Sanctifying Work of the Holy Spirit

Rom 15:14–16, 1 Cor 6:11, 2 Thess 2:13, 1 Pet 1:1, 2

Theme: Holy Spirit makes the believer holy. Enabling him/her to live a holy li
fe.

Introduction: Now if truly we, who have received Christ Jesus the as the free g
ift of salvation from the penalty of our sins, are the temple of the Spirit of G
od, as I spoke about last week, then we must be a holy temple. Why? Because ho
liness and unholiness cannot dwell together. God cannot have any unholy thing
before Him. So how then can He dwell in us who when we come to Jesus bring with
us much sinful baggage of past habits. It is a part the grace of God that He g
ives us His Spirit to make us holy. It is what theologians call sanctification.
The work of the Holy Spirit to make men holy.
I. What the Holy Spirit does (Meaning of Sanctification)
A. To separate from
1. to make distinct from
2. to consecrate to (dedicate to a sacred purpose; “To sanctify someone or someth
ing is to set that person or thing apart for the use intended by its designer .
. . In a theological sense things are sanctified when they are used for the purp
ose God intends. A human being is sanctified, therefore, when he or she lives a
ccording to God’s design and purpose.”)
B. To purify
1. spotless, stainless, unmixed with another matter
2. Illustration: raw ore being refined into gold.
C. To make holy (empowering to live a holy life; being made complete). By stre
ngthening our inner being with power over sin Ephesians 3:16: “16 I pray that out
of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in y
our inner being”; Cf. 1 Thessalonians 3:13: “13 May he strengthen your hearts so th
at you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our
Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.”; enabling us to reach the goal of holin
ess)
II. When He does it (Time of Sanctification)
A. At the time of salvation (Our standing or position in Christ because through
salvation; 2 Thessalonians 2:13: “13 But we ought always to thank God for you, br
others loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved t
hrough the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.”)
1. Purified in the sense that we are no longer guilty of our sins (washed in Jes
us’ blood; 1 Corinthians 6:11: “11 And that is what some of you were. But you were
washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Ch
rist and by the Spirit of our God. “)
2. Set apart in the sense we are now called “saints” (lit. “holy ones”; 1 Corinthians 1:
2: “2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and ca
lled to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours”)
B. Apart from the act of salvation (Irrespective of time, could be at salvatio
n or later)
Difference between salvation/regeneration and sanctification:
Salvation Sanctification
*counts us righteous makes us righteous
*pardon for sin power over sin
*considered righteous given righteousness
*peace with God peace of God
*brings life brings victorious life
*regenerated by the Spirit received Him in His fulness
*germ of the seed summer fulness
*new heart and new spirit Holy Spirit within you
*Robes of righteousness Beauties of holiness
(clean robe) (marriage robe/wedding dress)
*the new believer is in Christ is in the new believer
Christ
1. Make a complete dedication (whole being; Rom. 12:1; 6:13; 13:14; 1 Thessaloni
ans 5:23,24: “23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and thro
ugh. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.”)
2. Holy Spirit unites us completely to Christ (No longer our wants, our desires,
but His desire; not our will, His will; not we ourselves as lord, but he is Lor
d; Paul’s realization Galatians 2:20: “20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no
longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by fai
th in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”; clothing Himself wit
h us, Judges 6:34: “34 Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew
a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him.”)
C. All throughout life
1. Daily Renewing of the mind resulting in a renewing of the pattern of our liv
es - living the Christ-life (Romans 12:2: “2 Do not conform any longer to the patt
ern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you wil
l be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will
.”)
2. Beng transformed into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18:
“18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transfo
rmed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, wh
o is the Spirit.”)
III. How the Holy Spirit does it (Bringing to yielding)
A. Holy Spirit shows us the need. (Problem is that many Christians are content t
o stay on the milk and not dive into the deeper life; the meat of the word; Pau
l and the carnal Corinthians)
B. Holy Spirit shows us God’s provision for sanctification in the free gift of Jes
us Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:7: “7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to l
ive a holy life.”; 1 Corinthians 1:30: “30 It is because of him that you are in Ch
rist Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holi
ness and redemption.”; died to sin, alive in Christ, Rom 6)
C. Holy Spirit leads us to surrender and committal of our soul to Him.
Conclusion: Have you surrendered your entire being to the control of the Holy S
pirit? Are you trying to live the Christian life under your own power or by the
Holy Spirit? We cannot make ourselves holy only He can does that. We cannot be
holy if we are working against what He has done and is doing in us. The Bible
calls that resisting the Holy Spirit. Instead of resisting, yield yourself , su
rrender yourself to the Holy Spirit. Let’s live the words of the chorus: “Spirit of
the living God, fall afresh on me./Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me./
Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me./ Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me
.”