Now, this is the sense in which the word is used whenever sanctification is spoken of as something past, or complete. There are passages in which it is described as the past act of God, as, _e.g._ Jude, 1, where God’s people are spoken of as being, or having been, ‘sanctified by God the Father;’ and 2 Thess. ii. 13, where they are described as having been ‘chosen to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.’ The reason is, that they have already been set apart by the Holy Ghost as a peculiar people unto God. They have been like a branch of the wild olive, cut out from the old tree, and engrafted into the new. That grafting into Christ involved a separation, for it implied a cutting out as well as a grafting in; and therefore, whenever a soul has been incorporated into Christ, there has been in this sense an act of sanctification, or, in other words, of separation unto God. Such passages do not refer to personal holiness; but to the past act of God in separating His elect unto Himself. I have no doubt that this is the meaning of the text. We all know that the work of holiness is the consequence of the gift of pardon. It is not till we are forgiven through the great blood-sprinkling that the real work of holiness begins. But in these words sanctification comes before it, and the sprinkling of the blood is described as the result of the sanctifying act. The reason is, not that this verse is at variance with the rest of Scripture,—God forbid the thought,—but that the word sanctification does not here express our growth in personal holiness, but means God’s great act of separation unto Himself by the mighty power of the Holy Ghost. As the Sabbath was set apart unto God, so have we been set apart if we be in Christ Jesus: and it is both our privilege and duty to regard ourselves as chosen out of the world and now belonging, as a peculiar people, unto God. It is with reference to this act of separation that the Apostle addresses God’s people in the words, ‘Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace be multiplied.’ If we take the word in this sense the passage will throw a flood of light on three important subjects: the origin of this separation, its result, and the power by which it is accomplished. * * * * *