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Place contained a table with shewbread on it, which typified the Word of God. The golden candlestick, also in the Holy Place, represented the light that God sheds into a Christians life. The third item in the Holy Place was the golden altar. On it was a continual offering of special incense, and the fire that started its burning was sent by God himself. The burning incense represented the prayers that come out of a sanctified heart. Next to the Holy Place, but separated from it by a veil, was the Holy of Holies, which represented the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Shekinah glory of God, a physical manifestation of His presence, dwelt in this room. Only the High Priest could enter this room once a year, on the Day of Atonement. When Jesus was crucified, the veil separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies was torn from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51), and sanctified Christians now have direct access to the fullness of the Spirit of God in their lives. The steps symbolized by the Tabernacle illustration must still be followed today. The experience of salvation should be followed by water baptism as soon as possible, and a Christian can only receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit after being entirely sanctified.
Even though the word wholly is very expressive, Paul continues, I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. If God sanctifies the whole spirit, soul, and body, is anything left? No, it is entire sanctification. It is complete. In verse 24, Paul added, Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. Will do what? He will sanctify a person wholly and preserve him blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Clearly, the thought here is that a Christian receives something definite, and receives it before the Lord Jesus Christ returns. In many New Testament references to sanctification and holiness, the definite nature of sanctification is evidenced in the original Greek text by the aorist tense of the verb, which indicates a specific and completed act, rather than an ongoing one. Though spiritual growth continues throughout a Christians life, the cleansing work of sanctification is not a gradual process; it is accomplished in an instant. In every phase of his life, a sanctified Christian continues to learn to apply what he has received. Christian growth begins when a person prays through and is saved, and it should continue until that person steps into Heaven. Holiness is more than morality. Morality is limited because people use differing standards to define what is moral and what is immoral. In contrast, holiness is defined by Gods Word and is imparted through sanctification. Holiness is a state of the heart that is commanded, and it is what every Christian needs (Hebrews 12:14). Sanctification provides it; there is no other way to be holy.
God has provided a way to deal with the heart problem. The Bible repeatedly instructs about the need for cleansing, purging, and purifying. It says that the old nature, (also referred to as the old man and the body of sin) must be put off. (See Colossians 3:9; Romans 6:6.) These are references to the necessity in the believers life for the experience of sanctification.
them those desires. Pauls reference to fornication addresses the desire planted by God whereby the human family would be propagated. No matter what human behavior is considered, a person needs to be sanctified in order for that desire to be properly channeled. With sanctification, God puts within a Christians heart the want to, the proper desire. When Paul says, This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication, he is not just saying that a person needs sanctification, but he is telling why it is needed. Sanctification is needed so that this desireand all othersare directed according to Gods law of love. Left to themselves, natural appetites and desires can run rampant through peoples lives. Even a cursory look at society reveals the results of the fallen nature: God-given appetites and desires have been completely unrestrained in many cases. Man needs to be forgiven for past sins and then he needs to be sanctified so his life can be lived according to the way God intended man to live. When a person is sanctified, it is not hard to live a holy life. It is spontaneous! Paul wrote to the Thessalonian believers, expressing his desire that their whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Preservation is a function that sanctification accomplishes. To preserve is to keep in perfect or unaltered condition, to maintain intact, prevent from decaying or spoiling. So the prayer is for the God of peace to sanctify wholly and to keep a person in that blameless condition unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. That experience is the preservation: God keeps the heart without moral fault. The core of the teaching of sanctification is that it gets to the heart and addresses the hearts needs.
on a pure sanctified life and endues that one with power from on high and sends him on his way to win souls for Jesus. Sanctification provides unity, a oneness among Gods people. In John 17, Jesus prayed that his followers might be sanctified, that they might be one as He was one with His Heavenly Father. That prayer was definitely answered, for before the Day of Pentecost they all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication (Acts 1:14). When people are sanctified, they are one in their desires for the furtherance of the Gospel. They will be in it together, pulling with the same goal in view. That is what a group of sanctified people does! While there still will be individual preferences and perspectives, it will not be a tug-of-war. Between sanctified individuals, unity and harmony will prevail. Ephesians 5:25-27 uses an illustration to describe the purpose of sanctification. It says, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it, 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. The purpose of sanctification is to make the Church what it ought to be in the sight of God. Sanctification is not for unbelievers. Sanctification is for those who have been saved; those who know their sins have been forgiven. They will be part of the glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but holy and without blemish. After sanctification, the sanctified state is maintained through the same consecration by which it was obtained. A person abides in Christ, and allows Him to abide within. He lives according to the way God would have him live. He is more sensitive to the checks of the Holy Spirit. He is more careful than he was before. He is more open to the prompting of the Spirit of the Lord.