So _to sanctify means to separate or set apart for
God; and Sanctification is the process of setting apart or the state of
being set apart for God_. This is the primary meaning of the words.
(2) But the word as used in the Bible has also a secondary
signification closely related to this primary meaning. An illustration
of this secondary meaning will be found in II Chron. 29:5, +"Hear me,
ye Levites; now sanctify yourselves, and sanctify the house of Jehovah,
the God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the
holy place."+ Bearing in mind the "parallelism" which is the chief
characteristic of Hebrew poetry, it is plain that to sanctify here is
synonymous with the +"Carry forth the filthiness out of the holy
places"+ found in the last part of the verse. So _to sanctify_ here
_means to separate from ceremonial or moral defilement, to cleanse;
and Sanctification is the process of separating, or state of being
separated from ceremonial or moral defilement_. The same use of the
word is found in Lev. 11:44, +"For I am Jehovah thy God: sanctify
yourselves therefore, and be ye holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye
defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that moveth upon
the earth."+ Here again it is clear that "sanctify yourselves" is
synonymous with "be ye holy" and is contrasted with "defile yourselves"
and means to separate from ceremonial or moral defilement, to cleanse;
and Sanctification is the process of separating or state of being
separated from ceremonial or moral defilement. The same meaning of
sanctification is found in the New Testament in I Thess. 5:23, +"And
the God of Peace, Himself sanctify you wholly and may your Spirit and
soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ."+ Here we see the close relation between
entire sanctification and _preserving wholly, without blame_, and to
sanctify here clearly means to separate from moral defilement, and
sanctification here again is the process of separating or state of
being separated from moral defilement. The same thing is evident from
the 4th chapter of this same epistle in the 7th verse (I Thess. 4:7),
+"For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification."+
Our "Sanctification" is here set in direct contrast with "uncleanness,"
and hence it is evident that sanctification here means the state of
being separated from all moral defilement. The same thing is evident
from the 3rd verse of this same chapter, +"For this is the will of
God, even your sanctification, that ye abstain from fornication."+
Here again it is evident that Sanctification means separation from
impurity or moral defilement. The two meanings, then, of Sanctification
are: the process of separating or setting apart, or state of being
separated or set apart, for God; and the process of separating or state
of being separated from ceremonial or moral defilement. These two
meanings of the word are closely allied—one cannot be truly separated
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account