we must be people of the Word of God. We must be devoted to the study, memorization, and teaching of it. Peter said this: “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation” (1 Peter 2:2).
The verb “may grow” here is passive—it literally means “it may grow you.”2 When a person is rigorously studying the Word of God, it makes him grow. Scripture says the Word of God is active and alive (Heb 4:12). It equips the man of God for all righteousness (2 Tim 3:17). If you are consistently getting into the Word of God and obeying it, it will make you grow. It will make you look more like Christ. This is a discipline that all believers must develop in their lives so that they may grow up into their salvation.
2. Sanctification happens through rigorous prayer.
Jesus said this to the disciples right before he went to the cross, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak”’ (Mark 14:38).
Jesus had previously told Peter and the other disciples that they would deny him; however, Christ also taught them how not to fall to the temptation—how not to sin. They needed to be disciplined in prayer. This prayer was not a quick arrow prayer but a disciplined time in prayer. He called them to pray for an hour so they would not stumble. He put a time limit on it. This amount of prayer would make them strong enough not to deny him.
How many of us stumble into frustration, depression, anger, pride, or lust because we are not disciplined in our prayer lives? If we are not going to succumb to temptation, we must find time to pray, a space to pray, and people to pray with. It should be noted that when Christ was preparing for his own temptation, he not only prayed but called a prayer meeting. He said to his disciples, “Pray with me this one hour” (Matt 26:40). We must not only have individual times of prayer but also corporate times of prayer. It will build us up and make us strong to stand against temptation.
3. Sanctification happens through godly fellowship.
Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Being around godly brothers and sisters who are serious about Christ will help us grow. Developing accountability relationships where we confess sin to one another and pray for one another will bring healing and victory in our lives. James said this: “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).
Who are your accountability brothers and sisters? Many Christians have fellowship but their fellowship is centered around TV shows, shopping, sports, etc. Let our Christian fellowship be centered around spiritual growth and knowing God more.
In fact, this may be the primary method of spiritual discipline Paul had in mind when addressing the Philippians. Each of the pronouns in Philippians 2:12-13 are plural. The Philippians were to become more like Christ together. They needed one another, and we need one another as well. There are no lone rangers in the Christian life. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” If I will become like Christ, I need the body and the body needs me. Sanctification happens in the context of Christian fellowship. Thus Christians who do not go to church and are not involved in the life of the church are going to struggle with their spiritual progress.
How is the Lord calling you to develop godly fellowship?
4. Sanctification happens through mentorship.
Along with the idea of growth through Christian fellowship is mentorship. Paul was mentoring the Philippians as he challenged them to work out their salvation. Proverbs 13:20 says this: “He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm.”
The more you get around people who are wiser than you and know God more than you, the wiser you will become. We see this model throughout the Scripture. We see Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, Jesus and his disciples, Paul and Timothy, Peter and Mark. It was through mentorship relationships that these people grew up into their salvation and fulfilled God’s calling on their lives.
Someone compared mentorship to walking in the airport. While in an airport, you see people walking to their destination, but you also see others walking to their destination on escalators. The people on escalators get there faster than people who are walking by foot only. Similarly, mentorship is God’s process to help us grow. We never get too old for mentorship because there is always somebody who knows more than us and who has walked with the Lord longer.
How do we develop these mentoring relationships?
Sometimes the mentor approaches us. Elijah approached Elisha. Jesus approached the disciples. However, sometimes the potential mentee should approach the mentor. In Luke 9:57 and 61, we see two people approach Christ and say, “I will follow you wherever you go.” We must seek out mentoring relationships, and we should not be discouraged when we are turned down. I’ve asked several people to mentor me throughout the years and at times, I have been turned down—sometimes simply because they were already too busy. Mentoring helps us grow.
With this said, we must understand that we not only grow by being mentored but by mentoring others. Teachers always learn more than their pupils. This is often true in mentoring relationships as well. We should not see mentoring as a burden, but as a way for us to grow as well.
5. Sanctification happens through serving.
Paul said this to Philemon: “I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ” (Philemon 1:6).
Paul told Philemon to be active in sharing his faith because through sharing he would come to a full understanding of every good thing believers have in Christ. He would come to know God and his blessings more through sharing his faith—serving. If a person is not serving then he, by necessity, will be going backwards and will never come to a full understanding of Christ.
If we are going to grow in Christ we must be disciplined. These disciplines include but are not limited to studying the Word of God, prayer, fellowship, mentorship, and serving. Other disciplines include worship, celebration, solitude, simplicity, secrecy, fasting, etc.
Application Question: What disciplines have you found most helpful in your spiritual life? Are there any ways God is calling you to be more disciplined?
In Order to Be Sanctified, We Must Develop Perseverance
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, (Philippians 2:12)
Again “work out” has the idea of “Keep on working out to completion, to ultimate fulfillment.”3 In the NIV this is represented by the word “continue”—continue to work out your salvation. This means that sanctification doesn’t happen overnight. It is a process that must be worked out till it is fully completed which ultimately won’t happen until we get to heaven. The implication of this is that we must persevere until it is complete.
Application Question: Why is perseverance in working out our salvation important?
1. Perseverance in working out our salvation is important because of temptations toward complacent, apathetic Christianity.
In this process of following Christ there will be temptations to give up the pursuit and just become spiritually comfortable and lethargic. The church is full of those who have not “persevered” in the discipline of “working out their salvation.” We see this with one church in particular in the New Testament—the church of Laodicea. Christ said this to the church:
“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. (Revelation 3:14-17)
This church was of no use to God—they were lukewarm. They thought to themselves that they did “not need a thing.” They were content and apathetic in their spiritual life, and therefore, they brought great displeasure to God. The church is full of Christians like this. Practically, they are of no use—fit only to be disciplined by God. This is a temptation for all Christians. We must persevere in our work of being sanctified. We must fight against lethargy.
Paul said this: “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord” (Romans 12:11). We all have this responsibility to persevere in our pursuit of holiness and fight against apathetic, lukewarm Christianity.
2. Perseverance in working out our salvation is important because of temptations to fall away from God all together.
Paul confronts this reality commonly in his teachings. In Colossians, he said this:
But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. (Colossians 1:22-23a)
Paul writes to this church that was being attacked by a Gnostic cult who denied the deity of Christ and thus the gospel and said that they must continue in the faith—in the gospel. The church is constantly confronted with threats that cause many to fall away. Some fall away because of discord or moral failure in the church. Some fall away because of liberal—secular thinking—that challenges the exclusivity of the gospel. Some fall away into cults, and others fall away because of persecution the church encounters. Christ talks about some of these realities in Matthew 24. He says,
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. (Matthew 24:9-13)
Christ talked about how persecution, false teachers, and increased sin and wickedness in the end times will cause many to not persevere in the faith. They will simply fall away. He says that those who persevere are the ones who are really saved. Perseverance is a proof of genuine salvation (cf. 1 John 2:19). There are many threats to us continuing this process of “working out our salvation,” but we must persevere.
3. Perseverance in working out our salvation is necessary because it is the ground where character is developed.
Listen to what Paul said:
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Romans 5:3-4)
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9)
Paul said we rejoice in suffering because it creates perseverance and perseverance creates character. He said don’t give up in doing good because in due time you will reap a harvest. Yes, I know you’re working hard in studying the Word of God, praying, and serving, yet you don’t feel like you’re growing. Don’t give up and don’t grow weary for the fruit will come. I know it seems like you are going through trial after trial but don’t give up because that is where patience and joy, regardless of circumstances, are grown. We must persevere in working out our salvation until it’s complete. Perseverance in trials, perseverance in doing good and serving others is where character is developed.
Are you a Christian that commonly gives up? You start a small group but don’t finish it. You start serving a ministry but quit. You start certain spiritual disciplines but don’t complete them. You quit a relationship when it gets hard. You leave a church when there is a conflict or a problem. Listen, perseverance is necessary. It’s necessary for spiritual growth. James said this: “Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:4 NIV 2011).
Perseverance is important in working out our salvation because of tendencies toward apathetic Christianity which plague the church, threats to falling totally away from the faith, and because it is only through perseverance—bearing up under a heavy weight—that we develop character. Are you persevering?
Application Question: In what ways has God been challenging you to not give up—to persevere—in order to grow spiritually? How can we find encouragement when we want to give up?
In Order to Be Sanctified, We Must Develop a Healthy Fear
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, (Philippians 2:12)
Paul says that another aspect of sanctification is developing a healthy fear. The word “fear” means fright, terror, or reverential awe of something. “Trembling” refers to a shaking—it is where we get the English word tremor.4 There is a fear, a reverential awe needed in the believer’s life in order to continue to work out his salvation.
Interpretation Question: What type of fear and trembling is Paul talking about?
1. In order to work out our salvation, we must revere God.
This means we must see and know the awesomeness of God. When one truly realizes the awesomeness of God, he will not give up intimacy with him for other things. Many pursue school, work, family, or hobbies over God. The problem these people have is that they don’t really stand in awe of God; they don’t have a reverent fear and trembling of him. Consider what David said about God: “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him” (Psalm 34:8).
David said, “Taste and see how good he is. See how awesome our God is.” When we really know how wonderful he is, how can we choose the bitterness of sin over him? How can we choose the created over the Creator? Taste and see how good he is. When one really knows how good he is—when one truly reverences God—it will be a motivation towards holiness. In fact, look at the context in which David wrote this:
The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them. Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD (Psalm 34:7-11)
He says there is protection and deliverance for those who revere God (v. 7). He says those who fear him will lack nothing—there are provisions for those who fear him (v. 9). He speaks to those younger than him and says, “Listen, I will teach you the fear of the Lord” (v. 11). The benefits are too good. You must revere God. Give up your games, hobbies, and small ambitions. Make the reverence of the Lord your greatest pursuit. The benefits are glorious.
Do you revere God? Is God truly awesome to you? We must have a reverence of God in order to pursue him and our sanctification.
2. In order to work out our salvation, we must fear God’s discipline.
The writer of Hebrews said this: “the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son” (Hebrews 12:6). He says every child of God is disciplined. God will not allow us to ignore him. He will not allow us to ignore his Word, and he will not allow us to live in sin. When we try, we will be disciplined. It may start off with a gentle rebuke through study of Scripture and/or the preaching of a sermon, but if we do not respond, it will turn into a whipping. Jonah ignored God, and God brought a terrible storm in his life that almost killed him and others associated with him. We must have a healthy fear of God’s discipline.
Consider what Paul said to the Corinthians who were disciplined by God for disrespecting the Lord’s Supper:
That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world. (1 Corinthians 11:30-32)
They were weak, sick, and some even died because of God’s discipline. He then says, “if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.” He challenges them to survey their lives and their heart motives in order to avoid God’s discipline. Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom”—it is the beginning of living a wise life—a holy life. If we are going to grow in Christ, we must fear God’s discipline.
What other fear should believers have?
3. In order to work out our salvation, we must revere God’s Word.
Consider what God said through Isaiah: ‘“This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word” (Isaiah 66:2). God esteems—he thinks highly of the one who trembles and shakes at God’s Word. Sadly, many Christians ignore it; they sleep during the preaching of it. They ignore God’s commands in it and choose to sin instead. God says he looks with esteem on the one who trembles at his Word.
This is necessary for us to grow in our sanctification. If we don’t reverence the Word of God, we won’t read it, study it, or memorize it. We will allow the Bible to collect dust on our shelf. If we don’t fear God’s Word, we will disobey it and dishonor it in our life.
Do you reverence it? If you reverence it, you will pursue understanding of it. If you reverence it, you will obey it because you realize God speaks through it. It is not a pastor or a parent speaking; it is God speaking, and he is worthy to be revered.
If we are going to be sanctified, we must reverence God, fear his discipline, and revere his Word. Christians should minister with a holy fear and trembling of the one they serve. Consider how Paul described his ministry to the Corinthian church: “I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling” (1 Corinthians 2:3). Paul was a man who lived in a reverential fear of God. One could tell by the way he spoke and served. He served with a constant view of a majestic God—a God who is a “consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29).
Application Question: Do you feel like you have a healthy fear of God and his Word? Why or why not? How do we grow in the fear of God? How do we know if we have an unhealthy fear of God?
In Order to Be Sanctified, We Must Allow God to Work in Us
…for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Philippians 2:13)
After speaking about the believer’s role in working out his salvation, Paul speaks about God’s role. As he focused on the necessity of our labor in sanctification, you can imagine how some felt discouraged over their sins, failures, and lack of discipline. Here Paul comforts them with, “for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good pleasure.” This is similar to Paul’s encouragement for Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:6-7. He said,
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
He says “fan into flame the gift of God”—make it strong and maximize it—and then he says “for God has given us power, love, and self-discipline through the Holy Spirit.” He has given us everything needed through his indwelling Spirit to be holy and maximize our gifts. He is working in us; therefore, we must work as well.
Observation Question: How does God work in us?
1. God works in us to will—meaning he gives us his desires.
Jesus said this about the work of the Holy Spirit in the world: “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). Even though Christ was speaking to the world, this certainly happens to believers as the Spirit produces in them a desire to do God’s will. This happens in various ways.
Interpretation Question: In what ways does God work in us to give us his will or desires?
- God works in us to will by convicting us of sin.
Some have called this a holy discontent. By the Holy Spirit’s convicting work in our heart, he enables us to hate and despise our sin. He does this through God’s Word, fellowship with godly saints, and through discipline. Consider how Isaiah responded when he saw God: “‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty’” (Isaiah 6:5).
By seeing God it revealed to Isaiah how sinful he and his people were. Similarly, Paul said this: “O wretched man that I am” (Romans 7:24). The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin—enabling us to hate it and to desire to get rid of it. He gives us a holy discontent.
- God works in us to will by convicting us of righteousness.
God gives us holy aspirations—desires to be more like him or to fulfill his will. We see both Paul’s holy discontent and his holy aspirations in Philippians 3:12-14:
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Paul desired to press to be more like Christ daily—he had holy aspirations.
- God works in us to will by convicting us of judgment.
One of the ways he works in us to will is by the Holy Spirit reminding us of the coming judgment—the second coming of Christ. We as believers will not be condemned for our sins, but we will be rewarded or lose rewards based on our works. Second Corinthians 5:9-11 says,
So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.
Paul said that he and the other apostles were motivated by the judgment seat of Christ. There they would either have reward or loss of reward. They wanted reward not out of selfish ambition but in order to please God and out of fear of his judgment (v. 9, 11). First Corinthians 3:15 talks about those who will be saved by fire (KJV)—meaning they will receive no reward in heaven. The Holy Spirit convicts us of this judgment.
- God works in us to will by the manifestation of peace or removal of peace.
Colossians 3:15 says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”
The word “rule” is an athletic word used of an umpire in an athletic contest. The umpire says that this person is safe or that this person won the race. Many times as we are seeking God’s will about a future decision or what path we should take, he works in us to do his will by the presence of peace or by the absence of peace.
With Pilate’s wife, God’s grace was manifest by tormenting dreams the night before Christ’s crucifixion. She told Pilate to have nothing to do with that righteous man (Matt 27:19). God took away her peace to help her discern God’s will. One person said this about God’s peace: “Darkness about going is light about staying.” Many times in discerning God’s will, a consistent lack of peace is enough revelation to not make a decision or to not go forward. He works in us to will by peace.
- God works in us to will by the manifestation of his sovereign will.
Another way God works on our wills is simply through the manifestation of God’s sovereignty—directing our hearts by various means. For instance, Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.”
We saw this with Pharaoh as God hardened his heart (Ex 9:12). But God also sovereignly works in our hearts through directing circumstances, events, demons, waiting seasons, and everything else in order to guide us into his will. God could use a donkey on the side of the road to change our desires to his purposes (cf. Num 22, Balaam and the donkey).
How else does God work in us according to Philippians 2:13?
2. God works in us by giving us the power to work.
The Greek word for “act” in verse 13 is “energio.” It is where we get the English word “energy.”5 God energizes us—empowers us—to do his will. Paul said this about his ministry: “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me” (Colossians 1:28-29).
Paul said he labored, literally “labored to exhaustion,” and the reason he could do that is because the power of God worked in him so strongly. In fact, Paul prayed for the power of God to be operating in the Ephesian church. In Ephesians 3:16, he says, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being.”
How does God’s power begin to operate in our lives? Jesus simply said this: ‘“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). We must abide in Christ so that his power can fully manifest in our lives to accomplish his work—to be sanctified.
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