Jhn 17:19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
Eph 5:26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
Tit 2:14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
1Pe 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
Col 1:22-23 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast
Heb 2:11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.
Jhn 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Gal 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control
Love (tenderness, attachment, devotion, passion, appreciation, compassion, warmth, unselfishness, benevolence, zeal, caring, kindness, treasure, deep affection),
Joy (rejoicing, happiness, delight, radiant, satisfaction),
Peace (calm, quietness, still, composure, at rest, contentment, security, joy, harmony, untroubled, at ease),
Long-suffering (patient, tolerant, uncomplaining, accommodating, forgiving, meek),
Gentleness (tenderness, lenience, mercy, forgiveness, understanding, sympathy, compassion, love, mild, peaceable, considerate),
Goodness (respectable, purity, just, fair, benevolent, decency, compassionate, tender, kind, helpful, thoughtful, polite, nice),
Faith (trust, belief, conviction, reliance, dependence, hope, persuasion, confidence),
Meekness (humility, humbleness, obedience, softness),
Temperance (self-restraint, restraint, moderation, self-control, self-discipline, self-denial)
True sanctification does not consist in outward formalism and external devoutness. This is an enormous delusion, but unhappily a very common one.I am afraid that in many cases this external religiousness is made a substitute for inward holiness; and I am quite certain that it falls utterly short of sanctification of heart.
Sanctification does not consist in retirement from our place in life and the renunciation of our social duties. In every age it has been a snare with many to take up this line in the pursuit of holiness. Hundreds of hermits have buried themselves in some wilderness, and thousands of men and women have shut themselves up within the walls of monasteries and convents, under the vain idea that by so doing they would escape sin and become eminently holy. They have forgotten that no bolts and bars can keep out the devil and that, wherever we go, we carry that root of all evil, our own hearts. Christ would have His people show that His grace is not a mere hot–house plant, which can only thrive under shelter, but a strong, hardy thing which can flourish in every relation of life. It is doing our duty in that state to which God has called us, like salt in the midst of corruption and light in the midst of darkness, which is a primary element in sanctification. It is not the man who hides himself in a cave, but the man who glorifies God as master or servant, parent or child, in the family and in the street, in business and in trade, who is the scriptural type of a sanctified man.
Sanctification is not merely the occasional performance of right actions. Rather, it is the continual work of a new heavenly principle within, which runs through one’s daily conduct in everything he does, big or small. It is not like a pump, which only sends forth water when worked upon from without, but like a perpetual fountain, from which a stream is ever flowing spontaneously and naturally.
Genuine sanctification will show itself in habitual respect to God’s Word and habitual effort to live in obedience to it as the rule of life. There is no greater mistake than to suppose that a Christian has nothing to do with God’s Word because he cannot be justified by keeping them. The same Holy Spirit who convinces the believer of sin by His Word and leads him to Christ for justification will always lead him to a spiritual use of His Word, as a friendly guide, in the pursuit of sanctification.
Genuine sanctification will show itself in an habitual endeavor to do Christ’s will and to live by His practical precepts. These precepts are to be found scattered everywhere throughout the four Gospels, and especially in the sermon on the mount. To hear some men talk and read some men’s writings, one might imagine that our blessed Lord, when He was on earth, never taught anything but doctrine and left practical duties to be taught by others! What His disciples ought to be and to do is continually brought forward in our Lord’s teaching. A truly sanctified man will never forget this. He serves a Master who said, “You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you”
