Sanctification

1 Thessalonians 4:3 — For this is the will of God, even your Sanctification.

The notion of the word Sanctification signifies to consecrate and set apart to a holy use. Thus they are sanctified persons who are separate from the world, and set apart for God's service. Sanctification has a privative and positive part.

1. A privative part, Mortification, which lies in the purging out of sin. Sin is compared to leaven, which sours, and to leprosy, which defiles: Sanctification does purge out the old leaven (1 Corinthians 5:7). Though it takes not away the life, yet the love of sin.

2. A positive part, Vivification, which is the spiritual refining of the soul, which in Scripture is called a renewing of our mind (Romans 12:2), and a partaking of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). The priests in the law not only were washed in the great laver, but adorned with glorious apparel (Exodus 28:2), so in Sanctification, not only washed from sin, but adorned with purity.

Question: What is Sanctification?

Answer: It is a principle of grace savingly wrought, whereby the heart becomes holy, and is made after God's own heart. A sanctified person bears not only God's name, but image. For the opening the nature of Sanctification, I shall lay down these seven positions.

1. Sanctification is a supernatural thing; it is divinely infused; we are naturally polluted, and to cleanse God takes to be his prerogative (Leviticus 21:8): I am the Lord that sanctifies you. Weeds grow of themselves, flowers are planted. Sanctification is a flower of the Spirit's planting, therefore it is called, the Sanctification of the Spirit (1 Peter 1:2).

2. Sanctification is an intrinsic thing; it lies chiefly in the heart. It is called the adorning the hidden man of the heart (1 Peter 3:4). The dew wets the leaf, the sap is hid in the root; the religion of some consists only in externals, but Sanctification is deeply rooted in the soul (Psalm 51:6): In the hidden part you will make me to know wisdom.

3. Sanctification is an extensive thing; it spreads into the whole man (1 Thessalonians 5:23): The God of peace sanctify you wholly. As original corruption has depraved all the faculties, the whole head is sick, the whole heart faint, no part sound, as if the whole mass of blood were corrupted; so Sanctification goes over the whole soul. After the Fall there was ignorance in the mind; now in Sanctification we are light in the Lord (Ephesians 5:8). After the Fall the will was depraved, there was not only impotency to good, but obstinacy; now in Sanctification there is a blessed pliableness in the will, it does symbolize and comport with the will of God. After the Fall the affections were misplaced on wrong objects; in Sanctification they are tuned into a sweet order and harmony, the grief placed on sin, the love on God, the joy on Heaven. Thus Sanctification spreads itself as far as original corruption. It goes over the whole soul: The God of peace sanctify you wholly. He is not a consecrated person who is good only in some part, but who is all over sanctified. Therefore in Scripture grace is called a new man (Colossians 3:10), not a new eye, or a new tongue, but a new man. A good Christian, though he be sanctified but in part, yet in every part.

4. Sanctification is an intense ardent thing. Qualitates sunt in subjecto intensivè (Romans 12:11): 〈in non-Latin alphabet〉, fervent in spirit. Sanctification is not a dead form, but is inflamed into zeal. We call water hot, when it is so in the third or fourth degree. He is holy whose religion is heated to some degree, and his heart boils over in love to God.

5. Sanctification is a beautiful thing; it makes God and angels fall in love with us (Psalm 110:3): The beauties of holiness. As the sun is to the world, so is Sanctification to the soul, beautifying and bespangling it in God's eyes. 〈in non-Latin alphabet〉, Chrysostom. That which makes God glorious, must needs make us so. Holiness is the most sparkling jewel in the Godhead (Exodus 15:11): Glorious in holiness. Sanctification is the first fruit of the Spirit; it is Heaven begun in the soul. Sanctification and Glory differ only in degree; Sanctification is Glory in the seed, and Glory is Sanctification in the flower. Happiness is the quintessence of holiness.

6. Sanctification is an abiding thing (1 John 3:9): His seed remains in him. He who is truly sanctified cannot fall from that state. Indeed seeming holiness may be lost; colors may wash off; Sanctification may suffer an eclipse (Revelation 2:4): You have left your first love; but true Sanctification is a blossom of eternity (1 John 2:27): The anointing which you have received abides in you. He who is truly sanctified can no more fall away than the angels which are fixed in their heavenly orb.

7. Sanctification is a progressive thing; it is growing; it is compared to seed which grows. First the blade springs up, then the ear, then the ripe corn in the ear. Such as are already sanctified may be more sanctified (2 Corinthians 7:1). Justification does not admit of degrees; a believer cannot be more elected or justified than he is, but he may be more sanctified than he is. Sanctification is still increasing, like the morning sun which grows brighter to the full meridian. Knowledge is said to increase (Colossians 1:10), and faith to increase (2 Corinthians 10:15); a Christian is continually adding a cubit to his spiritual stature. It is not with us as it was with Christ, who received the Spirit without measure. Christ would not be more holy than he was. But we have the Spirit only in measure, and may be still augmenting our grace; as Apelles, when he had drawn a picture, he would be still mending it with his pencil. The image of God is drawn but imperfectly in us, therefore we must be still mending it, and drawing it in more lively colors. Sanctification is progressive; if it does not grow, it is because it does not live. Thus you see the nature of Sanctification.

Question: What are the counterfeits of Sanctification?

Answer: There is something that looks like Sanctification, which is not.

1. The first counterfeit of Sanctification is moral virtue. To be just, temperate, to be of a fair deportment, not having one's escutcheon blotted with ignominious scandal, this is good, but not enough: this is not Sanctification. A field flower differs from a garden flower. 1. Heathens have attained to morality; Cato, Socrates, Aristides: civility is but nature refined; there's nothing of Christ there: the heart may be foul and impure, under these fair leaves of civility, the worm of unbelief may be hid. 2. A moral person has a secret antipathy against grace: he hates vice, and he hates grace as much as vice. The snake has a fine color, but a sting. A person adorned and cultivated with moral virtue has a secret spleen against sanctity: those Stoics which were the chief of the moralized heathens, were the bitterest enemies Saint Paul had (Acts 17:18).

2. The second counterfeit of Sanctification is superstitious devotion; this abounds in Popery: adorations, images, altars, vestments, holy water, which I look upon as a religious frenzy: this is far from Sanctification. 1. It does not put any intrinsical goodness into a man, it does not make a man better. If the legal purifications and washings, which were of God's own appointing, did not make them that used them more holy; the priests, who wore holy garments, and had holy oil poured on them, were never the more holy without the anointing of the Spirit? Then surely those superstitious innovations in religion which God never appointed, cannot contribute any holiness to men. 2. A superstitious holiness costs no great labor; there is nothing of the heart in it: if to tell over a few beads, or bow to an image, to sprinkle themselves with holy water, if this were Sanctification, and were all that were required of them that should be saved, then Hell would be empty, none would come there.

3. The third counterfeit of Sanctification is hypocrisy; when men make a pretence of that holiness which they have not. A [reconstructed: comet] may shine like a star; such a luster shines from their profession as dazzles the eyes of the beholders (2 Timothy 3:5). Having a form of godliness, but denying the power. These are lamps without oil, whited sepulchers, like the Egyptian temples, which had fair outsides, but within spiders and apes. The Apostle speaks of true holiness (Ephesians 4:24), implying, there is a holiness which is spurious and feigned (Revelation 3:1). You have a name to live, but are dead; like pictures and statues which are destitute of a vital principle (Jude 12). Clouds without water. They pretend to be full of the Spirit, but empty clouds. This show of Sanctification (when it is nothing else) is self-delusion. He who takes copper instead of gold wrongs himself most; the counterfeit saint deceives others while he lives, but deceives himself when he dies. To pretend holiness when there is none, is a vain thing. What were the foolish virgins better for their blazing lamps, when they wanted oil? What is the lamp of profession without the oil of saving grace? What comfort will a show of holiness yield at last? Will painted gold enrich? Painted wine refresh him that is thirsty? Will painted holiness be a cordial at the hour of death? A pretence of Sanctification is not to be rested in. Many ships that have had the name of the Hope, the Safe-guard, the Triumph, yet have been cast away upon the rocks; so many who have had the name of sainthood, have been cast into Hell.

4. The fourth counterfeit of Sanctification is restraining grace. When men forbear vice, though they do not hate it: this may be the sinner's motto, Fain I would, but I dare not. The dog has a mind to the bone, but is afraid of the cudgel. Men have a mind to lust, but conscience stands as the angel with a flaming sword and frightens. They have a mind to revenge, but the fear of Hell is a curb bit to check them. Here is no change of heart; sin is curbed, but not cured; a lion may be in chains, but is a lion still.

5. The fifth counterfeit of Sanctification is common grace, which is a slight transient work of the Spirit, but does not amount to Conversion. There is some light in the judgment, but it is not humbling; some checks in the conscience, but they are not awakening. This looks like Sanctification, but is not. Men have convictions wrought in them, but they break loose from them again, like the deer which being shot, shakes out the arrow: after conviction men go into the house of mirth, take the harp to drive away the spirit of sadness, and so all dies and comes to nothing.

Quest. Wherein appears the necessity of Sanctification?

Resp. In six things. 1. God has called us to it (2 Peter 1:4). Who has called us to glory and virtue; to virtue as well as glory. God has not called us to uncleanness, but to holiness (1 Thessalonians 4:7). We have no call to sin; we may have a temptation, but no call; no call to be proud, or unclean, but we have a call to be holy.

2. The necessity appears in this, without Sanctification there is no evidencing our Justification; Justification and Sanctification go together (1 Corinthians 6:11). But you are sanctified, but you are justified. Micah 7:18. Pardoning iniquity, there is Justification; verse 19. He will subdue our iniquities, there is Sanctification. Out of Christ's sides came water and blood (1 John 5:6). Blood, namely Justification, water, namely Sanctification. Such as have not the water out of Christ's sides to cleanse them, shall never have the blood out of his sides to save them.

3. Without Sanctification we have no title to the New Covenant. The Covenant of Grace is our charter for Heaven. The terms of the Covenant are, that God will be our God, (the crowning blessing) but who are interested in the Covenant, and may plead the benefit of it, only sanctified persons (Ezekiel 36:26). A new heart will I give you, and I will put my spirit within you, and I will be your God. If a man make a will, and settles his estate upon such persons as he names in the will, none else but they can lay claim to the will; so God makes a will and testament, but it is restrained and limited to such as are sanctified, and it is high presumption for any else to lay claim to the will.

4. There is no going to heaven without sanctification (Hebrews 12:14). Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. God is a holy God, and he will suffer no unholy creature to come near him. A king will not suffer a man with plague-sores to approach into his presence. Heaven is not like Noah's Ark, where the clean beasts and the unclean entered: no unclean beast comes into the heavenly ark. Though God suffers the wicked to live a while on the earth, he will never suffer heaven to be pestered with such vermin. Are they fit to see God who wallow in wickedness? Will God ever lay such vipers in his bosom? Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. It must be a clear eye that sees a bright object; only a holy heart can see God in his glory. Sinners may see God as an enemy, not as a friend; may have an affrighting vision of God, but not a beatific vision. They may see the flaming sword, but not the mercy seat. O then what need is there of sanctification.

5. Without sanctification all our holy things are defiled (Titus 1:15). To them that are defiled is nothing pure. Under the law, if a man who was unclean by a dead body had carried a piece of holy flesh in his skirt, the holy flesh had not cleansed him, but he had polluted that (Haggai 1:12-13). An emblem of a sinner's polluting his holy offering. A foul stomach turns the best food into ill humors: an unsanctified heart pollutes prayers, alms, sacraments; this evinces the necessity of sanctification. Sanctification makes our holy things accepted; a holy heart is the altar which sanctifies the offering; his duties, though they are not to satisfaction, yet to acceptation.

6. Without sanctification we can show no sign of our election (2 Thessalonians 2:13). Election is the cause of our salvation, sanctification is our evidence; sanctification is the earmark of Christ's elect sheep.

Quest. What are the signs of sanctification?

Resp. 1. Such as are sanctified can remember a time when they were unsanctified (Titus 3:3). We were in our blood, and then God washed us with water, and anointed us with oil (Ezekiel 16:9). Those trees of righteousness that blossom and bear almonds can remember when they were like Aaron's dry rod, not one blossom of holiness growing: a sanctified soul can remember when he was estranged from God through ignorance and vanity, and then free grace planted this flower of holiness in him.

Second sign of sanctification is the indwelling of the Spirit (2 Timothy 1:14). The Holy Ghost which dwells in us. As the unclean spirit dwells in the wicked, and carries them to pride, lust, revenge; the Devil has entered into these swine (Acts 5:3). So the Spirit of God dwells in the elect as their guide and comforter. The Spirit possesses the saints; God's Spirit sanctifies the fancy, causing it to mint holy thoughts; it sanctifies the will, putting a new bias upon it, whereby it is inclined to good. He who is sanctified has the influence of the Spirit, though not the essence.

Third sign of sanctification is an antipathy against sin (Psalm 119:104). A hypocrite may leave sin, yet love it; as a serpent casts its coat but keeps its sting: but a sanctified person can say, he not only leaves sin, but loathes it. As there are antipathies in nature, between the vine and laurel, so in a sanctified soul there is a holy antipathy against sin; and antipathies can never be reconciled. Because he has an antipathy against sin, he cannot but oppose it, and seek the destruction of it.

Fourth sign of sanctification is the spiritual performance of duties, namely with the heart, and from a principle of love. The sanctified soul prays out of love to prayer, he calls the Sabbath a delight (Isaiah 58:13). A man may have gifts to admiration, he may speak as an angel dropped out of heaven, yet may be carnal in spiritual things, his services do not come from a renewed principle, nor is he carried upon the wings of delight in duty. A sanctified soul worships God in the Spirit (1 Peter 2:5). God does not judge of our duties by the length, but by the love.

Fifth sign, a well-ordered life (1 Peter 1:15). Be you holy in all manner of conversation. Where the heart is sanctified, the life will be so too: the temple had gold without as well as within. As in a piece of coin, there's not only the king's image within the ring, but his superscription too without. So where there is sanctification there is not only God's image in the heart, but a superscription of holiness written in the life. Some say they have good hearts, but their lives are vicious (Proverbs 30:12). There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, yet is not washed from their filthiness. If the water be foul in the bucket, it cannot be clean in the well (Psalm 45:13). The king's daughter is all glorious within. There is holiness of heart; her garments are wrought of wrought gold, holiness of life. Grace is most beautiful when its light does so shine that others may see it; this adorns religion, and makes proselytes to the faith.

Sixth sign, steadfast resolution; he is resolved never to part with his holiness: let others reproach it, he loves it the more; let water be sprinkled on the fire, it burns the more. He says as David when Michal reproached him for dancing before the Ark (2 Samuel 6:22), if this be to be vile, I will yet be more vile. Let others persecute him for his holiness, he says as Paul (Acts 20:24), none of these things move me. He prefers sanctity before safety, and had rather keep his conscience pure than his skin whole. He says as Job, my integrity I will hold fast, and not let it go (Job 27:6). He will rather part with his life than his conscience.

Use 1. See what is the main thing a Christian should look after, namely sanctification; this is the Unum necessarium. Sanctification is our purest complexion, it makes us as the heaven bespangled with stars: it is our nobility, by it we are born of God, and partake of the divine nature; it is our riches, therefore compared to rows of jewels, and chains of gold (Song of Solomon 1:10). It is our best certificate for heaven; what evidence have we else to show? Have we knowledge, so has the Devil? Do we profess religion? Satan often appears in Samuel's mantle, and transforms himself into an Angel of Light: but here is our certificate to show for heaven, sanctification. Sanctification is the first fruits of the Spirit; the only coin will pass current in the other world. Sanctification is the evidence of God's love; we cannot guess at God's love by giving us health, riches, success, but by drawing his image of sanctification on us by the pencil of the Holy Ghost.

Branch 2. It shows the misery of such as are destitute of a principle of sanctification; they are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1). Though they breathe yet they do not live. The greatest part of the world remain unsanctified (1 John 5:19). The world lies in wickedness, that is, the major part of the world. Many call themselves Christians, yet blot out the word saints; you may as well call him a man, who wants reason, as him a Christian who wants grace: in fact, which is worse, some are buoyed up to such a height of wickedness, that they hate and deride sanctification. 1. They hate it; it is bad to want it, it is worse to hate it; they embrace the form of religion, but hate the power. The vulture hates sweet smells, so do they the perfume of holiness. 2. Deride it; these are your holy ones. To deride sanctification argues a high degree of atheism, and is a black brand of reprobation: scoffing Ishmael was cast out of Abraham's family (Genesis 21:9). Such as scoff at holiness shall be cast out of heaven.

2. Use of Exhortation: Above all things pursue after sanctification; seek grace more than gold (Proverbs 4:13). Keep her, for she is your life.

Quest. What are the chief inducements to sanctification?

Resp. First, it is the will of God that we should be holy: In the Text, This is the will of God, your sanctification. As God's Word must be the rule, so his will the reason of our actions; This is the will of God, our sanctification. Perhaps it is not the will of God we should be rich, but it is his will that we should be holy. God's will is our warrant.

2. Jesus Christ has died for our sanctification. Christ shed his blood to wash off our impurity. The cross was both an altar and a laver (Titus 2:14). Who gave himself for us, to redeem us from all iniquity. If we could be saved without holiness, Christ needed not have died. Christ died not only to save us from wrath, but from sin.

3. Sanctification makes us resemble God. It was Adam's sin that he aspired to be like God in omniscience, but we must endeavor to be like him in sanctity. It is only a clear glass in which you can see a face; it is only a holy heart in which something of God can be seen; there is nothing of God to be seen in an unsanctified man, you may see Satan's picture in him, envy is the devil's eye, hypocrisy his cloven foot, but nothing of God's image can be seen in him. You can see no more of God in him, than you can see a man's face in a glass that is dusty and foul.

4. Sanctification is that which God bears a great love to. Not any outward ornaments, high blood, or worldly grandeur, draws God's love, but a heart embellished with holiness. Christ never admired anything, but the beauty of holiness; he slighted the glorious buildings of the Temple, but admired the woman's faith, O woman, great is your faith! Amor fundatur similitudine. A king delights to see his image upon a piece of coin: where God sees his likeness, there he gives his love. The Lord has two heavens he dwells in, and the holy heart is one of them.

5. Sanctification is the only thing that differences us from the wicked; God's people have his seal upon them (2 Timothy 2:19). The foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, the Lord knows them that are his; and let everyone that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. The godly are sealed with a double seal; 1. a seal of election, The Lord knows who are his; 2. a seal of sanctification, Let everyone that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity. This is the name by which God's people are known (Isaiah 63:18). Gnam Kodsheca, the people of your holiness. As chastity distinguishes a virtuous woman from a harlot, so sanctification distinguishes God's people from others (1 John 2:27). You have received an unction from the holy one.

6. It is a shame to have the name of a Christian, yet want sanctity, as to have the name of a steward, yet want fidelity; the name of a virgin, yet want chastity. It exposes religion to reproach to be baptized into the name of Christ, yet unholy; to have eyes full of tears on a Sabbath, and on a weekday eyes full of adultery (2 Peter 2:14). To be so devout at the Lord's Table, as if men were stepping into heaven, and so profane the week after, as if they came out of hell. To have the name of Christians, yet unholy, is a scandal to religion, and makes the ways of God evil spoken of.

7. Sanctification fits for heaven (2 Peter 1:3). Who has called us to glory and virtue, glory is the throne, and sanctification is the step by which we ascend to it. First you cleanse the vessel, and then you pour in the wine. First God cleanses us by sanctification, and then pours in the wine of glory. Solomon was first anointed with oil, and then he was king (1 Kings 1:39). First God anoints us with the holy oil of his Spirit, and then he sets the crown of happiness upon our head; pureness of heart, and seeing God are linked together (Matthew 5:8).

Quest. How may sanctification be attained to?

Resp. 1. Be conversant in the Word of God (John 17:17). Sanctify them through your truth. The Word is both a glass to show us the spots of our soul, and a laver to wash them away; the Word has a transforming virtue in it, it irradiates the mind, and consecrates the heart.

2. Get faith in Christ's blood (Acts 15:9). Having purified their hearts by faith. She in the Gospel that touched the hem of Christ's garment, was healed; a touch of faith purifies; nothing can have a greater force upon the heart to sanctify it than faith. If I believe Christ and his merits are mine, how can I sin against him? Justifying faith does that in a spiritual sense which miraculous faith does, it removes mountains, the mountain of pride, lust, envy. Faith and the love of sin are inconsistent.

3. Breathe after the Spirit; it is called the sanctification of the Spirit (2 Thessalonians 2:13). The Spirit sanctifies the heart, as lightning purifies the air, as fire refines metals. Omne agens generat sibi simile: The Spirit stamps the impress of its own sanctity upon the heart, as the seal prints its effigies and likeness upon the wax. The Spirit of God in a man perfumes him with holiness, and makes his heart a map of heaven.

4. Associate with sanctified persons. They may by their counsel, prayers, and holy example, be a means to make you holy: As the communion of Saints is in our Creed, so it should be in our company (Proverbs 13:20). He that walks with the wise shall be wise. Association begets assimilation.

5. Pray for sanctification. Job propounds a question, Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean (Job 15:14)? God can do it. Out of an unholy heart he can produce grace. O! make David's prayer (Psalm 51:10): Create in me a clean heart, O God. Lay your heart before the Lord, and say, Lord, my unsanctified heart pollutes all it touches. I am not fit to live with such a heart, for I cannot honor you; nor to die with such a heart, for I cannot see you. O create in me a clean heart; Lord consecrate my heart, and make it your temple, and your praises shall be sung there forever.

Use 3. of thankfulness. Has God brought a clean thing out of an unclean? Has he sanctified you? Wear this jewel of sanctification with thankfulness (Colossians 1:12). Giving thanks to the Father, [〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉], who has made us meet for the inheritance, etc. Christian, you could defile yourself, but not sanctify yourself. But God has done it; he has not only chained up sin, but changed your nature, and made you as a king's daughter, all glorious within. He has put upon you the breast-place of holiness, which though it may be shot at, can never be shot through. Are there any here that are sanctified? God has done more for you than millions. They may be illuminated, but not sanctified. He has done more for you, than if he had made you the sons of princes, and caused you to ride upon the high places of the earth. Are you sanctified? Heaven is begun in you; happiness is nothing but the quintessence of holiness. O how thankful should you be to God? Do as that blind man in the Gospel, after he had received his sight, he followed Christ glorifying God (Luke 18:43). Make Heaven ring of God's praises.