New: 30 May 2025; Update: 11 June 2025
The Blessing
of Sanctification
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will do it.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 NASB
Trusting the Process
'Trust the Process' has become a popular maxim for changing our lifestyle. Change takes time; it's a process. 'Rome wasn't built in a day,' the saying goes. Good things take time to develop. We cannot have overnight success, but we must start with decisive action. And in time, the result will show. But people give up too quickly. Usain Bolt run the 100 metre sprint in under ten seconds to win several gold medals in athletics, but it took him years to reach that level. All things take time and we must stay faithful to the process it takes to get the change we seek and the result we desire. There is a large amount of useful 'self-help' or 'self-improvement' literature on the market and many offer good insights for change and development. But, most importantly, we should understand that there is a divine way to change: the process of sanctification by the God of peace. He, too, takes us through a process of repentance (D10), renewing of the mind (D11) and sanctification to effect lasting change. It is deep, inner change. We can be transformed into the nature of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). God is the game-changer, as we are not alone in this process. We can trust God in the process, for He is the One who will complete the good work He has started in us (Philippians 1:6). The God of peace sanctifies us completely and will do it in His faithfulness (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). There is beauty in holiness!
The Beauty of Holiness
For many people 'holiness' is a negative, religious concept, often associated with condemnation and burdening religious duty. We feel guilty and bad about our sin and condemn ourselves, thinking God is displeased with us. A sense of rejection governs our thoughts and emotions, and instead of drawing close to God for forgiveness and restoration, we withdraw from His presence in shame. Adam and Eve reacted that way to God's call in the Garden of Eden after they had sinned against Him and His commandment. Sin brings guilt in our conscience and alienation from God. We know that God is holy and we feel ashamed and dirty. We withdraw instead of coming before the One who loves a repenting sinner and wishes to forgive, cleanse and restore. Jesus died for our sins to give us forgiveness, not condemnation. He was condemned in our place so that we can be forgiven and saved! In Christ, there is forgiveness and acceptance (Ephesians 1:6-7). Such is the nature of God's love. We, therefore, need not withdraw from God in fear, but can come to Him in humility and faith. There is beauty in holiness, for it is the pure way to live with peace and a good conscience. In the process of sanctification, we learn to love and do what is good and pure, and leave the ways of sin behind us, never to return. We don't do so because of religious duty, but because of the love of God. We dedicate our lives to do the will of God and seek that pleases Him.
For this is the will of God,
your sanctification...
For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.
1 Thessalonians 4:3a, 7 NKJV
The Blessing of Sanctification
Sanctification is the dedication to pursue holiness and purity over sin and pleasure. Sanctification is a blessing, a positive concept and a liberating process. We get washed and renewed. God gives us a new life as a 'new creation' in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) and we learn to walk in 'the newness of life' (Romans 6:4; see A12). This is salvation as the liberation from sin and the process of sanctification to be transformed into holiness. We are saved from the destructive power of sin and from the perversity of our culture. We have turned away from sin and turned to God. Whatever idols we had in our past, we now serve the living and true God, awaiting Jesus to return and take us to Heaven for eternity (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10). Until we pass from this life to the next (eternity) or until Christ takes us by His Second Coming, we live dedicated to God as a living and holy sacrifice (Romans 12:1). We learn the ways of God by the renewing of our minds and walk in the will of God as obedient children (v 2). We are now children of light and walk in the light of holiness according to the will of God (Ephesians 5:1-17). Sanctification is the renewing process of learning to walk in the light of holiness and gain lasting peace.
The blessing of sanctification is the way we live set apart for God and being renewed by His Spirit to be fully sanctified—spirit, soul and body—by the God of peace (1 Thessalonians 5:23). We are to be 'blameless in holiness' (3:13) according to the will of God: our sanctification (4:3). God has called us to holiness, not uncleanness (v 7). We who have been liberated from sin should no longer walk in sin, but in the newness of life instead (Romans 6:1-4). The God of peace Himself sanctifies us fully and completely and thus perseveres us to be 'blameless' on Judgment Day (1 Thessalonians 5:23). He is faithful and will do it (v 24). God Himself, after giving His Son to cleanse and save us, makes us complete to live according to His will, working in us to do what is pleasing to Him (Hebrews 13:20-21). He is at work in us to will and to do His will (Philippians 2:13; Hebrews 13:20-21). The blessing of sanctification is such that the God of peace is working in us and for us. We are 'in Christ Jesus' because of God's work of salvation (1 Corinthians 1:30) with the purpose of becoming like Him in all things. Through sanctification we can become 'vessels of honour' unto His glory, abstain from wickedness and call on God with pure hearts (2 Timothy 2:19-22).
Becoming like Christ
The primary calling of each believer is to become conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29). We are called to conform to Christ, not the world (12:2). The process of sanctification transforms us to become like Christ. We are no longer under condemnation, but free to live in the power of the Spirit of holiness (8:1-4) in the newness of life (6:1-4). Only by living by the Spirit and setting our minds on the things of God, can we have life and peace and live pleasing to God (8:5-8). He chose us to be holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4) and gave us acceptance in the Beloved, Jesus Christ (v 6) through the forgiveness of sin (v 7). We are called to be pure, as a bride at the wedding (5:25-27). We are to walk as He walked (1 John 2:6). As we abide in Him and He in us, we are like branches in the Vine, bearing fruit to God's glory (John 15:1-8). As children of God, we abide in His love (v 9) and walk in His love (Ephesians 5:1-2). As an expression of our love to God, we obey His commandments (John 15:10) and live in divine joy (v 11). Living in love is an expression of friendship with God (vv 12-14), and as His friends, we will know His will (v 15) as we live out our calling of bearing fruit to His glory (v 16). Abiding in Christ, the Vine, and living the way He wants us to live, is part of the process of sanctification. Anything we do contrary to God's will, won't bring us closer to God. We therefore must be sober, vigilant and steadfast in our faith to resist all evil and false ways, so that God can perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish us in all things (1 Peter 5:8-11). We are to become complete in Christ, lacking nothing (James 1:2-4; see D15).
The process of sanctification is necessary; it is the will of God (1 Thessalonians 4:3), and without it no person will see God (Hebrews 12:14). Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8). God knows His own people; and those who call on His name in genuine ways are those who abstain from evil (2 Timothy 2:19). Not everyone who says, 'Lord, Lord' will enter Heaven as a child of God; some, professing Jesus with their lips, are simply false prophets, wolves in sheep clothing and workers of iniquity (Matthew 7:21-23). People may be confessing God with their lips, yet their hearts may be far away from God (Matthew 15:7-8; Isaiah 29:13). There are many false expressions of religion with only an appearance but no substance (2 Timothy 3:5). True sanctification makes us like Christ, the Son, and leads us to a life of holiness and humility. Part of this process is God's discipline, that makes us to become partakers of His holiness and righteousness (Hebrews 12:1-14; see D15). It is not always pleasant, but it is certainly necessary. We can become mature and wise, being made complete in the image of Christ (James 1:2-8, 12; Ephesians 4:13-15). Becoming like Christ is the blessing of sanctification.