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What the Bible says about Sanctification and Holiness
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Exodus 13:3

The last phrase—"there shall no leavened bread be eaten"—is tied to what the LORD did so that we understand why we are to do so.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Sanctification and Holiness (Part 1)

Exodus 13:7-9

Moses repeatedly reports this vital piece of information: You eat unleavened bread because of what the LORD did.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Sanctification and Holiness (Part 1)

Exodus 13:11-14

The implication is that, when Israel finally came into the land, God made it possible for them to come into it. In other words, it was because of what the Lord did, not only in Egypt, but also in the wilderness, that enabled them to reach and enter the land. It is what the Lord does.

This is not a minor bit of trivia. It is not merely that we come out of sin and this world, but this fact puts everything about our coming out—our growth and overcoming, and eventually entering the Kingdom of God—into its proper perspective, because human nature is ever ready to take the credit for more than it actually accomplishes.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Sanctification and Holiness (Part 1)

John 6:44

We and our brethren fit into the same pattern as Enoch, Noah, Abraham and the other patriarchs, and others down through time, as individuals who make up the church. All of us are called out, drawn by God's grace—an act of love on His part—that separates us from the world and puts us in a position in relation to Him that the uncalled do not have the privilege of being part of. We had no control over this, and neither do the uncalled. "Jacob I have loved; but Esau I have hated," God says (Malachi 1:2-3). We are living fulfillments of that prophecy. God has loved us, but the uncalled has He not.

To break Israel's bondage to Pharaoh and to Egypt, did God have to work miracles and others things far beyond human capability? Of course, He did. To break us away, to set us apart, to separate us from the herd, as it were, God had to do similar things spiritually to break our bondage to Satan and this world. This is no little thing. It is because of what the Lord does that we are separated from the world. Real miracles must occur, or we would never be separated. Those miracles begin with our calling.

The Greek word translated into English as "assembly" or "church," depending on which version of the Bible one uses, is ekklesia, and it means "a calling," "a summons" to an assembly. The purpose of the calling out or separation from others is determined by the context in which ekklesia appears. So, the word can even be applied to a mob of people who are summoned by their own curiosity about something exciting happening in the neighborhood. Luke uses it exactly this way in the book of Acts (see Acts 19:21-41). People were drawn by the possibility of a riot taking place in the city.

Ekklesia can apply to people summoned by the attraction of a theater show. It does not necessarily need to be a formal summons, but in our case, the Bible makes sure that we understand that our calling is specific and formal. God Himself summons us to be separated away from the world.

As time passed in the first century, ekklesia came to be applied to the Christian assembly or congregation to distinguish it from the Jews' Sabbath meeting in a synagogue. The word itself has absolutely no direct connection to the church, but by common usage, it came to be understood as implying those called and separated from the world, and so we speak of "the church." But in Greek, all it means is "those summoned." To us, it implies "summoned by God"; "summoned to be separated from the world"; "summoned so God can reproduce Himself in us."

John W. Ritenbaugh
Sanctification and Holiness (Part 1)

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Let him glory, not in human nature—not in what he has done by way of works—but "let him glory in the Lord."

We can summarize what Paul writes here by putting it into different words. He says: "It is because of what the Father did. It is because of His work that we are in Christ, for in Christ are all the riches of salvation. All that we are that is right, we owe to them; therefore, if we're going to glory, let us glory in the Lord."

John W. Ritenbaugh
Sanctification and Holiness (Part 1)

1 Peter 1:15-16

God demands that those who are associated with Him, those set apart by Him to be a dwelling place for His Spirit, be holy as He is holy. This means that we must become, not merely set apart, but set apart and clean. We are entering the area of Chrisitian conduct, and our separation is away from those who are not clean, not pure spiritually as God is.

We see the implied meaning of sanctification coming into play, because in order to be a suitable dwelling place for God, we have to become holy as He is holy. We have to become holy, then, in the sense of clean—a clean life, as well as clean in our sacrifices. I Peter 2:5 says that we are "to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ."

We have to be holy in the sense of clean living, and our sacrifices need to be acceptable. This deals with being made holy by Jesus Christ, that is, through His work made possible by means of the blood of His sacrifice as a man, as well as His continuing work of sacrifice as our High Priest before God as our Mediator and Intercessor.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Sanctification and Holiness (Part 1)

Revelation 18:4

When God separated Abraham and his family from his family and his country, and when God separated Israel from Egypt, their sanctification was also geographical. He literally moved them from one place on earth to another. His purpose was to establish a new community of people all involved in the same purpose.

With the church, our separation is not geographical but spiritual, moral, and ethical, while still living geographically within the system that we were born into. We must become separated from the way, from the manner, from the lifestyle, from the attitudes of the system that we were born into and moved (motivated) to make God's way, His manner, His system, His attitudes ours. That is how we "come out" of Babylon.

Abraham and Israel literally moved geographically. Some of us may move geographically, but that is not really what God has in mind. He desires a spiritual, moral, ethical, and attitudinal departure from our friends, neighbors, family, the gang we ran with, or whatever. We are called to be different.

The concept of God's separating, making holy, and establishing a new community, is not lost. The community aspect is merely reserved until a later time. Under the New Covenant, the community is the Kingdom of God. It is a goal we are moving toward as He prepares His set-apart people to enter that new community.

So where are we headed? To the Kingdom of God. Are we headed there geographically? No. We stay right where we are, but we still "come out" of Babylon in a spiritual sense. We are still sanctified by a change of attitude, of practice, and of conduct. Instead of immoral, we become moral. Instead of being unethical, we become ethical. Instead of being spiritually anti-God as Satan is, we become spiritual in the way God is spiritual.

That is how we "come out." We are set apart for that purpose. At this time, geography has little or no part in the sanctifcation of the overwhelming majority of God's people.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Sanctification and Holiness (Part 1)


 




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