Sunday Reflection–Sanctification

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. (John 17:17-19)

Shortly after becoming a Christian in 1984 I first became aware of the concept of sanctification.  Ever since then I have circled back to the concept regularly to learn a little more about it and about myself.

To sanctify something means to make it holy, to consecrate it, to set it aside for a specific reason or purpose.

In the words above Jesus asks that his Father sanctify, to set apart, his disciples by ‘the truth’ – and he amplifies that by stating that God’s word is truth.  The purpose for this setting aside, being consecrated, is so they could be sent into the world.

Jesus goes further and sanctifies himself for his disciples sake.   That sanctification cost Jesus his life on the cross.

Then Jesus says some of the most amazing words in Scripture:

 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message…” (John 17:20-21)

Jesus is saying that he is praying for all who have chosen to follow him as we heard the message of the disciples as it has been relayed through Scripture down through the years.  He is praying that we too may be sanctified by God’s truth, by God’s word, for God’s purposes.  He is also saying that his sanctification through his death on the cross is clearly for us as much as it was for those early disciples.

Just as there was a cost to Jesus for his sanctification, there is a cost to us when we accept sanctification that comes through faith in him.  Oswald Chambers expresses that cost better than I can:

Sanctification means being made one with Jesus so that the nature that controlled Him will control us. Are we really prepared for what that will cost? It will cost absolutely everything in us which is not of God.

I’m still learning that following Jesus means giving up anything and everything that is not of God – and sometimes that hurts.  But it is worth it both now and in the eternity to come.